Skagit Growers, a division of Mike and Jean’s Berry Farm, is very proactive in the institution of sustainable farming practices. Sustainable farming practices are ways of farming that not only protect the environment but preserve it for generations to come. By incorporating natural systems into their farming practices, Mike and Jean Youngquist are ensuring a productive and profitable future for everyone.

Skagit Growers has a solid crop rotation system in place on their farm. Cauliflower is on a four to five year rotation. Farmland is traded with potato growers and dairy farmers to encourage crop rotation among their peers. A good system of crop rotation reduces the chance of crop disease and keeps the soil healthy.

Skagit Growers promotes the use of cover crops during the off-seasons. During the winter it is important to use cover crops to build the soil, absorb excess nitrogen, and smother weeds. With a good cover crop system, Mike and Jean have been able to minimize the amount of herbicides, tilling, and fertilizer that must be added to their farm in the spring. The primary cover crops that Mike and Jean use are winter wheat and barley. The barley even has the added side effect of acting as a food for migrating water foul.

Skagit Growers takes an environmentally friendly stance when it comes to weed management. They till only when necessary during the spring and growing season. Skagit Growers uses herbicides only as necessary. They have a very practical approach when it comes to dealing with farm chemicals. Many chemicals are like a medicine that you would give a sick person. Sometimes a field gets ill with a particular kind of weed, disease, or deficiency and needs some extra help to get well. But just like an overdose of medicine can harm a patient, too many chemicals can be detrimental to plants. The final type of weed management that is frequently used by Skagit Growers is to hoe by hand. This method has stood the test of time and is about as safe to the environment as you can get.

All this care gives you the best tasting produce available.

Responsible use of chemicals with an ultimate goal of minimal use is one of the criteria which allowed Mike and Jean's Berry Farm and Skagit Growers to be an approved Food Alliance Producer. One example was aphid control on Cascade Snow Cauliflower.

In 1997, after working closely with John Stark, Vegetable Environmental Toxicologist of WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Unit, we began to use a chemical called Imidaeloprid. This is the same chemical that is used to control fleas systemically in dogs and cats. We found that building a special applicator which injects the chemical with the fertilizer at planting time will give systemic control of aphids during the entire growing season. This assures you 100% aphid free cauliflower and eliminates a multitude of exposures to the applicators.

Previously, the only way to control aphids from producing colonies in the branches of cauliflower below the head was to spray every ten days from the time of head formation until harvest. This process required the use of many chemicals. While the consumer was never in any danger because all were applied in approved manner, our applicators were constantly exposed to the highly toxic concentrated chemicals. The environment and neighbors were more at risk when we used multiple sprays, with the constant problem of drift. Only the best training and care in handling would prevent chemical exposure.

Your consumers would agree that the safety concerns justify the additional cost of the new methodology that we are using to ensure the high quality of our Cascade Snow Cauliflower.