22/10/2026
Gardeners and Potato growers! It's still a great time to be planting Potatoes. Here's a picture taken today of some of our Agria Seed ready for your soil!
Did you know, there are currently 51 agri-compounds approved for use on conventional/industrial Potatoes in New Zealand.
(Source: Ministry for Primary Industries Maximum Residue Levels for Agricultural Compounds 26 Feb 2026)
Recent news of some substances recorded 360x over the legal limit with no repercussions surprises almost none of us.
But 51 agri-compounds on the humble potato? In clean green NZ? T How on earth did it get to that number and what does that mean for the future of farming on these lands.. Are we damaging our soils so much we need to use 51 DIFFERENT additives to succesfully grow a potato? Like there is no other way to avoid all 51 just in case...
Worth sharing that one of those compounds, Dimethylnaphthalene has no Maximum Residue Level...
This is the one they use on the Potatoes that are in storage to stop them from sprouting. And they can apply as much as they like.
They will say it CAN be "naturally" derived though, must be fine then huh.. nevertheless is synthetic by 'nature'.
Not that the other 50 compound levels are being tested or actually regulated anyway...
PSA: Now is the tail end of the local/national Potato supply - meaning prices have almost doubled in the past month and Potatoes have been stored for a while now. A good trait for a seed potato, and makes eating spuds this time of year a bit sweeter and waxier than "normal"
