Strawberry fields for summer> Major seedling producer plans Loring Commerce

LIMESTONE — A major producer of plant seedlings plans to conduct a pilot project this summer at the Loring Commerce Centre, officials said Wednesday.

If the project to produce strawberry and broccoli seedlings is satisfactory, Speedling Inc. of Sun City, Fla., may open a full-fledged operation at Loring with up to 150 seasonal employees.

A motion allowing the leasing of a portion of the former alert hangar at the closed military base was approved unanimously Wednesday by the Loring Development Authority of Maine, which operates the LCC. The package includes a $20,000 grant from the Maine Department of Agriculture and financial and equipment incentives from the LDA.

“I believe there is a significant opportunity in Aroostook County to have full-scale production of strawberries and broccoli,” said LDA President Brian Hamel.

Both crops already are planted in Maine.

Speedling Inc. is the world’s largest producer of vegetable transplants in containers and is a wholly owned subsidiary of WBL Corp. Ltd., an international conglomerate located in Singapore, according to LDA officials.

Speedling has more than 2.5 million square feet of greenhouse space in facilities in Florida, California and Texas with more than 1 billion plantings.

The company plans to focus on strawberries, with broccoli coming later.

Strawberry seedlings that are produced in Maine would be used by strawberry growers in Florida, which, with 6,000 acres, is the second-largest producer of the fruit in the country.

“Right now we need a product that will be supplying the Florida strawberry market,” said Dr. Steve Kovach, Speedling’s manager of business development, in an interview from his Florida office.

The seedlings, which are produced without soil, would be shipped to Florida in the fall when the strawberry crop is planted there, Kovack explained. The company would like to supply about 10 percent of the seedlings used to plant those 6,000 acres in Florida from the Loring location, Kovach said.

If the project works out and the greenhouse firm decides to set up shop at Loring, up to 150 people could find seasonal work, Kovack said. In addition, local farmers would be involved in producing material for the greenhouses, the Speedling official said.

The pilot project expects to hire 10 local people for seasonal work this summer, Kovach said.

The northern Maine climate is suitable for strawberries and is similar to eastern Canada, where many of the strawberry seedlings are produced for the Florida market, Kovach said. At the same time, the company expects less problems with insects and disease in the Maine climate.