A few months ago I posted a blog entitled What Can I Grow in a Greenhouse? This has been reposted several times on LinkedIn and Facebook, and though it was stated that the article was not an all-encompassing list, the purpose was to broaden the perspective of what greenhouses are being used for, and identify that this is no longer our fathers’ greenhouse industry.
If you are getting your benching from one supplier, irrigation from another, and lights from someone else. Who is coordinating everything? Did you make sure that the benches are being designed to suit the irrigation system you chose? Did you make sure to define all the sensors you are using, and did you make sure not to forget to qualify whether the irrigation sensors are supplied by the irrigation company or the computer company. Is the company who is installing your air filtration and cooling systems completely aware of every detail in your lights, or did you forget something that will create a difference in the heat output and throw off your whole system? The automated growing equipment available to commercial growers when properly designed as an integrated system can not only provide better traceability and uniform quality, it can increase the amount of production.
Yesterday we received a call from a customer in Georgia. He had bought some inexpensive light weight coldframes to save money a few years ago, not thinking he had to worry about snow. As he walked through the blowing storm with some employees to clear the snow he watched the structures one by one collapse under the weight.
As a greenhouse manufacturer we always joke that the “customer wants it delivered yesterday”. When I go to manufacturing association meetings I hear the theme repeated by all manufacturers, regardless of whether it is a boiler, an airplane, a toothbrush, or a greenhouse, when customers want their order they want it now, the fact that it took one day between wanting a greenhouse and ordering the greenhouse is immaterial. I suspect greenhouse growers might say the same of their retail and wholesale customers.
With record cold weather across most of North America field crop farmers are likely looking for solutions to help protect their yields.
High Tunnels like the GGS Crop Protector are used by growers for this very reason. Though not a load bearing house ( ie. It is not designed to hold snow or support a crop ), these crop protectors are designed to cover crops in shoulder seasons when frost damage can dramatically affect a farmer’s bottom line.
Email !!! Gen Y !!! Smart Phones !!!
Driving to work today the radio DJ was talking about a recent survey of smart phone users. The results of the survey on frequency of use went something like this:
Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the U.S.! We hope you’re enjoying this time with food and family. Before we make the mad rush to find the best holiday deals this weekend, it’s important to take the time to be thankful for what we have. In the greenhouse industry especially, there are many things to give thanks for. Here are a few that come to mind:
The final episode in our zombie series has emerged! Watch it now!
Our zombie series continues, with Peter from GGS arriving on the scene to offer his assistance.
