University of Minnesota
Crookston

Terry Nennich, University of Minnesota Extension, Crookston, returned from an agricultural tour in France in 1999 determined to see if the high tunnels he saw widely used there could be used in our northern climate to extend our short growing season.

Terry has been a leader of the team conducting research at University of Minnesota sites in Grand Rapids, Morris, and Lamberton; and has consulted extensively with farmers throughout the state who are experimenting with the technology.

A high tunnel built in 2007 on the Mount St. Benedict’s Monastery grounds in Crookston is one of only a few sites for organic high tunnel research in the upper Midwest. Terry Nennich and Mike Klawitter, a local organic farmer, oversee production and research.