Guest Op-Ed: From Field To Skyscraper

By Nathan Riehemann

May 13, 2021

Imagine rows upon rows and layers upon layers of crops, enough food to feed a city grown locally right in your next-door skyscraper. Growing food in warehouses or skyscrapers is the future, and this new innovation is called a vertical farm. New research shows crop yields in vertical farms can be 200-600 times greater than your typical field farm. The world is growing and farming is growing with it.

This growth has resulted in the need for another form of farming. With an alarming decrease in the world’s topsoil, farm yields are decreasing. Topsoil contains all the important nutrients necessary for healthy plants, but erosion is washing or blowing the topsoil away and the plants are not being nurtured. Compacted soil, which limits root growth, is also prevalent in our ever-industrializing civilization. Crop yields in compacted areas of China, even after soil rehabilitation, produce yields that are 60% less than a typical farm, and rehabilitation of the soil can take up to two years. The world needs another solution like vertical farming until our soil can be managed and preserved properly.

AgriHouse Inc. and AeroFarms are both well-known vertical farming companies located in South Korea and the United States. The methods these companies use are LED lights designed specifically to meet the PPF (photosynthetic photon flux) a plant needs and aquaponics which reduce both water and fertilizer use while maximizing produce.

Currently, vertical farms produce spinach, lettuce, cabbage, peas, strawberries, peppers, potatoes, radishes, carrots, and tomatoes. By stacking growing areas, a vertical farm is able to produce 500 fold what a traditional farm can. This is all completed with a workforce of about six to 10 people. It is amazing to see how much food can be produced with such a small amount of manpower. This is just the beginning because rice is also perfectly suited for vertical farming. It is a prominent crop in Eastern Asian countries so it will surely join the others. Wheat is also one of the top 10 most prevalent crops in the world and has been tested and found to be growable in the controlled environments of vertical farms. Soon, most crops will be grown not out but up.

Vertical farms do have some drawbacks such as the possibility of insects terrorizing the controlled and pesticide-free crops. And since vertical farms are dependent on electricity, power outages could potentially destroy entire yields. The initial cost of building vertical farms is also potentially high. These are valid concerns and more research is needed to address them. With technology constantly updated and redesigned and with increased support, vertical farming will continue to grow along with the produce. Vertical farms are still more reliable than field farms because they are not affected by seasons or natural disasters. Soon, your local farmers won’t have to look down at their fields but rather up at the towering gardens.

Lead photo: Nice leafy vegetables at the Sky Greens vertical farm in Singapore.

Nathan Riehemann is a senior at NUAMES graduating with his associate degree from Weber State University. He is planning to study mechanical engineering and participate in Air Force ROTC at Montana State University. He enjoys playing hockey, traveling and board games.

Bringing The Future To life In Abu Dhabi

Amid the deserts of Abu Dhabi, a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators are sowing the seeds of a more sustainable future.

Image from: Wired

A cluster of shipping containers in a city centre is about the last place you’d expect to find salad growing. Yet for the past year, vertical farming startup Madar Farms has been using this site in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, to grow leafy green vegetables using 95 per cent less water than traditional agriculture. 

Madar Farms is one of a number of agtech startups benefitting from a package of incentives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) aimed at spurring the development of innovative solutions for sustainable desert farming. The partnership is part of ADIO’s $545 million Innovation Programme dedicated to supporting companies in high-growth areas.

“Abu Dhabi is pressing ahead with our mission to ‘turn the desert green’,” explained H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, in November 2020. “We have created an environment where innovative ideas can flourish and the companies we partnered with earlier this year are already propelling the growth of Abu Dhabi’s 24,000 farms.”

The pandemic has made food supply a critical concern across the entire world, combined with the effects of population growth and climate change, which are stretching the capacity of less efficient traditional farming methods. Abu Dhabi’s pioneering efforts to drive agricultural innovation have been gathering pace and look set to produce cutting-edge solutions addressing food security challenges.

Beyond work supporting the application of novel agricultural technologies, Abu Dhabi is also investing in foundational research and development to tackle this growing problem. 

In December, the emirate’s recently created Advanced Technology Research Council [ATRC], responsible for defining Abu Dhabi’s R&D strategy and establishing the emirate and the wider UAE as a desired home for advanced technology talent, announced a four-year competition with a $15 million prize for food security research. Launched through ATRC’s project management arm, ASPIRE, in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation, the award will support the development of environmentally-friendly protein alternatives with the aim to "feed the next billion".

Image from: Madar Farms

Global Challenges, Local Solutions

Food security is far from the only global challenge on the emirate’s R&D menu. In November 2020, the ATRC announced the launch of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), created to support applied research on the key priorities of quantum research, autonomous robotics, cryptography, advanced materials, digital security, directed energy and secure systems.

“The technologies under development at TII are not randomly selected,” explains the centre’s secretary general Faisal Al Bannai. “This research will complement fields that are of national importance. Quantum technologies and cryptography are crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, for example, while directed energy research has use-cases in healthcare. But beyond this, the technologies and research of TII will have global impact.”

Future research directions will be developed by the ATRC’s ASPIRE pillar, in collaboration with stakeholders from across a diverse range of industry sectors.

“ASPIRE defines the problem, sets milestones, and monitors the progress of the projects,” Al Bannai says. “It will also make impactful decisions related to the selection of research partners and the allocation of funding, to ensure that their R&D priorities align with Abu Dhabi and the UAE's broader development goals.”

Image from: Agritecture

Nurturing Next-Generation Talent

To address these challenges, ATRC’s first initiative is a talent development programme, NexTech, which has begun the recruitment of 125 local researchers, who will work across 31 projects in collaboration with 23 world-leading research centres.

Alongside universities and research institutes from across the US, the UK, Europe and South America, these partners include Abu Dhabi’s own Khalifa University, and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world’s first graduate-level institute focused on artificial intelligence. 

“Our aim is to up skill the researchers by allowing them to work across various disciplines in collaboration with world-renowned experts,” Al Bannai says. 

Beyond academic collaborators, TII is also working with a number of industry partners, such as hyperloop technology company, Virgin Hyperloop. Such industry collaborations, Al Bannai points out, are essential to ensuring that TII research directly tackles relevant problems and has a smooth path to commercial impact in order to fuel job creation across the UAE.

“By engaging with top global talent, universities and research institutions and industry players, TII connects an intellectual community,” he says. “This reinforces Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s status as a global hub for innovation and contributes to the broader development of the knowledge-based economy.”

UNFI Picks Up Living Greens Farm Products in Midwest Expansion

I|mage from: Living Green Farms

Living Greens Farm (LGF), the largest vertical, indoor aeroponic farm in the US that provides year-round fresh salads, salad kits, microgreens and herbs, announced the addition of significant new retail distribution of its products in the upper Midwest to independent, specialty, and co-op retailers.

Starting February 2021, LGF’s full line of products featuring ready-to-eat bagged salad products (Caesar Salad Kit, Southwest Salad Kit, Harvest Salad Kit, Chopped Romaine, and Chopped Butter Lettuce) will be carried by UNFI Produce Prescott (formerly Alberts Fresh Produce). UNFI Produce Prescott is a division of UNFI, which distributes food products to thousands of stores nationwide. Their focus is on independent, specialty and co-op retailers.

UNFI has eight warehouses nationwide. LGF’s products will be carried by their upper Midwest location, located just across the river from the Twin Cities in Prescott, WI. This distribution center services hundreds of retailers throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. UNFI is the first national Certified Organic distributor, something they take a lot of pride in. Their produce and floral businesses are rooted in local farms and seasonal import growers.

LGF’s proprietary vertical indoor farming method yields the highest quality and freshest produce available. This is because there are no pesticides or chemicals used in the growing process. And because LGF’s growing, cleaning and bagging process significantly reduces handling and time to the retail shelf, consumers enjoy the freshest product on the market. These benefits continue to attract new users and new retail distribution as UNFI Produce Prescott is the second UNFI location to carry LGF. In December, UNFI’s Hopkins, MN location began offering LGF products.

For more information on why Living Greens Farm products are the cleanest, freshest and healthiest farm salads and greens available, go to www.livinggreensfarm.com.

Farm In A Box Planned For Bridgeport's East End

Image from: CT Post

BRIDGEPORT — You will not find any vast acres of fertile soil and crops in the East End neighbourhood. So the state, city and area activists have teamed with an entrepreneur on what they all said they believe is the next best thing: farmland in a box.

Joe Alvarez, founder of High Ridge Hydroponics of Ridgefield, describes it on his website as “an indoor, vertical, hydroponic, shipping container farm to be located in the most urban settings throughout the world.” And the East End — which has been labeled a “food desert” because of the lack of fresh edibles easily available to residents there — will be that urban setting.

“We’re very excited about this,” Keith Williams, head of the East End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone community group, said during a teleconference Friday announcing a $49,999 state grant for Alvarez’s project. “Fresh vegetables. Healthy. That’s what we’re all about — healthy eating.”

High Ridge’s container will produce young micro-greens from broccoli, kale, cabbage, arugula and other plants to be sold at the East End NRZ’s market as a salad mix.

“These greens are harvested after only 10 to 14 days from being planted, which is extremely quick (and) they are super concentrated in nutrition,” Alvarez said.

Friday’s teleconference included several dignitaries who pledged to do everything they can to ensure High Ridge’s success in town, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, state Sen. Marilyn Moore, state Rep. Andre Baker, Mayor Joe Ganim and Edward Lavernoich of the Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation.

“I hope this project has a lasting and positive impact on your community,” Bysiewicz said. “And I hope it will become a model for other urban areas in our state to grow their own food using innovative technology and techniques.”

“This is not just a shipping container in the city,” Hurlburt said. “This is a much larger, deeper and richer project that we get to celebrate today.”

State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, was also included, but wearing a different hat. Gresko works for Ganim continuing a mission started by former Mayor Bill Finch to turn Bridgeport from an ex-manufacturing hub into a leader in the green and environmentally sustainable economy.

It was under Finch that the East End was previously promised an urban green house on the site of the former “Mt. Trashmore” illegal dump. That project, dubbed “Boot Camp Farms” because it would hire veterans, was announced in 2013 and was also supposed to have financial backing from the state. But the developers had no prior experience in that field and the proposal never broke ground.

Alvarez, according to his online biography, “studied environmental science at Fordham University in New York City, graduated in May of 2017 (and) has worked as a private organic gardener, an aquaponic farmer, built greenhouses, maintained greenhouses and designed several custom hydroponic growing systems.”

Hurlburt said he felt confident the new project would be a success.

Alvarez “has limited experience but he knows what he’s doing. ... I know how much Joe was calling us and emailing us and how badly he wanted this grant to make it a reality. I know his heart is right where it needs to be to make it a success.”

“We’re all in this together to make sure Joe has the support he needs to be successful,” Hurlburt emphasized.

There are still important details to be finalized, including getting a site for the shipping container and additional money to cover the full, nearly $150,000 cost. Gresko said that the NRZ was negotiating to use some property and that “when the time comes” Bridgeport will “match” additional private funds Alvarez obtains.

“We’re going to keep an eye on this and troubleshoot as we go forward any issues,” Gresko said.

Alvarez said he hopes to complete construction by the fall. And the colder months are when his crops will be the most needed, said Deborah Sims, who operates the NRZ market.

“After farmer’s market season is over, we have difficulty sourcing (fresh food),” Sims said.

“Three hundred sixty five (days) we’re going to have the greens available,” said Gresko.

Baker recalled how his East End funeral home has hosted some farmer’s markets and called the High Ridge project “a long time coming.” He also told Bysiewicz he hoped similar initiatives to offer more fresh food to his constituents will follow.

“Lieutenant governor, we’re going to be leaning on you and the governor for more support,” he said. “You’re going to hear more from us.”

Ensuring Singapore's Food Security Despite the Odds

Image from: Reuters

As with most issues that impact national security in Singapore, it often seems that the odds are stacked against us.  Food security — access to safe and nutritious food — is a challenge on several fronts. 

Singapore is a small city-state with limited resources, with only 1 per cent of land available for food production, and over 90 per cent of food is imported from an increasingly disrupted world. The Covid-19 pandemic has further amplified the gravity of safeguarding food security.  The city-state has been proactively planning for long-term food security through the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) strategy of “three food baskets” — diversifying food sources, growing locally and growing overseas.  This approach has served the Republic well in securing a supply of safe food.

DIVERSIFIED SOURCING IS KEY

Singapore’s food importers leverage the nation’s connectivity and the global free trade environment to import from multiple sources in about 170 countries and regions worldwide.  Should there be a disruption to any one source, importers are able to tap alternative food sources and ensure supply remains stable. Lockdown measures brought about by Covid-19 underscored Singapore’s vulnerabilities to supply disruptions in food. 

It was not by luck that the Republic’s food supply remained stable and market shelves continued to be promptly restocked — it was the result of a deliberate whole-of-government strategy to diversify food sources. To keep the nation’’s diversified food supply lines intact amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, SFA worked closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to monitor Singapore’s food supply situation. Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these economic agencies worked with like-minded countries to maintain open trade links.

LOCAL PRODUCTION AN IMPORTANT BUFFER

SFA drives innovation in local farms with the ambitious goal of producing 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030 as part of our “30 by 30” plan.  To meet this goal, we need a holistic and long-term approach to space-planning, boosting agri-food technology and developing local agri-specialists. To facilitate and support the establishment of high-technology and productive farms in Singapore, SFA tenders out land based on qualitative criteria such as production capability, production track record, relevant experience and qualifications, innovation and sustainability.

In addition, a masterplan for the greater Lim Chu Kang (LCK) region, spanning about 390ha of land, will be undertaken in consultation with stakeholders over the next two to three years.  The redeveloped LCK agri-food cluster will produce more than three times its current food production.

Building on the above efforts to grow Singapore’s high-tech agri-tech sector, SFA will continue to partner with the Economic Development Board and ESG to attract best-in-class global agri-tech companies, as well as to nurture promising homegrown agri-tech companies into local champions and help them to expand overseas.

EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE, UNDERUTILISED SPACES

Urban food solutions are expected to play a key role in global food security.  While there are progressive enterprises operating out of farmlands and industrial estates, some agricultural game-changers are also taking root in unconventional areas — indoors, on rooftops and in underutilised spaces.

SFA worked with the Singapore Land Authority to introduce an urban farm at the former Henderson Secondary School site, which was transformed into Singapore’s first integrated space comprising an urban farm, childcare centre and nursing home within a state property.  The farm space within the site was awarded in May 2019 to social enterprise City Sprouts, and it has become a vibrant destination for the young and old to learn about urban farming and enjoy a relaxing day out.

Citiponics, the first commercial farm located on a multi-storey car park in a residential neighbourhood, harvested its first yield of vegetables in April 2019.  In September 2020, another nine sites atop multi-storey car parks were awarded for urban farming. 

The successful bidders included proposals for hydroponic and vertical farming systems with a variety of innovative features, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain technology and automated climate control.  These sites have the potential to collectively produce around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables annually.

Image from: Ciitiponics

TAPPING TECH

The Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) supports local farms in their capability development and drive towards higher productivity.  Through APF, SFA co-funds the adoption of farming systems to better control environmental variables, test-bed technologies and boost production capabilities. Between October 2014 and September 2020, a total of almost S$42 million has been committed to 115 farms.

The Covid-19 pandemic presented greater impetus to speed up local food production capacities. In September 2020, SFA awarded S$39.4 million to nine companies under the 30x30 Express Grant to quickly ramp up food-farm outputs over the next six months to two years. With advanced robotic and digital systems increasingly being used in farming, Singapore’s vegetables farmers have also become innovative agri-engineers and specialists in their own right.

With support from the 30x30 Express Grant, urban farming engineering solutions firm Indoor Farm Factory Innovation will set up an indoor vegetable farm with a vertical integration growth system up to 8m in height in a fully controlled and pesticide-free environment.  The farm will leverage artificial intelligence farming systems integrated with IoT monitoring, dosing irrigation and an advanced environmental control system to achieve optimum growing conditions all year round.

Seng Choon, a chicken egg farm that has been in business for more than 30 years, has also proved itself a modernist in its operations.  The company uses a computer that scans eggs to ascertain if they are clean; while feeding systems, temperature controls and waste cleaning systems have been automated with SFA’s support. Singapore’s efforts at ensuring food security would not be complete without support from consumers.  To boost recognition of local produce among consumers, SFA brought the industry and public together to create a new “SG Fresh Produce” logo. 

Farmers have been using this emblem on their packaging since August 2020. A website was also launched to provide a trove of information on locally farmed food. While the Covid-19 pandemic has led to import restrictions, it also helped to accelerate support for local produce. With public support for local farmers and other key measures, Singapore can beat the odds in ensuring food security in this ever-evolving, ever-disrupted world.

Is AppHarvest the Future of Farming?

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are red-hot right now, with investors clamoring to get into promising young companies.

In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.

Nick Sciple: One last company I wanted to talk about, Lou, and this is one I think it's -- you pay attention to, but not one I'm super excited to run in and buy. It was a company called AppHarvest. It's coming public via a [SPAC] this year. This vertical farming space. We talked about Gladstone Land buying traditional farmland. AppHarvest is taking a very different approach, trying to lean into some of the ESG-type movements.

Lou Whiteman: Yeah. Let's look at this. It probably wouldn't surprise you that the U.S. is the biggest global farm exporter as we said, but it might surprise you that the Netherlands, the tiny little country, is No. 2. The way they do that is tech: Greenhouse farm structure. AppHarvest has taken that model and brought it to the U.S. They have, I believe, three farms in Appalachia. The pitches can produce 30x the yields using 90% less water. Right now, it's mostly tomatoes and it is early-stage. I don't own this stock either. I love this idea. There's some reasons that I'm not buying in right now that we can get into. But this is fascinating to me. We talked about making the world a better place. This is the company that we need to be successful to make the world a better place. The warning on it is that it is a SPAC. So it's not public yet. Right now, I believe N-O-V-S. That deal should close soon. [Editor's note: The deal has since closed.] I'm not the only one excited about it. I tend not to like to buy IPOs and new companies anyway. I think the caution around buying into the excitement applies here. There is a Martha Stewart video on their website talking up the company, which I love Martha Stewart, but that's a hype level that makes me want to just watch and see what they produce. This is just three little farms in Appalachia right now and a great idea. This was all over my watchlist. I would imagine I would love to hold it at some point, but just be careful because this is, as we saw SPACs last year in other areas, people are very excited about this.

Sciple: Yeah. I think, like we've said, for a lot of these companies, the prospects are great. I think when you look at the reduced water usage, better, environmentally friendly, all those sorts of things. I like that they are in Appalachia. As someone who is from the South, I like it when more rural areas get some people actually investing money there. But again, there's a lot of execution between now and really getting to a place where this is the future of farming and they're going to reach scale and all those sorts of things. But this is a company I'm definitely going to have my radar on and pay attention to as they continue to report earnings. Because you can tell yourself a story about how this type of vertical farming, indoor farming disrupts this traditional model, can be more efficient, cleaner, etc. Something to continue paying attention to as we have more information, because this company, like you said, Lou, isn't all the way public yet. We still got to have this SPAC deal finalized and then we get all our fun SEC filings and quarterly calls and all those sorts of things. Once we have that, I will be very much looking forward to seeing what the company has to say.

Whiteman: Right. Just to finish up along too, the interesting thing here is that it is a proven concept because it has worked elsewhere. The downside of that is that it needed to work there. Netherlands just doesn't have -- and this is an expensive proposition to get started, to get going. There's potential there, but in a country blessed with almost seemingly unlimited farmland for now, for long term it makes sense. But in the short term, it could be a hard thing to really get up and running. I think you're right, just one to watch.

Skyscraper Farms, Solution To World's Rising Food Demand, Set To Go Global

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At vertical farms sealed room protects the vegetables from pests, diseases and dirt

The problem has always been reproducing the effect of natural rain, soil and sunshine at a cost that makes the crop competitive with traditional agriculture

Bloomberg Last Updated at October 31, 2018

In a suburb of Kyoto in Japan, surrounded by technology companies and startups, Spread Co is preparing to open the world’s largest automated leaf-vegetable factory. It’s the company’s second vertical farm and could mark a turning point for vertical farming — bringing the cost low enough to compete with traditional farms on a large scale.

For decades, vertical farms that grow produce indoors without soil in stacked racks have been touted as a solution to rising food demand in the world’s expanding cities. The problem has always been reproducing the effect of natural rain, soil and sunshine at a cost that makes the crop competitive with traditional agriculture.

Spread is among a handful of commercial firms that claim to have cracked the problem with a mix of robotics, technology and scale. Its new facility in Japan will grow 30,000 heads of lettuce a day on racks under custom-designed LED lights. A sealed room protects the vegetables from pests, diseases and dirt. Temperature and humidity are optimised to speed growth of the greens, which are fed, tended and harvested by robots. “Our system can produce a stable amount of vegetables of a good quality for sale at a fixed price throughout the year, without using pesticides and with no influence from weather,” Spread President Shinji Inada, 58, said in an interview at the company’s existing facility.

Inada won the Edison Award in 2016 for his vertical-farming system. He expects the new factory to more than double the company’s output, generating 1 billion yen in sales a year from growing almost 11 million lettuces.

About 60 per cent of indoor-farm operators in Japan are unprofitable because of the cost of electricity to run their facilities. Most others only turn a profit because of government subsidies or by charging a premium to consumers for vegetables that are chemical-free. Spread sells lettuces for 198 yen a head to consumers, about 20 to 30 percent more than the normal price for conventionally grown varieties, according to Inada.

First Published: Wed, October 31 2018

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