Potato growers throughout North America are increasingly turning to the Saint Croix Falls, Wis.-based Potato Sustainability Alliance to help them gather and disseminate information about their sustainability benchmarks, says John Mesko, CEO.
PSA provides members with a wealth of services to help them incorporate sustainable operating practices into their businesses. The annual On-Farm Assessment Report is undoubtedly the alliance’s most valued resource.
In 2024, 474 growers completed the Sustainable Outcomes in Agriculture Standard through the Cropwise Sustainability app and selected PSA as their sustainability partner. Participating growers represented about half of the harvested potato acres in North America.
The SOA Standard framework measures management strategies, practices and technologies in six categories: optimal production, water impact, soil health, biodiversity and habitat, human and animal health, and community leadership.
Rankings of essential, basic, medium or high are reported in the On-Farm Assessment Report.
Growers use the information to help themselves get better, Mesko says, and processors and fresh marketers are able to aggregate their supply chain so they know how their suppliers and the farmers who supply their needs are doing. The potato value chain places tremendous value on the data that it collects, he adds.
Member Reports Impact
Alsum Farms & Produce Inc., Friesland, Wis., has gained a lot from its PSA membership, says Christine Lindner, marketing manager for the company.
“PSA offers a powerful platform to benchmark sustainability performance, share data and learn from innovators across the value chain — from growers to consumer-facing brands,” she says.
“Being part of this collaborative coalition has already helped us sharpen our on-farm practices, validate the environmental outcomes of Wisconsin Healthy Grown and better communicate our sustainability story to customers and consumers,” Lindner explains.
Alsum Farms & Produce joined the Potato Sustainability Alliance in 2024 because its mission aligns with Alsum’s commitment to sustainable potato farming, Lindner says.
For nearly three decades, the Wisconsin Healthy Grown program has guided Alsum’s approach to growing nutrient-rich potatoes while enhancing soil health, protecting water resources and strengthening biodiversity, Lindner says.
“Becoming part of PSA was a natural next step to amplify this work, connect with like-minded partners across North America and contribute to a unified voice for potato sustainability,” she says.
Alsum Farms is also a 2026 Top Producer of the Year Award finalist.
Growing Connection
Mesko refers to PSA as “an alliance of the entire potato industry.”
Growers, processors, fresh marketers, chemical companies, fertilizer companies, nonprofits, universities and financial institutions are all part of the alliance that is designed to develop “a community of growers that are leveraging best practices for continuous improvement,” he says.
Many organizations collect data, but few actually set improving sustainability as a goal, he adds.
PSA continues to attract attention from more than just growers.
On the foodservice side, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Cisco are members of the alliance, Mesko says.
“We’re in conversation with many, many grocers and other restaurants,” he adds. “Folks in the retail world are becoming more and more interested.”
Eventually, he says, “There won’t be a buyer out there that’s buying potatoes that aren’t connected to us.”
(Kerry Halladay, associate editor for The Packer, contributed to this story.)
