North America: “We see good things down the road, this year looks promising for growers”

Starting as a one-man operation over thirty years ago, A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. has been offering products for different sectors of the horticultural industry since 1982. After several years of growth, they now boast a large product line and a robust presence throughout North America, and throughout that growth process they’ve seen several trends. One of those recent trends, noted A.M.A.’s Rick Bradt, has been an increasing focus on products for growing food. In fact, the trend has picked up so much steam that he thinks it’s one of the drivers helping the industry out of the low period it’s experienced the past few years.

A.M.A. provides trays, containers and growing substrates for the nursery and horticultural industries. A large portion of their business involves the manufacture and selling of Ellepots for plant propagation, and they’re currently the largest manufacturer of the product in North America, with manufacturing facilities in Ontario and California. But the majority of their business involves various other containers used in plant propagation and finishing, and in both areas, Bradt has seen more and more new customers use their products for the propagation of fruits, vegetables and tree nuts.

“The fruit and tree nut business has really taken off for us, especially in California,” said Bradt. He explained that, unlike the 1980′s, when more customers were focused on flowers, their new customers are often looking more to growing food. He mentioned several possible reasons for the shift, such as local food movements, but whatever the reason for the shift, he sees it as one of the things helping them get out of a few rough years. Continue reading

You can see A.M.A.’s hometown, Kingsville, ON (Canada’s southernmost town) and Leamington, ON. These two towns are home to the largest concentration of greenhouses in North America, covering more than 5,000,000m² primarily for hydroponic vegetable production, but also some flowering crop production. Within a four hour drive of us in Ontario, are more than 800 hectares of greenhouses and more just across the border in Michigan.

Also visible in the photo is Point Pelee, the southernmost part of Canada’s mainland, Pelee Island, the southernmost inhabited part of Canada and Middle Island, the southernmost land in Canada (now part of Point Pelee National Park). The ice covering Lake Erie shifts almost daily during the winter. Point Pelee crosses the 42nd Parallel North, which also denotes the California/Oregon state border.

A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. is ideally located, within 25 minutes drive of the Windsor/Montreal 401 highway corridor and 45 minutes drive of the Windsor/Detroit international border crossing with access directly onto Interstate highways I-75 heading south to Florida and I-94 and then I-80 heading all the way to Montana and California.

We ship everything from small packages by UPS or FedEx to single or multi pallet orders by LTL carriers to full truck load orders via road or rail transport.

A.M.A. has Solutions for your Success! Call us.

The TOM-System utilizes a battery powered “stapler” unit which is used to apply the metal clips around the twine and vine quickly and accurately. The installer can carry many more clips along with him due to their lightweight and small size, meaning fewer times required in a day to “reload”. Freight costs are also lowered due to the small size of the clips. An added bonus found in Europe, is the degradability of the clips from oxidization after crop removal. TOM-System clips, when used with A.M.A.’s Lankhorst Bio-Twine, can be taken out with the vines to compost. The thin steel clips rust away quickly in such conditions, but last the entire length of the crop life in fine shape. The Bio-Twine also degrades in the compost process.

The TOM-System is suitable for hydroponic pepper, cucumber and eggplant crops.

You can learn more about the Agrifast TOM-System at www.amahydroponics.com. Watch the video. A.M.A. has been serving the horticulture and nursery industries since 1982.

Comments from park staff? Very good take rates and easy transplanting with very minimal or no damage to very tender plants.

View Point Pelee Project here.