






Announcements
Vacancies
- VP Growing Operations
- Head Grower Strawberries, Australia
- Growing Manager for Hydroponic strawberry producer
- Farm Manager Costa Rica
- Regional Sales Manager Fresh Produce
- Head Grower Strawberries, Norway
- Export Trade Manager
- Business Developer - Northern Europe
- Orchard Sector Manager
- Grower
Canadian greenhouse grower hopes for 100 acre approval in Deer Lake
Clyde Simmons hopes to get approval to use about 100 acres of Crown land for a large greenhouse project to provide local grocery stores with vegetables that traditionally have a tough time being shipped here. According to The Western Star, The Corner Brook businessman hopes the stigma of a provincially-funded agriculture project in the 1980s will not deter the government from helping him set up a greenhouse in the Deer Lake area. He has been working on the project for the past three years, gaining investors and filling out the necessary forms to gain access to land between the Deer Lake Regional Airport and Junction Brook along the Trans-Canada Highway.
Simmons said he was surprised that the ill-fated Sprung greenhouse project is still in the minds of politicians in St. John’s when it comes to starting up similar projects.
“That’s still a major issue for them — it’s one of the biggest drawbacks I’m up against,” said Simmons. “That’s why I’ve done my homework and picked the part of the province with the most sunlight.”
The Sprung greenhouses came to Mount Pearl in 1987 when then-Premier Brian Peckford struck a deal with the Calgary company to build hydroponic greenhouses in the area to grow cucumbers. The initiative went into receivership two years later.
“Putting a greenhouse in Mount Pearl, that’s probably one of the worst environments in North America for growing anything,” said Simmons.
He said hydroponic methods will take up a small portion of the project, but far from the extent of the East coast project. There will be more diversification of product as well, growing not just cucumbers, but lettuce, peppers and tomatoes.
When the project is up and running, Simmons said it should employ between 40-50 workers. He expects to hear about land permission in the next few weeks and he hopes to have the project started by next year.
Source: thewesternstar.com
Simmons said he was surprised that the ill-fated Sprung greenhouse project is still in the minds of politicians in St. John’s when it comes to starting up similar projects.
“That’s still a major issue for them — it’s one of the biggest drawbacks I’m up against,” said Simmons. “That’s why I’ve done my homework and picked the part of the province with the most sunlight.”
The Sprung greenhouses came to Mount Pearl in 1987 when then-Premier Brian Peckford struck a deal with the Calgary company to build hydroponic greenhouses in the area to grow cucumbers. The initiative went into receivership two years later.
“Putting a greenhouse in Mount Pearl, that’s probably one of the worst environments in North America for growing anything,” said Simmons.
He said hydroponic methods will take up a small portion of the project, but far from the extent of the East coast project. There will be more diversification of product as well, growing not just cucumbers, but lettuce, peppers and tomatoes.
When the project is up and running, Simmons said it should employ between 40-50 workers. He expects to hear about land permission in the next few weeks and he hopes to have the project started by next year.
Source: thewesternstar.com
Publication date:
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-09-29 New Delhi farmer turns to hydroponics, educates others nowadays
- 2023-09-29 Malaysia: Vanilla farm based on aquaponics, open for tours
- 2023-09-28 UAE: Emirati farmer who grows 4,000 pineapples annually says farming in the desert is easy
- 2023-09-27 Tide to table: growing salmon and leafy greens in America's Dairyland
- 2023-09-27 Maharashtra farmer feeds his entire tomato crop to his cows
- 2023-09-26 US (CO): Harvest season is in full swing in Southern Colorado
- 2023-09-26 6 years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico residents and farms take recovery into their own hands
- 2023-09-26 First boxes of microgreens delivered to customers in Northern Norway
- 2023-09-21 US (MA): Lancaster refugee farm destroyed by flooding
- 2023-09-21 “Smaller growers are very, very isolated"
- 2023-09-19 Pure Harvest eyes further growth with $150m strategic Richel Group Partnership
- 2023-09-18 Spain: Japanese strawberry variety allows better market entry and brand growth
- 2023-09-18 Denmark: Nordic Greens opens automonous greenhouse
- 2023-09-18 US (OH): “There is really no prescription for this type of farming. We're still figuring out how to make it better"
- 2023-09-14 US (NY): Taking on the Eastcoast in phased expansion, raising another $10 million
- 2023-09-12 US (FL): Greenhouse, classrooms grow on John Rivers’ Packing District farm
- 2023-09-11 US (OR): Immigrant farmers grow hard-to-find pantry staples
- 2023-09-11 "Sales have been at constant levels since the middle of July"
- 2023-09-07 US (UT): Greenhouse farm cultivates community through hydroponics
- 2023-09-06 Kenya: Kirinyaga government supports tomato growers in building horti infrastructure