Steve and Andy Diercks are third and fourth generation Wisconsin potato farmers. Steve has been farming in Coloma, Wisconsin since 1961, where they currently own about 1100 acres and grow potatoes, soybeans, and field corn. Both have been active participants in the Wisconsin potato industry and have conducted numerous on-farm field research projects.

The Diercks father and son team were featured as the cover story of the September 2002 issue of American Vegetable Grower magazine, in which they describe why they are committed to the Protected Harvest certification program and to farming with Biointensive IPM. “The biggest benefit that might come from this project,” Andy says, “is a shift in conventional agriculture. In our arena, it’s just potatoes, but Protected Harvest is looking at the big picture, and I think they have the right goals in mind. They would like to see conventional agriculture move to a more environmentally sustainable place. That’s why we have made this push to move Wisconsin potato production in that direction.”

Read the entire American Vegetable Grower article, “A Recipe for Success.” (3 MB PDF)