6 | NWSLTR Empowering farmers through hands-on high-tunnel workshop By Michelle Wallace Regional ANR Extension Educator, Northwest Ohio Soluptaecto eaturias nossit prerunt qui asperibus autemol
Small farms can extend their season, increase their yields, and improve their crop quality by installing a high tunnel. A high tunnel is an unheated greenhouse that relies on solar capture to trap heat and grow crops earlier in the winter and spring and extend the season into fall. High tunnels over time need maintenance. It is recommended to re-skin a high tunnel every four to five years. Many farmers wait even longer because re-skinning a high tunnel is expensive, and not everyone has the skills and comfort level to take on a big project like this on their own. Over the years, many growers have taken advantage of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) high tunnel grant to acquire a high tunnel. The North End Community Improvement Collaborative Urban Farm in Mansfield, Ohio, has 10 of these and several were due for maintenance. A family of vultures had taken up residence at the farm, damaging several tunnels while perching on top of the high tunnels waiting for meals. As you can imagine, their talons do considerable damage to the 6 MIL clear poly sheeting that lines them and one of the tunnels needed complete replacement. This created an opportunity for Central State University Extension to offer a hands-on workshop with help from Yoder’s Produce, to introduce and empower growers in the process of re-skinning a high tunnel. The workshop took place on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. Five participants learned the steps and materials needed to re-skin a high tunnel, engaged in a workshop that involved covering the high tunnel with new ultraviolet resistant clear poly sheets, securing the sheets to the gable ends, fastening the sheets to the high tunnel with wiggle wire, and securing the sheets to the roller bar and roller bar cap by drilling the screws into the bar along the openings in the cap. Finally, participants reattached the rope along the sides of the high tunnel curtain by securing the clips to the lower groove. The immediate impact is knowledge gained. All of the farm participants know what is needed to reskin a high tunnel, how long it takes, materials needed, estimated costs depending on the type of high tunnel. They also know how to repair and re-install the side curtains using wiggle wire. At the same time, they know how to drill the screws into the roller bar and re-secure the roller bar cap after reinstalling the plastic sheet. They also learned that they can reuse the roller bar only three times before it needs to be replaced.
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