Contact: Lora Klenke 608-224-5119
MADISON – Wisconsin’s specialty crop industry and the state agriculture department will share in nearly $750,000 awarded to the state to make specialty crops more competitive, agriculture officials announced today.
Specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including flowers. The intent is to improve nutrition, make distribution of these crops more efficient, enhance food safety, foster research, address pest issues, and promote sustainable production. The funding comes as a block grant to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The state agriculture department will distribute more than half the funds directly to industry groups and university researchers, and will use the remainder for department programs supporting specialty crops in partnership with the industry.
Wisconsin organizations to receive funding are:
* Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers (3 projects)
* $45,000 to conduct an advertising campaign increasing consumer awareness of and demand for Wisconsin-grown potatoes within the state
* $75,000 to conduct research to identify new disease-resistant varieties, improve raw product quality, and improve weed management, fertilization and pest control practices
* $27,800 to develop production, distribution and storage of processed potato products
* REAP Food Group — $20,000 to expand a school snack program in south central Wisconsin, strengthen purchasing arrangements between schools and local farmers, and demonstrate that local produce can be processed on a larger scale
* University of Wisconsin-Madison (2 projects)
* $33,000 to commercialize bush hazelnuts from Wisconsin and expand the industry
* $50,000 to design and demonstrate a pea harvester prototype
* Wisconsin Grape Growers Association — $35,000 to develop educational materials to teach both winemakers and consumers about popular Wisconsin grape varieties
* Wisconsin Apple Growers Association — $40,000 for Farm Fresh Connections, a joint project to benefit direct market produce growers also including the Wisconsin Berry Growers Association, the Wisconsin Fresh Market Vegetable Growers Association and the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association
* Wisconsin Muck Farmers Association — $50,000 to study the epidemiology and overwintering of aster yellows phytoplasma, a disease that deforms, discolors, and stunts growth in flowers, particularly in the aster family, and renders them sterile. The nursery industry is primary harmed by the disease.
* Wisconsin Cranberry Growers Association — $16,500 to conduct energy audits on cranberry marshes in cooperation with Focus on Energy, assessing marshes as sites for wind and solar energy production
* Wisconsin Grocers Association — $30,400 for the Wisconsin Buys Local: Tomatoes-Apples-Potatoes project, to help growers access grocers who want to sell local produce
* McKay Nursery Co. — $31,100 to increase genetic diversity of urban landscapes, by generating hybrid maple and alder varieties with high tolerance for urban street stresses and low potential for invasive pests
In addition, programs conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in partnership with industry to bolster specialty crops will be funded:
* $50,000 to help state fruit and vegetable growers and processors meet the requirements of the voluntary federal certification program, Good Agricultural Practices/Good Handling Practices, or GAP/GHP. The program is intended to improve food safety in these crops. The department will hold educational meetings, distribute a manual, and share costs to help reduce the expense of certification.
* $15,000 to expand the corky ringspot disease surveillance project to additional potato growers. Corky ringspot is caused by a virus. It damages the tubers, so that commercial buyers reject them, and was first found in Wisconsin in 2007.
* $25,000 to conduct a survey for pests and diseases that threaten vegetable crops, but to date are unknown to occur in Wisconsin, occur in limited numbers or places, or have a distribution that is not known well enough to provide guidance to growers
* $20,000 for a “Buy Local, Buy Safely” workgroup including the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, Wisconsin Grocers Association, produce growers, regulators, UW-Extension, and scientists, to develop multi-media guidance for restaurants and retailers so they can evaluate local produce operations for food safety
* $9,900 to produce consumer education and marketing materials addressing the difference between organic certification and other “eco-labels,” provide research-based information on the benefits of organically raised produce, and produce a directory of organic specialty crop growers for retail and wholesale buyers
* $15,000 to work with fresh market growers to improve farming methods and sustainable practices
* $35,000 for SavorWisconsin.com, an online marketing site that allows producers to promote their businesses directly to consumers. The site now includes more than 1,500 businesses, 85 percent of which are specialty crop producers, and promotes nearly 200 farmers’ markets.
* $49,700 to hire a part-time employee for two years to handle record-keeping and monitor the specialty grant projects
The USDA awarded $49 million nationwide to state and territorial departments of agriculture for specialty crops support. The funding became available as a result of the 2008 Farm Bill.
The department anticipates additional funding in the future. For information about applying for funding, contact Lora Klenke, 608-224-5110, lora.klenke@wi.gov.
