Pesticide Use and Risk Reduction: An Investment in the Future of Wisconsin Agriculture

Posted June 2003

The Pesticide Use and Risk Reduction (PURR) Project was initiated in 1998 to help farmers anticipate the effects of more restrictive federal pesticide regulation. Fourteen agricultural organizations participated in this project. The project built new, lasting partnerships between the participating institutions, farm organizations and nonprofit groups. As a result of these partnerships and the resources invested by the project, the following outcomes were realized:

Participants identified common goals on issues of pest management, and worked together to research and address these issues.

Wisconsin’s agricultural sector was granted access to additional resources
to address pest management research and outreach needs.

Wisconsin producers increased their IPM knowledge. The PURR Project
supported workshops, on-farm trials, field guides, scorecards, roadside signs, and the Think IPM Web site.

Project researchers and their farmer-clients learned about the effectiveness of biological, cultural, physical, and low-risk chemical controls for pests.

Read the full report (pdf file)

Vegetable Storage Crops Workshop

Learn how to extend your marketing season by growing and selling winter storage crops like carrots, beets, winter squash, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic and more. This workshop will be held on December 4 in Hudson and December 11 in Madison. For details, see the workshop flyer. Hope to see you there!

Events

[More events...]

CIAS in the community

CIAS Hosts Annual Meeting of Eco-Apple Growers

On Thursday, November 12, CIAS hosted its annual meeting of apple growers engaged in its Eco-Apple pesticide reduction program. Notably, the group of 48 growers celebrated the successful completion of a six-year effort designed to reduce the use of pesticides on orchards throughout Wisconsin. During the course of the program, all reporting orchards demonstrated a reduced reliance on pesticides in favor of a diversity of IPM strategies, and some realized a near-total elimination of organophosphate applications. CIAS thanks its team of growers for their enthusiastic and committed participation. In particular, CIAS wishes to thank Dave Flannery, Wendy Schafer, Bill Stone and Anna Maenner for their fortitude in seeing this phase of the project through to a successful conclusion. UW rsearchers Dan Mahr, Patty McManus, Matt Stasiak and Teryl Roper have been critical to the project’s success. Thanks also to EPA-V and the USDA for their support and encouragement.

[More posts...]