PRESQUE ISLE — By Monday, the usually steady stream of Canadian potatoes rolling across northern Maine borders is expected to be slowed to a steady drip.

According to federal government and trade officials, every potato truck crossing the international border at Houlton and Fort Fairfield will be stopped and examined to determine if their cargoes meet U.S. import standards.

The stepped-up inspections are part of an effort announced by federal officials Thursday to appease Aroostook County potato growers, who have been threatening for two weeks to blockade the border crossings in protest of what they claim is unfair pricing practices by Canadian growers.

The exact time the inspections will begin is not expected to be announced to maintain an element of surprise, according to Douglas Dunbar, spokesman for U.S. Rep. John Baldacci. The inspections of the 50 to 60 trucks crossing a day may begin sooner than Monday, some industry officials said.

“The key is if you tell them [exactly] when, they’ll all be ready,” said David Lavway, executive director of the Maine Potato Board on Friday after a day of meetings in Washington.

Besides intensifying inspections, the Calais port of entry is expected to be closed to commercial potato shipments. Lavway requested that no time limit be set for the duration of the inspections. Previously, it was announced that the truck-by-truck inspections would last only two weeks.

“A month from now, we’ll tell you just how effective everything was,” Lavway said.

In addition to the inspections, U.S. agriculture and trade officials have agreed to investigate Canadian growers’ trade practices. As a short-term solution for Maine’s money-strapped growers, the federal government also has offered to buy Maine potatoes for school lunch programs and military bases. As of Friday, no dollar figure had been attached to the buying program, pending further meetings between growers and officials.

Twenty-four hours after a delegation from Maine, including Lavway and Agriculture Commissioner Ed McLaughlin, met with high-level congressional and agricultural officials, reaction among Aroostook growers to the politicians’ response ranged from hopeful to skeptical.

“It could help,” said Daniel Labrie of St. Agatha. Labrie, one of the leaders of a 1980 blockade of U.S.-Canadian borders by Aroostook growers, said, “It will take a while for the dust to settle. We’ve heard promises before. I’m an old dog at this game, and talk is cheap. We will see what happens.”

Gilman Martin of Fort Kent, who grows 250 acres of potatoes, said he has moved only 15 loads of potatoes when 35 to 40 ordinarily would have been sold at this time of year. He voiced disappointment with the political response so far.

“They will put inspectors there for two weeks, that’s just the blink of an eye,” Martin said. “I didn’t expect a whole lot, and we got what I expected. We have to curtail the flow to some degree.”

In Caribou, grower Gary Martin, no relation to Gilman Martin, said there remains a group ready to blockade the border. Martin said the group is willing to wait a while, however.

“It all depends on what develops in the next week or so here,” said Martin, adding that the price for his potatoes fell Friday another 50 cents per 100 pounds.

Ned Berce, a St. Agatha farmer, said the border should be closed. “The only solution is to shut down the border. That’s what they do. In late summer southern United States potatoes go into Canada. When Canadian farmers start harvesting, U.S. shippers are given 24 hours’ notice and the border is shut down to potatoes. We should reciprocate.

“Even if we have a government buyout this year, what are we going to do next year? These inspections will only slow down the traffic. It won’t stop the traffic. Inspections will only guarantee that the Canadian potato being sold in the U.S. will be of a better quality,” added Berce.

Gov. Angus King Jr. is scheduled to meet with growers to discuss their concerns at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11, at the Caribou Motor Inn and Convention Center.

Canadian politicians, reacting in published reports to the U.S. government’s announced actions, called the dispute purely political.

“I think a number of senators in Maine are fanning the flames a little bit down there for political reasons and it’s not unusual for American politicians to play that kind of game,” said Wayne Easter, a member of Parliament from Prince Edward Island, quoted in the newspaper The Guardian.

Ivan Noonan, president of the P.E.I. Potato Board, told the newspaper Canadian growers don’t target Maine growers.

“Our marketplace is the world, not just Boston or Philadelphia or Toronto or Montreal,” Noonan said. “We’re aggressively working the world. If we can take a good load of potatoes somewhere, make a little bit of money and get a fair return back to the growers from the marketplace, that is all it is.”

Meanwhile, Canadian potatoes continued to flow across the border Friday. Burt Magnus, area port director at Houlton, said 10 loads came across Friday, more than usual. Records of the trucks’ origin, destination and consignments were unavailable until early Saturday.

At the Hamlin border entry near Limestone, the 10 loads from New Brunswick were average for a weekday, according to an inspector.

Ironically, half the potatoes crossing at Hamlin were Atlantic seed variety consigned to the Maine Farmers Exchange in Presque Isle, and the rest were table stock going to Washburn Potato Co. Canadian potatoes — to be purchased by Mainers.

No increase in potato traffic from Canada was observed at the Calais port.

Reporter Beurmond Banville contributed to this report.