Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
that they were able make even greater reductions in insecticide use. This
strategy will have an even greater impact as growers are able to coordi-
nate their plantings with their neighbors.
The WWF recognized that it did not want itself to be in the business
of certifying growers' practices, so as the Wisconsin potato partnership
began to show signs of success, it helped create Protected Harvest. This
is an independent certification organization, with the mission of certify-
ing groups of growers who use sustainable agriculture practices. Unlike
organic certification, Protected Harvest works with groups of growers
who develop stringent, transparent, and quantifiable standards, which
Protected Harvest then certifies. The Wisconsin potato partnership was
its first initiative, but it is now working with several crops in several
states, including the Lodi partnership.
The Wisconsin potato partnership, working with Chuck Benbrook and
Jeff Dlott, set standards for “Healthy Grown” potatoes, based on pro-
duction practices, toxicity impacts, and chain of custody. Protected
Harvest started certifying these potatoes in 2002. Until Protected
Harvest developed its own identity, Wisconsin “Healthy Grown” carried
the internationally recognized the WWF's panda logo. By 2005, about
one quarter of the fresh market potato growers of the Wisconsin Potato
and Vegetable Growers Association had met the threshold established to
be certified, enrolling about 10,000 acres. They were only sold as fresh
market potatoes in the Midwest and in the East.
In 2003, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Venneman
recognized the partnership for its innovation. The Wisconsin potato
growers are very proud of what they have done. They have come to rec-
ognize that regardless of how they feel about change in agriculture, it is
inevitable. The partnership with the WWF and the university has given
them the opportunity to shape the trajectory of change. The simple fact
that growers were willing to speak in public about their use of “toxicity
units” is a testament to their willingness to address the environmental
impacts of conventional farming with courage.
The University of Wisconsin researchers have continued to expand
their work for the partnership, funded in part by more than $1 million
dollars in grants from a variety of sources. They have broadened their
focus from bioIPM to integrated farming systems, and now to the
landscape of which farms are a part. Deana Sexson, the bioIPM field
