Ames, Iowa – The Iowa High Tunnel Short Course will be held at Reiman Gardens on November 9th to provide growers, educators, and other industry stakeholders with an introduction to the practical and economic aspects of high tunnel crop production and recent research. Provide an opportunity to discuss results. The event runs from 8:30am to 3:30pm and is free to attend. Registration required.
The course includes several speakers, including Associate Professor Ajay Nair, an expert in horticulture and extended vegetable production at Iowa State University, and Dan Fillius, an expert in the vegetable field of extension and outreach at Iowa State University. appears. Nair provides an overview of potential cover crops that can be used in his system for high-altitude tunnels, and Fillius discusses high-altitude tunnel maintenance.
The keynote speaker is Mark Hutton, a vegetable extension specialist at Highmoor Farms, the University of Maine Agricultural Experiment Station in Monmouth, Maine. Hutton, who has done applied research on vegetable production and season extension in conventional organic systems, will also present compost utilization and high tunnel fertility.
The short course will also host Monika Owczarski, an urban farmer from Sweet Tooth Farm, discussing low-cost, high-DIY tunneling for season extension.
“This short course is designed to highlight information on the production and management of several high tunnel crops, as well as the economic and marketing aspects of high tunnel crop production,” explained Nair. “The course also provides an update on the status of high-altitude tunneling research throughout the Midwest.”
“We want to bring together growers, agricultural educators, extension staff, and industry players working in the aerial tunnels and local food areas,” Nair added.
The November 9th event is free to attend, but registration is required by November 4th. To register, please visit https://www.extension.iastate.edu/vegetablelab/2022-iowa-high-tunnel-short-course. For more information, please contact Ajay Nair at 515-294-7080 or nairajay@iastate.edu.
Shareable Photos: A lot of tunnel vegetables are produced.
