They Heat Greenhouse Crops With Corn-Burning Furnace

They Heat Greenhouse Crops With Corn-Burning Furnace BUILDINGS Miscellaneous Eric and Ann Franzenburg of Van Horne Iowa raise corn and soybeans on 400 acres and grow specialty crops on their other 100 acres They have 3 greenhouses where they raise strawberries and other high-value crops on raised beds They use a high output Year-A-Round corn burning furnace and a radiant floor heating system to heat the 3 greenhouses They also have a “hoop house” that relies on passive solar heat Greenhouse crops include medicinal herbs tomatoes ginger greens flowers tomatoes blueberries and strawberries which they sell to grocery stores and at farmer’s markets “We grow the corn on our farm so even though right now corn prices are relatively high corn is still cheaper than natural gas and is a renewable resource ” says Ann The Year-A-Round corn furnace is located in a big metal shed that’s adjacent to all 3 greenhouses “We use the radiant floor system to heat the ground not the air ” says Ann “After the crop is up we use row covers to hold heat down around the plants ” When they installed the radiant heating system they removed 18 in of topsoil laid down foam insulation stapled tubing to the top of the sheets of insulation and put the topsoil back over everything They put up the hoop house last fall and use it to grow greens such as spinach lettuce “The hoop house lengthens our growing season by 6 weeks ” notes Ann Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Eric and Ann Franzenburg 6925 19th Ave Van Horne Iowa 52346 ph 319 228-8758; eafran@netins net

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