Montana farmers know well the “shoulder seasons” – those few months before summer and during fall, when predicting the weather is a guess at best and harvest might be a gamble. For many of the state’s commercial vegetable growers, unpredictable weather during these months can damage produce and threaten a farmer’s seasonal income.
That’s when high tunnel greenhouses prove beneficial. The free-standing greenhouses have frames, ground posts and plastic walls that protect crops for early or late season production. High tunnels – which differ from traditional greenhouses by generally not having heat or supplemental lighting – extend the growing season for fruit and vegetable growers who sell produce at community farmers markets and to local restaurants who want farm-to-table ingredients.
Now, researchers at Montana State University plan to survey growers’ current use of high tunnels across the state of Montana. They will then use that data to recommend management practices and vegetable varieties that grow best in high tunnels during the early and late growing seasons in Montana. Called the Season Extension Research Program (or SERP), the project will be led by David Baumbauer, director of MSU’s Plant Growth Center and a graduate student in plant sciences and plant pathology, and Mac Burgess, assistant professor of plant sciences and plant pathology.
Baumbauer said there has been a dramatic increase in the popularity and use of high tunnels in the state’s commercial vegetable market. However, more information is needed in order to maximize the tunnels’ effectiveness.
“For how popular they have become, and how prevalent the local food movement continues to be, there isn’t much data on current use of high tunnel greenhouses – the main infrastructure that allows producers to grow more bounty during those volatile months that bookend the traditional growing season,” Baumbauer said.
One reason for the growth in high tunnel use is the popularity of the local food movement across the nation, Baumbauer said. As more and more communities look to build self-reliant food economies and connections between producers and consumers, there is increased demand for farm-to-table produce. That demand has encouraged producers to extend their growing season beyond traditional summer crops like tomatoes and cucumbers, to include cool-season crops like carrots, spinach, lettuce, beets and kale, which can potentially be grown during the shoulder seasons. Extending the growing season can allow farmers to grow more diverse crops, have a larger bounty and earn more income.
“The local food movement has created a demand for produce that didn’t exist 10 years ago,” Baumbauer said. “A lot of growers didn’t worry about season extension because they didn’t necessarily have a market for shoulder season produce. Now, most communities located near major markets are seeing a consistent demand from local restaurants and a handful of produce brokers who sell and deliver local produce to restaurants as far (away) as Yellowstone National Park.”
In order to understand the needs of Montana vegetable growers who use high tunnels during the shoulder seasons, Baumbauer and Burgess have developed a 30-question survey for Montana’s commercial growers. The survey asks growers how they measure soil fertility, manage weeds and insects, choose crop species and cultivars, as well as about their overall challenges and success in varying locations. The researchers’ goal, in a few years’ time, is to come up with management, timing and produce variety recommendations for Montana’s small-farm vegetable growers.
“Our goal in gathering data on farms using high tunnels is to eventually be able to offer Montana’s market gardeners the best tools for success in a market that’s seeing major growth,” Burgess said. “We want to find out which crops make the most sense to grow in the shoulder seasons and look at potential diverse production success for that two and half-month off-season production.”
Burgess said the SERP program will research varieties, timing and use of additional heat retention materials, such as row covers, for vegetables grown in high tunnels in the spring and fall shoulder seasons. The SERP project is funded by the Montana Agriculture Experiment Station, and through the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant - a federally funded program that benefits projects that enhance the competitiveness of Montana specialty crops. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, peas, lentils, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.
Farmers across Montana currently using high tunnels interested in sharing data for the SERP research project can email [email protected]. Participants will then be directed to the web survey.
In addition, farmers and other interested individuals who are interested in touring the Horticulture Farm at MSU and learning about its 10 high tunnels are invited to a public field day on Thursday, July 30, from 4-7 p.m. The day will include farm tours, high tunnel research tours, taste testing and informational talks on a variety of research projects. The farm is located off West Garfield Street in Bozeman.
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