A series of storms that spawned a tornado destroyed greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario’s vegetable region, causing big losses for some of the province’s growers.
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Courtesy Pelee Hydroponics |
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Four acres of greenhouses collapsed and two acres sustained severe damage at Pelee Hydroponics in a strong F1 tornado that hit Leamington, Ontario, June 6. |
Overall damage to crops, however, won’t result in a noticeable drop in product availability for retailers.
“We’ve got about six acres, and four are basically flattened and a couple severely compromised,” said Dennis Dick, owner of Pelee Hydroponics, Leamington. The tomatoes in his greenhouses are marketed by Mastronardi Produce, Kingsville.
A small amount of acreage — 16 acres in five locations — was destroyed, while about 40 more suffered damage in the storm that hit the area June 6, said George Gilvesy, general manager of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers Association, Leamington.
The damage was focused along the Lake Erie shore from the Kingsville area to Leamington. Early estimates suggest only a handful of growers were involved, and only a fraction of a percent of the province’s total acreage was destroyed.
“The bottom line is 16 acres is less than 1% of production, so it’s really a negligible impact on the marketplace,” Gilvesy said. “If it would have been a kilometer to the north, we would have had a much different story.”
The association represents more than 1,820 acres of greenhouses in Ontario, 1,600 of which are in southwestern Ontario.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs estimated $24 million in damage to greenhouse facilities as of June 9. That number does not include lost plantings. Gilvesy said his association is working with federal agencies to estimate damages, including crop value.
One greenhouse acre can produce $400,000 worth of crops, said Helmut Leili, sales manager for Clifford Produce Sales Inc., Kingsville. Two of the farmer cooperative’s growers lost about 3 acres total.
“It’s not enough damage to affect the crop in terms of volume, but it’s a significant portion,” Leili said. “Three acres is still more than $1 million worth of business.”
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Courtesy Pelee Hydroponics |
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The tornado cleared out a path about 3.5 miles long, Leamington greenhouse vegetable industry members say. |
For Gerry Mastronardi, the Clifford Produce grower who lost 1 acre, the storm caused damage in all three of his greenhouse operations.
For the other, the 2 lost acres represented 25% of his total acreage. Those two were a complete loss and are being torn down.
“The plastic was damaged, and in one case, it was ripped off,” Leili said. “In one case, the winds were strong enough they actually moved and shifted the greenhouse structure itself.”
Along Seacliff Drive, a main road between Leamington and Kingsville, trees were uprooted and houses and businesses destroyed. Keepsake Farms, a fresh flower greenhouse across the street from Gerry Mastronardi, was obliterated.
“We just finished cutting trees — 150-year-old trees that were all uprooted — and we’re just trying to clean up,” Mastronardi said June 9. “I’ve got my crew still picking and packing.”
Kingsville-based Mucci International Marketing is a few miles from Yoder’s, but seems to have been mostly spared, said Sandra Dick, marketing coordinator.
“I don’t think it touched down right around us,” Dick said. “One of our old ranges had a little damage, but not much. And we had a couple growers that were hit, but it was minimal.”
H&A Mastronardi Farms and N&M Farms, both of Leamington, were hit hard.
“It was so eerie at 3:30 (a.m.) when I drove to my farm,” said Carl Mastronardi, president of Del Fresco Produce, who left his house to check things out right after the storm. “It hit my oldest greenhouses on the farm and hit the front where I had mostly flowers.”
Carl Mastronardi said he lost about half an acre’s worth of glass and is going to need to replace stretched plastic on more greenhouses.
Some greenhouse growers just a few miles off shore were not affected at all. Pure Hot House Foods Inc., Leamington, has not noticed any influx in its business due to neighbors with damage.
“For the shippers handling that acreage, they’ll have enough to cover, and it’s not like we’re in a shortage right now anyway,” said Jamie Moracci, president and co-owner.
And although Seacliff Drive and some of the surrounding streets were barricaded off, only accessible to residents with proof of address on their drivers’ licenses, the debris hasn’t had an effect on transportation. While many growers lost power, generators were able to keep them going, growers said.
Gilvesy said he’s working with provincial and federal governments to obtain emergency funding for affected growers. Agricultural recovery funds were used last year in northern Ontario for apple crops damaged by a storm, Gilvesy said.