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khaleejtimes.com; by Silvia Radan; Deep in the Liwa desert, in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, the vegetable garden of Yafour Saeed Al Hameli is far from traditional. From the at least 800 farms dotted along the oasis’ 40 villages, he is among the first to switch to the hydroponics system.

“I switched to hydroponics because it uses less water and no soil is needed, which is perfect for our desert environment,” said Yafour.

The middle-aged man learnt the skill and imbibed the passion for agriculture from his father when he was just a boy. His father, though, was in camel racing business in al Ain, but in the early 90s the family sold the camels and returned to Liwa, where their ancestral lands were. Yafour received a small plot of land as a gift from his father, but he wanted something bigger to fit his ambitious agricultural plans, so he went to the municipality, where he exchanged his plot for a bigger and better one. He thus began growing crops in 1997.

“I work with the Farmers’ Services Centre, which has an office here in Tharwaniya village, and two years ago they began to talk about hydroponics. Six months later they sent a few of us to Australia to see the system for ourselves. When I came back I applied the system to my farm, which I also use now as a demonstration farm for all the other farmers here in the region.”

Hydroponics has been around since the 18th century, when scientists had discovered that plant roots don’t necessarily need soil to grow. All they need from soil is the minerals, which may be provided through nutrients dissolved in water, so this agricultural technique is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.

Abu Dhabi (Arabic), meaning Father of Deer, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had an estimated population of 896,800 in 2009. Abu Dhabi houses …

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ocala.com; By Susan Latham Carr; ecause American Fresh Farms’ hydroponic tomato-growing project has been delayed, the Ocala International Airport does not have the $2 million it needs to match a $2 million state grant to begin work on a new terminal this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

If American Fresh Farms is unable to secure financing for its project, the city likely will have to look for a public/private partner to build a new terminal.

When the city of Ocala agreed in June 2011 to provide $1 million in cash and 135 acres of land at the airport to American Fresh Farms to build two glasshouses in which to grow hydroponic tomatoes, the plan was for the city to pay the airport $2 million for the land.

The city was required to pay the airport for the land in order to receive Federal Aviation Administration approval for the tomato growing project to be built at the airport.

Once the city bought the land, it was to lease it to American Fresh Farms for $1 a year. The city would retain ownership of the land until it receives 100 percent of its return on investment by way of taxes and electric usage. When the city recouped its investment, it would sell the land to American Fresh Farms for $1.

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VERMONT, USA; According to an article published by Andrea Suozzo in addisonindependent.com, greenhouse growers are hard at work planting tomatoes, watering seedlings in the greenhouse and painting tables in preparation for the upcoming summer season.

Rankine, 48, comes to Norris Berry Farm from his home in Jamaica for six months each year through the federal H2A guest worker program, arriving in mid-April and staying until the end of the season in the fall.

“He’s been here since I started (using the H2A program) in 1999 — he knows the whole farm,” said Norris, who usually hires between one and two H2A employees each year. “Jamaican help is really the backbone of the farm.”

But Norris agrees with others who use the program: In recent years, it’s become increasingly problematic for employers to navigate the federal requirements for entry into the H2A program.

“It’s become more difficult, with all of the regulations,” said Norris.

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GREENHOUSE GROWER CLASSIFIEDS

Miss Vermont USA 2011

The story states that greenhouses have been able to rely on seasonal workers from Mexico and the Caribbean to fill positions for decades, but has become more difficult as greenhouses expand.

St. Clair College is developing a training program for greenhouse technicians, but its training facility is in need of an update. According to an article published in The Windsor Star, greenhouses in the Leamington, Ontario area are in desperate need for skilled workers. The article reports that companies are searching for expert growers, as well as computer technicians, marketing personnel and tradespersons. Some companies have had to recruit as far as the Netherlands and Israel.

The story states that greenhouses have been able to rely on seasonal workers from Mexico and the Caribbean to fill positions for decades, but has become more difficult as greenhouses expand.

St. Clair College is developing a training program for greenhouse technicians, but its training facility is in need of an update. According to an article published in The Windsor Star, greenhouses in the Leamington, Ontario area are in desperate need for skilled workers. The article reports that companies are searching for expert growers, as well as computer technicians, marketing personnel and tradespersons. Some companies have had to recruit as far as the Netherlands and Israel.

The story states that greenhouses have been able to rely on seasonal workers from Mexico and the Caribbean to fill positions for decades, but has become more difficult as greenhouses expand.

St. Clair College is developing a training program for greenhouse technicians, but its training facility is in need of an update.

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battlecreekenquirer.com; Written by Barrett Newkirk;COLDWATER — Farm labor advocacy groups are questioning why an indoor tomato-growing operation is hiring more than 50 temporary foreign workers.

In a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor, Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan and Farmworker Justice in Washington, D.C., called for an investigation into whether Maroa Farms ignored domestic hiring prospects in order to bring 54 foreign laborers to its new hydroponic tomato operation in Branch County.

Maroa, a division of the Ontario company Mastronardi Produce, purchased land from the city of Coldwater in 2011 to construct a $25 million greenhouse operation. The company reportedly received breaks on taxes and utilities and promised to hire more than 100 people for the growing operation that opened late last year.

Tom Thornburg, managing attorney for Farmworker Legal Services in Kalamazoo, said it doesn’t make sense for a year-round operation to hire a large seasonal workforce. He said there’s also evidence that Maroa didn’t first seek out domestic workers, as required by the Department of Labor, and that domestic workers were fired to make room for foreign laborers.

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First Quarter 2012 Operating Results Summary:
(Note amounts in U.S. dollars)

Revenues decreased 13% to $28.2 million for the first quarter of 2012 compared to $32.3 million for the first quarter of 2011;
Earnings (loss) per share of ($0.02) for the first quarter of 2012 versus $0.12 for the first quarter of 2011;

Net income (loss) decreased to ($0.7) million in the first quarter of 2012 versus $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2011;
EBITDA decreased 39% to $3.0 million in the first quarter of 2012 compared to $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Michael DeGiglio, Chief Executive Officer, stated “Pricing in our core tomato varieties continues to remain challenging and since mid-March is substantially below our budget and prior year. This is directly due to continued oversupply from Mexico coupled with flat demand in both the USA and Canada. The flooding of the market by growers and importers, at pricing at or below cost of production, borders on, in my opinion, “dumping” and is negatively affecting the entire industry.

We continue to aggressively implement our strategy to combat this pricing pressure. This includes internal changes in variety assortment, customer collaboration and working directly with Federal and State Governments to combat imported imposter products, mislabelled as greenhouse grown.

Mr. DeGiglio added “We remain pleased with the performance of our new GATES® technology in Monahans although labor availability remains a challenge. However, the Company is making progress with both short and long term solutions.”

Operational Summary for the Quarter:

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greenhousecanada.com; Three years ago, the Syndicat des producteurs en serre du Québec (the provincial greenhouse growers’ union) chose ‘Les Serres Verrier’ farm in Saint-Joachim-de-Courval for the installation of the heating system.

At ‘Les Serres Verrier,’ Luc Verrier grows tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce year-round in 12 greenhouses (totalling 2500 m2), and sells his harvest to local supermarkets.

The biomass heating project is part of Vitrine biomasse (Biomass Showcase), an initiative with the goal of documenting and evaluating a demonstration wood biomass farm-heating system.

Vitrine biomasse is a partnership that involves the Syndicat des producteurs en serre, the Quebec ministry of Agriculture (MAPAQ), the Bureau de l’efficacité et de l’innovation énergétiques (the provincial energy efficiency agency), the Centre d’information et de développement expérimental en serriculture (a greenhouse research centre), grower Luc Verrier and forestry engineering firm Jean Gobeil & Associés Inc.
Forestry engineer Jean Gobeil managed the project.

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fruitvegtechxchange.com; St. Williams, ON; Will the new Robot Farmers being launched this July, at the 2nd annual Canada’s Fruit & Veg Tech X-Change, become the future of farming? That is the question!

Iowa based engineer, David Dorhout believes the Robotic Farmers he invented can help the modern farmer more efficiently produce food. Dorhout states, “The passion and determination of farmers drives them to efficiently produce the best product while running a profitable business. This has led them to become early adopters of new technology. Robotics gives farmers the opportunity to free themselves from operating their equipment and concentrate on the business and science of farming.”

Increasing labour costs, new stringent health and safety regulations plus the increase of average farm size, are all factors that will measure the practicality and economics for early adopter producers.

Dorhout suggests, “Agriculture has been at the forefront of innovation and demand has led to better efficiencies. I think robotic support will become mainstream, starting in the high value horticulture sector”.

“We are thrilled that Dorhout R&D has chosen Canada and our event for this global launch”, says event GM and Founder Jordon Underhill. “The technology is staggering and is designed to work with a farmer, not replace a farmer”. “You cannot replace the chemical make-up of passion and determination that a human farmer exerts”, says Underhill.

Dorhout R&D will be showing off their field and row crop concept Robotic Farmer – “Prospero”.

This spider like robot is the working prototype of an Autonomous Micro Planter (AMP) that uses a combination of swarm and game theory. It is meant to be deployed as a group or “swarm”.

Dorhout says, “Prospero will eventually have the ability to plant, tend and harvest – autonomously transitioning from one phase to another”.

This might not be so far off when you consider that robots are now milking, feeding and cleaning dairy operations around the world. The first milking robot in North America was installed in Ontario in 1999 and just 12 years later they are mainstream with thousands in operation.

Thus the question, “Can robotics work on-farm?” has been more than adequately answered if the economics support it.

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Under rules proposed Wednesday by state regulators, the Canadian province of Quebec will link its cap-and-trade system to California’s in November. The joint market will allow businesses in both California and Quebec to trade permits to emit the greenhouse gases behind global warming.

California officials who have spent years developing a carbon market have always hoped to include other states and provinces. But most of California’s potential partners have either dropped the idea or dragged their feet. And hopes of a national cap-and-trade system faded after climate-change legislation died in Congress in 2010.

‘Significant advance’

“Linking with Quebec is a significant advance in California’s efforts to fight climate change and steer our economy toward a clean energy future,” said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. “Linking provides more options to California businesses and lays the groundwork for other partners to join with us.”

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The increase was mostly the result of a 5.5 per cent gain in sales of greenhouse vegetables and fruits, which reached $1.1 billion.

Canada had 3,220 greenhouse operations in 2011, down from 3,285 in 2010. However, the total greenhouse area increased from 22.5 million square metres to nearly 23.0 million square metres. Most of this expansion was in greenhouse vegetable production.

For a fifth consecutive year, the value of greenhouse vegetable sales exceeded sales of field vegetables.

• Sales of tomatoes, the most valuable crop, rose 4.0 per cent to $496 million.
• Sales of peppers increased 7.7 per cent to $300 million.
• Cucumber sales were up 5.3 per cent to $279 million.

Growers in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec accounted for 95.6 per cent of greenhouse vegetable and fruit sales in 2011. Ontario alone represented 63.3 per cent.

Sales and resales of greenhouse flowers and plants fell 0.1 per cent to $1.4 billion. The main factor was a drop in ornamental bedding plants sales for transplanting (-12.8 per cent). Floriculture represented 55.1 per cent of total greenhouse product sales in 2011.

The expansion of total greenhouse area was accompanied by a 0.3 per cent increase in total operating expenses.

Labour costs rose 3.0 per cent to $616 million, which accounted for 29.2 per cent of total expenses.

The total number of seasonal and permanent greenhouse workers fell 2.2 per cent to 36,110.

NURSERY SECTOR SALES DOWN

On the nursery side, sales of nursery products declined 2.0 per cent to $632 million. Total area decreased 1.6 per cent to 19,463 hectares. Costs for nursery operators increased 0.7 per cent to $582 million in 2011, of which labour accounted for almost 40 per cent.

Nurseries employed 13,945 people, nearly 70 per cent of whom were seasonal employees.