Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Ramping up: August 22 workshop examines mechanization on vegetable farms

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July 27, 2010

GRINNELL, Iowa – A hoe and a rototiller can get the job done in a home vegetable garden, but commercial and direct-market growers need more complex tools to produce and move larger volumes of vegetables to market, a topic that will be explored at an August 22 workshop.

The workshop, Mechanization on Vegetable Farms, is from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Andrew and Melissa Dunham’s Grinnell Heritage Farm northeast of Grinnell. It is hosted by the Fruit and Vegetable Working Group coordinated by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Value Added Agriculture Extension at Iowa State University.

The workshop will look at machines that market farmers use for tillage, to plant seeds and transplants, remove weeds, harvest crops and process them in the packing house. The Dunhams grow certified organic vegetables, flowers and herbs on 10 acres and use a mix of hand-operated and mechanically-powered machines. They supply the New Pioneer Coop in Iowa City and Coralville, and sell through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprise and at several farmers’ markets, including Des Moines.

“We’ll have the chance to see several types of specialized equipment in operation in the field as well as other machinery that will be brought in from neighboring farms,” said Margaret Smith, ISU Extension Value Added Agriculture specialist who co-leads the working group. Machines include a water wheel transplanter, Williams tine weeder, root underminer, barrel washer and back-pack flame weeder.

Labor is a big obstacle for Iowa’s fruit and vegetable growers, according to the working group’s other leader Malcolm Robertson, also Leopold Center program specialist. He said: “From surveys of current growers, we know that labor is a limiting factor for adoption or expansion of horticultural production in Iowa. Part of the answer is to look at how producers can mechanize various parts of their operations, and see firsthand the equipment and practices being used successfully in Iowa.”

After the workshop, participants will be treated to a light supper that will include vegetables from Grinnell Heritage Farm prepared by Café Phoenix, a Grinnell restaurant that specializes in local foods.

The farm is located at 1933 Penrose Street between Sixth Avenue (also Highway 6) and 370th Avenue. For more information about the working group, click here. The workshop is free and open to the public. 

For more info contact:

Margaret Smith, ISU Extension Value Added Agriculture, (515) 294-0887, mrgsmith@iastate.edu

Malcolm Robertson,Leopold Center, (515) 294-1166, macolmr@iastate.edu

Laura Miller, Leopold Center Communications, (515) 294-5272, lwmiller@iastate.edu

Christa Hartsook, ISU Extension communications, (515) 294-4430, hartc@iastate.edu

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