Aug 22, 2019

McCorkle Nurseries Receives MPS Certification

McCorkle Nurseries in Dearing Georgia, been recognized by MPS (More Profitable Sustainability) with an MPS-ABC certificate, the international standard for sustainability in the flowers and ornamental plant industry.

MPS-ABC provides a transparent, quantifiable look into the operational sustainability of each company involved in the growing process of a plant. The ratings of each company on a plant’s journey from seed to store can be tracked on the website www.followyourflowerorplant.com.

Arthij van der Veer, General International Coordinator North and Central America for MPS, says, “I have seen the efforts and energy that the whole team at McCorkle has put into the journey to becoming more sustainable. It is great to see that a grower can, with the help of management reports from MPS, be a good steward for the environment and be able to produce the high-quality products that McCorkle does.”

McCorkle Nurseries has been a pioneer in pursuing this standardized and measurable rating of sustainability in North America, and the first nursery shrub grower to receive an A rating.

Skeeter McCorkle, CEO of McCorkle Nurseries, says, “As a family-owned company, we have always focused on leaving a legacy for our future generations, including a green and healthy earth. At McCorkle Nurseries, one of our guiding values is to serve as stewards of God’s creation. It drives our commitment to protect and improve the environment.”

McCorkle Nurseries has systematically improved its environmental stewardship in a number of ways, such as a plant health program that relies on careful monitoring and biocontrols, including beneficial insects, to guide and reduce the need for chemicals. As of 2019, all plants raised on site are grown without neonicotinoids in accordance with recommended management practices for pollinator safety.

Additionally, McCorkle Nurseries uses water reclamation ponds for the majority of the 4 million gallons of water required daily during the peak growing season, and conducts recycling and composting programs on site to reduce and reuse waste materials. In February 2019, Acting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Andrew Wheeler chose McCorkle Nurseries as the site to announce several Federal measures, including proposed reform, funding, and policy affecting water use, infrastructure, and quality across the nation.