Immigrant Farmer High Tunnel Project

Project Overview

FNC15-986
Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2015: $20,999.00
Projected End Date: 02/15/2017
Grant Recipient: Cala Farm
Region: North Central
State: Wisconsin
Project Coordinator:
Robin Major
Shared Ground Farmers' Cooperative

Information Products

Commodities

  • Vegetables: broccoli, garlic, peppers, tomatoes

Practices

  • Crop Production: high tunnels or hoop houses

    Proposal summary:

    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.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    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.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.