Seasonal High Tunnel System for Crops

Practice Code: 798
Reporting Unit: Number (Ft2)

A seasonal polyethylene covered structure with no electrical, heating, and/or mechanical ventilation systems that is used to cover crops to extend the growing season in an environmentally safe manner.

Purposes and Benefits

• Improves plant quality

• Improves soil quality

• Improves quality of fruits and vegetables

• Improves water quality from reduced nutrient and pesticide transport

• Improves air quality through reduced transportation inputs

• Reduces energy use through local consumption

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Ground Disturbing Potential of Conservation Practices

This is a potential ground disturbing conservation practice. Any project with ground disturbing or potential ground disturbing practices planned may need to be submitted for review by the State Historic Preservation Officer and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. Please see the Cultural Resources Review Process Flowchart for an outline of this process. View a list of conservation practices used in New York State, and their ground disturbing potential.   

Conservation Practice Support Documents

Support Documents for this conservation practice are available for download from an abbreviated version of Section IV of the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG).

All support documents associated with this and other conservation practices are available at the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide Web site.

 

Related Conservation Practices

This practice is commonly used in a Conservation Management System with practices such as:

Conservation Crop Rotation (328)
Critical Area Planting (342)
Diversion (362)
Mulching (with plastic) (484)
Mulching (with organic materials) (484)
Nutrient Management (590)
Underground Outlet (620)

Additional Information

The following Web sites provide additional information related to this conservation practice.

Community Garden Guide - Season Extension - High Tunnel
This document, published by the USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program, discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of high tunnels, their selection, installation and management.

Community Garden Guides
The Rose Lake Plant Materials Center, located in Michigan, has published several guides for communities and individuals to improve their production techniques for fresh fruits and vegetables. Several guides discuss the topic of growing season extension. Though written for the Great Lakes area, they are applicable across the entire northern United States, southern Canada, and anyplace where a longer growing season is desired.

Cornell High Tunnels - Cornell University Department of Horticulture

High Tunnels Manual - The University of Vermont (UVM) Center for Sustainable Agriculture
This web page presents a manual titled "High Tunnels: Using Low Cost Technology to Increase Yields, Improve Quality, and Extend the Growing Season." An accompanying DVD is available featuring six farmers from five Northeastern states explaining how and why they constructed their high tunnel system, what they grow in it, and how it helps sustain their farming operation.

High Tunnels.org
This Web site is part of a USDA-sponsored project that is testing and promoting high tunnel systems.

High Tunnel Production - University of Minnesota

2003 High Tunnel Production Manual - North American Strawberry Growers Association (NASGA)
The 2003 High Tunnel Production Manual offers the latest information for putting this innovative technology to work.

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