SCENIC VALLEY FARM LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.12

Description

Vertical growing systems allow high density crop production, which increases yields per square foot while conserving natural resources. They have traditionally been used in conjunction with hydroponic methods, which often diminish produce quality and restrict the number of growers who adapt the technology. We will research and develop soil based methods that increase plant densities compared to field cropping. The result will be a turnkey system that can be used by growers in the United States.The overall approach of the project is to compare traditional methods of high tunnel strawberry production in the region and hydroponic vertical methods in other regions to wholly novel vertical methods that use a soil based medium. A vertical soil based production system will allow locally grown strawberries to be available to both organic and conventional markets for seven months a year rather than one or two months.The primary goal of the project is to research methods that more than double berry yields while increasing berry size. We will attempt to grow strawberries in Wisconsin from mid-February to mid-December. In this climate, 240 of these 300 days are either too cold or too hot to produce a viable crop. The proposed research aims to reduce the number of suboptimal days to zero and to achieve this we need to simulate a milder climate.The project has three main research objectives in support the goal of more than doubling the yields:1. Increase yields by incorporating California growing methods, substrate modification and oxygenating the irrigation water.2. Cool the high tunnel and soil based medium with evaporated cooling, shade cloth, whitewash, geothermal, and solar thermal.3. Enlarge the berries during the hottest months of the summer.The anticipated commercial outcome of the research and development is a soil based vertical growing system that can be sold as a standalone product. The system will increase yields, improve quality, easily scale to various operational sizes, produce out of season strawberries, and provide high tunnel growers in the US with the knowledge and materials to adapt the technology for their own operation.