Why are farmers interested in ISO Management Systems?
ISO 9001:2000 is a generic management system standard, meaning that it can be applied to any type or size of business organization — including farms. Management systems that conform to the ISO standards provide a framework for managing production, marketing, legal, financial, and human risks in the agriculture industry. ISO 9001 continues to diffuse worldwide, with over half a million certificates in 161 countries by December 2001. The number of ISO 9001 certificates climbed to 15 070 in the food and agriculture industries (Source: ISO Survey, 2002). These numbers are expected to continue growing exponentially, particularly for growers participating in international and specialty markets. ISO 9001:2000 certification may become essential for producers to maintain their domestic and international market share. By monitoring yield and crop input with precision agriculture technologies, growers are documenting information regarding their production processes, tracing their product from see
