A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 26, 1994
High Tunnel S
(Continued from Pag* Al)
crops. The tunnel produced about
2,000 pounds of fresh market
tomatoes which were sold at an
average price of $1.60 a pound.
The cost of the tunnel, which
included all lumber, labor, trans
plants, mulch, trickle irrigation
equipment, and other materials,
was about $977.
Sales of tomatoes from the tun
nel reached about $3,200, for a net
of about $1,423. The system paid
off the costs of the tunnel in the
first year.
“There are not) many systems
that you can get complete payback
in the first year,” said Wells.
Where field tomatoes will aver
age about l/i pounds of tomatoes
at harvest per square foot, the tun
nel tomatoes, with their longer
growing season, average about 3.5
pounds per square foot from July
through September.
“The high tunnel almost
doubled the per square foot yield
of tomatoes,” he said.
Other crops that can be readily
grown in the tunnel include sum
mer squash, melons, cucumbers,
peppers, cut flowers, strawberries,
all sorts of spring and fall crops,
and “niche” market items.
Wells said that tunnel systems
are used extensively in such coun
tries as South Korea (22 acres in
production), Spain (10,000 acres),
Israel, and southern European
countries.
“We have very few high tunnels
m this country,” said Wells. “And
I don’t understand why.
“There’s always someone try
ing to get something earlier, and
better, and faster,” he said. “Not
necessarily trying to compete with
a neighbor, but simply to have it
earlier, for an earlier marketing
opportunity.”
According to Wells, the ideal
situation for use of a tunnel would
be for fresh market vegetables, but
wholesale could be a possibility,
depending on market demand. For
farmers that can set aside a couple
of acres or even less, this high
production farming could prove
immensely beneficial.
The tunnel operation is similar
to a greenhouse. A typical green
house is Quonset-shaped utilizing
two 6-mil layers of plastic with a
permanent heating and ventilation
system. The tunnel, however, is
similar in look, but utilizes only
one 6-mil layer of plastic, relies on
heal from the sun, and ventilation
is provided by rolling up the sides.
The location of the site is impor
tant. The soil quality and drainage
should be good quality, and the site
needs access to water. The site
should be away from other sheds
and greenhouses. If growing toma
toes. the site should be far enough
away from field tomatoes to pre
vent disease and insect crossover.
The greenhouse should be
situated in a north-south direction
so that westerly winds blow across
the sides of the tunnel.
Good ventilation is necessary,
according to Wells. “Ventilation
is crucial to tomato growth,” he
said. “You need to open the tunnel
early every morning, because the
temperature and humidity are
going to be factors that we cannot
control any other way. You do not
want excessive temperature build
ing up.”
He said he opens the tunnel at
7-7:30 each morning and closes it
at the same time each night. It is
important to close it regularly at
night to keep the heat in.
To construct the tunnel, size is
important. The wider the tunnel.
Dr. Otho Wells, extension
vegetable specialist with the
University of New Hampshire,
spoke about the results of
trials using high tunnel pro*
duction on Monday at the
New Holland Vegetable Day.
the higher the sides. Many growers
use a 14-foot wide tunnel by
96-feet long as standard. The best
system uses the following, based
on results at the University of New
Hampshire:
• Used galvanized metal bows
for construction. PVC pipe can
wear and break after a time.
• Use portable ends, to make
working inside easier and to allow
sufficient ventilation in the hot
summer months.
• Place the clear 6-mil plastic
over top of the canopy, and allow
about a fool longer on each sides.
• Secure the tunnel plastic with
batten board and hip board. Sand
wich the plastic between the two
boards. Use “plenty of screws,”
he said, to make sure the plastic is
held firmly. The plastic may tear if
the screws aren’t close enough
together.
• Using a galvanized pipe that
runs the length of the tunnel, sec
ure this with duct tape to the ends
of the cover. This will be used to
roll up the sides of the tunnel. The
university uses a “sliding T
angle” to use as a take-up for the
sides, which allows the sides to be
rolled up and down quickly.
• Incorporate proper nutrients
based on soil sample. Prepare the
soil as you would a field crop.
Disc, till, and work until compete
ly smooth.
• Use one row of trickle irriga
tion line for each row of tomatoes.
• Place down a 6-mil black plas
tic mulch cover over the entire
area. It is important that all the soil
is covered and that the area is com
pletely smooth.
• Transplants should be about
5-6 weeks old, in 4-inch pots,
ready to transplant 3-4 weeks ear
lier than outside. Use plenty of
phosphorous starter ferilizer for
good root growth. Place plans in a
four-row system, 3'A feet apart,
with 18 inches between plants.
• Use 4-foot stakes and place in
a sequence of two plants, then
stake, then two plants. Use twine
and string up in a “Florida basket
weave” system to support stems.
Start the basketweave system early
so that plants don’t start flopping
and falling over, said Wells.
It is important to make sure the
sides are rolled up early in the
morning and down at night each
day in order to keep excessive heat
and humidity from building up.
Also, the plants must be kept free
of rain to suppress disease forma
tion. On days with excessive heat
(more than 87 degrees for two
hours at a time), open doors and
sides wide.
May Provide
He has encountered problems
with white fly. “If you see one
white fly, go for it,” said Wells.
The university uses a bioinsecti
cidal soap, which he said works
well.
Weeds are suppressed through
the use of black plastic mulch.
But one disease that can attack
the crop is early blight.
“The number one way to con
trol diseases in a greenhouse or
tunnel is sanitation,” said Wells.
He said that when the crop is fin
ished, clean up all debris and
“don’t leave anything on the
soil.”
He showed slides of where, in
one case, near a field with evi
dence of early blight, the tunnel
tomatoes were not affected.
“Do not plant field tomatoes
beside your high tunnel,” he said.
He said the tunnel system pro
tected plants from frost and even
cold temperatures, down to 28
degrees at night
Wells said that tomatoes should
be rotated out every two years
from the tunnel system.
Wells said he believes there is a
home for tunnel ventilation in Pen
nsylvania. One New England
grower produced about 3,000
pounds of tomatoes in a tunnel in
the first year.
“If you can grow tomatoes in
tunnels in Spain and Israel and
South Korea, we can do it here or
anywhere in the United States,” he
said.
Mulches
Wells also said that for growers
who want to use mulches but want
biodegradability, it may be possi
ble to use the black kraft-like paper
now being tested at the university.
There is a paper called Planter’s
PSU, Cornell Offer Dairy Expansion Conference
LEHAN R. POWER ed cash flow. lions concerning dairy expan-
Area Farm Management Agent
Bradford PSU Extension
TOWANDA (Bradford Co.)
Attention dairy farmers, extension
staff, agricultural lenders, build
ers, equipment dealers, and veter
inarians! Mark your calendars for
an important regional conference,
“Expansion Strategies for Dairy
Farms; Facilities and Financial
Planning,” to be held on March 29
and 30, in Sayre.
The conference is being plan
ned by faculty at Penn State and
Cornell Universities, with assis
tance from the Northeast Regional
Agricultural Engineering Services
(NRAES).
“Many fanners are at a cross
roads,” said Robert E. Graves,
professor in the Department of
Agricultural and Biological Engi
neering at Penn Slate. “They’re
having to decide whether to make
major changes to their facilities to
stay competitive and modem into
the 21st century. This conference
gives them a chance to review
their option.”
Dairy farmers must consider the
long-term effects expansion will
have on their finances, the health
and productivity of their cows, the
efficiency and comfort of their
workers, and the surrounding en
vironment.
"Expansion Strategies for Dairy
Farms” will bring together experts
on these issues and more so that
dairy farmers and others involved
in the expansion process will be
better able to make sound deci
sions.
Presentations will focus on in
cremental expansion as a strategy
to ensure the debt load is reason
able when compared to anticipat-
Earlier, Greater Yields
Paper made by Kinbar, out of
Reading, Mass., that shows a great
.deal of promise in biodegradability
and standability for the duration of
field crops.
He said there are three types of
mulches organic, plastic, and
paper and all three work to pro
vide the two most important things
for growers: soil warming and
weed control.
The mulch used by many grow
ers is the raw plastic material
called polyethylene.
When manufactured,
polyethylene is a clear plastic. To
obtain black plastic, a black mater
ial in beed form is added.
Clear plastic is used only when a
good weed control program is put
in place. While there is better
warming with clear plastic, the
black plastic provides better weed
suppression.
Photodegradable mulches allow
ultraviolet (UV) light to slowly
break the molecular bonds, which
causes the plastic to slowly
deterioriate.
The only problem is that the
edges of the photodegradable mul
ches, buried in the soil, don’t
decompose. This creates a residue
management problem in the fields.
Biodegradable mulches are
starch-based, which break down
with bacterial action. But many
vary greatly in how long they take
to finally break down, depending
on field and weather conditions.
The biodegradable cover with
the most promise, according to
Wells, is the black paper. In yield
trials, it performed as well as the
black plastic, but is slightly more
expensive.
Wells also examined the IRT
plastic mulches, which allows
infrared, or warming light, to pass
through while blocking UV light.
Everyone involved in the ex
pansion process should benefit
from this educational experience.
Dairy farmers and managers con
sidering dairy farm expansion can
learn about the many facets of
planning and executing a success
ful- expansion, from financing to
manure management plans.
Extension agents, facilities
planners, engineers, builders, and
equipment suppliers will learn up
to-date techniques for selecting
free stall floor plans, ventilation
systems, milking center designs,
and materials.
Financial and management ad
visors and veterinarians will im
prove their ability to evaluate pro
posed dairy facilities.
The conference will begin with
a series of case studies. Several
dairy farmers will detail the pros
and cons of their experiences with
expansion.
The remainder of the confer
ence will consist of 2S-minute
presentations from specialists in
dairy facilities, agricultural lend
ing, facilities planning, manure
handling, and construction.
Informal discussion periods
will be interspersed with the pre
sentations to allow participants
time to talk with speakers and
each other about specific concerns
and issues.
Presentations are to be given by
dairy facility engineers, facilities
planners, animal scientists, agri
cultural economists, a lender, a
veterinarian, and environmental
engineers.
Experts from Penn State and
Cornell University will share their
knowledge and answer your ques-
This controls weeds most of the
lime more effectively because of
the UV blocking.
On yield trials, IRT worked as
well as clear and much better than
black.
Disease highlights
Late blight on tomatoes may
become more evident during the
1994 growing season, according to
Dr. Alan Mac Nab, Penn State
extension, who presented disease
highlights at the Vegetable Day.
He said that more resistant
spores of tomato late blight may
show up during the 1994 growing
season.
Late blight resembles early
blight. Early blight starts with the
older leaves toward the bottom of
the tomato plant. But late blight
affects leaves on all parts of the
plant.
He said that Penn State will
watch the disease closely and be in
touch with extension offices to
recommend and review control
programs for growers.
He told the growers that it is
important to rotate crops and fol
low good control programs to keep
disease, insect, and weed pressures
down.
In one study, he showed that
when dew was reduced on toma
toes, early blight was effectively
controlled.
The Vegetable Day included a
variety of other sessions on green
house biosecurity, integrated
nutrient management for toma
toes, weed management strategies,
greenhouse insect ID, vegetable
crop budgeting, pumpkin variety
trials, greenhouse IPM, tailgate
farmers markets, soil fumigation,
herb production, packaging qual
ity vegetables, pesticide container
recycling, and others.
sions
The conference was planned by
a committee chaired by Robert E.
Graves, professor. Department of
Agricultural and Biological Engi
neering, Penn State University.
The conference will be held at
the Guthrie Inn and Conference
Center, located at 255 Spring
Street in Sayre. Sayre is in north
eastern Pennsylvania on the New
York border, just off NYS Route
17. To get to the conference from
the south, take Route 220 to Route
17 east. From Route 17, take Exit
61 and turn right; the hotel is on
the right, about 200 feet from the
exit.
A block of rooms at the Guthrie
Inn and Conference Center has
been reserved for conference par
ticipants. The rate is $5B for single
or double rooms. Reservations can
be made by calling (800)
627-7972. Reserve your room by
March 15 and mention “Expan
sion Strategies for Dairy Farms”
to receive the special rate.
The registration fee for the con
ference is $llO if postmarked by
March 16 and $l3O after March 16
or for walk-ins.
The fee includes admission to
the conference, two lunches, break
refreshments, and a 300-plus-page
notebook of information related to
dairy expansions. Reduced rates
are not available for groups or for
single-day attendance.
For a brochure containing a
complete conference agenda, a
map to the conference, and a re
gistration form, contact NRAES,
Cooperative Extension, 132 Ril
ey-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-
5701, or call (607) 255-7654.