Green Earth Hydroponics

C. Raker & Sons, located in Litchfield, Mich., specializes in the production of high-quality plugs and liners through seed and vegetative propagation. Established in 1978, the family-owned business has several greenhouses that cover more than 440,000-square-feet of space. Production is on order basis, with plugs and liners grown and shipped throughout the year. It uses double layer acrylic greenhouses, rolling benches, computerized environmental controls, bar code tracking technology, production automation, and custom software for order entry and production management. The company has also invested in robotic systems for tray patching, helping it to achieve the guaranteed number of usable plants per tray. Its annual production is more than 180 million plugs and liners that are distributed throughout the United States and internationally to Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and the Bahamas. C. Raker & Sons has more than 70 full-time employees, and also employs up to 90 additional people as the season demands.