In the November 2010 Badger Common’Tater

Bushmans’, Inc. Acquires Market Fresh Produce

Potato grower-shipper Bushmans’, Inc. of Rosholt, Wisconsin is pleased to announce that they have acquired Market Fresh Produce, LLC of Nixa, Missouri. The move, which became official on September 29, 2010, allows Bushmans’, Inc. to branch out into other commodities, including sweet potatoes, tomatoes and onions.  For more stories like this, subscribe today.

Certified Seed Laws Prove Beneficial – By Dr. Amy Charkowski, UW-Madison Dept. of Plant Pathology

In the early 1900’s, Wisconsin potato farmers were averaging 70 cwt/acre in yield and few growers were using defined varieties with well-characterized traits. In contrast, European countries that already had seed potato certification systems, were averaging 150-240 cwt/acre and were using elite varieties. Because of this, Wisconsin, like most other seed potato growing states in the US, began to develop a seed potato certification program. In 1917, just 4 years after initiation of seed potato certification in Wisconsin, average yields on farms planting certified seed potatoes was 30% greater than on farms that were not using certified seed. In the subsequent decades, seed potato certification has both effectively controlled many tuber borne pathogens (ranging from bacterial ring rot to potato spindle tuber viroid) and aided in insuring varietal purity in seed potato stocks. As a result, our seed potato production system is envied by many places in the world.

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