Giant greenhouse avoids late blight
Intergrow’s enclosed system guards tomatoes
By Tom Rivers trivers@batavianews.com
 Dirk Biemans, owner and manager of Intergrow Greenhouses. ALBION — When it opened in 2003, owners of the 30-acre Intergrow greenhouse on Route 98 wanted a controlled environment for producing nearly uniform tomatoes, regardless of the weather. But the enclosed growing space has offered another benefit for the company, an advantage that is increasingly proving an asset to Intergrow. The glass walls and roof offer protection from late blight and other potential devastating diseases that have been worrying growers with crops in open fields.
Late blight has wiped out garden-grown tomatoes throughout the Northeast. The cool temperatures and wet weather also have left commercial growers behind schedule or with a diminished tomato crop. But Intergrow has been mostly immune from the weather and disease. And with food safety issues likely to loom even larger in the future, Intergrow will benefit, said Dirk Biemans, co-owner of the company with 70 employees in Orleans County.
Intergrow can already meet “traceability” standards, which may be required by major retail stores and the government. They want growers to be able to trace a food safety problem, such as the outbreak of salmonella with tomatoes last year, to the field where infected fruit or vegetables were grown. That can be a major challenge to growers with crops in multiple locations. For a company like Intergrow, where everything is grown under one roof, it wouldn’t be a problem. “We can control the climate in here better than outside,” Biemans said last week at the greenhouse. “It’s safer in here.”
Intergrow takes precautions against diseases, which can be carried into the facility by employees and visitors. The company has a foot bath near the entrance to kill germs on shoes. Biemans also said the crop’s size can be affected by the amount of sunlight. The more sun, the bigger the tomatoes. The hotter the weather, the faster they ripen. Intergrow grows hydroponic tomatoes. They aren’t grow in soil. Instead, the plants get a steady dose of a solution, a mix of water and fertilizer, that helps the plants to produce mature tomatoes in about three months. Intergrow has plants at various stages of maturity, so the greenhouse is producing tomatoes year-round.
Intergrow hasn’t reaped a financial windfall from the late blight impact on tomatoes. Biemans said tomatoes are being shipped in from outside the region to make up for some of the shortfall. Intergrow however can use its stability in a sales pitch to buyers. The company can nearly guarantee an abundant crop. Many of its buyers, including local retailer Wegmans, like the consistent product and the Intergrow’s close distance. Biemans said some buyers want to purchase a crop that is as locally grown as possible.
Intergrow has its own fleet of four tractor trailers. The company this summer has been sending three trucks filled with tomatoes out each day. The trucks currently sell mostly to buyers in the Northeast, but Biemans said the company wants to expand its customer base.
Intergrow in June hired a sales manager, Albion and Cornell graduate Sarah Brown, who grew up working at her family’s business, Brown’s Berry Patch. She will be attending food shows throughout the country, trying to build the Intergrow brand. Intergrow in October will have a booth at the prestigious Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition in Anaheim, Calif.
For info on media opportunities with Intergrow contact info@intergrowgreenhouses.com |
Albion’s Intergrow a place for tomatoes to thrive in middle of winter
