Why Lettuce Greenhouse Sector's Growth Is Focused In The U.S.

By Peter Tasgal

August 10, 2021

Greenhouses for lettuce and leafy greens are being built at a rapid pace across the U.S. In contrast, in neighboring Mexico there is no similar greenhouse production and in Canada there is very little — the primary exception being 11-acre Whole Leaf Farms located in Coaldale, Alberta. 

Based on my research, the primary driver for this U.S. phenomenon is investor comfort in making U.S.-based investments in leafy greens greenhouses, which are more expensive to build compared to tomato, cucumber and pepper greenhouses. 

For example, AppHarvest’s latest tomato greenhouse is expected to be 63 acres and valued at $139 million — just over $50 per square foot. In contrast, Bright Farms’ 280,000-square-foot leafy greens greenhouse in North Carolina cost $21 million, or $75 per square foot. Gotham Greens built a 100,000-square-foot leafy greens greenhouse in Providence, Rhode Island, that cost $12.2 million, or $122 per square foot. 

In addition to investor interest in the U.S. market, other potential factors affecting this phenomenon include:

• Temperature variance;

• Pricing certainty;

• Equilibrium capital leading the charge; and

• Generational knowledge in Canada.

Temperature variance

Lettuce and leafy greens perform best at cooler temperatures, up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, in comparison, grow best at temperatures in excess of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. 

As the U.S. has a more moderate climate than either Canada or Mexico, a band of greenhouses across the U.S. takes advantage of the more temperate climate. Historically, leafy greens greenhouses have been built in the middle and upper sections of the U.S. However, boundaries have moved. Revol Greens, for example, has a 10-acre greenhouse in Minnesota and is expected to build a 20-acre greenhouse in Austin, Texas, to be completed in 2022. 
 
Historically it has been more costly to keep a greenhouse cool rather than to heat it. However, alternative sources of energy and energy pricing incentives in parts of the southern U.S. have made it increasingly cost competitive to build greenhouses in this area. 

Pricing certainty

The cost to build a leafy greens greenhouse is more than a tomato, pepper or cucumber greenhouse on a per square foot basis and on a per pound basis. As a reference, the cost of AppHarvest’s tomato greenhouse is approximately $3 per one year’s production of pounds of tomatoes. In comparison, Bright Farms’ recent leafy greens greenhouse is over $10 per one year’s production of pounds of lettuce and leafy greens. 

This large cost structure variance requires greenhouse-grown lettuce to be priced at a premium. In contrast, greenhouse-grown tomatoes can and are priced directly with field-grown tomatoes. In the U.S. today, greenhouse-grown tomatoes make up the majority of fresh tomato sales. 

The risk for an investor in a premium product is demand fluctuation. Economic and other market conditions will have a greater effect on premium product demand compared to product with more commodity-like traits.

Equilibrium Capital leading the charge

Equilibrium Capital is a leading investor in the North American controlled environment agriculture sector. It closed its second fund (CEFF II) this past month, with a capacity of $1.022 billion. Its first fund, CEFF I, had a capacity of $336 million. Recent investments made by Equilibrium include:

• AppHarvest: $91 million non-dilutive investment to support the building of its second tomato greenhouse in Kentucky.

• FINKA: Expansion capital for the Mexican greenhouse company, which operates tomato, pepper and cucumber greenhouses, the product of which is primarily sold into the U.S. and Canada. This was Equilibrium’s first investment outside of the U.S.

• Little Leaf Farms: $90 million of debt and equity financing for the company, which is currently building a lettuce and leafy greens facility in Pennsylvania and is expected to follow with a facility in North Carolina.

• Revol Greens: $110 million of debt and equity capital to support its building of a large lettuce and leafy greens greenhouse in Texas.

FINKA is Equilibrium’s only investment outside of the U.S. to-date. 

Generational knowledge in Canada

According to the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers’ website, the organization formed in 1967 has “220 members who grow greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers on over 3,000 acres.” 

Two of the largest growers in Canada, Mastronardi Produce and Mucci Farms, have invested primarily in building their current greenhouses. To the extent each has branched out, it has been primarily to berries and eggplants. Mastronardi and Mucci have little to no owned lettuce and leafy greens production across North America. 

Of note, in 2019 AppHarvest entered into a Purchase and Marketing Agreement with Mastronardi, under which “Mastronardi will be the sole and exclusive marketer and distributor of all tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, berries and leafy greens” at its Morehead, Ky., facility (currently producing only tomatoes). 

Per the 10-year agreement, Mastronardi has a right of first refusal for any additional facilities established in Kentucky or West Virginia. The take-away is Mastronardi is willing to distribute and market greenhouse-grown leafy greens, venturing a reputational risk, but has not yet chosen the investment risk of operating its own greenhouses.

Speaking to the OGVG, most greenhouse operators in Ontario have chosen to put their resources into products they already know. When asked specifically about lettuce and leafy greens, OGVG said the cost to build this type of greenhouse is very expensive per unit of output.  

Recap

Some of the most seasoned greenhouse operators in North America are growing a range of produce types in the Ontario, Canada, area largely focused on tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

Each of these products grows best at higher temperatures than lettuce and leafy greens. Canadian operators who have been in the business for generations are potentially willing to distribute and market leafy greens, yet they have not been willing to make significant investments in the area. 

While leafy greens were once only grown in the Northern parts of the U.S., Revol Greens, backed by Equilibrium Capital, is building one of the largest greenhouses in Texas. Equilibrium Capital, the “smart money,” has only invested in U.S. CEA companies to-date. The exception is FINKA, which operates in Mexico but sells exclusively to the U.S. and Canada. 

Based on my research, until lettuce and leafy greens greenhouse production can be priced competitively with field-grown product, it will continue to be a U.S. phenomenon. At least until that time, Canadian and Mexican operators will leave greenhouse lettuce and leafy greens production to U.S. operators. 

Peter Tasgal is a Boston-area food agriculture consultant focused on controlled environment agriculture. 

USA - SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - Pure Green Farms Launches New Website

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February 15th, 2021

by Peggy Packer     

SOUTH BEND, IN - The internet has surely become one of the most powerful tools shoppers are using these days to stay up to date on all the new ingredients that could be making their way to their kitchens. On the heels of a recent announcement to expand its offerings, Pure Green Farms has announced the launch of a new website, just in time for the rollout of four new SKUs set to hit retailers this March.

Joe McGuire, Chief Executive Officer, Pure Green Farms“We’re excited to be getting closer to our products being in stores and look forward to the future of our growth,” said CEO Joe McGuire. “We’ve got an excellent production team and have worked hard to get ready for our official release date. The launch of the website is just one of the important steps in getting ready for next month.”

The new website highlights the advanced technology and growing practices used at Pure Green’s hydroponic indoor farm, as well as the products that will be available, according to a press release.

Just in time for the rollout of four new SKUs, Pure Green Farms has announced the launch of a new website

The announcement of the new website falls in line with Pure Green Farms’ recent expansion plan, as the company announced back in December that it would be entering the leafy greens sector. Optimizing its state-of-the-art technology, including automatic seeding, harvesting, and packing technology, the brand will make its debut in the sector with the launch of four lettuce varieties.

AndNowUKnow will continue to report on all the latest news in the fresh produce industry.

Pure Green Farms

Increasing Lettuce Leaves' Fresh Weight by Light Treatments

While red light is widely considered the visible spectral region with higher effects on photosynthesis, the amount of blue required for different species is an ongoing question. Italian researchers dove into the matter and trialed three spectra to see what the effects would be on the crop and what the potential is for growing vegetables at your house. 

By Mattia Accorsi PhD (1); Federico Carotenuto PhD (2)

1) Biologist2) Researcher CNR IBIMET Florence

Light-spectrum manipulation

The research deepen the enhancement of the nutraceutical components in indoor primary production through only the light-spectrum manipulation. To achieve the experimental results was built, in collaboration with the Department of Agronomical Sciences (University of Bologna), an integrated and automated indoor prototypal growing system. In the prototype different state-of-the-art LED lighting lamps prepared ad hoc by C-LED (www.c-led.it) are compared in order to pinpoint the best spectral characteristics for food production as well as the most energy-efficient solution.

Material and methods: Sampling Location, hydroponic system, and plant material

Indoor growing system was divided into three sectors separated by a non-reflective opaque membrane. Each sector held two draining trays with 8 pots each containing a 50:50 perlite-vermiculite growing medium. The automated irrigation system dispensed 30” of irrigation each three hours from 6:00 to 22:00 (local time) and again at 2 am. A 200 liters tank, refilled weekly, was used as the water reservoir. To the irrigation water were added a series of nutrients. Room temperature was regulated at 18 ± 2 °C between 8 am and 20 pm, and at 16 ± 2°C between 20 pm and 8 am, by the building HVAC system. Each sector (i.e.: each of the three columns with three shelves each) had a specific light spectrum supplied by different LED lamps. Each shelf (i.e.: each row of the scaffolding) contained one of the three varieties of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.): var. Maravilla de Verano, var. Lollo Rosso, and var. Crispa. In this way, each variety was illuminated by the three different spectra, therefore generating nine combinations between variety and lightning.

Agronomical and morphological determination

Determinations on the number of leaves, LAI, and growth rate were conducted weekly for the entire duration of the plants’ growth since the transplanting (Zink and Yamaguchi, 1962). Plants’ biomass in fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) production were analyzed at harvesting time. Values of electroconductivity (EC) and pH of water tank and drainage was checked three times per week with a conductometer model Basic 30 (Crison instrument, Barcelona, Spain). The content of nitrogen in the leaf tissues was measured weekly utilizing a Yara N-Tester (Oslo, Norway), taking thirty measurement per plant. Vegetables’ yield was related to the lamps’ energetic consumption in order to evaluate the energy use efficiency (EUE) and expressed as g kW-1.

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Figure: Morphology of three lettuce varieties (Meravilla de Verano, Crispa and Lollo Rosso), treated with three light spectra at 200 PPFD. Picture acquired at harvesting time (30 DAT). Effects on color intensity (green index) and pigment composition will be deepen in next article.

Biochemical determination

At harvesting time, 30 days after transplanting, a portion of leaf tissues of different theses were collected and stored in polyethylene bags at -20°C until processed. Extraction and quantification of total phenolic and flavonoid contents was conducted as described in Piovene et al. (2014). Antioxidant capacity was determined with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method as described by Floegel et al. (2011), in order to evaluate the additive and synergistic effects of all antioxidants rather than the effects of single compounds (Brighenti et al., 2005; Puchau et al., 2009).

In all lettuce varieties, leaves’ fresh weight was significantly increased by light treatments. Thesis A (110±34g) and C (112±42g) determined a better production in respect to B (90±34g) as shown in figure. Between three lettuce varieties, at 30 days after transplanting (DAT), Meravilla de Verano showed the highest fresh biomass production with 135±28 grams per plant while Crispa and Lollo Rosso varieties had a production of 104±31g and 72±25g respectively. Dry: Fresh biomass ratio (DFr) revealed opposite trend with respect to total fresh food production: treatment B showed higher DFr with values of 1.34±0.15. These values were significantly different in respect to A (1.25±0.12 ) and C (1.10±0.98).

Discussion: Light characteristics and physiological implications

An increasing interest in indoor growing within the urban area is reflected in a multiplication of commercial solutions making use of soilless systems and precision agriculture techniques (Massa et al., 2008; Poulet et al., 2014; Specht et al., 2014). Differently to artificial lighting technologies such as HPS and fluorescent lamps, LED lighting allows a concrete energy saving and to choose the light spectrum for specific purposes (Ilieva et al., 2010). Continuous advancements in LED technology, allow in-depth research on physiology and biochemistry of plants, two-sector of botany strictly correlated with the quality and quantity of the incident light (Horton, 2000; Poulet et al., 2014).

While red light is widely considered the visible spectral region with higher effects on photosynthesis, the amount of blue required for different species is an ongoing question. Red wavelengths (600-700nm) contain the peak absorption of chlorophyll around 660nm (Massa, 2008). Photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) intercept photons respectively around 650nm (PSII) and 700nm (PSI) (Schopfer and Brennicke, 2010). Blue wavelengths (400-500nm) revealed a variety of important morphological (Blaaw and Blaauw-Jansen, 1970; Cosgrove, 1981), and physiological (Schwartz and Zeiger, 1984; Kinoshita et al., 2001; Horrer 2016; Wang et al., 2016) effects.

In this project, all three light spectra integrate a low percentage (8-19%) of green light. These wavelengths were added to continue the work of Piovene (2015) that identified a specific combination of BRr and green for stimulation of biomass production and nutraceutical characteristics. Other works in literature in mentioned green wavelengths for positive effects towards functional compounds content (Samuolienė et al., 2012) and physiological response to photosynthetic light (Kim et al., 2005; Johkan et al., 2012).

How light spectra influenced food production

This study did not identify the correlation between the percentage of green light and biomass production or nutraceutical characteristics (statistical data not shown) contrary to what stated by the work of Kim et al. (2005) who found positive influence in biomass production with the addition of 24% of green light. Anyway, green light, especially if added to the only red and blue LED, completes the visible spectrum and hence helped in the aesthetic presentation of the plants which appeared less purplish-gray and more natural. Therefore, the latter effect of green light within a growing spectrum, would help in better fitting the plant in the indoor living environment for human purposes and ease the identification of disease onset (Massa et al., 2008).

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Figure: Study of LED C-LED lamps in collaboration with an italian university. Range of PAR, UV and Far-red are deeply analizyed in product prototyping process.

The food production has shown significant differences between lettuce varieties and light spectra. Taking into consideration only the lettuce varieties, Meravilla de Verano showed the best yield in respect to Crispa and Lollo Rosso. Light spectra, on the other hand, confirmed that the optimal ratio between red and blue has great relevance in influencing crop yield. While a certain quantity of blue light is necessary for a proper physiological balance (Yoro et al., 2001), this study showed that lower BRr has a positive influence on food productivity across lettuce varieties in accordance with previous researches (Wang et al., 2016). In general, it seems that the optimal BRr is somewhat species-specific since, for example, leafy aromatic vegetables showed better biomass production with a higher percentage of blue wavelengths (Piovene et al., 2015; Abiusi et al., 2013). On the other hand, strawberry showed an improvement of vegetative growth when the red percentage was higher than blue, although compensated by a background white light (Samuoliené et al., 2010)

In fact, many researches points out how plants require a complex spectrum that may include green: this parameter increase the difficulty to choose the “correct” light recipe, considering a number of factors such as specific species-varieties- phonological stage requirements (Wang et al., 2016; Kim et al., 2005). 

Nutraceutical implications

Different studies described how BRr influences nutraceutical properties in vegetables grown in indoor condition (Bantis et al., 2015; Piovene et al., 2015). Correlation between polyphenols and flavonoids content with antioxidant capacities has been documented (Dudonne´ et al., 2009; Samaniego Sanchez et al., 2007; Puchau et al., 2009). Polyphenols have an important antioxidant capacity determined by their ability to act as radical scavengers (Carter et al., 2006; Fardet, 2010). In nature, polyphenols are generally accumulated in plant tissues as response to external factors (Loaiza-Velarde et al., 1997). In indoor controlled growing system water, nutrition and microclimate are generally optimized: a particular light spectrum may therefore improve nutraceutical properties through photochemical induction and may, therefore, have a dramatic importance for human nutrition.

The three-light theses tested in this project revealed significant effects on the functional compounds such as phenolics and flavonoids, as well as the antioxidant activity. These data confirm previous works conducted with LED light manipulation (Piovene et at., 2015). In this work, antioxidant activity showed), an attitude of blue light to improve the antioxidant properties of lettuce (Figure 8) with a good correlation coefficient (R2=0.776). This is in accordance with previous researches that correlated the amount of flavonoids and antioxidant activity with blue light stimulation (Ebisawa et al., 2008; Kojima et al., 2010; Ouzounis et al., 2016). Blue light revealed also to be effective in increasing chlorogenic acid (Awada et al., 2001), that has higher antioxidant activity than carotenoids and tocopherols (Rice-Evans et al., 1997).

Fresh food possesses significant amounts of antioxidant and, due to its regular consumption, highly contributes in providing dietary antiradical protection (Deng et al., 2013; Harasym and Oledzki, 2014). Generally, fresh fruits have higher level of total polyphenols, total flavonoids and antioxidant capacity than vegetables (Chun et al., 2005) but, due to the higher consumption of vegetable the antioxidant uptake may be much lower. In epidemiologic studies (Chun et al., 2005) the daily nutraceutical uptake may be estimated at 129mg for TPC and 17mg for TFC.

The indoor experimental structure tested in this study guaranteed a certain TPC and TFC production. Considering the average consumption of 0.27 Kg d-1 person-1 (Leclercq et al., 2009; USP-BO 2013) is possible assert that indoor soilless system lighted with all LED spectrum allowed an average uptake of 6% of TPC and 6.2% of TFC.

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Figure: Fresh weight of yield (g plant-1) correlated with Blue:Red ratio highlighted with empty circles (○); Antioxidant activity (DPPH) correlated with Blue:Red ratio highlighted with full circles (●).

Read more on the indoor food production sustainability and the conclusion of the research here. 

Lead photo: Figure: Experimental vertical farming system realized in C-LED headquarters. Lettuce varieties at 30 DAT (harvesting time). From right to left: spectra thesis A, B and C. From top to bottom lettuce varieties: Lollo Rosso, Meravilla de Verano and Crispa

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27 Oct 2020

­Living Lettuce, Vertical Gardening: This Startup Is Using AI For Organic Farming

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13/10/2020

SRISHTI DEORAS

Srishti currently works as Associate Editor at Analytics India Magazine.…

The interest and popularity of organic and sustainable farming are increasing drastically. While the consumers are often skeptical about the food products that they consume, Dubai and New Delhi-based Barton Breeze is growing safe, delicious, and healthy food while relying on analytics and AI. It offers top-quality products that are grown locally in nutrient-rich water without pesticides. The crops are harvested weekly and delivered to sales outlets within a couple of hours. 

Following the principle of ‘living lettuce’, it follows a method where roots are left intact, which makes it last longer. The startup also follows vertical gardening where it uses vertically stacked growing beds, up to five levels high using less than 1% of the space required by the conventional growing, a precious commodity in densely populated urban areas.

Analytics India Magazine got in touch with Shivendra Singh, founder and CEO of Barton Breeze, who believes that in the future the vegetable greens will likely come from the building next to you.

The Journey

After graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, Singh started working on a pilot project around hydroponics and set up two container farms in Dubai. “During this time I thought, a country like India with profound climate changes needs this technology more than anyone else,” he says. 

Soon after, Barton Breeze was established in 2015 in Dubai, UAE, with a mission for technology innovation in agriculture. As Singh recalls, the journey initially was challenging and well expected, but with the right vision, it became unstoppable. In addition to the lack of proper information, availability of funds, market volatility, the task to create consumer confidence was critical. Another challenge was that hydroponics was a new technology to adapt, and the existing unprofessional quality and high prices made it difficult to find the right customer in the market. 

Overcoming these challenges, Barton Breeze is now the market leader in the sector and has expanded operations to India. 

Data Science And AI Is At The Core

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Barton Breeze team includes experts from deep data science to engineering, and from marketing to producing. “When we started, people had no idea about this new technology. And whatever talent was available, they had to unlearn. Training and building our staff from the ground up, we are now a team of six core members, supported by 25 field farms,” added Singh. 

Explaining how Barton Breeze uses analytics and AI to increase the farm produce, Singh shares the areas as below: 

• Smart Farms: Each smart farm is backed with the expertise of the chief technology officer, a dedicated R&D team, plant scientists, microbiologists, mechanical engineers, and design engineers.

• Cloud Architecture and Data Center: Barton Breeze collects hundreds of data points at each of its farms to its data center, which allows it to quickly alter its indoor precision control for taste, texture, color, and nutrition. It also helps in adjusting variables like temperature and humidity to optimize its crop yields. Barton also collects all yield and harvest data into the cloud to calculate sales projections and market trends.

• Using Artificial Intelligence and IoT (Internet of things): Barton uses software with a device clipped on the stems and leaves of each plant. It informs the nutrients or mineral needs of the plants. 

Highlighting other venues where AI is used, Singh shares that they have perfected their algorithm for optimal taste, texture, color, and nutrition so one can taste the science of flavor in every delicious bite of leafy greens. “We do this by leveraging plant science, engineering, and lighting to optimize our plants while also using 85% less water, 5x productivity, and zero pesticides,” he added. 

He further shares that Barton Breeze carefully monitors the health and quality of plants daily to optimize taste, texture, color, nutrition, and yield to deliver a better product using AI. “Barton’s growing techniques can be highly customized,” he said. 

The startup has also developed iFarm, a cloud-based data and farm output AI software. It allows the clients to get all their farm and production details on the cloud at home or office. “Our farm dashboard and IoT uses artificial intelligence and data analytics to measure important indicators that help in food/crop planning and hence help connect in the food security ecosystem,” he said. 

Some areas where AI and IoT are used at Barton:

1. SMS alert system 

2. Data logging facility

3. Online monitoring and control

4. Sensor-based control system

5. Environment management system

6. Water temperature management

7. Sunlight monitoring system

8. Crop management system

9. Farm system efficiency dashboard

10. Nutrition management system

Barton team includes members with deep expertise in science, engineering, technology, food safety, crop physiology, microbiology, and more to help deliver rapidly deployable and scalable solutions.

“Being first and one of a kind in the segment of agri-tech, we at Barton Breeze are trying to create and promote healthy lifestyle’ To achieve it, we are working into the whole ecosystem in the form of B-FRESH, B-FARM and B-HOME,” shares Singh. 

Growth Story

With experienced and known names in the team, Barton Breeze has increased team members, post-COVID to increase the outreach. “Currently we are in 10 states, and Barton Breeze is planning to enter five more states in the next couple of months,” shared Singh. The startup takes pride in increased customer query by 200% and increased consumer awareness by 10X post COVID. 

Singh further shares that there has been an increase in the interest level from angel investors and venture capitals for Barton Breeze with VC calls gone up by 150%. The startup is closing 1.5 million USD funding within this year. 

“Our goal is to achieve 360-ton produce marketing per year by the end of March 2021 while adding 25 more clients. We are targeting 50 crores revenue @CAGR 800%. We would also be coming up with ten new commercialized farms apart from doing R&D on 50 crop varieties,” concluded Singh on an ambitious note.

SRISHTI DEORAS   

Srishti currently works as Associate Editor at Analytics India Magazine. When not covering the analytics news, editing, and writing articles, she could be found reading or capturing thoughts into pictures.

California Fires: “I’m Not Sure Growers Can Prepare For Something Like This”

Falling Ash Has Blanketed Most of The Salinas Valley

California’s wildfires continue to press on as growers in the region watch and try to assess potential damage.

As of Sunday evening, the state has seen more than 560 fires, two of which are being called the largest in the state’s history according to California Governor Gavin Newsom. The fires have burned more than 1,205 square miles across California.

“The immediate effects have been poor air quality due to smoke and falling ash that has blanketed most of the Salinas Valley and all the crops that grow here,” says John Galvez of Salinas, CA-based Markon. “The smoke makes an already challenging job more difficult for farmworkers, and although grower/shippers are adjusting production hours to minimize exposure, they may be forced to curtail production if conditions become too hazardous.”

Ash covers a farm worker's gloves. Photo: Markon Cooperative

“Ash is everywhere”
He adds that the ash is everywhere and impossible to remove completely. “Leaf lettuce crops that grow open have more substantial amounts that get trapped in between the leaves. It is expected that most field-packed crops will have some ash on them and require thorough rinsing,” says Galvez.

As Galvez says, while wildfires have impacted the Salinas Valley before, this River fire is the closest they’ve seen in proximity to farmland and may end up having the most impact compared to events of the past. “I’m not sure there’s anything growers can do to prepare for something like this,” he says. “But as these events unfold, communication to customers is critical to understand the challenges and how the supply and quality of fresh produce may be affected.”

Over at G.W. Palmer & Co. Inc. in Salinas, CA, Steve Johnston says he hasn’t yet heard of any crops that have been damaged and nor have there been any customer complaints over product that has gone out in the last week. (The situation has been building up following the first lightning strikes that began a week ago Sunday.) “I just don’t know how the poor workers were able to handle it. They had the masks on to help them so that’s a good thing. But the heat and the ash and the air quality have been unbelievable,” says Johnston.

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Ash lands on field-packed lettuce. Photo: Markon Cooperative

Smoke and heat
He adds that while the heat is an issue, the smoke has actually helped somewhat. “The smoke has kept down the temperatures. It could have been a lot warmer had it not been for all the smoke in the sky,” says Johnston.

So for now, growers will continue to watch and wait. As Jeannie Smith of E Foods notes, fire firefighters in the region are acutely aware of stopping the fires prior to hitting the fields. “They know the financial damage a fire-ravaged field would cost. Not only the loss of product but the loss of jobs,” says Smith, noting that this is another challenge on top of COVID-19 related circumstances. “The fire crews are literally moving mountains to protect life and property,” adds Galvez.

That said, the impact could be wide. “Many people who work in the agriculture community live in the neighborhoods with evacuation orders or warnings so there probably isn’t a produce company in the area that hasn’t had at least a couple of people directly impacted,” says Galvez. “It’s made for an extremely stressful and disruptive week.”

For more information:
John Galvez
Markon
Tel: +1 (831) 757-9737
johng@markon.com
www.markon.com

Steve Johnston
G.W. Palmer & Co., Inc.
Tel: +1 (831) 753-6578
sjohnston@gwpalmer.net 
http://www.gwpalmer.net/

Jeannie Smith
E Foods
Tel : +1 (407) 830-9498
jsmith@efoodsinc.com
http://efoodsinc.com/

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Publication date: Mon 24 Aug 2020
Author: Astrid Van Den Broek
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