Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Hydroponics in the valley

Hydroponics in the valley
EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

WHEN THE Israelis settled the arid Negev Desert, they perfected the art of hydroponic gardening. It uses very little water, and produce is grown without soil.

Fast forward to rural eastern Pueblo County. Richard Sandquist, a retired airline pilot, has invested about $100,000 for a 5,000-square-foot greenhouse and grows bib lettuce and other greens. The process uses only 100 to 150 gallons of water per day out of the St. Charles Mesa water system, and Mr. Sandquist reports that the enterprise grosses $2,000 to $2,500 a week selling to high-end restaurants in Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver. He says chefs prefer his fresh produced to that trucked in from California, and people who have eaten the lettuce say it’s quite tasty.

This is the kind of forward thinking that’s needed in the agriculture industry of the Lower Arkansas Valley. With farm prices remaining flat, there are pressures on farmers to sell their water rights to cities.

Yet that doesn’t mean ag in the valley must dry up. We’re reminded that new thinking has been part of the valley’s history. John Swink introduced the idea of growing cantaloupes and other melons, and it became a national industry.

Mr. Sandquist notes that the average consumption of lettuce in this country is 6 pounds per person a year. There are 3 million people on the Front Range. That's 18 million pounds of lettuce and most of it currently comes from Arizona and California, so it appears there is a huge market waiting to be served right here in Colorado.

That doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, however. Melons, strawberries, cranberries or most any produce can be grown year-round in hydroponic greenhouses. Peppe Gourmet Food on the Mesa grows and sells hydroponic tomatoes year-round.

Some grains can be grown for livestock feed, sprouting to 8 inches high in eight days, rolled up and tossed into a pen. Some farmers are combining aquaculture - raising fish - with hydroponics.

As Mr. Sandquist notes, “It goes on and on and on, as far as what can be done.” This well could be a powerful tool for some farmers in the region to survive and prosper.

Article quoted from:
http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1137918027/5