Battlefield Farms seeks MPS certification

Battlefield Farms in Rapidan, Va., has begun the MPS-ABC Certification program. The wholesale grower decided to seek certification after discussions with its retail customers and other growers.
“Both the big box stores and the supermarkets are looking to us for solutions of how to define sustainability in our industry” said sales manager Dave Jones, “We believe the MPS program will help us understand how we are doing and give us factual information which we can pass along to our customers.”
General manager Anthony van Hoven said the company has already taken several steps to making the operation, which has 40 acres of production, more sustainable.
“Over the years we have made many changes to improve the efficiency of our operations which we now believe are good steps for sustainability: water recycling, more efficient growing practices which use less energy and fewer pesticides are a few examples,” said van Hoven. “...we are firing up the ‘campfire’ on our new biomass boiler which will provide our primary source of energy for the greenhouses, eliminating fossil fuel energy except as a backup source of energy.”
van Hoven said the company is looking forward to receiving MPS reports that will provide comparisons with other growers and will be used as a management tool by the company.