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Your Quick Guide To Grow Room Controllers
A grow room controller brings together all the moving parts of your cultivation facility and allows you to automate your operation
March 5, 2021
What is a Grow Room Controller?
A grow room controller brings together all the moving parts of your cultivation facility and allows you to automate your operation. With a grow room controller, you can monitor and control your climate, lighting, irrigation, fertigation, and track your crop’s success to adjust and improve each cycle. These control systems can connect to existing equipment or come with their own set of sensors to track your environment, and adjust according to your set parameters, ultimately saving you time and money.
Grow room controllers integrate with existing systems, or can be purchased with sensors and equipment for larger operations. Some systems need only a few sensors and an application for your phone or computer, while others require larger computing and monitoring devices. Which option you choose will largely depend on the size of your greenhouse or indoor growing operation.
Being able to monitor and control your indoor or greenhouse facility is crucial for consistent and desired results. These systems are a huge benefit to all crop types, including cannabis, and can be adjusted to fit your cultivation style and desired outcomes. Not only will you be able to more accurately track and monitor your crop’s progress, but you can then take that learning and replicate it or improve upon it for your next growth cycle.
The Benefits
Grow room controllers offer you complete control and oversight of your crop. Any environmental aspect that you wish to control can be monitored and adjusted with a grow room control system. More advanced systems offer automation for your whole system, allowing you to pull yourself out of the weeds (pun intended) of trying to control everything manually. Grow room controllers are also scalable, especially if you purchase a setup with that in mind, allowing you to expand your facility but keep the same environmental parameters and automation.
All greenhouse and indoor growers know that having control over your environment is crucial to achieving desired results. This means monitoring and adjusting your lighting, climate, irrigation, and fertigation to ensure consistency, which can be time-consuming. A greenhouse control system does the monitoring and adjusting for you, ensuring all of the environmental controls work together and are adjusted accurately.
With advanced control systems, you can program light preferences for your greenhouse, so if light falls below a certain threshold your lights will adjust and will turn off if it exceeds that threshold. Indoor growing can also benefit from lighting such as timers and spectrum controls. Hydroponic sensors in your medium can tell you if you need to increase or decrease water durations. Ultimately being as efficient as possible with water and electricity, which is both environmentally and economically beneficial.
This monitoring and automation are incredibly cost-effective in the long run for your greenhouse or indoor facility. The more automation you have, the less labor you need to support your cultivation, and labor is one of the most, if not the most costly aspect of a cultivation facility. Grow room and greenhouse control systems can also schedule timers and alarms for preventative maintenance so that your equipment can receive proper downtime, preventing blowouts and loss of productivity.
How to Select a Grow Room Controller
Figure 1 from GroAdvisor Webinar
The above worksheet is an example of how you can select the right grow room controller for your needs. While many focus on cost, it’s also important to take into account which system will integrate with and enhance your facility the most. Take stock of your equipment and current manual system to ensure that your new grow room controller will add value to your operation.
Finding a grow room controller that is right for your facility will help you realize your fullest growth potential. Once you have compared and found a system that can accommodate the environmental controls you’d like to track and automate, all that’s left is the installation. Once the grow room controller is installed and your parameters are set you will no longer have to manually adjust your elements, saving time and labor, which ultimately saves money.
Create Multiple Streams of Income With Container Farming
Right now, despite COVID-19 repercussions, food remains a necessity, and there exists an opportunity to build resilience into our business models. As a result, many businesses, food-related or not, can create a viable new stream of income by growing your own produce with a container farm
CURRENT CHALLENGES
Right now, despite COVID-19 repercussions, food remains a necessity, and there exists an opportunity to build resilience into our business models.
As a result, many businesses, food-related or not, can create a viable new stream of income by growing your own produce with a container farm.
WHAT IS CONTAINER FARMING?
Container farming uses a hydroponic growing system to commercially grow a variety of fresh produce more sustainably and year-round. This type of growth is done in a controlled environment that is time, space, and resource-efficient.
The real value is not only the produce grown, but the ability for a container farm to offer a community or business a local source of produce, a source of employment, and an additional stream of income.
GROWING FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
Those who work closely with our food systems know that growing your own food is not going to solve food security immediately. However, we can’t dismiss the benefit of growing food closer to the people who consume it.
If you’re a co-op store, the container farm is behind your store and ready to fill your shelves. If you’re a nonprofit that cooks meals, sourcing produce is one logistic you can cross off your list. If your community is remote, or further from city centers, the importance of having a local source of food is not lost on you. Access to local food becomes even more critical in light of current events that have shaken our supply chains.
Abbey Gardens purchased a Growcer to ensure that they were able to generate revenue year-round instead of seasonally.
YEAR-ROUND RELIABILITY
Growcer systems are plug-and-play systems built to operate year-round among all conditions. The system allows you to consistently harvest produce and benefit from this stream of income year-round.
If you rely on a seasonal bump for a boost, this consistent source of income increases the foundation you have to work with.
The hydroponic growing system also allows multiple types of crops can be grown at once from over 140 different varieties of produce and the ability to swap what you’re growing to meet demand.
The Yellowknife Co-op has created their own produce line and branding for their Growcer greens.
PROOF OF CONCEPT
Can a container farm really be an extra source of income? We know it can. We’ve collaborated with many diverse communities and organizations that have tailored a Growcer system to work for them.
For example, businesses like Abbey Gardens and The Yellowknife Co-op used the Growcer system to add extra revenue to their main line of business. For the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society, they are adding the system to create an entirely new source of revenue for their non-profit.
While a container farm can be a source of extra income, it has to be feasible first. You must factor your situation, your market, and your financial options when investigating if this is a fit.
Take the first step and plug in your specifics into our ROI calculator to evaluate the feasibility of a container farm for you.
StephanieMay 4, 2020
US: “We Are Increasing Any Kind of Digital Experience.”
As the situation around COVID-19 worsens in the USA, Freight Farms has still been able to continue its momentum in a meaningful way
As the situation around COVID-19 worsened in the USA, Freight Farms has still been able to continue its momentum in a meaningful way. With the company’s team working remotely during this crisis, demand for Freight Farms’ Greenery has continued to grow, resulting in the team exceeding its sales goals for the first and second quarter of the year. Brad McNamara, President of Freight Farms mentions: “There are a lot of people coming to us seeing the urgency of the food supply.”
The company’s customers are also responding to the crisis in various ways. Many of Freight Farms’ small business customers have been able to quickly pivot from supplying restaurants and foodservice to consumers in their communities directly via CSA, delivery, and drive-through models. CEO Rick Vanzura says that there has been a lot of discussion on how countries' food supply chains were or weren’t prepared for COVID-19. “The situation has spotlighted urgent supply chain challenges faced around the world, and we want to help provide solutions wherever we can.”
The Freight Farms Greenery cultivation area
Business past weeks
Caroline Katsiroubas, Director of Marketing & Community Relations states, “There has been an increase in consumers researching how to grow their own food that’s highlighting a heightened interest in local sourcing and the need to shorten supply chains. People are also searching for food production technology – we’ve seen a significant increase in visits to our website, as well as in inbound inquiries.” The company receives many messages of people that are interested to create a reliable source of food for their communities. “Our small business customers sell their produce directly to consumers in their local communities, as well as to local restaurants and foodservice groups.
Those who relied heavily on restaurant and foodservice sales prior to the pandemic have been nimbly pivoting their business models to reach consumers in their local communities directly through contactless CSAs, drive-through farm stands, and delivery models. And the communities have very receptive – they want access to fresh produce without having to go to the grocery store right now, they want to support local business, and they like knowing their food has been in contact with fewer people – just them and their farmers.”
At the moment Freight Farms is scheduling live videos for social media and online webinar presentations to highlight Freight Farms’ customers. There will continue to be webinars for customers to share their experience and learn new farming and business tactics. “We are increasing digital experiences for our existing farmers and those interested in learning more about our farming technology.”
The leafy green machine, succeeded by the Greenery
Freight Farms supporting farmers
McNamara: “We are working on initiatives to support our community of farmers around the globe and domestically. We’re offering free access to our IoT platform Farmhand Connect to support their remote access to their farm operations. We’re also helping to connect farmers in our network who have extra produce to nonprofit organizations seeking donations.” Freight Farms is also supporting its customers by ensuring access to its service and technical teams. “We’ve increased our customer service and engineering support,” Vanzura mentions. We also have an online platform where our farmers share tips and tricks, and we are helping facilitate that conversation, even more, to promote best practices to respond to this crisis.” “For some of them, it’s pivoting to a more B2C model and we want to help them achieve that,” Katsiroubas notes.
Freight Farms' Greenery Farmhand
Locals are helping out
Katsiroubas: “Some of our institutional customers, like schools which are of course now closed, are donating the produce they’ve been growing for the dining hall to food banks or nonprofit organizations that are lacking fresh produce. Our customers at Saint Joseph's College have been continued growing despite the COVID-19 to deliver their supply to the local elderly population in the community.” “Our customers have the power to grow food in minimal time and pivot supply to where it needs to be in the community. I am so proud of our community of farmers as they’re using our technology to do what they can to help others in this time of crisis,” McNamara notes.
A St. Joseph's student farmer
Pushing forward developments
McNamara states that the company’s resources are ramped up, for the current situation and for continued product development. “Fortunately, our supply chain is in good shape, so we are in a good position not only to support the current network, but also the new farmers coming on board in the upcoming months.” Freight Farms recently hired automation and robotics specialist Jake Felser, as the new head of engineering. “Having Jake onboard has been great. We have a dream team pushing development forward, especially from an automation perspective. We are moving forward constantly and have never been better positioned.”
Freight Farms Greenery calendula
Crispr tomatoes
“We’re always pushing forward on collaborative research, and recently worked with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as they explored how seed genetics and vertical farming can work together for efficiencies in food production, especially in confined environments. Our farm was used to create optimal growing conditions to unlock unique characteristics of their gene-edited tomato seeds,” McNamara states. The launch of the Greenery last year has proven to be more powerful with 70% more linear growing room in the same 320 sq. footprint as its flagship farm. “The interior flexibility of the Greenery supports efficient growth of more than 500 varieties of crops, and farmers are able to increase yield overall. With our integrated IoT platform farmhand, these farms will only continue to be more efficient.”
Freight Farms Greenery stacked crane lot
Investment
In February the company raised $15 million in their series B funding led by Ospraie Ag Science. McNamara says, “Ospraie Ag Science is a great investor and focused on agricultural and environmental sciences. It’s important for us to have our mission in line with whomever we work with on the investment side. We are using the funding to push ongoing technology development for our growing customer community.” “The partnership with Sodexo was a milestone moment for the company. By being a key player in their foodservice program, integration of our Greenery farms onto more campuses across the country will accelerate.” “It’s an important time to invest in agtech and to empower food production on a local level everywhere.”
For more information:
Freight Farms
www.freightfarms.com
Publication date: Wed 29 Apr 2020
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© HortiDaily.com
Vertical Field's New Portable Farms Are Making The World More Sustainable - And Better Fed
Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture, especially in urban settings where space is scarce. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate
REVIVING URBAN LIFE – AN INNOVATIVE SOIL-BASED INDOOR
VERTICAL FARM THAT BRINGS THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD
TO THE PLACE IT IS CONSUMED
• Consistent Supply
• Reduces Inventory Waste
• Less Human Handling
• More Sterile Environment
APRIL 28, 2020, New York/Rana’na, Israel
Urban areas contain more than half the world’s population and contribute to some 70% of the planet’s energy emissions. Cities guzzle the bulk of Earth’s resources and produce more waste. Many residents live in “urban food deserts.” And buildings are literally making their occupants sick.
Our planet is home to some 7.7 billion people. In many places, hunger is a reality. Unpredictable climate patterns are threatening the availability and stability of fresh produce. Yet the global population is rising. How will we feed the world by the mid-21stcentury, when an expected 10 billion of us need food? And now in-light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the food supply chain is in jeopardy more than ever before -- the need to bring food easier and faster directly to consumers is more important than ever.
One revolutionary agro-tech company, Vertical Field (www.verticalfield.com), is harnessing the power of geoponic technology, agricultural expertise, and smart design to tackle all of these issues and more. The Israeli startup – cited by Silicon Review as a “50 Innovative Companies to Watch in 2019” and named by World Smart City in 2019 as “Best Startup” – produces vertical agricultural solutions that help the environment, improve human health conditions, cut down on human handling, reduce waste, and make fresh, delicious and more produce available 365 days a year locally and directly to consumers and other end users.
“Vertical Fields offers a revolutionary way to eat the freshest greens and herbs, by producing soil-based indoor vertical farms grown at the very location where food is consumed,” said Vertical Field’s Chief Executive Officer, Guy Elitzur of Ra’anana, Israel who is hoping to place his ‘vertical farms’ in retail chains and restaurants establishments in cities throughout the US.
Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate.
“Not only do our products facilitate and promote sustainable life and make a positive impact on the environment, we offer an easy to use real alternative to traditional agriculture. Our Urban farms give new meaning to the term ‘farm-to-table,’ because one can virtually pick their own greens and herbs at supermarkets, restaurants or other retail sites,” he adds.
Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture, especially in urban settings where space is scarce. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate.
From Wall to Fork
Vertical farming in cities is an energy-efficient, space-saving, farming alternative to traditional crops grown in acres and fields. Thanks to Vertical Field, everyone from city planners and architects to restaurants, supermarkets, hotels are using vertical farming to create lush, green edible spaces in congested areas around the world.
Portable Urban Farm
An alternative to the living wall is Vertical Field’s unique Vertical Farm®, which can be placed in either a 20-ft or 40-ft. container equipped with advanced sensors that provide a controlled environment. This technology constantly monitors, irrigates, and fertilizes crops throughout every growth stage. Healthy, high-quality fruits and vegetables flourish in soil beds that contain a proprietary mix of minerals and nutrients.
Advantages of Vertical Field’s Vertical Farm:
● Bug-free and pesticide-free – healthy, fresh, and clean produce
● Less waste – uses 90% less water
● Shorter growing cycles, longer shelf life
● Plants are “in season” 365 days/year - grow whatever you want, no matter the weather or climate conditions of the geography
● Consistent quality
● Modular, expandable, and moveable farm
● Automated crop management
● More Sterile Environment
● Less Human Contact
Creating a more sustainable way of life in cities across the globe has never been more urgent. Vertical Field is responding to the challenge today. Green cities will enrich life in urban areas, provide healthier and better food, and shorten the distance between consumers and their food.
About Vertical Field:
Vertical Field is a leading agro-tech provider of vertical farming and living green wall solutions for urban environments and smart cities. The company is operated by professionals, agronomists, researchers, and a multi-disciplinary team, enabling the development of smart walls that combine the best of design and manufacturing, smart computerized monitoring, soil-based technology, water and lighting technology and more. Vertical Field delivers next-generation vertical farming systems for a global clientele, including Facebook, Intel, Apple, Isrotel, Microsoft, and many more.
For more information:
Vertical Field
www.verticalfield.com
VIDEO: 5 Herbs And Their Benefits!
In our second educational video, Taisiya introduces 5 herbs and explains their benefits
In our second educational video, Taisiya introduces 5 herbs and explains their benefits.
You’ll learn the benefits of:
Basil
Sage
Thyme
Rosemary
Peppermint
And much more!
Check it out now!
In our second educational video, Taisiya introduces 5 herbs and explains their benefits. You'll learn the benefits of: Basil, Sage and Much More.
WRITTEN BY
Pure Greens Arizona LLC
Pure Greens’ container-based grow systems offer a variety of interior layouts, sizes, and options so customers can create a farm that meets their needs.
And be sure to leave us a comment.
Freight Farms Expands Leadership Team with New CEO and Head of Engineering
Tune in to our webinar on March 31st with Freight Farmer Dave Ridill! Hear how he is growing produce for his snowy mountain town, all year long. Register here.
March 24, 2020
Freight Farms positions for new innovation and deepened market reach; cofounder Brad McNamara remains President
March 24, 2020 -- Freight Farms is thrilled to announce that it has hired veteran consumer brand executive Rick Vanzura as CEO who will also join the company’s Board of Directors, while cofounder Brad McNamara will remain as Freight Farms’ President. The company also welcomes automation and robotics specialist Jake Felser as Head of Engineering.
The need to simplify supply chains and ensure reliable access to healthy, traceable food at a local level has become more crucial for communities worldwide. Expansion of Freight Farms’ team follows a year of strong momentum for the company as forward-thinking organizations, particularly at the institutional level, recognize the benefits of a secure, distributed, and transparent food supply. As the company scales for growing demand at speed, expansion of Freight Farms’ leadership is positioned to quicken new extensions of its technology platform and deepen market reach.
“Freight Farms’ innovation addresses issues like urban land scarcity, traceability and the need for hyper-local solutions with speed to market. The current environment demonstrates more than ever the value of Freight Farms’ offerings.”
— Rick Vanzura, CEO of Freight Farms
“What excites me about Freight Farms is the ability to join a passionate, mission-driven business that is already perfectly positioned to address the growing critical need for sustainable, hyper-local food production,” says Vanzura. “Freight Farms has an incredible technology platform as the originator of container farming, as well as a global footprint driving numerous sources of value. Beyond providing a meaningful solution across industries, Freight Farms’ innovation addresses issues like urban land scarcity, traceability and the need for hyper-local solutions with speed to market. The current environment demonstrates more than ever the value of Freight Farms’ offerings.”
Vanzura has driven value for companies from start-up to Fortune 5 across technology, restaurant, retail, and entertainment sectors. With a focus on leveraging innovation and developing new market channels, he led strategy for Panera, General Motors Information Services and GameStop, and as the original CEO of Wahlburgers, he built the company from a single unit into one of America's fastest-growing restaurant brands. Vanzura’s 20 years in President and C-level roles include a decade in food service working with markets central to Freight Farms’ business. He also brings significant international experience to his role, having run Borders Group’s nearly $1 billion international business.
“As co-founders, Jon Friedman and I have taken Freight Farms from an idea to help decentralize the food system to being the leader in containerized vertical farming that’s truly putting the power of hyper-local food production into people’s hands,” said McNamara. “Rick has amplified growth across interconnected industries, and his international experience lends itself to our ongoing global expansion. His personal alignment with Freight Farms’ mission was crucial for us as well—he’s a welcomed addition to the team as we scale.”
“Rick has amplified growth across interconnected industries, and his international experience lends itself to our ongoing global expansion.”
— Brad McNamara, President of Freight Farms
“The potential is extraordinary,” Vanzura added, “I’m excited to be working with Brad, Jon and the team on the spectacular opportunities ahead, all while doing our part to help build a better, more sustainable food system for all.”
Jake Felser, former VP of Engineering for eatsa (now Brightloom), has also joined the Freight Farms team as Head of Engineering. With teams across hardware and software, Felser led robotics R&D and the development of eatsa’s shelf-style pickup system from conception to deployment across the company’s network of partners. Prior to eatsa, Felser was Senior Engineer and Product Manager at Cooper Perkins and has worked in hydraulics, refrigeration, structural optimization, design for development, and agriculture for companies including Blue Origin, Promethean Power Systems, and AGCO. With a passion for sustainable development, Felser is focused on automation, IoT, and machine learning-based integrations for Freight Farms growing technology portfolio.
Company growth, including ten new roles across all departments in Q1, also follows Freight Farms’ recent launch of the Greenery. Nearly 100 have been adopted by customers in 9 countries to date, bringing Freight Farms’ global footprint to more than 300 container farms around the world. The innovation also spurred interest from Sodexo in a strategic national partnership to grow food onsite at educational and corporate campuses nationwide and new investment from Ospraie Ag Science.
Indoor Micro Farming: Benefits, Costs, And Profits
Indoor micro-farming is a trendy alternative to outdoor farming. Outdoor, or field, farming is declining as land costs and soil erosion make it increasingly harder to start a farm. In its place, small indoor farms are popping up to meet the increasing demand for locally produced food
March 7, 2020
Indoor micro-farming is a trendy alternative to outdoor farming.
Outdoor, or field, farming is declining as land costs and soil erosion make it increasingly harder to start a farm. In its place, small indoor farms are popping up to meet the increasing demand for locally produced food.
Did you know small farms produce more than 70 percent of the world’s food?
Micro farms are versatile. They can be created in any small room like shipping containers, bedrooms, and garages.
In this article, you’ll learn all about indoor micro-farms including its benefits, costs, and how to profit from one.
Basics of Indoor Micro farming
Indoor micro-farming refers to small-scale farms in urban or suburban areas.
The ability to control environmental factors like lighting, humidity, and temperature is the biggest advantage that indoor farming has over outdoor farming.
Indoor alternatives to field farming, like greenhouses, have been around for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that controlled environment farms emerged.
Farmers use a variety of different systems to grow plants indoors. Aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics are a few of the most popular systems after using traditional soil.
Aquaponics refers to using fish to grow plants. In these systems, fish fertilize water that’s fed to the plants. The plants, in turn, purify the water, which is fed back into the fish tanks.
Hydroponic systems grow crops by watering plants with a nutrient-rich solution. Instead of soil, plants are grown in a nutrition-less growing medium that allows plants to absorb the nutrients from the water easier than if they were grown in soil.
In aeroponic systems, plants are grown with their roots exposed in highly misted environments. The mist is created using a nutrient solution.
We use hydroponic systems to cultivate crops in our Pure Greens container farms, which are made out of shipping containers.
Indoor micro-farms are often started using spare space like an unused basement, guest room, or garage in the farmer’s home. But they can also be started in any small, indoor area like a shipping container.
The ability to use a small space to grow produce is only one of indoor micro-farming’s many benefits.
Benefits of Indoor Micro farming
Indoor micro-farming is beneficial because it fills the demand for certain produce while saving money and stress.
As far as selling goes, demand for locally produced food across the United States is increasing.
Nielsen, a data and measurement firm, found that 48% of consumers prefer ingredients and food that have been produced locally.
Indoor micro-farming fills this demand by being produced in the center of commercial areas, guaranteeing locality.
Purchasing land or buildings big enough for large-scale operations are expensive. Indoor micro-farming allows people to use the buildings they already live in to start growing.
Capital expenses are also lower because you don’t have to purchase new land. Plus, equipment isn’t as expensive for microforms due to the availability of ready-for-installation systems and “Do It Yourself” (DIY) tutorials.
With smaller capital expenses comes a lower-stakes environment.
When you’ve put less money into a project, there’s less pressure to succeed. Feel free to experiment with systems and crop types to find what works best for your farm.
Indoor micro-farming also allows you to develop a local customer base and specialize in a niche market.
Having already secured customers and perfected a crop will help when you’re ready to expand.
Indoor micro-farming also allows restauranteurs to grow their own produce onsite, reducing food waste by being able to harvest only what’s needed rather than buying in bulk. Customers will also appreciate the fresher tasting food!
Another benefit of indoor micro-farming systems is that there isn’t just one way to do it.
Micro farming Systems
Because micro-farming can be done using virtually any size of space, there’s a wide variety of systems to pick from.
Our Pure Greens container farms are an excellent choice for those with yard space for a 40-foot shipping container.
Our farms come outfitted with a recirculating hydroponic system, providing a low water consumption rate, and an automated controlled environment system that can be monitored via your smartphone.
For farmers with less space to work with, there are a few smaller purchasable and DIY options out there as well.
Ready-to-use hydroponic systems can be purchased online or from a local hydroponic equipment store.
One popular DIY hydroponic system for beginners is the Kratky method.
The Kratky method is easy as it doesn’t require pumps or changing the nutrient solution. In this system, plants are placed in a netted pot with a growing medium, such as coconut coir or clay balls, and then placed into a reservoir filled with water and nutrient solution.
While this method is good for farmers with very little experience, it’s only effective for growing leafy greens. Anything with flowers or fruits will need a more involved process.
The Kratky method also requires close attention to the water’s pH levels because it’s not replaced or adjusted during the growing cycle.
Aeroponic systems are also buildable but require a little bit more expertise with construction. Plants grown in these systems receive maximum nutrients.
But aeroponic systems are less common than hydroponic systems when it comes to home-growing because they require special attention to nutrient ratios and pH levels, making them not very beginner-friendly.
Aquaponic systems are a good choice for people interested in fish farming. If you raise healthy enough fish, you can sell them along with your produce.
Keep in mind aquaponic systems require more maintenance than hydroponic or aeroponic systems and they’re a little trickier.
With these systems, you have to keep both the fish and the plants happy. Doing so requires finding the delicate balance of water flow between the two.
Deciding on which system to use can be tricky, but your expenses will depend heavily on the system you decide to use.
Indoor Micro farming Costs
Capital and operating expenses of indoor micro-farming varies depending on the type of system and size of the operation.
The first expense is going to be buying the system itself or any materials needed to construct it. You may need to purchase tubs, pumps, and pipes.
You’ll also need to purchase light fixtures, so your plants have a light source to use for photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plants absorb energy from light to produce glucose out of carbon dioxide and water.
There are plenty of LED lights in the market aimed specifically toward growing plants. Look for bulbs with high efficiency to conserve energy usage.
Because indoor micro-farming typically relies on artificial light rather than sunlight, energy costs can be high. A 2017 survey of indoor farms found that small farms spent about $3.45 per square foot on energy alone, which was about 12% of the total budget.
Take into consideration water usage as well. Systems like recirculating hydroponics and aeroponics use considerably less water than aquaponics and soil-based systems.
Hydroponic and aeroponic systems typically require 4 gallons of water per square foot per year. Meanwhile, aquaponic systems use about 10 gallons of water per square foot per year.
Be sure to also factor in any fish costs such as a tank, food, and the animals themselves when using aquaponic systems.
Once your indoor micro-farm is ready to grow, you’ll need to buy planting materials.
Planting expenses will be recurring so be sure to keep them in mind while budgeting. Purchase seeds, growing mediums, and nutrient solutions online or in stores.
Growing mediums and nutrient solutions replace the soil in hydroponic and some aeroponic systems. The growing medium acts as a support for the plants’ roots while the solution provides essential nutrients for strong, healthy plants.
While indoor micro-farming can be costly, there are plenty of strategies for growing your business.
Profiting from your Microfarm
The first step to making a profit from indoor micro-farming comes before you even plant a single crop: Research.
Find demand for a product in the local market that isn’t being met. Meet with potential customers like chefs, grocery stores, and farmers’ market patrons and ask what they’d like to be able to purchase fresh.
Focus on growing specialty crops rather than common produce like lettuce.
Specialty crops can be things that are out of season, hard to grow in your climate or something trendy such as microgreens or adaptogens.
Consider selling your products at farmers’ markets, to vendors, to wholesale distributors, and to local restaurants.
The number of farmers’ markets in the country has tripled since 2000, making it an easy choice for finding customers.
Research popular farmers’ markets in your area and learn how to set up shop. Keep in mind that some markets will charge a fee to set-up a booth.
Alternatively, approach a different produce vendor and let them sample your product. If all goes well, they will sell your product for you!
Find a middleman by selling to wholesale distributors. Distributors will find shops to sell your products for you, giving you more time to focus on growing.
Or sell your produce directly to local restaurants.
Research chefs who focus on crafting dishes using locally sourced greens. Set up an appointment with chefs to pitch your business to them and be sure to bring along your best samples.
Try to establish a rapport with the restaurant. Find out whether they’d prefer a range of products or a specific good.
After you’ve established your clientele, your indoor micro-farm will blossom.
Now that you’re familiar with indoor micro-farming, it’s time to get started.
Visit our website or call us at 602–753–3469 to learn more about how you can start your own container farm.
Vertical Farming Indoor Farming Farming Farming Technology
WRITTEN BY
Pure Greens Arizona LLC
Pure Greens’ container-based grow systems offer a variety of interior layouts, sizes, and options so customers can create a farm that meets their needs.
Freight Farms Announces New Horticultural Funding From Ospraie Ag Science
A Series B venture round of $15 million will allow Freight Farms to invest in plant science, add features to its software control platforms, and expand the customer base for its vertical farms housed in shipping containers
Mar 2nd, 2020
A Series B venture round of $15 million will allow Freight Farms to invest in plant science, add features to its software control platforms, and expand the customer base for its vertical farms housed in shipping containers.
Vertical-farm supplier Freight Farms has received $15M in Series B funding from investment first Ospraie Ag Science for its all-in-one, shipping-container-based agriculture model. (Photo credit: Image courtesy of Freight Farms.)
Shipping-container-based, vertical-farm manufacturer Freight Farms has announced that it received $15 million in Series B venture funding from investment firm Ospraie Ag Science. Freight Farms will use the investment to further optimize its Farmhand software platform, invest in plant science, and expand the customer base for its LED-lit Greenery container farms.
Freight Farms originally branded its container farms The Leafy Green Machine but has since simplified the product name to The Greenery. A Greenery farm includes everything a grower needs to launch a hydroponic farm all integrated into a shipping container. The outfitted Greenery container includes LED lighting, plumbing for nutrient supply, climate, and environmental control, and the Farmhand software to automate the operation of the farm.
The idea of a shipping container for a vertical farm is not a new one. For example, we covered a Dallas grocery store that uses a shipping-container farm to grow some produce right outside the store’s back door. And we covered a Los Angeles area farm using shipping containers right in the downtown metropolitan area back in 2016.
Freight Farms, however, brings unique aspects to its business both in the science behind Greenery and in the company’s business model. Taking the business model first, Freight Farms is specifically in the business of selling turnkey farms. Some other players have vacillated between selling technology and operating as growers.
The configuration of the Freight Farms product is also unique. When we first covered vertical farming back in 2016, the term was primarily utilized to describe growing operations where horizontal trays of plants were stacked in layers vertically to more fully utilize a space, especially for crops such as leafy greens and herbs where there is not much space needed between layers and where LEDs that don’t radiate heat can be placed in close proximity to the plant canopy.
We have since seen other concepts. Plenty, for example, is based in California’s Silicon Valley Area, has received more than 200 million in funding from well-known investors such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and utilizes a system where plants are placed horizontally into the growing structure but run continuously in a vertical row from floor to ceiling.
Freight Farms partitions its systems in the close confines of the shipping container. There is a dedicated area where horizontal racks are used in the initial stages of sprouting. But later plants are transplanted into a vertical row structure where nutrients can drip from the top of each vertical row of plants and unused nutrient is recaptured at the bottom of each row.
Freight Farms said its 328-ft2 container can produce equivalent vegetables to a two-acre outdoor plot. And the container farm uses less than five gallons of water per day. For Freight Farms, the mission is solving the looming issue of feeding a growing global population. “With the Greenery and Farmhand, we’ve created an infrastructure that lowers the barrier of entry into food production, an industry that’s historically been difficult to get into,” said Jon Friedman, Freight Farms COO. “With this platform, we’re also able to harness and build upon a wider set of technologies including cloud IoT, automation, and machine learning, while enabling new developments in plant science for future generations.”
And make no mistake that controlled environment agriculture farming is becoming big business. We recently ran an article that discussed the investment capital coming into the market. Clearly, Ospraie sees an opportunity in the container concept. Freight Farms says it has sold farms into 44 states and 25 countries.
“Freight Farms has redefined vertical farming and made decentralizing the food system something that’s possible and meaningful right now, not in the future of food,” said Jason Mraz, president of Ospraie Ag Science. “Full traceability, high nutrition without herbicides and pesticides, year-round sourcing – these are elements that should be inherent to food sourcing. Freight Farms’ Greenery makes it possible to meet this burgeoning demand globally for campuses, hospitals, municipal institutions, and corporate businesses, while also enabling small business farmers to meet these demands themselves for their customers.”
Fireside Chat With Square Roots CEO & Co-Founder Tobias Peggs: Scaling Indoor Farming At Speed
Indoor Ag-Con is excited to announce that Square Roots Co-Founder & CEO Tobias Peggs has joined our conference line-up for the May 18-20, 2020 edition! Tobias will join Nicola Kerslake, Indoor Ag-Con Founder and Co-Founder, Contain, for the afternoon Fireside Chat: Scaling Indoor Farming At Speed
Square Roots Co-Founders Tobias Peggs and Kimbal Musk Empowering Next-Gen Farmers
Indoor Ag-Con is excited to announce that Square Roots Co-Founder & CEO Tobias Peggs has joined our conference line-up for the May 18-20, 2020 edition! Tobias will join Nicola Kerslake, Indoor Ag-Con Founder and Co-Founder, Contain, for the afternoon Fireside Chat: Scaling Indoor Farming At Speed. If our industry is to bring high-quality, local produce to customers all year round, we must collectively understand how to scale farming at speed to reach as many people as possible. Using a unique and scalable ‘farmer-first’ technology platform, Square Roots is doing just that. Tobias will share how this tech-enabled urban farming company is training and empowering the next generation of leaders in urban agriculture to grow local food that is delicious, responsible, nutritious, and profitable. And, be sure to check out the story further down in this issue highlighting our special guest blog post from Square Roots Co-Founder Kimbal Musk, too!
CHECK OUT FULL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE >>>
During Indoor Ag-Con, we’ll be featuring the panel presentation, What Is the Next Technical Frontier for LED Lighting” on Monday, May 18 from 10 – 10:45 am. Moderated by Dr. Morgan Pattison, SSLS, Inc., the panel will include Blake Lange, Signify, formerly Philips Lighting – City Farming; Brandon Newkirk, LumiGrow; and Xander Yang, Sananbio.
Ahead of the session, we reached out to our participants to find out, from an LED perspective, what is the next hot thing in lighting?
WHAT'S THE NEXT HOT THING IN LED LIGHTING? >>>
KIMBAL MUSK: 10 WAYS SQUARE ROOTS' FARM-TECH PLATFORM EMPOWERS THE NEXT GENERATION OF FARMERS
Ahead of Square Roots CEO & Co-Founder Tobias Peggs' Fireside Chat at Indoor Ag-Con, Co-Founder & Exec Chairman Kimbal Musk has shared a guest blog post with us.
"There are a lot of smart people in this industry, many with different visions for the optimum architecture and model for indoor farming (e.g. plant factories)," says Musk. "But all working hard to bring better food to market — which, given our wider vision to bring real food to everyone, is wonderful to see. The more of us working on the real food revolution the better — and we want all of these systems to flourish. But here are 10 reasons why we think container farming rocks.....”
10 WAYS SQUARE ROOTS' FARM-TECH PLATFORM EMPOWERS NEXT-GEN FARMERS>>>
YOU COULD WIN 2 TICKETS TO BIOSPHERE 2!
When you arrive at Indoor Ag-Con, be sure to enter for your chance to win two general admission tickets to Biosphere 2 and an overnight stay at B2 cabanas!
The winners will get to tour one of the world’s most unique facilities dedicated to the research and understanding of global scientific issues. The Biosphere 2 facility serves as a laboratory for controlled scientific studies, an arena for scientific discovery and discussion, and a far-reaching provider of public education.
What’s more, as part of the package, the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (UA-CEAC) would like to also extend an invitation for the recipients to its vertical farm research and educational facility (UAgFarm) at UA-CEAC and other UA-CEAC projects/facilities as an additional welcome!
SEE WHO'S SPEAKING | SEE WHO'S EXHIBITING
INSIDE INDOOR AG | INDUSTRY NEWS HARVEST
PRODUCE GROWER: Elevate Farms Closes on $1.8 Million In Round Of Funding
GREENHOUSE GROWER: Gotham Greens Opens Another Massive Greenhouse
NEW YORK POST: I Tasted A Bug Diet, the Sustainable Protein That Could Save The WorldIGROW NEWS --CubicFarm Systems Announces Largest Sale To Date
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How To Start A Container Farm Business
Using stacked farming to produce food in vertical spaces, vertical farming is an attractive option to traditional methods of farming, opening more opportunities for year-round freshly grown and locally accessed food
Have You Ever Wondered How To Start A Container Farm Business?
Vertical farming continues to grow with increased interest for both beginners and seasoned professional farmers. In this guide, Pure Greens helps new growers navigate the business side of container farming, with helpful steps to get started, such as:
How to create customer personas
Investment planning and funding
How to grow and harvest your crops
How to sell and brand your container farm business
Check Out The Guide Here
Darragh McCullough: Vertical Farming Is All The Rage, But The Downsides Will Limit Its Potential
There are so many stories about this tech that you would be forgiven for thinking that there is going to be a vertical farm at every traffic light next time you make it into the city
What grows up, must come down: Vertical farming presents interesting possibilities, but it has its limits
Darragh McCullough
February 20, 2020
Vertical farming is all the rage. It makes great click-bait by combining key buzz words: 'technology' in the form of new LED lighting; 'novelty' food that some celebrity chef can shout about producing beside their New York restaurant, and 'sustainability' courtesy of zero food miles and a low carbon footprint.
Your phone's news feed is probably similar to my own.
There are so many stories about this tech that you would be forgiven for thinking that there is going to be a vertical farm at every traffic light next time you make it into the city.
But beyond the low-energy LED lights in colours tailored to turbo-charge plant growth even in the depths of winter, you realise that we've had vertical farms for decades.
More recently, I've seen production in tunnels and glass take on vertical formats. Modern glasshouses are now so tall that each line of tomatoes or peppers is tended to via nifty little scissor lifts. I see the same trend in tunnels, with 4m high tunnels now standard in new soft fruit set-ups.
When I visited the Farmony vertical farm in Ballycoolin, west Dublin for Ear to the Ground this year, we all had to gown up before being allowed access to the growing unit.
It might have appeared a bit over-the-top given that we were just stepping into a converted refrigerated truck container that has a few pumps, fans and extra sockets fitted.
But by manipulating every single aspect of this growing environment - and maintaining near-sterile conditions - the people behind Farmony claim that their 80 square metre unit can produce the same amount as a 5ac field. That's a 250-fold increase in the productivity per square metre, which is impressive by any measure.
Farmony is focusing on the unit's ability to grow leafy salads and herbs, especially the baby and micro-leaved versions that are so beloved of chefs and foodies.
Normally these are flown in from places like Africa, Israel and further afield at this time of year when it's just impossible to grow them commercially here in tunnels or glass.
The beauty about using refrigerated truck containers is that they are insulated, allowing the grower to maintain ideal temperatures at a relatively low cost.
They are also pretty secure and mobile so that they can be parked anywhere there's room for a truck container.
The idea is that they'll pop up in carparks, basements, and office block roofs, regardless of whether that's in baltic Belfast or boiling Beirut.
Farmony claims that the €87,000 price tag is a snip given that the herbs the container is capable of producing would pay that off after all costs in about two years.
The downsides? The unit should be able to work well for produce that is 95pc water and has a short growth cycle of just 1-3 weeks. These plants don't need a lot of heat and light to get to a saleable point. But if you wanted to grow a more carbohydrate-dense food - like any root crop, or even a strawberry where only a small fraction of the plant that you've poured light and heat energy into ends up being saleable - the calculations start to unravel.
And, much and all as we should be reducing our calorie intake, there's only so much salad that a body can take.
We'll certainly see more of the LED light tech being incorporated into existing production systems like tunnels and glass, and there are interesting possibilities for old mushroom tunnels to be repurposed as salad units.
But there's a lot to be said still for good old-fashioned horizontal farming.
Indo Farming
Freight Farms Is Now More Green
Freight Farms runs a network of smart farms across 44 states and 25 countries. Each smart farm called a “Greenery” is housed in a 320 -sq.-ft. hydroponic shipping container
The Boston startup that builds automated farm systems in shipping containers raised $15M in a Series B round led by New York City-based Ospraie Ag Science, which invests in agtech companies. Existing investor Spark Capital also participated in the round, which brings the company’s total funding to more than $28M.
Freight Farms runs a network of smart farms across 44 states and 25 countries. Each smart farm called a “Greenery,” is housed in a 320-sq.-ft. hydroponic shipping container. These vertical farming containers are all linked to the startup’s data platform, Farmhand.
The startup’s customers range from food distributors and grocery stores to educational institutions and corporate campuses. In the past, the company has worked with the Compas Group, Google and Federal Realty Investment Trust.
The 10-year-old startup claims its farms can grow more than 500 varieties of crops at a commercial scale by using 99.8% less water than traditional agriculture.
Read more: Freight Farms Raises $15M in Series B For New Partnerships and Expansion
CubicFarm Systems Announces Its Largest Sale To Date - A 100-Machine Commercial-Scale Vertical-Farming System in Surrey, BC
The Company has a current backlog at C$24.7 million representing 144 machines under deposit and awaiting installation - demonstrating continued sales momentum due in part to the growing demand for its systems. The current backlog is anticipated to be recognized in revenue in mid-2020 to mid-2022
March 2, 2020
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2020, / CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV: CUB) ("CubicFarms" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has finalized an agreement for the sale of 100 CubicFarms growing machines, and received a deposit in the amount of C$1.2 million from a commercial grower and agricultural product wholesaler based in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The customer had previously provided a deposit for a 12-machine system and now has applied its deposit toward this revised order for 100 machines.
The 100-machine system represents a total of C$16.5 million in sales revenues to the Company, and is expected to be installed in two phases in Surrey, BC. The first phase, consisting of the installation of 26 growing machines and an irrigation system, is planned for installation this year, with the remaining machines planned for installation by mid-2022.
The Company has a current backlog at C$24.7 million representing 144 machines under deposit and awaiting installation - demonstrating continued sales momentum due in part to the growing demand for its systems. The current backlog is anticipated to be recognized in revenue in mid-2020 to mid-2022.
The sale represents CubicFarms' largest to date, following on its 21-machine sale to a customer in Montana, USA - its largest sale in the US - and its 23-machine sale to a customer in Calgary, Canada.
Due to the close proximity of the customer's Surrey site to CubicFarms' headquarters, CubicFarms will provide a turn-key solution to the customer, by facilitating and managing site preparation and installation of the CubicFarms system - leveraging the experience the Company has gained from its R&D and production facility in Pitt Meadows, BC.
CubicFarms CEO Dave Dinesen commented: "We are extremely encouraged by the growth in sales we've enjoyed and the trend toward increasingly larger facilities. It reflects the demand emerging around the world for commercial-scale growing technology. Once installed, the system in Surrey will be one of the world's largest automated vertical-farming systems.
"We are excited to be working with our customer, an established multi-industry group with investments and operations in the agriculture, technology and health space. Our customer understands the importance of using technology to significantly improve yields in an environmentally sustainable manner, and we look forward to helping them scale up production of fresh local vegetables for their market in southwest British Columbia and beyond.
"We are also pleased to receive ongoing feedback from our existing machine customers about the quality of produce from our systems and the resulting growth in demand for that produce."
Concurrent with the 100-machine sale, CubicFarms has entered into a Shareholders' Agreement with the customer and its associated companies with respect to a joint venture entity that will own and operate the 100-machine venture. As consideration for CubicFarms' 20% ownership in the joint venture, the Company will provide approximately C$342,000 in the form of a zero-interest loan.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it’s Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
About CubicFarm® Systems Corp.
CubicFarm Systems Corp. ("CubicFarms") is a technology company that is developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its proprietary technologies enable farmers around the world to grow high-quality, predictable crop yields. CubicFarms has two distinct technologies that address two distinct markets. The first technology is its patented CubicFarm™ System, which contains patented technology for growing leafy greens and other crops. Using its unique, undulating-path growing system, the Company addresses the main challenges within the indoor farming industry by significantly reducing the need for physical labor and energy, and maximizing yield per cubic foot. CubicFarms leverages its patented technology by operating its own R&D facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, selling the System to farmers, licensing its technology and providing industry-leading vertical farming expertise to its customers.
The second technology is CubicFarms' HydroGreen System for growing nutritious livestock feed. This system utilizes a unique process to sprout grains, such as barley and wheat, in a controlled environment with minimal use of land, labor, and water. The HydroGreen System is fully automated and performs all growing functions including seeding, watering, lighting, harvesting, and re-seeding - all with the push of a button - to deliver nutritious livestock feed without the typical investment in fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, field equipment, and transportation. The HydroGreen System not only provides superior nutritious feed to benefit the animal but also enables significant environmental benefits to the farm.
Information contact
Kimberly Lim
kimberly@cubicfarms.com
Phone: +1-236-858-6491
www.cubicfarms.com
Cautionary statement on forward-looking information
Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, statements with respect to the anticipated benefits to the customer; timing and the completion of machine installation by mid-2022; benefits to the Company of the sale; the anticipated revenue recognition in mid-2020 to mid-2022; and the joint venture that will own and operate the 100-machine venture. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of CubicFarm Systems Corp., or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict", and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events, or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur, or be achieved.
These statements reflect the company's current expectations regarding future events, performance, and results and speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except as required by securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the company, the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if the company's expectations regarding future events, performance, or results change.
SOURCE: CubicFarm Systems Corp
Containerized Vertical Farming Company Freight Farms Secures $15 Million
Freight Farms — a global innovation leader of containerized vertical farming — announced that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding
By Noah Long ● February 15, 2020
Freight Farms — a global innovation leader of containerized vertical farming — announced that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding
Freight Farms — a global innovation leader of containerized vertical farming — announced that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Ospraie Ag Science. Spark Capital also participated in the round. Including this funding round, the company has raised over $28 million.
“It’s a big step forward for the industry when financial markets recognize and champion the value of creating a distributed food system,” said Freight Farms CEO Brad McNamara. “Aligned on mission-driven growth as a team, there is a massive opportunity before us to scale across global markets, propelling meaningful technology that’s already doing good.”
Freight Farms’ Greenery is able to produce over 500 varieties of crops like calendula at commercial scale year-round using 99.8% less water than traditional agriculture. Four rows of the company’s panels on a flexible moving rack system are able to house more than 8,000 living plants at once thus creating a dense canopy of fresh crops.
This round of funding will be used for advancing the Freight Farms’ platform through continued innovation with new services designed to benefit its growing global network of farmers and corporate partners. And this investment follows the announcement of Freight Farms’ strategic national partnership with Sodexo to grow food onsite at educational and corporate campuses nationwide and will support ongoing contributions to collaborative research projects and partnerships.
“Freight Farms has redefined vertical farming and made decentralizing the food system something that’s possible and meaningful right now, not in the ‘future of food,'” added Jason Mraz, President of Ospraie Ag Science. “Full traceability, high nutrition without herbicides and pesticides, year-round availability – these are elements that should be inherent to food sourcing. Freight Farms’ Greenery makes it possible to meet this burgeoning global demand from campuses, hospitals, municipal institutions and corporate businesses, while also enabling small business farmers to meet these needs for their customers.”
Launched in 2010 by McNamara and COO Jon Friedman, Freight Farms debuted the first vertical hydroponic farm built inside an intermodal shipping container called the Leafy Green Machine with the mission of democratizing and decentralizing the local production of fresh, healthy food. And this innovation, with integral IoT data platform farmhand, launched a new category of indoor farming and propelled Freight Farms into the largest network of IoT-connected farms in the world.
Freight Farm’s 2019 launch of the Greenery raised the industry bar, advancing the limits of containerized vertical farming to put the most progressive, accessible, and scalable vertical farming technology into the hands of people of diverse industry, age, and mission.
“With the Greenery and farmhand, we’ve created an infrastructure that lowers the barrier of entry into food production, an industry that’s historically been difficult to get into,” explained Friedman. “With this platform, we’re also able to harness and build upon a wider set of technologies including cloud IoT, automation, and machine learning, while enabling new developments in plant science for future generations.”
Freight Farms has been an integral part of scientific and academic research studies in collaboration with industry-leading organizations, including NASA (exploring self-sustaining crop production) and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (exploring the integration of CRISPR seed genetics and vertical farming to create commercial opportunity).
The company’s customers hail from education, hospitality, retail, corporate, and nonprofit sectors across 44 states and 25 countries, and include independent small business farmers — who distribute to restaurants, farmers’ markets, and businesses such as Central Market, Meijer, and Wendy’s
MEXICO: Grow Food Anywhere! The Mexican Startup That Innovates In Agriculture
A Mexican startup is offering the possibility of growing vegetables within the city in a healthy enclosed space and harvesting up to 100 times more than normal.
A Mexican startup is offering the possibility of growing vegetables within the city in a healthy enclosed space and harvesting up to 100 times more than normal.
Juan Succar and Jorge Lizardi, graduates of the Tec de Monterrey Leon campus, created the Verde Compacto company, which follows the new global trend of urban and vertical agriculture. This type of agriculture is ideal for supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and real estate developments.
Verde Compact obtained third place in the Heineken Green Challenge at the entrepreneurship festival, INCmty, as one of the ventures to follow in 2020, according to Entrepreneur in Spanish.
Mexican technology for a worldwide trend
Urban agriculture is growing in the world and already accounts for 15% of all agriculture, according to UN data. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) itself is promoting this alternative, although there were not so many options in Mexico.
Verde Compacto ensures that, unlike other similar foreign companies, they are the first to use only Mexican technology, which makes them pioneers in Latin America.
Growing food in enclosed spaces
Urban agriculture goes hand in hand with vertical agriculture, which allows sowing in enclosed spaces and at various height levels, thus maximizing space.
Verde Compacto launched Huvster, an intelligent vegetable growing system in a recycled trailer container. The system allows growing up to 200 times more vegetables per square meter with less water.
Fully Automated
The container has a system that circulates the water and an LED-lights system in the germination zone that simulates the conditions needed by the seeds to grow.
The plants are located in vertical towers and are watered via drip irrigation. Here, they grow until they are harvested. "The system has sensors that measure CO2 levels, ambient humidity, and temperature," Juan stated.
Characteristics
According to the company founders, this option also has these advantages:
It has an intelligent system for measuring and controlling temperature, humidity, irrigation, and other aspects of vegetable cultivation via hydroponics.
It allows having savings of 90% in water, and 80% in fertilizers when compared to a traditional method.
The system measures the plants' nutrition levels and regulates them so that they all grow at the same speed.
It decreases the risks of having pests.
It can produce, for example, an average of 730 lettuces per month, or 20 kilos of oregano, coriander, or other herbs per month, as well as 30 to 35 kilos of vegetables.
It can also impact agribusiness in several ways, avoiding distribution costs if installed near consumers.
In addition, the vegetables can be grown at any time of the year.
The company stood out in INCmty
Verde Compacto became one of the leading startups at INCmty, Tec de Monterrey's entrepreneurship festival.
This venture was also part of the Heineken Green Challenge, an initiative that recognizes companies that innovatively solve problems in Mexico, where it achieved third place in the 2019 edition.
Source: tec.mx
Publication date: Tue 7 Jan 2020
Farms Inside Shipping Containers Could Grow More Local Produce
Instead of trucking vegetables across the country, one company wants to help food service providers grow food right where they are, no matter how little experience or land they have
The Crops Grow Vertically Under LED Lights
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Four rows of panels on a flexible moving rack system house more than 8,000 living plants at once, creating a dense canopy of fresh crops. (Photo: Courtesy of Freight Farms)
Instead of trucking vegetables across the country, one company wants to help food service providers grow food right where they are, no matter how little experience or land they have.
“That’s at corporate campuses, university campuses, health care facilities,” says Brad McNamara, CEO of Freight Farms. The company sells what it calls the Greenery.
“It’s a 320-square-foot shipping container like you would see on a boat, a train, a truck, outfitted with an automated growing system,” he says, “to grow about 3.5 acres worth of produce with no pesticides, no herbicides, and about 98.5% less water.”
Inside the Greenery, plants grow vertically, with their roots in a nutrient solution instead of soil. Sensors, pumps, and LED lights automatically maintain ideal growing conditions, so you don’t have to be an expert to start farming.
“You plug it in and you’re growing the same day,” McNamara says.
As the climate changes and the world’s population grows, McNamara says it makes sense to farm in a way that produces more food with fewer resources and less transportation.
“Instead of making more bigger farms,” he says, “We make hundreds, then thousands, then millions of people into independent successful farmers where they live and work.”
Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media.
How To Start A Container Farm Business
Using stacked farming to produce food in vertical spaces, vertical farming is an attractive option to traditional methods of farming, opening more opportunities for year-round freshly grown and locally accessed food
Have You Ever Wondered How To Start A Container Farm Business?
You’re not alone.
Global population growth concerns about food production, increasing interest in green infrastructure, and technological advancements in aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics have amplified the interest and practice of vertical farming.
Using stacked farming to produce food in vertical spaces, vertical farming is an attractive option to traditional methods of farming, opening more opportunities for year-round freshly grown and locally accessed food.
While the idea of vertical farming may be a striking consideration, the business side is often complex and confusing.
Pure Greens have written a guide, as an informative piece to help navigate new and even current container farm owners on how to start a container farm business.
In this guide, they’ll look at a few things to help you get started, including:
Types of customers
Investment planning
Container location and design
Helpful training
Growing and harvesting
Selling and branding
Check out the guide here.
Publication date: Mon 24 Feb 2020
US: South Carolina - Vertical Roots Hits The Road In Their Lettuce Localmotive, Spreading The Good Word of Hydroponics
The hydroponic growing system is simple - nutrient-filled water replaces traditional soil in order to grow the plant, and for the first time since we started tilling land farmers can grow crops without the soil beneath their feet
The technology of planting crops has revolutionized over the years.
The hydroponic growing system is simple — nutrient-filled water replaces traditional soil in order to grow the plant, and for the first time since we started tilling land, farmers can grow crops without the soil beneath their feet.
Hydroponic container grower Vertical Roots is taking one of their shipping container farms on the road — they're hitting the streets with the Lettuce Localmotive, teaching people about the process of growing lettuce. They'll be making stops at Publix and Greenwise Markets across the country.
RELATED Tiger Corner Farms produces full-scale, aeroponic crops in recycled shipping containers: The Future of Farming
Unlike traditional farms, the Vertical Roots' containers grow plants vertically indoors without soil, with the plants obtaining all their nutrition from water and their light energy from powerful LED lights.
During tour stops, guests will get a hands-on experience with seeding lettuce, learn how technology manages the growing process, and get schooled about all the benefits of this alternative way of farming.
The first stop of the tour is at Vertical Root's home base — Charleston. Check them out at the Daniel Island Publix this Sat. Feb. 15 from 10 a.m.-4p.m.
A Collaboration Between CropKing (USA) and Urban Crop Solutions (BE) Has Been Cultivated - CropKing Will Operate A Vertical Container Farm Showcase
“By combining their strengths, the companies want to consider newmarkets. Their collaboration could be a perfect match.”
Cropking and Urban Crop Solutions are excited to announce the start of a flourishing collaboration. The goal will be to combine the extensive hydroponic experience of Cropking with the high-quality controlled environment technology in vertical farming of Urban Crop Solutions. By combining these different experiences and expertise, both companies get the chance to develop together in the Controlled Environment Agriculture industry in the United States. CropKing will operate the FarmPro vertical container farm as a showcase, continued research, and testing facility.
Hydroponic farm by CropKing
“By combining their strengths, the companies want to consider new
markets. Their collaboration could be a perfect match.”
Cropking is the only full-service hydroponic company in the U.S. that specializes in the business of controlled environment agriculture and hydroponic growing since 1982. Their 37 years of experience makes them the leader in hydroponic systems and greenhouse manufacturing. Their headquarters are in Lodi, Ohio whereas their facility structures and systems can be found across 20 different countries including the United States, Canada, Mexico, countries in Europe and the Caribbean.
According to Paul Brentlinger the President of Cropking Inc.: “We are excited to be working with Urban Crop Solutions and the opportunity to validate the effectiveness of automated container farming. Their personal and custom-made approach could fulfill the needs of many clients. The shipping container system offers advantages like climate control, irrigation system, automated growing process, … which has captured our interest for the past few years.” CropKing will receive its first Urban Crop Solutions FarmPro Container in March and will start testing it in their facilities with the help of in-house plant scientists.
Inside FarmPro container
Urban Crop Solutions has recently celebrated its 5th anniversary and already has 28 active projects across the world. They are the only turnkey solutions provider, that also offers biological know-how, in the indoor vertical farming industry. Besides that, they have already developed over 200 plant growing recipes, for a variety of industries, through their inhouse research method. Paulina Murrath, the business development manager of Urban Crop Solutions, will serve as a point of contact for the North American market through the office of Urban Crop Solutions in Miami, Florida.
In the opinion of Paulina Murrath: “It’s a great honor to start a collaboration with CropKing and Paul Brentlinger who is a controlled environmental agriculture expert with extensive knowledge of growing high-quality food products. CropKing shares the same values that we consider important, like bringing higher yields, nutritional value, food security, local production, and consumption, … to different industries. That’s why we believe that our collaboration will be rewarding.”
For more information:CropKing: www.cropking.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CropKing/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cropking-inc./
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/cropkinginc
Urban Crop Solutions: www.urbancropsolutions.com
For more information on this press release on Urban Crop Solutions or on the products and services of Urban Crop Solutions, you may contact Maarten Vandecruys (CTO) or Tom Debusschere (CEO):
Maarten Vandecruys, CTO maarten.vandecruys@urbancropsolutions.com
Tom Debusschere, CEO tom.debusschere@urbancropsolutions.com
European headquarters: Regional headquarters:
Grote Heerweg 67 800 Brickell Avenue, 1100 Suite
8791 Beveren-Leie (Waregem) Miami (FL 33131)
Belgium Florida
(+32)56 96 03 06 +1 (786) 408-6027
A Belly Ache Can lead To A Trip To The Urgent Care. E. coli Poisoning Lands You In The Emergency Room
The FDA has called little attention to the surge in E. coli outbreaks from leafy green vegetables. It has been slow to investigate or publicize risks and did not disclose one outbreak to the public until the Globe contacted agency officials about reports of E. coli poisonings
Dietitian Determined To Save Salads!
February 12, 2020
Written by Dr. Jenna Bell, RD VP of Nutritional Science at Crop One
Crop One is the world’s largest scalable, completely controlled, vertical farming company. Our Greater Boston brand is FreshBox Farms.
Spend a few days bent over, writhing in abdominal pain and you’ll understand how serious foodborne illnesses can be. It may even require a trip to urgent care. Experience an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 from salad greens and you may be among hundreds heading to the ER.
E. coli poisoning can be life-threatening.
What is E. coli, anyway?
Straight out of the Center for Disease Control (CDC):
“Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals. E. coliare a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick. Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses.”
To be crystal clear — we’re talking about fecal contamination. Poo in food. Bird, cow, human, someone’s poop.
As a registered dietitian, I swear by colorful salads of leafy greens with favorite fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts and proteins atop. Making that recommendation sans lettuce feels blasphemous and unfulfilling. But given the pace at which the outdoor-grown romaine industry reports bacterial outbreaks, food safety threatens our salad fixings.
Break out bacteria
Over the past few years, romaine has been hit hard by outbreaks of bacterial contamination — especially from the strain, E. coli O157:H7. The most recent string of outbreaks is considered “under control” by the CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but the final count as of January 13, 2020, is 167 individuals reported in the US.
“Reported” is a key word here because how many times have you called the CDC or the FDA when you were sick?
Lettuce + E. coli is not a new thing
Several years ago (2013), a scientific investigation of a decade-worth of data on hospitalizations and deaths attributed to food commodities (including seafood, farm animals and plants) revealed that among the 17 commodities, more illnesses were associated with leafy vegetables (2.2 million [22%]). Illnesses associated with leafy vegetables were the second most frequent cause of hospitalizations (14%) and the fifth most frequent cause of death (6%).¹
A 2020 piece in the Boston Globe written by venerated reporter, Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan, traced the tracks of the recent outbreaks and illuminated the grimness with a family’s horrific experience with E. coli poisoning in their two-year-old son. In the article, Haughney Dare-Bryan reflects on the quick response from then commissioner of the FDA, Scott Gottlieb:
…[Gottlieb] tweeted to a startled nation that they should stop eating romaine lettuce just two days before Thanksgiving 2018.
E. coli fatigue
However the seriousness, history shows that someone hit the snooze button. Despite the number of updates and investigations, CDC and the FDA can’t seem to get ahead of it. Haughney explains:
Despite the growing number of outbreaks, the agency remains protective of the growers, taking little enforcement action and sometimes shielding growers suspected of causing outbreaks from bad publicity. Consider:
The FDA has called little attention to the surge in E. coli outbreaks from leafy green vegetables. It has been slow to investigate or publicize risks and did not disclose one outbreak to the public until the Globe contacted agency officials about reports of E. coli poisonings. FDA officials insist they planned to disclose the early fall 2019 outbreak all along.
The FDA has not punished any farm or distributor in connection with the seven outbreaks traced to lettuce since 2017 even though federal law prohibits the sale of contaminated foods. The agency concluded that three of the outbreaks were linked to a single California lettuce grower but declined to release the name.
The FDA staff monitoring lettuce production is just a small fraction of that detailed to the federal oversight of beef: There are 614 FDA field investigators responsible for leafy greens compared to 7,068 workers overseeing beef for the Department of Agriculture. Congress recently gave the FDA $8 million to better handle outbreaks, but the agency doesn’t want to talk about the state of its staffing. When the Globe tried to examine just how understaffed the agency is, officials redacted hundreds of pages of records discussing their internal problems.
The agency relies almost entirely on voluntary cooperation from the lettuce industry, an approach that has brought about some safety improvements. But FDA has asked relatively little of the industry and recently delayed implementing rules aimed at preventing E. coli contamination of irrigation water until 2022.
What do we do now?
From one salad enthusiast to another, or one mom to another, or one PhD/dietitian to consumer (take your pick): there is a safer way to grow your lettuce and eat it too.
We can grow indoors. Out of the soil and away from questionable water, weather disruption messes and “run-off” contaminants (think poop).
I found my safe salad environment when I met and started working for CROP ONE.
How do I know it’s safe?
Concealed, confined, enclosed, controlled, secured, safe, protected — all synonyms for Crop One’s modular growing rooms (“mods”). Mods are protected by double door entryways with fancy sliding doors like at the supermarket and a vestibule. Anyone who enters is fully gloved and covered in stylish lab wear (no, not stylish).
Pictured: The most stylish lab wear in Massachusetts
I should add here that because our plants are protected from the world, we don’t need or use any type of -cide (pesticides, herbicides or fungicides), nor do we deal with pests, insects, rain, contaminated water or other farm’s fertilizer or chemicals. We’re free from all that stuff you’re trying to stay free from.
Pure, clean, filtered — water and air. Each mod is carefully controlled for contaminants, chemicals, heavy metals, and other unwanted impurities through a multi-step, quality-controlled purification system.
FreshBox KVH Kosher Certified romaine lettuce.
Two words: Kosher. Certified.
If you’re not familiar with the process by which produce is certified Kosher, visualize microscopes, tweezers, fastidious inspectors, etc. KVH Kosher certification officers perform comprehensive inspections to ensure that Crop One/FreshBox Farms’ produce is free of all pests and insects.
The salad solution.
Crop One can keep your salad safe. Miraculously, along with safety, our modular enclosures are scalable and sustainable in any climate, on very little land, with barely any water compared to traditional farms (about 95–99% less water required), but we’ll save that for another conversation.
Jenna A. Bell, PhD, RD, joined the Crop One team in September 2019 as the VP of Nutritional Science to be part of the global food supply solution.
References:
Painter JA, Hoekstra RM, Ayers T, et al. Attribution of Foodborne Illnesses, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities by using Outbreak Data, United States, 1998–2008. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2013;19(3):407–415. doi:10.3201/eid1903.111866.
Haughney Dare-Bryan C. Green Alert. Boston Globe. Last accessed January 30, 2020: https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=a497f64d-df30-4f48-b026-10aadc66901b&appid=1165
WRITTEN BY
Crop One Holdings
We grow the cleanest, healthiest greens for anyone, anywhere in the world. Our sustainable vertical farms are free from chemicals and climate-proof.