Higher Greenhouse Heating Costs Could Lead to Higher Vegetable Prices
Rising energy and fuel costs could have a trickle-down effect for vegetable growers in New Jersey and elsewhere, leading to increased costs for consumers, growers have warned.
In a recent article on the Jersey Evening Post website, Paul Blake of La Chasse Produce in St Saviour, NJ, says growers are turning down the heating in their greenhouses due to the increased cost of energy. The result is that vegetables are taking longer to grow and ripen, and are reaching stores later than usual.
La Chasse Produce grows tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and courgettes under glass.
Blake says he has had to reduce the temperature in his greenhouses by about 10%, so some produce did not develop as quickly as usual.
“The fuel price crept up over the winter, but in the last six to eight weeks it has gone absolutely mad,” says Blake, who notes that while his company is currently covering most of the additional costs themselves, he’s not sure what’s going to happen in the future.
Peter Le Maistre of Master Farms in Grouville, who is president of the Jersey Farmers’ Union, agreed that the increase was having an impact on members.
“If you turn down the heating in your greenhouse by just a couple of degrees it can mean an awful lot of saving in the fuel you use,” Le Maistre says. “But obviously if you turn down the heating, the vegetables will be later.”
Continue reading at the Jersey Evening Post.
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