Locally grown food is gaining popularity and increasing its prevalence holds potential for broad social, economic and environmental benefits. Season extension technologies such as hoop houses offer a solution to limited growing seasons, a major constraint in many areas, enhancing efforts to supply locally grown food. This paper discusses research conducted at three Michigan farmers' markets, locations where Michigan farmers utilizing hoop houses currently sell their produce. The research measures consumers' willingness to buy local produce at extended season markets using a set of four complementary methods: dot poster surveys, written surveys, focus groups and experimental auctions. Building upon prior research on attributes that create value for local foods (spatial proximity, food quality and relationships between farmers and consumers), our results inform farmers' choice of marketing mix. We find consumers willing to pay a premium for large quantities of locally grown produce, with many placing highest value on products grown in Michigan. We conclude that extended season farmers' markets supplied by hoop house grown produce create an opportunity for farm viability and further development of the market for locally grown food.

High-tunnel soil, water, and fertility management can be achieved using a wide range of approaches from polyethylene film-mulched, drip-fertigated beds to certified organic management based on maintaining high soil organic matter (SOM) content. Soil management techniques are discussed in relation to the high tunnel structure used and the length of the growing season, site preparation, soil health, SOM, irrigation water quality, and fertility, with a focus on certified organic management.

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. high tunnel, farm economics, vegetable production SUMMARY. Relatively low-cost season extension structures have the potential to contribute to farm economic viability in temperate climates by providing a means to continue sales beyond the limits of outdoor-only field production. These structures, commonly called hoophouses, high tunnels, passive solar greenhouses, or unheated greenhouses, allow for the extension of heat-tolerant (warm season) crops on both ends of the production time frame and at winter harvesting of cold-tolerant (cool season) crops. In this study, results are presented from a multiyear investigation into the economic impacts of year-round production and harvesting, with a focus on profitability of the structure and crop production as a whole. The results of case studies from nine Michigan farms reveal a very broad range of outcomes across farms in construction time, labor allocation and returns, and gross and net revenue. The economic implications of farmer use, including projected investment payback time, are discussed.

The following study assesses cold-season hoop house lettuce production in the context of local food systems' relative environmental effects. For this purpose, we compare the carbon footprints of leaf lettuce production in two climatic zones, one close to the consumer market and one distant, via environmental impact modeling in SimaPro 7.3. A sitespecific scenario is first detailed with organic leaf lettuce locally grown in an East Lansing, Michigan hoop house. This is compared to a hypothetical scenario, modeled using average industry data, with leaf lettuce conventionally grown in California then shipped to East Lansing. The system boundaries used in this analysis extend from manufacturing of farm production inputs to a hypothetical retail gate. We assumed that the consumer drove the same distance to the retailer in each case. The functional unit used is 1 kg of leaf lettuce. Results demonstrate that the distant system exhibits 4.3 times the CO 2 'footprint' per kg of lettuce. This nonlocal system also resulted in higher resource depletion, health impact and ecological damage potential as demonstrated via the SimaPro simulation. This study concludes that unheated, hoop house lettuce production, given the assumption on within-area travel, has a smaller carbon footprint than outdoor, distant production, and speaks to both the potential value of more localized food systems and the need for a more diverse set of scenario modeling to understand the boundaries of this value.

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. season extension, vegetable production, farm management SUMMARY. Quantitative and qualitative data from a group of 12 novice hoophouse farmers over a 3-year period in Michigan were analyzed to better understand factors associated with profitable use of these structures. There was wide variation in labor inputs and effective wages. We used regression analysis and semistructured interviews to better understand the variation in performance. Not all farmers were making use of the hoophouse between outdoor seasons when supply is low and prices are high, as economic theory would predict. However, high wage earners were more likely to push production into the extended season months, hire labor at higher wages, and spend less time in maintaining crops and appeared to harvest more efficiently. Markets played a role in farmers' success as some farmers were able to make significant profits by organizing community-supported agriculture (CSA)/ direct sales or by finding new markets. Station; Michigan State University Extension; and the C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture Endowment.