Progress 09/15/02 to 09/14/05
Outputs
A Hydroponic Vegetable Program began in the spring of 1999 to foster hydroponic greenhouse vegetable businesses in Ohio by providing horticultural, marketing, business planning, and greenhouse design support. Grower support was provided by direct contact with individuals, seminars, tours, interactive Internet websites and a demonstration greenhouse at the Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio. A NW Ohio grower study group organized through the project met monthly to pursue production and marketing possibilities and to tour commercial sites in Ohio and Canada. In 2004, project personnel helped the growers form their own Great Lakes Hydroponic Association, which holds regular educational meetings and tours and administers the Nature's Flavors Produce TM brand, which project personnel also helped to develop. Thirty to sixty people per event have attended two-day How to Get Started in Greenhouse Food Production Seminars, Trade Shows, and Tours held eight different times
since inception of the project. Participants have come from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Colorado. Sessions have included business planning, produce marketing, greenhouse vegetable production systems, and greenhouse design. Tours and a trade show have complemented each program. Project engineers continued to revise the program's interactive website http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/hydroponics/tomatoes/ to support business planning and economic analysis for both tomato and lettuce production. Growers can enter growing parameters into the website and get immediate feedback about their horticultural and business planning decisions. A web-site tracker showed over 5000 worldwide users per year. Two commercial lettuce growers doubled their production area and one Ohio tomato grower expanded from a starter greenhouse to a one-acre state-of-art production facility as a result of the project activities in 2005. The one-acre, gutter
connected, poly roof greenhouse included a natural ventilation system designed by project personnel using a fluid dynamic model. The program expanded into floriculture by in 2005 by publishing a newsletter once a month. Personnel also collaborated with researchers at the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University to bring cluster-based economic development to the NW Ohio greenhouse industry.
Impacts
This work has increased the chance of success for new hydroponic vegetable and flower growers. Some have been small farm operators looking for alternatives to commodity crop production and others have been looking for new economic ventures in high tech agriculture.
Publications
|
Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
A Hydroponic Vegetable Program began in the spring of 1999 to foster hydroponic greenhouse vegetable businesses in Ohio by providing horticultural, marketing, business planning, and greenhouse design support. Grower support continues to be provided by direct contact with individuals, seminars, tours, interactive Internet websites and a demonstration greenhouse at the Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio. A NW Ohio grower study group organized through the project has met monthly to pursue production and marketing possibilities and to tour commercial sites in Ohio and Canada. In 2004, project personnel helped the growers form their own Great Lakes Hydroponic Association, which holds regular educational meetings and tours and administers the Nature's Flavors Produce TM brand, which project personnel also helped to develop. Project personnel organized and sponsored a 2 day Greenhouse Food Production Short Course at the annual Vegetable Growers Assn. Meeting & Trade Show,
Jan 22-23, Toledo, OH. Over 30 participants came from Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, and Pennsylvania and evaluations were very positive. Seminars included business planning, produce marketing, greenhouse lettuce and tomato production systems, and greenhouse designs. Project engineers continued to revise the program's interactive website http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/hydroponics/tomatoes/ to support business planning and economic analysis for both tomato and lettuce production. Growers can enter growing parameters into the website and get immediate feedback about their horticultural and business planning decisions. Two commercial lettuce growers doubled their production area and one Ohio tomato grower expanded from a starter greenhouse to a one-acre state-of-art production facility as a result of the project activities. The one-acre, gutter connected, poly roof greenhouse included a natural ventilation system designed by project personnel using a Computational Fluid Dynamic
model. Hydroponic production systems were improved at the Toledo Botanical Garden greenhouse for both demonstrations and research. The program expanded into floriculture by publishing a newsletter once a month for 120 northwest Ohio floriculture greenhouse businesses and professionals. Personnel also collaborated with researchers at the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University to bring cluster-based economic development to the northwest Ohio greenhouse industry. The interactive web-site tracker continued to show over 5000 worldwide users annually coming to the web site for the interactive programs and to search for publications and information related to hydroponic vegetable production and marketing.
Impacts
This work is increasing the chance of success for new hydroponic vegetable and flower growers. Some are small farm operators looking for alternatives to commodity crop production and others are looking for new economic ventures in high tech agriculture.
Publications
- Donnell, M.A. 2004. Staying Competitive in a Global Market. Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter climates: Production, Pest Management and Global Competition, Acta Hort 659: 41-45.
- Donnell, M.A. 2004. Branding from Concept to Sale. Greenhouse Management and Production. Vol. 24, No. 4: 28-33.
- Gordon, R.O. 2004. The Nuts and Bolts of the Business. American Vegetable Growers, Vol. 52, No. 52: 51-52.
|
Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
A Hydroponic Vegetable Program began in the spring of 1999 to foster hydroponic greenhouse vegetable businesses in Ohio by providing horticultural, marketing, business planning, and greenhouse design support. The support is provided by direct contact with individuals, seminars, tours, interactive Internet websites and a demonstration greenhouse at the Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio. A NW Ohio grower study group has met monthly to pursue production and marketing possibilities and to tour commercial sites in Ohio and Canada. Project personnel organized and sponsored a 2 day Greenhouse Food Production Short Course at the annual Vegetable Growers Assn. Meeting & Trade Show, Jan 16-17, Toledo, OH. Over 30 participants came from Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, and Pennsylvania and evaluations were very positive. Seminars included business planning, produce marketing, greenhouse lettuce production systems, and greenhouse designs. A $67,000 USDA/ODA Specialty Crop
Block grant was written, obtained, and completed in 2003 to develop a unifying brand for Ohio hydroponic producers called: Nature's Flavors Produce. Project personnel also helped form and give leadership to the Great Lakes Hydroponic Association. Project engineers revised the design and details of an interactive website, Decision Support for Growing High Quality, High Yield Hydroponic Tomatoes . Another website was further developed to support interactive, spreadsheet, business planning and economic analysis programs for both tomatoes and lettuce. Growers can enter growing parameters into the website and get immediate feedback about their horticultural and business planning decisions. The list of other Internet resources continued to grow and evolve. Tomato and lettuce hydroponic production systems were modified and improved at the Toledo Botanical Garden greenhouse for demonstrations to new and potential growers. The public was
encouraged to visit the greenhouse and observe the development of the crops. Volunteers were also trained to manage and evaluate the results. Two commercial hydroponic lettuce production enterprises doubled their production area and one Ohio tomato grower started planning a large production facility as a result of the project activities. The interactive web-site tracker showed over 5000 users from around the world using the interactive programs and searching for publications and information related to hydroponic vegetable production and marketing.
Impacts
This work is increasing the chance of success for new hydroponic vegetable and flower growers. Some are small farm operators looking for alternatives to commodity crop production and others are looking for new economic ventures in high tech agriculture.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
A Hydroponic Vegetable Program began in the spring of 1999 to foster hydroponic greenhouse vegetable businesses in Ohio by providing horticultural, marketing, business planning, and greenhouse design support. The support is provided by direct contact with individuals, seminars, tours, interactive Internet websites and a demonstration greenhouse at the Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio. A NW Ohio grower study group has met monthly to pursue production and marketing possibilities and tour commercial sites in Ohio and Canada. Project personnel organized and sponsored a 2 day Greenhouse Food Production Short Course at the annual Vegetable Growers Assn. Meeting & Trade Show, Feb 7-8, Toledo, OH. Over 50 participants came from Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Colorado and evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. Seminars included business planning, produce marketing, greenhouse lettuce production systems, and greenhouse designs. The next Greenhouse
Food Production seminar is being planned for January 2003 and will again combine business, marketing, horticulture, integrated pest management, and industry trade show. Project engineers revised the design of an interactive website, Decision Support for Growing High Quality, High Yield Hydroponic Tomatoes . Another website was developed to support interactive, spreadsheet, business planning economic analysis programs for both tomatoes and lettuce. Growers can enter their growing parameters into the website and get immediate feedback about their horticultural and business planning decisions. Internet addresses for hydroponic resources and business planning that were at the OSU/ABE Center web-site were combined with the hydroponic tomato site for one common Ohio site on hydroponics. The list of Internet resources continued to grow and evolve. Tomato and lettuce hydroponic production systems were modified and improved at the Toledo
Botanical Garden greenhouse for demonstrations to new and potential growers. Hydroponically grown orchids were added to the crops being displayed and evaluated for commercial feasibility. The public is encouraged to visit the greenhouse and observe the development of the plants. Volunteers are also trained to manage and evaluate the results. Three new commercial hydroponic lettuce production enterprises were started in Ohio as a result of the project activities in 2002 and a major Toledo grower began growing and marketing 36,000 hydroponic orchids in cooperation with a Taiwan orchid company. The interactive web-sites have been tracked to show that over 5000 users from around the world searched for the many existing publications and information related to hydroponic vegetable production and marketing.
Impacts
This work is increasing the chance of success for new hydroponic vegetable and flower growers. Some are small farm operators looking for alternatives to commodity crop production and others are looking for new economic ventures in high tech agriculture.
Publications
|
|