Combating Extreme Climate Events in High Tunnel Raspberry Production While Analyzing Methods for Organic Weed Control

Commodities

• Fruits: berries (brambles)

Practices

• Crop Production: cover crops, crop improvement and selection, cropping systems, high tunnels or hoop houses, irrigation, organic fertilizers, pollination, varieties and cultivars, water management
• Education and Training: extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, on-farm/ranch research, technical assistance, workshop
• Farm Business Management: farmers' markets/farm stands, farm succession, value added
• Natural Resources/Environment: soil stabilization
• Pest Management: cultural control, field monitoring/scouting, integrated pest management, mulches - general, mulches - killed, mulching - plastic, row covers (for pests)
• Production Systems: organic agriculture, organic certification
• Soil Management: composting, organic matter
• Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures

Sustainability and resiliency are
two key factors that must be addressed in agricultural
operations. As a farm entering its second generation, we want to
ensure that we farm in a way that will be viable for the
generations to follow. It is essential to implement practices
that profitably combat high costs of labor and extreme weather
events caused by climate change. We are investing into more high
tunnels and entering new organic fruit markets to become more
resilient to extreme weather events and more sustainable in our
practices. By utilizing organic high tunnels, we can reduce
chemical costs while preventing diseases on brambles caused by
moist, rainy conditions. Additionally, growing brambles in a
controlled environment allows us to compare different methods of
weed control between the rows to further reduce the labor and
costs needed to successfully farm organically. In addition to
weed control, these different mulches also contribute to the
health of our soil. The market for organic fruit is growing, and
we are striving to meet that demand while remaining a sustainable
business both economically and environmentally. We feel that our
project allows us to look into organic production and find
labor-saving solutions for farmers of all sizes. We plan to
collaborate with our technical advisor and Rutgers Cooperative
Extension to conduct Twilight Meetings and host other farmers to
share our progress and successes. 

Our objectives for this project
will guide us throughout our experiment and will give direction
when creating our final report at the end. Our first objective is
to examine the production of certified organic raspberries in a
high tunnel in New Jersey through growing floricane and primocane
varieties in a high tunnel. Our second objective is to evaluate
weed control efficacy of landscape fabric, leaf cover, and straw
mulch on certified organic high tunnel raspberry row middles.
This includes weekly monitoring of the type, season, and density
of the weeds growing in the tunnel. Our third objective is to
evaluate the impact of weed control strategy on the growth and
yield of certified organic high tunnel raspberries. We will
analyze the fruit on the canes for firmness, color, and
concentration. Our fourth objective is to compare the cost
requirements of the three weed control strategies for certified
organic weed management to see if they are more cost effective
than hand weeding labor costs. Our fifth objective is to
demonstrate certified organic high tunnel raspberry production
and weed control methods to local farmers through various on-farm
tours and meetings.