USDA APHIS

MSU Potato Breeder Develops New Genetically Engineered Potato

June 4, 2024 Jack Falinski, Michigan State University AgBioResearch

The Kal91.3 potato is bred from an MSU potato variety named Kalkaska. The newly developed potato can be stored in cool temperatures for long periods of time without sucrose, the compound that sugar is typically stored in potatoes as, converting into reducing sugars such as fructose and glucose. Without as many reducing sugars, off-color browning and caramelization can be minimized in the Kal91.3 potato, leading to healthier and higher-quality products, including potato chips. …

APHIS Updates Regulated Cut Flower and Greenery List

March 28, 2024 USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

APHIS has identified more than 1,000 plant taxa that are generally admissible to the United States as cut flowers and greenery (CFG). Stakeholders will now be able to query the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) database and/or eFile to find the entry requirements for these plant taxa in the same manner they are currently able to do for other regulated plant and plant products. …

APHIS Establishes and Expands Citrus Greening Quarantine Areas in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ventura Counties, California

March 20, 2024 USDA APHIS

Effective immediately, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), is expanding the areas quarantined for Huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening), caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in California. APHIS is adding portions of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ventura Counties in California to the quarantined areas in DA-2023-19. …

USDA Announces Appointments to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board

January 3, 2024 USDA AMS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the appointment of 26 members to serve on the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board. Twenty-five members will serve three-year terms and one member will serve a one-year term. The term of board members appointed to three-year terms start February 2024 and end February 2027. …

APHIS Amends Import Requirements for Buxus spp., Euonymus spp., and Ilex spp. from Canada into the United States and territories

January 2, 2024 USDA APHIS

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is amending entry requirements for the importation of certain plants for planting from Canada to prevent introduction of box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis, BTM) into the United States. …