Michigan potato growers embrace sustainable farming
“Soil health is a major management and research focus,” Wenkel explains. “How do practices like crop rotation, tillage and fertilizer applications affect the soil microbes vital to productive soils?”
As for water stewardship, most of Michigan’s 46,000 potato acres are irrigated and monitored by high-tech tools that measure rate, pressure and moisture levels to ensure water is used as efficiently as possible.
Recently, Michigan potato growers overwhelmingly approved (89.5%) a referendum to continue the Michigan Potato Industry Commission, formed to promote the potato industry through research, promotion, advertising and market development. The program must be renewed every five years.
source: wkar.org
