Governor Baldacii seees a bright
future for agricuture in Maine with the addition of state-of- the- art greenhouse
technology
By
Ramona du Houx
The road follows the Kennebec River and was
used for centuries by Native Americans as a guiding route that winds throughout Somerset
County. Farmers settled near the river’s edge for the irrigation benefits, and logs
were sent down the river before trucks took over their transport.
The road is well know by locals as
"the River Road" and has a sense of time about it that foretells the unfolding
story of Maine.
The next chapter of that story could prove
to be a boon for Maine’s agriculture business, and economy.
Overlooking the Sugarloaf Mountain a dairy
farm had been, a new agricultural business is dramatically taking form as over 24 acres
are being transformed into state-of–the-art greenhouses.
Sixty rows of 40 four-foot-tall concrete
pillars stretch across the flat land, awaiting steel supports which will be covered with
more than one million square feet of glass.
The greenhouses will grow tomatoes in an
environmentally friendly and atmospherically conditioned medium, pumping nutrients to the
plants through plastic tubing. That enables the plants to reach up to 20 feet, to the
roof, where workers will use hydraulic platforms to harvest year round. The roots will be
set on heating pads, and the plants will have grow lights to aid the sun. The tomatoes
will be grown without use of chemical pesticides.
It’s the first greenhouse complex of
this scale in New England, as well as being the only one that can grow year round.
Last June, on the River Road site of the
U.S. Functional Foods LLC (USFF) tomato greenhouse complex, Governor John E. Baldacci
designated 200 acres as a Pine Tree Development Zone (PTZ), making the facility eligible
for the tax incentive program.
Earlier a $400,000 Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) was awarded to the town of Madison for public infrastructure support of
economic development in preparation for the USFF opening.
Melanie Clark, and Allison Dean,
dressed as tomatoes, wowed the crowd and Governor Baldacci at a celebration ceremony for
U.S. Functional Foods
After USFF decided that Maine was the place
to be, last September they began the search for a community where they could build their
greenhouse complex. The Madison Business Gateway Park (MBG) had been looking for
businesses but didn’t have the land needed to accommodate the greenhouse structures.
With a challenge in front of them, MGB found the land on the River Road, and the wheels
were set in motion for the future, for Maine’s agricultural businesses to be
transformed.
"This is a wonderful community; I
know—our business was just up the road," said the governor at the PTZ ceremony,
referring to a branch of Baldacci’s. "In the restaurant business it was always
in the off-season when we couldn’t get the quality, ripeness, fullness, freshness
from vegetables. Someone has finally figured out how to be able to grow tomatoes, on a
year round basis, and to be able to feed this large Northeast market. They are using the
latest technology and unique, environmentally sensitive and efficient practices, and
wholesome products are being developed," said Governor Baldaccci, who served on the
Agricultural Committee when he was a member of Congress.
"You’re going to start to see
this technology being used in other forms of agriculture and for growing more innovations.
We’re going to learn from this practice and apply it to other types of agriculture.
It’s a high-tech, sustainable business using renewable energy," said Baldacci.
"It’s a wonderful model."
Maine’s agriculture commissioner, Seth
Bradstreet, agreed that the Madison project could be just the first of many similar
operations in Maine. "We are three hours from Boston, six from New York City,"
said Bradstreet. "Maine is perfect for these operations, since it is much cheaper to
heat a greenhouse than it is to cool it. This project is a win-win; there is no downside.
The added bonus is there will be significant numbers of new employees."
Work will hopefully be completed by
September 15 for a harvest of over a million square feet of tomatoes for the holidays.
This first phase of the project will create more than 60 new, full-time jobs and represent
a capital investment in central Maine of more than $20 million.
The company plans to construct four
greenhouses on River Road within the next three years, and it hopes to employ as many as
500 workers in eight greenhouses by 2014.
"Our product is going to taste like
the tomatoes in your backyard garden," said CEO of U.S. Functional Foods LLC Paul C.
Sellew when he announced the tomatoes’ name — Backyard Beauties.
Tomatoes in supermarkets are picked green,
so they never convert the starch to sugar, which only happens on the vine. When the color
begins to turn red is when the sweetness happens.
"We’re producing vine-ripened
tomatoes, you’ll taste the difference," said Sellew. The average American eats
twenty pounds of tomatoes in a year. "That’s 24 million pounds of tomatoes right
here in Maine. We think there’s a big market, and we want to satisfy that
demand."
The begining of the construction of
the state-of-the-art greenhouses
Sellew traveled to the Netherlands in
search of the best greenhouse technology in the world; there he met Arie van der Geissen,
an expert grower from Holland. Van der Geissen, who grew up learning about greenhouses
from his father and is passing the knowledge on to his sons, said that greenhouses are the
way to farm in Holland, which has 25,000 acres of greenhouses.
Holland is nearly half the size of Maine
and supports over 16.3 million people.
"In Holland, land is so expensive we
cannot afford to grow field tomatoes. We found the solution was to encourage the vines to
grow four times higher. So instead of expanding out — we expanded up. It’s more
efficient."
Maine is one of only a minority of states
where agriculture still means family farms. While more and more family farms have been
forced out of business across America, some family farms have discovered diversity is key
to a sustainable future. The greenhouse technology that U.S. Functional Foods is utilizing
could help revolutionize the family farm in Maine.
"Our goal has been to bring new
technologies to our traditional industries to make them more viable. This is a classic
example of bringing new technologies to a traditional industry — agriculture —
so that it’s no longer a seasonal business; potentially it can be a year-round
business and make year-round profits," said Commissioner Jack Cashman of the
Department of Economic and Community Development. "With these kinds of agricultural
businesses Maine can become the food basket for the Northeast. This is the first step;
it’s a very important project."
"This project builds on the strengths
of Maine’s natural resource based industries," said Baldacci. "We’ve
been working, with USFF in the hopes of bringing such a world-class, greenhouse business
to Maine."
"Better-tasting, locally-grown food is
the goal," said Sellew. "It’s better for us and for the planet, if we eat
food grown close to home."
The governor stated that USFF represents
what the program Get Real — Get Maine is all about. The agricultural, educational
state program promotes wholesome Maine grown foods. Highlighting what is best in Maine
agriculture by inviting people to "Get Maine" products.
"When you say
"Maine," it means quality, honesty, integrity — all those good things in
the world that people have come to appreciate more than ever, given all the challenges
that are in the world today," said the governor. "Maine workers are the gold
standard. That’s a major reason why USFF has come to the state."
"Governor Baldacci and his
cabinet have been unbelievably helpful. We took advantage of the various programs they had
to attract investment," said Sellew. "One of the main reasons we had for coming
to Maine was the business climate here; we thought it was very positive."
USFF has its corporate headquarters in
Carlisle, Massachusetts, and chose Maine over other New England states as the place to
start this business.
"We are only three hours from the
Boston market — as compared to the tomatoes that are coming form England, Mexico,
Canada, or the American west, this is local," said Sellew.
Jack Cashman, Governor Baldacci and
Paul Sellew celebrate the Pine Tree Zone Certification for USFF Madison tomato greenhouse
project
USFF was attracted to Madison by the
available labor force, low electric rates provided by Madison Electric Works (MEW), who
produce their own electricity, and hospitality shown by townspeople.
"We are extremely impressed
with the can-do attitude of the people of Madison, and we are confident that the Madison
location will provide us with strategic market advantages," said Sellew.
"It’s a great place to locate a business."
Sellew expressed his long term plans for
his business:
"Our long term plans will be
to build a biomass- co-generation facility and then make renewable electricity which will
use the thermal, which normally goes up into the atmosphere, to heat our greenhouses.
That’s our next phase."
"The renewable energy is yet another
aspect of this project that will also be a model for other companies," said the
governor.
Sellew has plans for his impressive
greenhouse structures to eventually grow salad greens, peppers, and herbs in addition to
the tomatoes.
The possibilities are endless — any
fruit or vegetable that the people of New England would want freshly grown without
chemicals, all year round. Fully vine-ripened tomatoes are just the start.
Functional Foods will offer tomatoes that
are not suited for the retail market at wholesale prices locally.
"The addition of USFF and its
high-tech greenhouses will, without a doubt, strengthen Maine’s reputation as a
leader in the agricultural industry," said the governor. "When Maine first got
the B & A railroad to go to Aroostook County is when we opened the Boston market to
the garden of Maine. Now the garden of Maine — and the tomato capital of the country
— will be right here in Madison, Maine."
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