Report for FNC15-986
Project Information
Four farms and owner-members of Shared Ground Farmers Cooperative will install high tunnels on their farms in 2016 to evaluate the potential for improving sales by extending the growing season, increasing their vegetable yield, improving quality and percentage of marketable produce, reducing pest control requirements and improving soil quality.
The marketing objective of this project is to track 5-6 specific vegetables in high demand from existing restaurant clients. The input costs, yields, and sales levels generated from each of the farms' high tunnel units will be tracked.
The social objective of this project is primarily to support the expansion of Shared Ground's beginning and immigrant farmers. The cooperative was formed as a partnership between young anglo urban farmers with limited growing capacity, but ready access to a growing network of urban markets, and rural Latino beginning farmers with high production capacity and virtually no access to urban markets.