Duron Chavis is helping people eat and live healthier through urban agriculture

Originally published in Issue 13, April 2016 Duron Chavis, indoor urban farm director at Virginia State University, is helping citizens of Richmond and Petersburg, Va., have access to locally-grown produce year round. When Duron Chavis started the Happily Natural Day festival in Richmond, Va., in 2003, he never imagined how this one day event would […]

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Michigan ornamental growers extend season with greenhouse vegetables

Looking to take advantage of the increased demand for locally-grown and a better quality product, ornamental plant growers in Michigan are adding a variety of greenhouse vegetable crops. Ornamental plant growers in Michigan are looking to extend their selling season by producing greenhouse vegetables. Many of these growers are looking to take advantage of the […]

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Meeting the environmental challenge of growing food crops

Originally published in Issue 12 More predictable production levels and harvest dates are driving growers to adopt controlled environment agriculture. Even though most greenhouse vegetable growers are producing fewer types of crops than ornamental plant growers, trying to control the environment of these food crops can be a much bigger challenge. “The environmental control challenges […]

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Crop diversification helps ensure Westland Orchids and Westland Produce stay profitable

Originally published in Issue 12 As the U.S. market for ornamental and food crops continues to evolve, Westland Orchids and Westland Produce are looking for products that consumers are willing to pay for and are profitable. When Jerry Van Wingerden started growing greenhouse cut flowers at Westland Orchids Inc. in Carpinteria, Calif., in 1971, he […]

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Taiwan’s plant factories focused on fast-growing crops with high yields, high economic value

Originally published in Issue 12 Taiwan’s plant factories are looking to meet the increasing demand for out-of-season and specialty greens and to reduce the dependence on imported food crops. Plant factories in Taiwan are operated primarily by private companies. Currently there are less than 100 of these operations in the country, producing primarily salad greens. […]

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How Growers are Producing Safe Food

Originally published in Issue 11 As the rules of the Food Safety Modernization Act are finalized, greenhouse growers will be required to ensure the edible crops they produce are safe for human consumption. Recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 48 million people are sickened each year by foodborne pathogens. […]

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Using water-driven injectors and fertigation systems for greenhouse production

Originally published in Issue 11 Growers who incorporate water-driven injectors into their production systems are usually looking for simplicity and flexibility. Whether fertilizing greenhouse ornamental or vegetable crops, many growers use an injector to take up fertilizer concentrate and mix it with water and apply it to the plants. “From an application standpoint the same […]

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Safe water sources for hydroponic food production

Whether using municipal or well water, monitoring and testing are important to ensure successful production of greenhouse hydroponic lettuce and leafy greens. An increasing number of ornamental plant growers are looking to take advantage of the growing interest in local food sales by expanding their production with seasonal crops of lettuce, leafy greens and herbs. […]

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Houweling’s Tomatoes showcases “The future of farming” at its new greenhouse facility

Originally published in Issue 11, Oct. 2015 Houweling’s Tomatoes’ new 28-acre greenhouse operation in Mona, Utah, is using waste heat and carbon dioxide from a nearby power plant to sustainably produce tomatoes year-round. During the second week of February this year Houweling’s Tomatoes began harvesting tomatoes at its new 28-acre greenhouse facility in Mona, Utah. […]

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Deciding which strawberry varieties to grow in greenhouse production systems

Originally published in Issue 10 Which are the best strawberry varieties for greenhouse production? Combining June-bearing and everbearing varieties can help ensure fruit is available during periods of premium pricing. Trying to decide which strawberry varieties to produce in a controlled environment production system can be a challenge for growers using field-bred varieties. Mark Kroggel, […]

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Urban Ag News continues to evolve and expand with the controlled environment agriculture industry

Originally published in Issue 10 Urban Ag News was started as a tool to provide people interested in controlled environment agriculture with an unbiased information resource. Chris Higgins, founder of Urban Ag News, said the idea for this information resource began with conversations he had with vendors of horticultural and agricultural products. “The idea started […]

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Village farms uses technology to increase efficiency & produce better crops

Originally published in Issue 10 Mike DeGiglio, president and chief executive officer at Village Farms International, spoke with Urban Ag News about his company’s approach to technology and how it’s using it to be more efficient and profitable. When was Village Farms started and how has it expanded in size? I started Village Farms in […]

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Choosing a substrate for hydroponic production

When selecting a substrate for growing hydroponic leafy greens, lettuces and microgreens, the type of production system should be one of the first factors considered. The type of hydroponic production system a grower is going to use can impact his choice of substrate. “Any system in which the water is being recirculated like nutrient film […]

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Florida’s protected agriculture industry continues to expand

Originally published in Issue 10 Even though the number of protected ag operations in Florida remain fairly small in size, more large growers are weighing the benefits and options of being able to grow year-round in a variety of structures. When you think of Florida agriculture, production in greenhouses or high tunnels probably isn’t the […]

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