News Release

PGI Introduces Revised IPM Standards Manual for 2005

BLACKFOOT, ID — PGI has completed revisions to the “Best Management Practices & Integrated Pest Management Standards Checklist for Quality Potatoes.” The program was first developed in 2004 as a way for growers to score their IPM practices and promote environmentally sound practices that reduce reliance on pesticides.checklist addresses potato management decisions sequentially through pre-planting, planting, growing season, and harvest. Practices related to scouting, field management, weeds, insects, disease, soil & water management, and storage are addressed in the manual. A grower using the manual scores higher points for practices that reduce potatoes impact on the environment, such as longer rotations, green manure crops, proper scouting, and many other sound potato production management practices.

For the 2005 edition PGI Executive Director Keith Esplin worked closely with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to address all issues required for the Conservation Security Program (CSP). The CSP program pays growers for practices they have already been using on their farm for two years. In the IPM Standards, practices that might be required to meet CSP minimum standards are listed with a “C”. Practices that might be eligible as “enhanced practices” with a higher payment level are marked with an “E”.

Sign-up for the CSP is only scheduled every eight years on a rotating basis across the state. Because the program can potentially pay growers up to $45,000 per year for 10 years for good conservation and IPM practices, PGI is working to prepare growers to be eligible when the sign up arrives in their area. To receive a free copy of the Best Practices & IPM Standards Manual growers can call the PGI office at 785-1110 or e-mail pgike@cableone.net. Growers who return the completed manuals to PGI at the end of the season will receive $50. The top three scoring growers will also receive cash prizes. This program is being funded through a grant from the American Farmland Trust.