Eco-labeling of agricultural products has emerged as a promising way of increasing consumer choice while also providing financial incentives for scientifically validated environmentally-friendly farming practices. The Healthy-Grown© eco-label was created by Wisconsin potato growers in 1996 as an outgrowth of conversations among growers, university researchers, and conservation NGO's. The non-profit Protected Harvest ecolabeling organization was subsequently incorporated in California to provide independent certification. The University of Wisconsin agricultural researchers and extension provided the technical expertise necessary to improve in-field IPM practices, leading to statistically significant reductions in pesticide applications on certified fields. As these procedures were being implemented, work began on the development of standards for the management of the non-crop lands on the farms, and this element was formally included in the certification in 2006. The research reported here is focused on strengthening the scientific basis for the ecological certification standard, with the broad objective of fostering the concept of managing farms as ecosystems imbedded in larger regional and global systems. Our study is characterizing biodiversity of upland non-crop habitats and describing the non-crop/crop ecotone. Our data show that the non-crop lands within the farms are significant reservoirs of natural diversity, and that restoration can improve their quality. Therefore, creation of appropriate certification standards holds promise as a means of arresting regional losses of ecological function. For the promise to be realized, however, close coordination of our project with the growers is essential, since the implementation of appropriate conservation practices will ultimately be the responsibility of each farm. We have used field days and presentations at grower meetings to keep the grower community apprised of our progress and to adjust recommendations to better fit within their constraints. Integration around a common set of ecologically-centered objectives is essential to the success of the eco-label approach.