A tort claim is a precursor to a lawsuit against a government entity.

Walker Produce Co. filed the tort claim last October after it said it was publicly identified as the source of the potato cyst nematode infestation, which the company contends led to damage of its reputation and a lawsuit from at least one of its customers.

“I don't think it's going to be possible to ever fully recover from this,” Keith Walker, president of Walker Produce, told the Post Register.

Idaho is the nation's largest potato producer, growing about one-third of all the potatoes in the United States. In 2005, the state produced 12.5 billion pounds of potatoes worth about $700 million to farmers.

After the initial discovery of the nematode in April, Japan banned all fresh U.S. potato imports, and Canada and Mexico banned all fresh potato imports from Idaho. Japan lifted a ban on fresh U.S. potatoes earlier this month on the condition that the U.S. side conduct soil tests, thoroughly wash off all dirt before shipping and exclude Idaho from a list of exporters.

The microscopic worm feeds at the roots of potato plants and can reduce crop production by 80 percent. Officials say the pest is not harmful to humans and doesn't have any effect on the potatoes themselves.

In Idaho, a testing program is designed to find early infestations under a Cooperative Agriculture Pest Survey between farmers, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the state Department of Agriculture. The state agency, to get growers to participate, agreed to tell them first if one of their fields is determined to be the source of an infestation.

The USDA discovered the nematode in Idaho on April 12, 2006. A newspaper reported that the USDA then learned from the state agency that the source was a field operated by Walker Produce Co., and imposed the quarantine to prevent the spread of the nematode. The state than began a quarantine as well.

However, the Walkers dispute the method in which they were identified as the source of the nematode. The sample came from dirt washed off potatoes at a plant in Rexburg where the Walkers and several others are clients. The tort claim filed by the Walkers contends that the state used a faulty labeling system that led to the quarantine of their farm, which wasn't lifted until June 29.

Reser's Fine Foods, based in Beaverton, Ore., sued Walker Produce for $1.6 million, contending that the potato grower did not fulfill its contract for potato shipments.

E-mails obtained by the newspaper show a running conversation between Reser's Fine Foods and Wayne Hoffman, a former spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, in May in which the Walkers are referred to on several occasions.

The tort claim filed by the Walkers contends they were “clearly identified” by the state Department of Agriculture to the Idaho Potato Commission and the University of Idaho, and that as a result they were publicly identified as the source of the nematode outbreak to the potato industry.

The tort claim contends that as a result of being publicly identified, other potato growers would no longer deal with them for fear of also facing quarantine.

The state Department of Agriculture did not respond to the tort claim within 90 days, which state law recognizes as a denial. That gives the Walkers two years to file a lawsuit.

Source: idahobusiness.net