Plasticulture
Re-Tooling for Alternative Agriculture Enterprises

As Claude Deyton tells it, when the rain started falling hard, Billy Bryant thought his tomato crop was doomed. The Yancey County farmer had just spent long hours planting tomatoes on an acre of his farmland in the Brush Creek community.

Using specialized equipment and technology funded with a North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission grant, Bryant had laid plastic sheeting over raised-bed rows of soil and then had planted seedlings through slits in the plastic.

“It rained so hard that the water rose right up to the level of the plastic,” relates Deyton, a Yancey County extension technician. “But because of the erosion control from the plastic and the height of the raised beds, the plants survived. It couldn’t have happened without plasticulture.”

Bryant ended up selling that acre of tomatoes for $14,000.

Plasticulture is the practice of laying stretched plastic sheeting (“plastic mulch”) above the ground where plants grow. Machines that lay the plastic also form raised beds and lay drip irrigation lines. According to promotional material produced by the Cooperative Extension Service of North Carolina A&T, in recent years plasticulture has become increasingly popular for specialty-crop producers, allowing them to achieve higher-quality produce, superior yields and early-spring markets. Growers using the plasticulture system have doubled and tripled yields and harvested their crops two to three weeks earlier than is possible with traditional growing practices.

New technology, new profits

Early on, the TTFC recognized the need to support new crop production technologies that would enable North Carolina farmers to succeed in the competitive markets of high-value specialty crops. Among the most successful projects have been efforts to increase the use and understanding of plasticulture in vegetable production.

Working with NC A&T horticultural specialist Dr. Keith Baldwin, a 2002 TTFC grant created a program to educate farmers on the merits of plasticulture and to demonstrate the increased crop yields, reduced disease pressures, erosion control and extended growing seasons that using plastic mulch offers. The program purchased plastic mulch-laying machines for Cooperative Extension centers in the northeastern coastal plain, the southeastern coastal plain, the northern Piedmont and the northwest mountains regions. In addition, grant funds purchased each region a sand filtration system for filtering surface water for drip irrigation and a water wheel transplanter for setting plants in plastic mulch. A second-round grant awarded in 2005 allowed the project to continue and expand its services.

In each region, NC A&T Extension personnel established on-farm demonstration programs focused on plasticulture production of specialty crops including melons, ethnic vegetables, medicinal herbs and culinary herbs. Extension staff organized field days at the demonstration sites to provide interested growers the chance to follow the progress of crops over the growing season.

Reaping the benefits

The original objectives of the project were three-fold: To provide opportunities for growers to gain experience in specialty-crop production using plasticulture technologies, to demonstrate this technology to growers and service providers and to familiarize growers with direct-marketing opportunities for alternative and specialty crops.

The results of these efforts were impressive. In 2004, using equipment supplied through the program, 35 farmers statewide grew 50.25 acres of quality produce. In 2005, 34 farmers participated and grew 67 acres of quality produce.

In Yancey County, farmers reaped the benefits of black plastic vegetable production in very tangible ways. According to Deyton, in the first year of the project 18 Yancey County farmers participated in growing one acre each of produce on black plastic. Farmers grew a wide variety of produce, including tomatoes, squash, leaf and bib lettuce, cucumbers and peppers. Deyton reports that they all did extremely well. “In that first year, farmers using black plastic realized a gross revenue of $9,800 per acre, bringing approximately $180,000 in new income to the county,” he says.

The results were so impressive they even attracted the attention of Dole Foods. In 2006, a Dole representative visited Yancey County to see first-hand how lettuce was being grown on plastic. “The Dole representative asked if growers could organize and produce 60 acres of lettuce in our little mountain valleys,” says Deyton. “That’s a tall order, but it says a lot about the quality we’ve been able to get from this type of production.”

In his first year using plasticulture, Billy Bryant was able to sell his tomatoes in his market for $6 per bushel higher than anyone else on the market. For the 2007 season, Bryant has a standing order for 300 boxes of tomatoes per week.

“That is a real success story, and it’s all because of the plastic-laying equipment,” says Deyton.

Farmers in Person and Caswell counties have been equally pleased with their experiences. According to Caswell Extension agent Joey Knight, plasticulture has allowed farmers to plant their strawberries earlier and increase their yields.

“When you can get that volume of berries to the market early, the farmer gets a premium for his product,” notes Knight.

Caswell County farmer Ricky Smith used the plastic machine in the first year. “I was very pleased with the results,” says Smith. “My pepper yields increased and the quality was excellent.

Farmers are also realizing that their best markets are right next door. “In Orange County,” Knight says, “you’ve got $400,000 to $500,000 houses sitting all around you. The market is right there.”

Northern Orange County farmer David Walker used the equipment to grow strawberries, sweet corn and other vegetables for the local market. “I was real happy with the equipment,” says Walker. “It was well constructed and supplied by local folks.”

After seeing results, the program has also spurred farmers to make investments on their own. One of those was Person County strawberry farmer James Poindexter. “After the first year, I liked the results so much I went out and bought a plastic-laying machine for myself,” he says.

In the southeastern part of the state, Robeson and Columbus County Extension agents began training farmers in plasticulture in 2003. According to Extension agent Nelson Brownlee, in Robeson County six growers used the machine in 2003, seven used it in 2004 and nine growers used it in 2005. “We still get a lot of inquiries, and now other counties are showing significant interest in using plasticulture in crop production.”

Extended growing seasons offered by plasticulture have also resulted in increased profits through double-cropping. Brownlee reports that last year one farmer laid plastic for strawberries, harvested his crop in May, and then used the same plastic to grow sweet corn later in the year.

“The plasticulture system allowed him to plant early, harvest his first crop, and then plant a second crop for a late harvest. This would not have been possible without the plasticulture system,” he says.

Bottom line: a higher-tech grower

NC A&T’s Baldwin rates the program as a major success. “It has helped produce higher-quality crops, which resulted in farmers increasing their customer base, finding better markets and diversifying their enterprises.”

Brownlee reports that farmers are now experimenting with different colors of plastic, including white plastic and clear plastic, which help reduce heat retention in soils during the hot summer months. “Warmer soil early in the season is good, but not necessarily in the middle of July,” he says.

In addition to allowing farmers to use plasticulture equipment, Baldwin and the Extension agents have stressed the need for educational programming and marketing. Growers participating in the program attend numerous events, including the Vegetable Expo, Farm Tours, Alternative Crops School and the Alternative Grower School to gain knowledge about using plastic mulch.

Baldwin estimates that because of the program at least 75 growers statewide have begun using plasticulture. “We’re helping growers become higher-tech,” he says. “A lot of people have learned how to do this and are making more money because of it.”