Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan unveiled a new pilot project under the 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative for farmers to establish high tunnels - also known as hoop houses - to increase the availability of locally grown produce in a conservation-friendly way.

"There is great potential for high tunnels to expand the availability of healthy, locally-grown crops - a win for producers and consumers," said Merrigan. "This pilot project is going to give us real-world information that farmers all over the country can use to decide if they want to add high tunnels to their operations. We know that these fixtures can help producers extend their growing season and hopefully add to their bottom line."

The 3-year, 38-state study will verify if high tunnels are effective in reducing pesticide use, keeping vital nutrients in the soil, extending the growing season, increasing yields, and providing other benefits to growers.

Made of ribs of plastic or metal pipe covered with a layer of plastic sheeting, high tunnels are easy to build, maintain and move. High tunnels are used year-round in parts of the country, providing steady incomes to farmers - a significant advantage to owners of small farms, limited-resource farmers and organic producers.

“Researchers at Iowa State University showed that commercial vegetable growers can provide a continuous supply of vegetables to the market by combining high tunnels and field planting, succession planting, and good variety selection,” said Linda Naeve, Iowa State University Extension Value Added Agriculture program coordinator.

According to Naeve, high tunnels offer growers several advantages over field production:

-    Crop protection from wind, hail, snow and other climatic factors
-    Raise soil temperature so that crops can be planted earlier, resulting in earlier yields and higher potential market prices
-    Greater production per square foot
-    Increased quality
-    Reduced incidence of plant diseases
-    Control over moisture, fertility and temperature

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will provide financial assistance for the project through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the EQIP Organic Initiative, and the Agricultural Management Assistance program. NRCS will fund one high tunnel per farm. High tunnels in the study can cover as much as 5 percent of 1 acre. Participating states and territories are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Pacific Islands, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The deadline to sign up for the initial program is January 29, 2010. To sign up or learn more about EQIP assistance for high tunnel projects, contact a local NRCS office at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/.