Mastronardi looks to automation, more greenhouse farming

With its two 35-plus acre greenhouses in Coldwater, Mastronardi is at the forefront of the move.

"The future is going to be automation — there's no question about it," Paul Mastronardi said at a virtual conference sponsored by Bayer AG on the future of farming. "It isn't going to change overnight; we're talking about a decade before we see a major shift in what's happening. But I believe technology is going to be the key to the harvesting and growing of the crops."

His brother-in-law Kevin Safrance, executive vice chairman of Mastronardi Produce, told the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee the same month.

"One greenhouse worker can harvest the equivalent to 37 traditional field farmworkers. Despite our farms being climate controlled and the day-to-day work being done without being subject to the harsh elements, greenhouse farms struggle to attract and maintain a stable workforce," he said.

Mastronardi's Maroa and Pepperco Farms in Coldwater each month are on the list of job openings for MichiganWorks.

"Whenever we are unable to find those qualified workers, we are forced to turn to contractors or the H-2A program," Safrance said.

When the H-2A program started, the type of farm labor the greenhouses needed was not contemplated. Greenhouse farming is now called Controlled Environment Agriculture.

"CEA farming requires facility cleanout, sanitation, and crop preparation processes that did not exist in 1986 when the H-2A program was created," Safrance said. " A 50-foot tomato plant, which you can find any day on our farms during harvest, did not exist.

"Innovations beckon us to modernize and update the system, not just so we can partner with more H-2A workers, but so we can fix the domestic food supply chain and feed Americans with food grown right here in America," he said.

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Source: Yahoo Finance