Jodi and Adrian Roelands together with production manager Arie Alblas in the first 4 acre phase of thepropagation greenhouse in Lambton Shores, Ontario.
Roelands Plant Farms is a year round propagator of vegetable plants that supplies greenhouse growers throughout the eastern part of Canada and the U.S.A. As the greenhouse vegetable industries in these areas are expanding steadily, the demand for year round, safely and professionally propagated young plants increases at the same time. For that reason, Roelands plans to expand their business in the coming years. "When we broke ground for our first 4 acres, we already prepared for the next two phases by including all the equipment like heating and irrigation capacity for a total of 12 acres. Right now, the ground for our first expansion is levelled; phase two (also 4 acres) is slated to be in production by the end of this summer," said owner Adrian Roelands. He furthermore added that phase 2 will soon be followed by phase 3 (4 more acres) to make it a total of 12 acres. For that reason they are also expanding their team. They are currently looking for an individual who has a keen interest in growing greenhouse vegetable seedlings. (Click here to learn more and to apply.)
The expansion of Roelands makes sense if you know that the greenhouse vegetable industry in Ontario is growing rapidly with the largest concentration of growers in Leamington (annual growth of 10%), but also over the border in the U.S. the industry is taking off. "Some major Canadian growers are now breaking ground in states like Michigan, New York and Ohio. As we are located close to both Leamington and to the border, we are growing with them at the same time", Adrian said.
Click here to see the photo report of my visit to Roelands Plant Farms in Lambton Shores, Ontario.
Hygiene
Over the last 1,5 years, more and more growers found their way to the new name in North America's propagation industry. According to Production Manager Arie Alblas, it is especially the flexibility and hygiene protocols that are appreciated by their customers. "We are located near Lake Huron, in an area with not so much greenhouse cultivation, so the pest pressure is not that high as an area like Leamington. At the same time, we are also a propagator that solely focuses on vegetable propagation, whereas other propagators often bring in floriculture crops or starting material from outside. We don't allow that, only certified, clean vegetable seed material enters our greenhouse."
Adrian furthermore added, that integrated biology is also a focus point for Roelands Plant Farms. "We emphasize the use of biological crop protection. It is definitely a trend that you can not ignore in today's greenhouse industry. As a matter of fact, sometimes biologicals are the only remedy against certain pests, so there is no other choice. Our customers appreciate our support to their biological strategy if they want to start with this at the propagation stage. We apply biologicals, or bring in beneficial at no additional cost."
Planning
Over the last 12 months, Roelands propagated 3,7 million young plants. But as with any propagation greenhouse, good planning is required to work as efficient as possible. Alblas: "Our major crops are bell pepper plants, followed by cucumbers and tomato plants. The cucumbers are propagated at any time of the year, also throughout the winter with the help of supplemental light. In October the first propagation of bell peppers starts, while the conventional tomato growers are placing their orders in the last months of the year. But due to the increase in year round tomato cultivation in North America, we expect to expand the tomato propagation during the summer as well, and many of those are grafted plants. This trend in off season production provide a good opportunity for us to fill in our gaps."
Click here to see the photo report of my visit to Roelands Plant Farms in Lambton Shores, Ontario.
Roelands is now accepting orders for the coming seasons, feel free to contact them for more information:
Roelands Plant Farms Inc.5894 Douglas Line
Lambton Shores, ON
N0N 1J5
Phone 519.786.6001
Cell 519.330.6216
ariea@roelandsplant.ca
www.roelandsplant.ca