Other entrepreneurs are likely to launch into hothouses on a smaller scale, building facilities in urban areas near New York and Chicago to supply produce to local farmers markets, Giacomelli said.
These farms will have to be energy efficient -- tapped into renewable or co-generation energy -- to deal with the colder fall and spring climates, and they won't be year-round. There isn't enough sunlight from November through February to grow hothouse crops in big enough volume to pay for the heating bill.
Yet such small greenhouse farms, and the potential for even smaller, urban rooftop hothouses, will help provide for locally grown produce outside the traditional growing season in these regions, Giacomelli said.
Even so, California will probably become the center of greenhouse agriculture. With more than 300 days of sunshine annually, the climate provides an ideal year-round growing opportunity and keeps volumes high. Mild weather limits heating and cooling expenses. California's existing farm infrastructure also gives it an advantage over other locales.
"California always does agriculture big," said Giacomelli, "and it will do this big too."
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jerry.hirsch@latimes.com
