Dr. Richard G. Snyder
Vegetable Specialist
Mississippi State University
P.O. Box 231
Crystal Springs, MS 39059

Greenhouse tomato acreage has clearly been in a boom cycle in the mid and late 1990's. While the great majority of growers are very small in greenhouse size, three large companies now comprise about half of the acreage in the United States. These companies are summarized in Table 1 as "major players".

States with the most greenhouse tomato acreage are shown in Table 2. As shown, leading states as of this writing are Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Virginia. As noted in parentheses in the table, virtually all of this acreage is due to the "major players" (VF = Village Farms, BN = Bonita Nursery, CG = Colorado Greenhouse). In fact, if you add up all of the "major player" acreage in the U.S. as of April 1999, you would get 365 acres, which is about 49% of the total estimated acreage in the U.S. (750 acres). Note: these figures do not include proposed new ranges or proposed expansion of current facilities. However, expansion plans for Arizona during 1999 and 2000 will very likely put that state into first place in acreage.

The figures in Table 2 only include greenhouse tomatoes, with no accounting of other crops. It is interesting to note, however, that there has been some broadening of greenhouse crop production into other crops in the past few years. For example, it is estimated that Florida currently has 25 acres of peppers, 24 acres of European cucumbers, 5 acres of herbs, 4 acres of lettuce, and 1 acre of strawberries in greenhouses, in addition to the tomatoes. Also, there are about 20 acres of raspberries in walk-in tunnels, which may or may not be considered to be greenhouses. Both the tomato and pepper acreage are expected to grow, mostly at the expense of decreasing cucumber production.

In the Eastern United States, the topic of this paper, the only major company which has had an impact on acreage is Village Farms. Village Farms is a brand name, as well as a division of EcoScience, Inc. Other divisions include AgroPower Development (APD), EcoBioTechnologies, Produce Systems Division, and AgroDynamics. APD operates over 200 acres of greenhouse tomatoes, and is the largest producer / supplier in U.S. They are in 8 locations, and market under the Village Farms and Home

Choice brands.

Village Farms is the marketer and distributor for APD. They handle beefsteak tomatoes, cluster tomatoes, and red and yellow peppers. They are located in New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.

Village Farms has five major ranges in the Eastern U.S.: 1) VF of Virginia is a 42 acre glass covered range in King George, Virginia, completed in January 1996. It also has a 100,000 square foot warehouse which serves as the east coast distribution center, and a 14,000 square foot office complex. They have 375,000 beefsteak tomato plants yielding about 15 million lbs per year. The greenhouse uses surplus steam heat from a coal-fired Cogentrix power plant.

2) Keystone VF in Ringgold, PA is a 10 acre glass covered range of beefsteak tomatoes, yielding about 4.6 million lbs per year. Complete in September 1993, it is using energy from a gas fired Cogentrix power plant.

3) Foster Farms of Marion Heights, PA is a 10 acre glass covered beefsteak tomato facility, producing 3.2 million lbs of tomatoes per year. APD has an agreement with Foster Farms to market and manage this range which commenced in 1990. Cogeneration is again employed here to use energy from a coal-fired power plant.

4) VF of Buffalo (NY) covers 18 acres with glass greenhouses, and produces 9 million lbs of cluster tomatoes. It also has a 42,000 square foot packing building.

5) VF of Wheatfield, located in North Tonawanda, NY, has 12.5 acres of glass covered greenhouses producing 6 million lbs of beefsteak tomatoes per year. Built in 1993, it is connected to a gas-fired cogeneration power plant. By combining seasonal production from northern and southern facilities, the company is able to market tomatoes year round.

Market Saturation?

With all of this new growth, the question often arises, "Is the U.S. market about to be saturated with greenhouse tomatoes?". I really do not think so. Several key points to keep in mind are 1) North America has about 75% of the population of Europe, yet the greenhouse vegetable industry in North America is less than 2% of that in Europe. In fact, just among Holland, Belgium, and Spain, there are about 33,000 acres of greenhouse tomatoes, compared to our 750 acres in the U.S. 2) The U.S. has more sunlight, 3) lower energy costs, 4) lower labor costs, and 5) cheaper land costs than European countries. Clearly there is room to grow, and we have several advantages over our European counterparts.

For the smaller grower, there is always the option of selling locally. By selling in the small towns and rural counties where most of our growers are located, they can avoid competition with the big guys entirely. Another advantage that small growers have is that they can pick fruit at a riper stage, since sales are local. The multi-acre ranges must pick their fruit less ripe so they will be able to ship the fruit hundreds or thousands of miles and not have them overripe upon arrival.

Fruit Labels & PLU Numbers

One of the simple marketing techniques small growers or large growers can use is applying labels (stickers) to their fruit. These serve to identify the tomatoes as vine ripened, hydroponic, or greenhouse-grown. In addition, they help to establish product identity and customer loyalty, which together promote repeat business. The cost per sticker is very low, and should not be a barrier for any growers. For example, for round 3/4 inch diameter labels, with about 3000 stickers per roll, a purchase of 10 rolls costs about $70. This comes to about 0.23 cents per sticker, or 4-5 stickers for a penny. In addition, there is a one time plate charge of about $50. Larger labels, or those of special colors or shapes may cost more, but are still within reason.

In the current marketplace, it makes sense to use PLU (product look-up) numbers on all fruit stickers. The PLU number helps grocers by being sure the correct price is charged for each type of produce. Let’s face it - there are a multitude of produce items in a large, modern supermarket. Coupling this with the fact that many check-out personnel are either too young or too removed from the farm to identify many of the items at all, let alone know if they are hydroponic or field in origin. In addition, PLU numbers allow a close watch on product inventory. Some of the most likely

PLU numbers greenhouse vegetable growers might need are shown in Table 3.

Supplemental Lighting

One of the common questions that arises from small growers is "Should I use supplemental lighting for my greenhouse tomatoes?".

For the typical small grower, using about 4 square feet per plant, the answer that I must give them is no. The exceptions to this rule include 1) growers employing the single cluster (or 2-cluster) system of raising greenhouse tomatoes. In this situation, plants are grown in small pots on benches spaced at 1 square foot per plant. Plants are grown only to the first or second cluster and then terminated. Due to the high population per unit area, it is more feasible to afford supplemental lighting. 2) growers of crops such as lettuce, herbs, etc. may benefit more from the extra lighting, due again to high plant populations of high value crops. For all other growers, refer to Table 4.

Assuming that the tomatoes need 1,000 foot candles, and that each lamp will light 40 square feet adequately, a 2,500 square foot greenhouse will require 62 lamps. At $200 each, the fixed cost would be $12,400. Furthermore, assuming that each 400 watt lamp consumes 425 watts (25 watts are needed for the ballasts), are used for 12 hours per day, for 10 months of the year, and that electricity costs 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, the annual operating cost for these 62 lamps is $9,617. So, for the first year, the grower would need about $22,000. Unless the grower is convinced that he or she could increase yield by 15,000 to 20,000 lbs per year or so, this investment is not worthwhile.

Growers looking for more information are referred to web sites. The Greenhouse Tomato FAQ (frequently asked questions) provides information in a user friendly question and answer format. It also has links to many hydroponic, greenhouse vegetable, and pest management web sites. This site can be found at the following address:

http://ext.msstate.edu/anr/plantsoil/vegfruit/tomato/ghtomato/faq.html