Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Large-Scale Automated Vertical Farm Near Tokyo by Spread And ENEOS Partnership
Techno Farm Narita is Spread’s first partnership project and the first to be located in Eastern Japan
July 14, 2021, Spread Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Japan; CEO: Shinji Inada, hereinafter “Spread”)’s partner, and a member of ENEOS Group, J Leaf Corporation (HQ: Chiba, Japan; President: Jun Uehara, hereinafter “J Leaf”) started operating the automated vertical farm “Techno Farm Narita” (Chiba, Japan) on 30th of June.
Spread’s Large-Scale Vertical Farming Partnership with ENEOS Group’s J Leaf Starts Operations near Tokyo
Spread owns and operates two vertical farms in Western Japan (Kyoto), the Kameoka Plant and Techno Farm Keihanna. Techno Farm Narita is Spread’s first partnership project, and the first to be located in Eastern Japan. The most significant feature of Techno Farm Narita is the increased efficiency in the use of land. This has been achieved by increasing the number of cultivation racks levels to 28, double that of Techno Farm Keihanna. Techno Farm Narita will produce 30,000 heads of lettuce daily, building on the know-how accumulated through the operation of Techno Farm Keihanna to deliver increasingly sustainable food production.
Unique Features of Techno Farm Narita
Even more efficient land saving through 28-level cultivation rack system (roughly 2 times more efficient than Techno Farm Keihanna)
Located in the Greater Tokyo Area, allowing for local production and consumption
Transforming idle land to efficient and sustainable agriculture ・
The utilization of renewable energy generated from solar panels
Techno Farm Narita also retains other features of Spread’s next-generation food production system, Techno Farm™, including pesticide-free, stable cultivation, integrated automation, specialized LED lighting, and Spread’s proprietary IoT-based cultivation management system, Techno Farm Cloud.
Techno Farm Narita’s Cultivation Room Opening Ceremony
About the Partners
ENEOS Group is one of Japan's leading corporate groups, with revenue in excess of 10 trillion yen. *1
The Group has the largest market share in oil refinery and petrochemicals distribution in Japan and is centered around ENEOS Holdings.
Spread’s vision is to create a sustainable society where future generations can live with peace of mind. On the way to this objective, Spread plans to reach a total production capacity of 100 tons per day domestically by 2030, through the expansion of its Techno Farm™. With the collaboration at Techno Farm Narita as a foundation, both parties are considering further partnership projects. The green business market is expected to continue growing, and Spread strives to become a leading vertical farming company globally.
Spread will continue to pursue further business opportunities through technological innovation both in Japan and overseas. Spread aims to provide solutions for the global problems of climate change and food security and the delivery of a truly sustainable society.
*1 FY2019 results (announced on May 20, 2020)
*2 ENEOS Techno Materials Corporation is a member of ENEOS Group
How CubicFarms Is Feeding A Changing World With Its Automated Indoor Growing Technology
The global supply chain today is facing significant, costly disruptions. A shipping container crisis has upended the global food trade. Devastating winter weather has impacted the U.S., and ongoing labour shortages within the farming industry show no sign of relenting as border crossings remain shut
April 7, 2021
Mark Shelling, Market One Media
CubicFarms provides sustainable and profitable commercial-scale automated indoor growing systems for local produce and fresh livestock feed. , Image courtesy of Market One Media
Supply chain – CubicFarms Garden – Foodservice – HG cattle
In an already tumultuous year, agriculture is facing supply chain disruptions and unpredictable climate changes
To combat this, CubicFarms offers new automated indoor farming systems that could revolutionize global food supplies
With multiple patents in the ag-tech space, CubicFarms is poised for further expansion
The global supply chain today is facing significant, costly disruptions. A shipping container crisis has upended the global food trade. Devastating winter weather has impacted the U.S., and ongoing labour shortages within the farming industry show no sign of relenting as border crossings remain shut.
The ability to move people and goods across long distances will always be at risk of disruption because the longer the supply chain, the more chances there are for things to go wrong.
The farming industry was already in the midst of a labour crisis even before this year, with fewer and fewer workers available to tend to fields. Now with borders being shut, it's unclear how many foreign workers will be able to return to their jobs, despite some having been issued flight exemptions.
Because of this continued downward trend, Canada is currently projected to lose 123,000 workers within a decade, according to a report done by RBC. That represents a loss of $11 billion in GDP, if the labour gap continues to widen.
Couple this labour shortage with changing weather patterns like the devastating cold snap in Texas, the shipping container crisis, and the ongoing demand for fresh produce, and you’ve got a perfect storm against the food industry.
These stacked variables have revealed just how vulnerable the global food supply chain is. Farmers are now scrambling to find sustainable alternatives to what appears to be a crumbling framework.
"We believe long food supply chains are dangerous. As a technology company in the agriculture business, we’ve seen the challenges with growing outdoors. The solution is in using technology to make locally grown produce more widely accessible, 365 days a year, not just here, but anywhere in the world.”
— Dave Dinesen, CEO, CubicFarm® Systems Corp.
Innovative new agriculture technologies like indoor vertical farming are more attractive to farmers who want the stability and consistency that come from harvesting indoor crops. Innovators in the agriculture space have already anticipated this shift and are now offering ways to safeguard against further threats to cultivation.
The technology is improving rapidly with automated, commercial-scale indoor growing systems that grow fresh produce in a controlled environment. These crops can be harvested with less labour than traditional farming, addressing the need to do more during labour shortages.
By creating the ideal indoor environment onsite, growers use LED lighting, less land, significantly less water, and less energy. In Canada and the U.S., in particular, the ability to grow fresh produce during the winter months allows farmers to expand the growing season to 12-months a year.
Disruptions to the supply chain during the ongoing pandemic have sent food distribution centres searching for more local produce. We can expect that demand to rise as the number of growers using indoor vertical farming systems increases.
A new leader in agricultural automation
For a better look at these automated indoor growing systems, Canadian ag-tech company, CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB), offers insights into how this technology is the future of agriculture.
Different from other companies in the ag-tech space, CubicFarms began with the farmers themselves. Jack Benne and his son Leo Benne visited a farm in Puerto Rico after a hurricane when they had an idea for an automated indoor growing system that could grow produce in any weather.
Being the principles behind Bevo Farms, one of the largest propagation greenhouse systems in North America, they put their considerable expertise to work on this important problem.
CubicFarms’ produce is grown onsite in an indoor, controlled environment, for delicious greens harvested at the peak of freshness, bringing food production closer to home.
The automated systems they created are now at the forefront of solving the supply chain woes of countries that must rely on outside suppliers for their fresh produce. The potential for this shift is massive.
A local supply chain would reduce long distance shipping/flights, the indoor controlled environment is pesticide and herbicide-free so there would be fewer shortages due to recall (think of the recent romaine E. coli scares), and there would be less food waste, as produce is harvested at peak freshness instead of days or even weeks in advance.
Under traditional supply chains, there is an expected amount of rot, unnecessary waste of food and profits in each shipment, and it’s a wonder that’s considered tolerable.
The CubicFarm System technology is housed within modules that are 40 ft by 8 ft, standing 9.5 ft tall. The beauty of their structure is that farmers can buy as many modules as they need and place them together, creating indoor fields with the ideal controlled environment year-round.
A patented undulating path is used to move crops throughout the module. Plants are cycled through each module on suspended trays, which periodically pass an artificial LED light source along with regulated CO².
This is different than the typical ‘rack and stack’ vertical farming setups which need more space to allow people through to seed, monitor, and harvest plants. The CubicFarm System brings the plants in a full circle once every 90 minutes.
Each module is custom-built, stainless steel container. Trays move along a patented undulating path.
This allows for harvesting to easily take place at the front of the module, while sensors monitor the plants from the inside. This also prevents leaf burning, sometimes seen in vertical farms when the plants are too close to the light and heat source, or those suffering the ill-effects of their position too high or too low in the rack for the ideal amount of CO² necessary for healthy growth.
The CubicFarm System uses a propagator, which grows seeds into seedlings, and a cultivator that takes crops from seedlings to harvest.
This is all while being provided with the necessary nutrients and using up to 95 per cent less water than traditional farming. This line can replicate the exact growing conditions to yield the perfect leafy greens, herbs, and microgreens every time.
"When you provide the optimal environment every day for a crop, it won't only reward you by growing as fast as possible, but it will also be more delicious and nutritious," Dinesen notes.
Global food distribution giant, Sysco, recently announced on their Sysco Vancouver Facebook page that they’re purchasing fresh produce from growers using the CubicFarm System.
This significant relationship is appealing to anyone looking to get into the supply chain, which can be challenging for smaller farming operations.
A new division of CubicFarms is an expert brokerage called CubicFarms Garden. This expert team provides business consulting services for growers using the CubicFarm System onsite, helping them enter the local supply chain and fostering relationships with food distribution centres.
Farmers have long been at the forefront of technology when it comes to new machinery and systems. “Farmers are the most innovative people we know,” explains Dinesen. “In technology terms, this is the Tractor 2.0. After the invention of the tractor, no one would plow a field without one. With the automated, onsite, and commercial scale of the CubicFarm System, no one would want to grow indoors without us.”
While it might sound complex, farmers who use CubicFarm System will immediately notice its simplicity. When a new unit arrives on site, it's already 90 per cent ready to go, and the remaining set up is assisted by a hands-on customer experience team.
Farmers are trained on how to maximize each module's potential and are given resources for developing new crops. With the recently announced addition of Edoardo De Martin, former Microsoft Vancouver GM, to the executive team as Chief Technology Officer, we can expect the next generation of growing technologies to use more artificial intelligence and robotics to enhance their existing automations and efficiencies.
From fresh food to livestock feed
In January of 2020, the company's success and expertise led to the acquisition of a second farmer-founded innovative company called HydroGreen Inc. Another patented indoor farming system, the HydroGreen Grow System is focused solely on the production of fresh, nutritious livestock feed. Feed that would once be grown across acres of grazing land is now produced in a module that's a fraction of that size.
It is a necessary innovation for ranchers who are facing land and water scarcity issues. Dihl Grohs developed the technology for growing nutritious livestock feed for his ranches in South Dakota, Utah, and Missouri. The concept of low-maintenance feed growing was in direct response to the areas where his cattle had limited precipitation.
Recently published university research confirms greenhouse gas reductions using HydroGreen’s hydroponic fodder system. The university study results came from a HydroGreen Grow System operating in British Columbia, the latest market for the system in CubicFarms’ backyard.
At the EcoDairy in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where they produce milk and use agritourism to educate people about where their food comes from, owner Bill Vanderkooi is using HydroGreen for his dairy cattle.
In a video interview, Vanderkooi talks about incorporating HydroGreen livestock feed into the current mixture and replacing some grain and forage in the cattle diet, measuring against a control group for differences in performance, production, and health. “At the early stage of the trial we’re seeing some positive benefits on performance.” Ongoing research into the nutritional benefits will be combined with land, water, and energy usage as factors for farmers.
The HydroGreen Grow System uses 92 percent less water and less land than traditional farming, so it’s expected that this technology will be widely embraced by the livestock industry in the future.
The fresh livestock feed can be used for a variety of animals, but it’s mainly used for dairy and beef cattle. For those facing labour shortages, the HydroGreen module operates with the push of a button and is self-cleaning. Growing predictable amounts of fresh livestock feed indoors and onsite will allow farmers to reduce the unpredictability that can be costly and dangerous to their animals and livelihoods.
The HydroGreen Grow System’s automated seeder spreads half an inch of small grain seed on the growing surface, growing from seed to feed in six days, with less land, water, labour, and energy.
CEO Dave Dinesen considers the HydroGreen Grow System to be the most automated livestock feed growing technology on the planet.
He explains, "When it comes to animal health and nutrition, the HydroGreen Grow System is giving the most nutritious and delicious livestock feed to these animals. They’re healthier, the feed is more consistent, and ranchers can become more self-sufficient.”
“It’s also automated and scalable because we have the technology to make this possible and profitable,” he adds.
“At the end of the day, we’re a technology company, not a produce or livestock feed company, so we don’t compete with farmers. They become our farmer partners and it’s our job to advance the technologies that support their businesses.”
With a $5 million investment from a top ag-tech investor, Ospraie, and a 100-module sale (their largest yet) to a farm in Surrey, B.C., CubicFarms’ momentum is only growing. It's this momentum that will continue to cultivate new acquisitions, like HydroGreen, and propel the company into an expanding market.
CubicFarms also has an R&D Innovation Centre that is continuously creating new crops and streamlined growing practices to benefit the growers using their technologies, including the CubicFarm System and the HydroGreen Grow System. It's a hopeful progression in a time when there seems to be a new crisis emerging every month. With technology like this positioned to revolutionize global food supply and essentially end hunger, it's one fewer crisis we have to face in 2021.
Learn more about CubicFarms by visiting their website here.
For more information about the CubicFarm System, watch this overview video to see it in action.
CubicFarm Systems Corp. Announces Strategic Acquisition of HydroGreen, Inc.
Vancouver, BC – (AccessWire – December 11, 2019) – CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) (“CubicFarms” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding purchase agreement effective December 10, 2019, to acquire HydroGreen, Inc. (“HydroGreen”), an arms-length private company headquartered in South Dakota
December 11, 2019
Vancouver, BC – (AccessWire – December 11, 2019) – CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (TSXV:CUB) (“CubicFarms” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding purchase agreement effective December 10, 2019, to acquire HydroGreen, Inc. (“HydroGreen”), an arms-length private company headquartered in South Dakota (the “Acquisition”).
HydroGreen is a manufacturer of fully-automated hydroponic growing systems that produce live, green animal feed, prioritizing animal health and performance. HydroGreen’s unique process sprouts grains, such as barley and wheat, in a controlled environment with minimal use of land, labor, and water. Its system performs all growing functions including seeding, watering, lighting, harvesting, and re-seeding – all with the push of a button – to deliver animal feed without the typical investment in fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, field equipment, and transportation.
Overview of Acquisition
The Acquisition will be completed by way of a reverse triangular merger of CubicFeed Systems U.S. Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and HydroGreen, resulting in HydroGreen being renamed “of CubicFeed Systems U.S. Corp” and becoming an indirect and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The new CubicFarms subsidiary will operate the existing business of HydroGreen moving forward.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, holders of HydroGreen shares (“HydroGreen Shareholders”) will be entitled to receive an aggregate of 11,000,000 common shares of CubicFarms (the “Consideration Shares”), subject to an adjustment related to working capital. Of the Consideration Shares, 10,000,000 will be issued on closing of the Acquisition with the remaining 1,000,000 shares being issued on the six-month anniversary of closing, subject to any set-off relating to indemnification. None of the current shareholders of HydroGreen will hold more than 5% of the common shares of the Company pursuant to the Acquisition.
The implied value of the CubicFarms common stock issued to HydroGreen is C$1.50 per share. Following closing, principals of HydroGreen holding in excess of 80% of the Consideration Shares will enter into a pooling agreement with respect to their Consideration Shares. Under the terms of the pooling agreement, 25% of their Consideration Shares will be released on the closing of the Acquisition and an additional 25% will be released on each of the dates which are 6 months, 12 months and 18 months following the closing of the Acquisition.
In 2018, HydroGreen recorded unaudited sales revenues of approximately US$1.2 million and an unaudited gross profit of approximately US$700,000.
The Acquisition will require the approval of HydroGreen Shareholders at a special meeting expected to take place in late December (the “HydroGreen Meeting”). In order to become effective, the Acquisition must be approved at the HydroGreen Meeting by HydroGreen Shareholders holding greater than 50% of the HydroGreen shares entitled to vote at the HydroGreen Meeting. HydroGreen Shareholders holding approximately 75% of the issued and outstanding HydroGreen shares have entered into voting and support agreements with CubicFarms in support of the Acquisition. The board of directors of HydroGreen has unanimously approved the Acquisition and will recommend that HydroGreen Shareholders vote FOR the Acquisition. The merger agreement includes representations, warranties, and covenants typical of a transaction of this nature, including with respect to non-solicitation.
In addition to approval of HydroGreen Shareholders, the Acquisition is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and other customary closing conditions. It is not anticipated that the Acquisition will be classified as a Reviewable Transaction under TSX Venture Exchange Policies.
The Acquisition is expected to close in December 2019 following the HydroGreen Meeting.
About HydroGreen
The HydroGreen growing system consists of a 10-feet by 8-feet rack with 8-feet by 6-feet growing surfaces stacked 6 layers high to a total height of 10 feet. This is the smallest, one-section system available for sale – two-section up to six-section systems that are 50 feet long, 8 feet wide and 10 feet high are available. The modular system allows farmers to combine multiple systems to feed hundreds or thousands of livestock.
Image 1: The HydroGreen automated three-section growing system for animal feed.
Seeding one growing surface each day with 1.8 bushels of seed can produce 487 pounds of animal feed every six days. A one-section system could produce enough feed for a 20 to 25-cattle farm, while a three-section system could potentially provide most of the feed for a herd of 100.
The HydroGreen growing system’s automated seeder spreads half an inch of small grain seed on the growing surface. A fine mist of water is sprayed from above to initiate growth, followed by a gentle-rain automated irrigation system to feed the plants as they sprout. After six days, fresh green feed on the growing surface is rolled off and harvested at the push of a button on the touchscreen control panel.
As the feed layer is rolled off the surface, it is sliced into pieces with a water jet, ready to be blended with a feed ration or fed directly to livestock. Once the harvest cycle is complete, the surface is automatedly cleaned and reseeded with a new seedbed, ready to be irrigated – setting in motion another grow cycle.
Image 2: The HydroGreen system takes seed to feed in six days.
While growing feed hydroponically is not a new concept, traditional rack-and-stack systems are labor-intensive and are sensitive to mold. Mold tends to grow on seeds in warm, damp or humid conditions. Traditional hydroponic systems rely on human labor to manually clean the growing pans and soak, spread and water the seed, resulting in significant potential for human error and potential for mold to develop. The HydroGreen technology alleviates both problems as it requires only one second of labor per tonne of feed produced – to push a button on the touchscreen control panel. Through its automated process, the system applies a sequence of eleven procedures dedicated to controlling mold, stretching from seed selection to harvest, reducing the potential for human error and for mold to develop.
Economic, environmental and nutritional benefits of hydroponic animal feed
The HydroGreen system provides local, on-demand availability of fresh green feed 365 days a year, unaffected by drought, snow or rain. Hydroponic feed that is fed directly to livestock results in a significant reduction of feed waste since the entire root mass is consumed with the grass.
In addition to savings from reduced labor and water, the system’s vertically stacked surfaces allow for high yields in a very small area, increasing farmers’ independence by growing food for their livestock without the need for cultivated land.
When wheatgrass and barley are sprouted, they release many vitamins and minerals as well as convert hard-to-digest starches into easily digestible proteins. Sprouting results in increased enzyme levels in the ration, which aids digestion and absorption of nutrients; increased levels of vitamins; increased mineral bioavailability and increased fatty acids (quality energy) and amino acids (quality protein). These nutrients are critical to animal health, growth, milk production and reproduction.
Sales and marketing strategy for the HydroGreen system
CubicFarms has signed an authorized reseller agreement with Artex Feed Solutions. Artex Feed Solutions is a joint venture company which is 25% owned by CubicFarms and 75% owned by Artex Barn Solutions, a leader in agricultural supplies for over 40 years. Artex Barn Solutions was founded by John de Jonge – also a board member of CubicFarms – who purchased Artex Barn and grew it into a global provider of cattle handling equipment, ventilation and cow cooling. He has deep expertise in establishing and scaling up multiple manufacturing facilities in China and North America.
Artex and Mr. de Jonge plan to market the HydroGreen system to their existing dealership network in the USA and Canada, and to qualified leads in China, Indonesia, and the Middle East – areas with substantial market potential due to changing food consumption patterns and supportive government policies toward agricultural technology.
Internationally, Artex dealers will target existing agriculture animal producers looking to enhance profitability and environmental sustainability, early-stage farmers with minimal capital and land constraints, small- to medium-size farms seeking feed alternatives to benefit their operations and urban farmers without access to land.
The arrangement with Artex Feed Solutions may be considered a related-party transaction subject to TSX-V Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101. The Company will be exempt from the need to obtain minority shareholder approval and a formal valuation as required by MI 61-101 as the Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the fair market value of the transaction with Artex is far below 25% of the Company’s market capitalization.
While remaining on CubicFarms’ board of directors, Mr. de Jonge will transition from his current role as the Company’s Chief Design and Installation Officer to Chief Executive Officer of CubicFarms subsidiary CubicFeed Systems, effective immediately. Rodrigo Santana, CubicFarms’ Chief Operating Officer, will assume oversight of machine design and installations, supported by a management team with significant field expertise.
Dave Dinesen, Chief Executive Officer of CubicFarms, commented: “This landmark transaction with HydroGreen is a catalyst for continued growth at CubicFarms. Having already established a robust sales pipeline for our fresh produce vertical, this acquisition will enable us to capitalize on technology and automation synergies with HydroGreen to capture the animal feed space, which we believe could be a larger market than fresh produce. Approximately two-thirds of the world’s agricultural land is used for grazing and animal feed production. HydroGreen’s “land on a stand” system helps reduce the vast amounts of land required to grow feed.
“While the CubicFarms system is ideal for growing fresh produce, the advancements made in the HydroGreen system in the areas of harvesting, reseeding and self-cleaning, make it particularly well-suited for the production of animal feed. This transaction positions us to be a leading ag-tech company providing controlled-environment growing systems in four diversified verticals – fresh produce, animal feed, hemp/cannabis, and nutraceutical ingredients.”
Dihl Grohs, Chief Executive Officer of HydroGreen, commented: “I am incredibly proud of HydroGreen’s growth trajectory since our first system prototype was built in 2014 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, then progressively refined to achieve today’s 98% reliability rating and the system’s ability to monitor and correct issues in advance.
“The technology is poised for large-scale commercialization and this merger represents an ideal next step to bring HydroGreen systems to international markets. I am confident that CubicFarms’ global leadership in automated vertical-farming solutions, combined with the go-to-market ability of Artex Feed, will result in significant uptake of our systems as farmers learn how this technology enhances the productivity of their operations.”
John de Jonge, President of Artex Feed Solutions, and Chief Executive Officer of CubicFeed Systems commented: “As a lifelong dairy industry participant, I believe the animal feed market is ripe for disruption, urgently requiring predictable, year round production of nutritious feed while minimizing the inputs of land, labor, and water. I am excited to lead the expansion of CubicFarms’ animal feed business by leveraging Artex’s broad network of dealers in 40 countries to bring the HydroGreen solution to market.”
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.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The Consideration Shares to be issued as part of the Acquisition have not been, nor will be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), and such securities may only be offered or sold within the United States pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws.
About CubicFarm® Systems Corp.
CubicFarm® Systems Corp. (“CubicFarms”) is an ag-tech company commercializing large scale, vertical farming solutions for global industrial markets. Founded in 2015, the Company’s mission is to provide industries around the world with efficient growing systems capable of producing predictable crop yields. CubicFarms offers turnkey, commercial scale, hydroponic, automated vertical farm growing systems that can grow predictably and sustainably for 12 months of the year virtually anywhere on earth. CubicFarms enables its customers in the fresh produce, animal feed, nutraceutical, and hemp/cannabis industries to grow locally and to provide their markets with safe, sustainable, secure and fresh ingredients that are consistent in color, size, taste, nutrition and allows for longer shelf life. Further support and value is provided to customers through the Company’s patent-pending germination technology and proprietary auto harvesting and processing methods.
Using its unique, undulating 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. The Company has sold and installed systems in Canada and the US and is currently negotiating with a global pipeline of prospective customers. It also operates one wholly owned facility in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, and sells its produce in the province to retail and wholesale customers under the brand name Thriiv Local Garden™.
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 closing of the Acquisition and HydroGreen’s sales and growth prospects. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of CubicFarm Systems Corp. and its subsidiaries, 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.
INDIA: This MeitY-Backed Startup Has Built An Automated Farming Device To Grow Plants And Veggies Indoors
This MeitY-backed startup has built an automated farming device to grow plants and veggies indoors Delhi-based startup Agro2o is marrying hydroponics (soilless farming) and automation to bring a cool new gadget and a whole lot of good vibes to millennial households
This MeitY-backed startup has built an automated farming device to grow plants and veggies indoors Delhi-based startup Agro2o is marrying hydroponics (soilless farming) and automation to bring a cool new gadget and a whole lot of good vibes to millennial households.
Yash Vyas was working in a retail store in Dubai when he stumbled upon the concept of hydroponics in a newspaper.
Hydroponics (also known as ‘soilless farming’) is a practice where plants are grown indoors using mineral nutrient solutions in water solvents. It fascinated Yash instantly and also made him realize that Dubai’s harsh desert climate had made it difficult to grow farms.
“There was inefficiency of land and water, and almost no greenery either at home or outside. That formed my belief that hydroponics could be a fix. It is a clean and sustainable solution, unlike current farming techniques,” Yash tells YourStory. He then returned to India at the end of 2017 and started Agro2o in early 2018.
Yash Vyas, Founder & CEO, Agro2o (centre) with Ashish Goel, CTO, Agro2o (right)
Growing an indoor smart garden
The Delhi-based startup operates at the intersection of agritech and IoT. Agro2o has developed a proprietary smart garden using a fully automated indoor hydroponics system.
The plug-and-play solution allows anyone to grow fresh herbs, veggies, medicinal plants, and even flowers inside their homes. Because it is an IoT-enabled product, it requires little human attention on a daily basis. The Founder-CEO explains, “We call it automated hydroponics. Depending on the plant type, the system can intelligently judge and provide the level of light, water, and nutrients required, and create an ideal growing condition for the plant.
There are microcontrollers fitted into it. All you have to do is insert a nutrient cartridge depending on the plant you want to grow.” The smart garden is also enabled with a touchscreen and WiFi connectivity. It sends out alerts to users whenever the water has to be topped up. In the future, the system could even come with Alexa integrations, Yash shares.
Intersection of hydroponics and automation
He explains that this unique marriage between hydroponics and automation is a result of the startup’s two years of extensive R&D in plant science, for which it collaborated with the Delhi University’s Department of Plant Molecular Biology.
“We also acquired expertise in automation and AI to be able to perfect the technology and apply for design patents,” Yash reveals. While the product is yet to see a commercial launch (planned for early 2020), Agro2o showcased its technology at the Startup Expo held in September.
“It attracted a lot of interest from investors and general buyers,” claims the Founder. Agro2o has even opened pre-orders on its website.
It has also been incubated by Electropreneur Park, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The currently bootstrapped startup might even look to raise a seed round of Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore in 2020. Agro2o’s current device allows you to grow 10-12 crops at a time. These are categorized into Herbs, Greens, Veggies, and Ornamentals.
“Categories of crops cannot be mixed because the nutrients and conditions required for each are different,” Yash says. He adds that a 24-crop device is in the pipeline. The plan is to have three products for varying crop capacities in the price range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 18,000. “It is like any other consumer durable device that can last you for 4-5 years,” Yash adds. Also Read How DST-backed agritech incubator Indigram Labs is ushering in a new green revolution ‘
Key markets and growth plans
As could be expected, the demand for indoor hydroponics systems is much higher in the Gulf countries than in India.
The founder attributes this to severe climatic conditions and higher disposable incomes in these regions. Hence, to tap into this growing demand, Agro2o will launch in the Middle East along with its rollout in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. By 2025, the startup plans to sell two lakh units in India, and clock revenue of Rs 300 crore - Rs 350 crore. In the GCC countries, meanwhile, it hopes to sell about five lakh units in five years.
Yash observes, “I see two user profiles for our products. One is the value-conscious customer who wants something positive in their space.
The second is urban millennials who like cool gadgets and also love cooking with fresh veggies and herbs.” While smart homes is Agro2o’s immediate focus, the startup also has ambitions to venture into the smart farm segment. “Technology-enabled commercial soilless agriculture will soon become a reality,” says Yash. Also Read Stanford Seed startup Future Farms is out to solve India’s food crisis with clean, soil-less farming
Tech a facilitator for soilless agriculture
Hydroponics is a nascent sector in India. But globally, the market is expected to be worth $12.1 billion by 2025, with the Asia Pacific being the growth driver, according to Transparency Market Research.
Agro2o claims to be the first in Asia to launch a smart hydroponics product. “So, building awareness is both an opportunity and a challenge,” says the founder.
“Our nearest [undisclosed] competitor in the West is valued at only $120 million. This is a relatively new sector, but there is a large potential to be realized,” he explains. Does Agro2o want to be seen as an agritech or an IoT company? A bit of both perhaps. Or, as Yash puts it: an innovation company in the smart hydroponics sector. “Tech is just a facilitator to make soilless farming more accessible,” he signs off. (Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2019/12/meity-agritech-startup-hydroponics-smart-garden-automation-iot
AEssenseGrows Adds Business Management To Cruise Control Aeroponics
The Guardian Cloud Intelligence central management system brings cloud-based data analysis and visualization of complete grow operations to AEssenseGrows’ advanced software platform for automated aeroponic plant growth
Guardian Cloud Intelligence Visualizes Complete Grow Operations with Cloud-Based Analysis, Accelerating Business Decisions
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 13, 2019 -- AEssenseGrows, an AgTech company specializing in precision automated aeroponic platforms for consistent high-yield plant production, today introduced a new set of business management features that deliver dramatically greater insight to cultivators. The Guardian Cloud Intelligence central management system brings cloud-based data analysis and visualization of complete grow operations to AEssenseGrows’ advanced software platform for automated aeroponic plant growth.
Adding to “cruise control” grow recipes, the new features help cultivators analyze the costs and revenue of various strain performance—easing the comparison of historic, current grows, and future planning—to determine the most profitable paths in the context of the latest market pricing.
“We’re really excited about the ability to run reports on our grows and cross those with our harvest yields and pricing expectations to determine the big-picture issues we can optimize over time,” said master grower Matthew Willinger, whose operation in Oakland, Calif., uses the AEssenseGrows AEtrium system. “And being able to evaluate the operational cost of a grow-- water, nutrients, labor, electricity--combined with selling prices is a great tool for analyzing the profitability of different grow rooms and strains.”
The AEssenseGrows award-winning AEtrium system delivers sensor-driven cruise-control automation to simplify aeroponics and amplify its inherent benefits. The Guardian Grow Manager central management software executes the exact grow recipe and environmental conditions set by the master cultivator. Once created, dozens of sensors in every machine report on performance and direct adjustments 24/7 and 365 days per year without hesitation, rest, or fatigue. Key variables are automatically tuned such as lighting, nutrients, HVAC, and environmental control to maintain the optimal conditions as defined in the master cultivator’s grow recipe.
Guardian Cloud Intelligence now extends the master cultivator’s knowledge with limitless cloud storage and analysis, leading to better decisions at the fingertips of the master cultivator from any convenient location at any time of day.
Key analysis and features in the Guardian Cloud Intelligence system include:
Room-level aggregated reporting for unlimited sized rooms. Sensor data can be displayed and reported per harvest by the minute, hour, day, week, quarter or year.
The availability of unlimited financial data on nutrient usage, water usage, CO2 usage, labor, maintenance, and electrical usage.
The integration of collected data with the Calendar, enabling all employees and managers to share to-do lists and action items. Users can manage labor operations for their entire facility through an easy to use calendar dashboard. Visually analyze sensor patterns over the days of the calendar. Adjust your work assignments on the fly and have those tie directly back to user assignments.
Workflow integration and dynamic form extension connect business processes, like reporting and documentation, directly to the operator’s daily activities so it is seamless and easy to follow. Every employee starts their shift with a complete list of their required activities for the day, and this is dynamically updated with changes as required. Completion of the events are all stored and integrated in the analysis in the cloud.
Market pricing and financial impact reports based on facility metrics and labor integration, produce profitability forecasts based on real-time and projected data.
AEssenseGrows Receives CE Marking For Its Automated Aeroponics Systems
The CE Marking covers both the AEssenseGrows AEtrium-2.1 and AEtrium-4 grow platforms. Last year, the company received similar certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the largest not-for-profit testing laboratory in the world
The Markings Confirm That the Company’s AEtrium Grow Systems Meet
the Health, Safety and Environmental Standards Required in Europe
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 13, 2019 -- AEssenseGrows, an AgTech company specializing in precision automated aeroponic platforms for consistent high-yield plant production, announced today that its AEtrium grow systems have received Europe’s CE Marking, ensuring they meet the health, safety and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area.
The CE Marking covers both the AEssenseGrows AEtrium-2.1 and AEtrium-4 grow platforms. Last year, the company received similar certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the largest not-for-profit testing laboratory in the world. And the company’s compact high-intensity AErix LED bloom light last year received an Electrical Testing Laboratories (ETL) safety listing, exceeding or surpassing all standards for safety published by UL and other standards bodies.
The AEssenseGrows award-winning AEtrium system delivers sensor-driven cruise-control automation to simplify aeroponics and amplify its inherent benefits.
“The only thing more important to AEssenseGrows than its customers’ success is its customers’ safety,” said Phil Gibson, the company’s vice president of Marketing. “Our team has worked hard to ensure our equipment meets and exceeds all relevant regulatory standards so our customers can focus on winning in the marketplace without having to worry about safety issues”
Also today, AEssenseGrows introduced a new set of business management features that deliver dramatically greater insight to cultivators. The new Guardian Cloud Intelligence central management system brings cloud-based data analysis and visualization of complete grow operations to AEssenseGrows’ advanced software platform for automated aeroponic plant growth.
The AEtrium system hardware and software will be on display at the AEssenseGrows booth, C5308, at the MJBizCon show in Las Vegas Dec. 11-13.
More information on the products is available at www.aessensegrows.com.
About AEssenseGrows
AEssenseGrows (pronounced "essence grows"), founded in 2014, is a precision AgTech company based in Sunnyvale, Calif. A recipient of the Red Herring 2019 Top 100 North America award, AEssenseGrows provides accelerated plant growth SmartFarm platforms and software automation delivering pure, zero pesticides, year-round, enriched growth to fresh produce and medicinal plant producers globally.
With AEssenseGrows, growers can precisely control their production operations at your fingertips from anywhere in the world.
Knowledge From Algae Industry To Better Vertical Farming System
PaiGE Growth Technologies Inc. entered into MOU with CubicFarm Systems Corp. in Langley, BC to study the effectiveness of combining vertical farming systems with its technology
PaiGE Growth Technologies & CubicFarm partner up
PaiGE Growth Technologies Inc. entered into MOU with CubicFarm Systems Corp. in Langley, BC to study the effectiveness of combining vertical farming systems with its technology.
If successful, the partners will provide an efficient, modular and readily deployable system to grow vegetables or plants using the latest advances in precision agriculture and vertical farming.
CubicFarms is commercializing industrial-scale vertical farming systems for multiple industries worldwide. The CubicFarms platform consists of a containerized, automated and environment-controlled system where trays of high-value crops like leafy vegetables and herbs follow a patented, undulating path that ensures ideal growing conditions.
Pond has developed a growth platform for algae and terrestrial plants using proprietary lighting, controls and artificial intelligence. Pond has granted PaiGE an exclusive license for the application and further advancement of this technology for terrestrial plants.
Improvements
As part of the MOU, PaiGE and CubicFarms envisage a multi-phase study to test the improvements from retrofitting the CubicFarms system with PaiGE technology. Each phase shall compare plant growth and resource input in a PaiGE-equipped growth cube against a standard unit – first incorporating proprietary lighting, then sensors, and finally a precision nutrient and water dosing system. In each phase, PaiGE shall provide the engineering design, coordinate equipment manufacturing, and installation, and run and assess trials. If the trials prove successful and CubicFarms decides to incorporate PaiGE technology into its growth cubes, CubicFarms agrees to pay PaiGE licensing fees for its technology. PaiGE shall retain intellectual property developed by it throughout the joint project.
Increase local production
Dave Dinesen, CubicFarm’s CEO commented: “Our commercial-scale modular CubicFarm growing machines allow our partner farmers to increase local production of nutritious vegetables, herbs, and many other crops, helping to address both food security and the environmental footprint associated with transportation. We’re excited to incorporate PaiGE precision technology with the goal of improving resource efficiency and crop yields.”
Steve Martin, PaiGE CEO stated: “The partnership with CubicFarms allows us to demonstrate Pond’s growth technology in the terrestrial environment, potentially opening the door to a whole new category of applications. CubicFarms is the ideal partner for us to evolve the PaiGE technology as their growth cubes provide a fully controlled environment – similar to Pond algae bioreactors. As a technology provider to CubicFarms, we are excited to support their mission of advancing sustainable precision agriculture and vertical farming.”
Publication date: Wed, 23 Oct 2019
New Life CA Selects AEssenseGrows’ Aeroponic System For Its Socially Conscious Cannabis Business
New Life is a vertically integrated, state-licensed cultivation, distribution and non-store front company based in Oakland, California
The East Bay Cannabis Producer Selected Complete AEssenseGrows Automated System for Precision Cruise Control of Indoor Sterile Grow Environments
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 12, 2019 -- AEssenseGrows, an AgTech company specializing in precision automated aeroponic platforms for consistent high-yield plant production, announced today that New Life CA, a socially conscious California cannabis company, has purchased the AEssenseGrows AEtrium system for its operations. New Life determined the AEssenseGrows equipment could best deliver the precision and controls needed to grow superior cannabis at its East Bay facility.
“We wanted a cultivation system that was easy to use and provided a great degree of control over and visibility into the grow environment,” said Carlton Williams, founder of New Life. “The cutting-edge AEssenseGrows system meets those requirements with the automation and precision delivered with its revolutionary Guardian Grow Manager software.”
Williams added: “In addition to our own cultivation, New Life is dedicated to fostering opportunities for those in our community considering entering the cannabis industry, and we’ve worked with non-profits to help individuals establish equity requirements and build business plans. I always encourage these budding entrepreneurs to consider an indoor platform like the AEssenseGrows system.”
New Life is a vertically integrated, state-licensed cultivation, distribution and non-store front company based in Oakland, Calif.
The AEssenseGrows AEtrium system delivers cruise-control automation to simplify aeroponics and amplify its inherent benefits. The company's Guardian Grow Manager central management software monitors grow conditions 24/7 and, if needed, automatically adjusts key variables such as lighting, nutrients, and environment to maintain optimal conditions for the grow recipe.
“The AEtrium System can help cultivators achieve breakthrough aeroponic yields and lowest cost of production at the same time,” said Phil Gibson, AEssenseGrows vice president of Marketing. “Whether for large corporation’s or smaller, community-based growers like New Life, we are committed to helping our customers gain a competitive advantage through the integration of plant science and advanced technology.”
About AEssenseGrows
AEssenseGrows (pronounced "essence grows"), founded in 2014, is a precision AgTech company based in Sunnyvale, CA. AEssenseGrows provides accelerated plant growth SmartFarm platforms and software automation delivering pure, zero pesticide, year-round, enriched growth to fresh produce and medicinal plant producers globally. With AEssenseGrows, you can precisely control your production operations at your fingertips from anywhere in the world.
Seedo Issues Letter to Shareholders
Together, we are delivering the future of automated plant growing technologies, from seed to harvest, for both consumer and commercial use
TEL AVIV, Israel, July 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Seedo Corp. - "Seedo" (OTCQB: SEDO) - an agritech company providing the world's first fully automated and controlled indoor growing technologies for the "at-home" and commercial agriculture markets, today issued a letter to shareholders.
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
Zohar Levy, CEO & Chairman Seedo Corp.
Together, we are delivering the future of automated plant growing technologies, from seed to harvest, for both consumer and commercial use. By integrating artificial intelligence (AI), big data, robotics, and remote grow technologies, we are delivering on our vision and mission to improve agriculture for a growing world population. We thank our shareholders for being our partners in this mission.
Consumer side of the business:
We are continuing to deliver the Seedo fully automated home grow device to customers in North America and Europe. We are satisfied to share that consumer response has been overwhelmingly positive, with customers sharing their satisfaction on social media platforms, further driving consumer enthusiasm and demand. Seedo has also recently garnered highly favorable coverage in key media outlets including Forbes, Vice, Maxim, Herb, Green Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Bloomberg, and The Guardian.
In addition to selling the Seedo direct-to-consumer through our website, we are currently ramping up our marketing and distribution efforts in North America and Europe in order to further increase device sales. Specialty retailers are very interested in selling the Seedo both through their physical and online stores that serve the medical cannabis grow market. Additionally, we are progressing with a number of strategic big-box retailers in North America for more meaningful sales exposure.
We are currently evaluating the option to offer a leasing model for our future customers with a third-party who will provide a credit line. We believe that providing customers the choice to own or lease the product will significantly increase future sales. In order to meet higher sales volume, we have begun to ramp up monthly manufacturing of the device.
Commercial side of the business:
We have begun to manufacture our B2B Seedo Farm containers. We have developed two lines of containers, one specialized for medical cannabis and a new line uniquely designed for vegetables and herbs.
Seedo's technology enables licensed medical cannabis producers full control and automation of all plant growth parameters, thus allowing for more precise unified standardized yields suitable for the food, beverage and pharma industries. The containers provide a full turn-key solution and we are in the process of securing EU-GAP and EU-GMP certification to meet international standards. Seedo has already signed two agreements to establish medical cannabis farms at Kibbutz Dan and Moshav Brosh.
Seedo's new vegetable and herb commercial containers provides an incredible solution for industrial agriculture farmers in a variety of "at-risk" markets. Stackable containers afford dramatic savings in land-use, water consumption and human labor needs. Seedo Farm units can be installed anywhere, from rooftops in densely populated cities, to open space in deserts, growing a variety of organic vegetables and herbs, 24/7, independent of climate conditions. We were very pleased to qualify as a registered vendor for the United Nations Global Marketplace, and are working to establish a pilot program in countries suffering from extreme climates and pollution, thereby serving the growing global population with fresh produce all year round. Seedo's solution can be a market leader in vertical urban farming, enabling cost effective growth without harmful chemicals, with an extended shelf life, and with reduced logistics costs.
In our view, both the medical cannabis and the conventional agriculture sectors are primed for substantial transformations in the coming years due to a variety of environmental and logistical challenges worldwide. Because these two sectors are characterized by different commercial markets, as well as different investor profiles in the capital markets, Seedo is evaluating the opportunity to split its business into two separate units, one that exclusively serves the medical cannabis market, and another focused solely on vegetable and herb agriculture. We will keep our shareholders informed about these developments.
As the world becomes increasingly more challenging to feed, we are going to change the way people grow and consume fresh produce. We will keep you updated on our progress.
Yours Sincerely,
Zohar Levy
CEO & Chairman
Seedo Corp.
About Seedo
Seedo is a market leading high-tech company providing the medical cannabis and agriculture industries with the world's first fully automated and controlled indoor growing machine. Seedo provides growers with the freedom to cut costs while generating high yields of lab-grade, pesticide-free herbs and vegetables. Seedo's AI-powered, turnkey systems enable anyone from average consumers to large-scale producers the ability to grow without prior experience or ample space. Seedo is a publicly traded company backed by a group of international investors including Cannabics Pharmaceuticals and is headquartered in Israel. For more information, visit http://www.seedo.com
Disclaimer:
Certain statements contained in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to statements identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects" and similar expressions. The statements in this release are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences, including, but not limited to, results of clinical trials and/or other studies, the challenges inherent in new product development initiatives, the effect of any competitive products, our ability to license and protect our intellectual property, our ability to raise additional capital in the future that is necessary to maintain our business, changes in government policy and/or regulation, potential litigation by or against us, any governmental review of our products or practices, as well as other risks discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our latest Form 10-Q Report filed on May 15th, 2019. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement or any information contained in this press release or in other public disclosures at any time. Finally, the investing public is reminded that the only announcements or information about Seedo Corp. which are condoned by the Company must emanate from the Company itself and bear our name as its source.
Contacts:
Seedo Corp.
+972-77-6149333
info@seedolab.com
http://www.seedolab.com
Micro Lab Farms New California Cultivation Complex Approved by City of Needles
The unique facility features Gen3 GrowPods, designed to outperform other methods of cultivation, and provide rapid growth in a multi-billion dollar market
July 29, 2019
The unique facility features Gen3 GrowPods, designed to outperform other methods of cultivation, and provide rapid growth in a multi-billion dollar market
CORONA, Calif., July 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Micro Lab Farms, a premier provider of automated indoor micro-farms for rapid production of legal cannabis, announced that it has been granted a Conditional Use Permit for a two phase cultivation facility in the city of Needles, California.
The resolution was passed by the Needles City Council, and allows Micro Lab Farms to develop its California Cannabis Cultivation Complex, which will feature over 100 state-of-the-art GrowPods.
The pods, designed by GP Solutions GWPD, +0.00%, are automated, transportable, scalable micro farms that have been shown to grow cannabis at a faster rate than conventional means of agriculture.
GrowPods allow cultivation to take place year-round, and eliminate pathogens, contaminants, pesticides and chemicals, to produce clean and robust crops. The Pods also provide a sealed environment for excellent isolation of specific strains and clones.
The GrowPods will also utilize GP Solutions proprietary soil mixture, which contains no animal products. This is critical in the cannabis industry because many other soils and additives can contain harmful pathogens and bacteria that have the potential to contaminate crops and cause testing failures.
The California Cannabis Cultivation Complex also provides investment opportunities to experienced growers, entrepreneurs, and qualified individuals seeking to add the cannabis sector to their portfolios. This passive investment allows stakeholders to participate in the rapid growth of the cannabis sector, with mitigated risk.
The Conditional Use Permit allows Micro Lab Farms to develop over 35,000 square feet of cultivation space.
For more information on Micro Lab Farms, or for information on GrowPods, or for details on investing in the California Cannabis Cultivation Complex, contact Micro Lab Farms at: (951) 266-6096, or visit: www.microlabfarms.com
About Micro Lab Farms
Micro Lab Farms has made it possible to rapidly and affordably enter or expand in the legal cannabis industry with its "GrowPod" cultivation systems.
GrowPods are modular, indoor micro-farms that feature a controlled environment, state-of-the-art air and water filtration, proprietary pathogen-free living soils, and automation systems that far outperform other methods of cultivation, and produce clean, robust crops without pathogens, contaminants, pesticides or chemicals.
For information on Micro Lab Farms, call: (951) 266-6096, or visit: www.microlabfarms.com
Connect:
Website: www.microlabfarms.com
Facebook: facebook.com/MicroLabFarms
Twitter: @MicroLabFarms
View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/micro-lab-farms-new-california-cultivation-complex-approved-by-city-of-needles-300892124.html
SOURCE Micro Lab Farms
Copyright (C) 2019 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
US: OHIO: 80 Acres To Create 125 New Jobs As It Opens New Hamilton Headquarters
A $26.9 million investment from San Francisco private equity firm Virgo Investment Group will allow 80 Acres Farms to carry out planned phases for continued expansion of its operations in Hamilton and enable the company to create 125 new jobs in the city
July 29, 2019
Eric Schwartzberg, Staff Writer
Hamilton, Ohio
A $26.9 million investment from San Francisco private equity firm Virgo Investment Group will allow 80 Acres Farms to carry out planned phases for continued expansion of its operations in Hamilton and enable the company to create 125 new jobs in the city.
As a result of that investment and the commitment to create those new jobs, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority this morning approved a Job Creation Tax Credit for the project for 1.647 percent over eight years.
80 Acres Farms also has moved its corporate headquarters, as well as 15 employees, to newly renovated office space in downtown Hamilton, company officials said Monday. The company derives its name from its ability to grow 80 acres worth of food in a quarter of an acre space, all starting in its original location in Cincinnati.
MORE: A Hamilton facility will be the first of its kind in North America after new investment
80 Acres Farms is now producing tomatoes in downtown Hamilton. They purchased the former Miami Motor Car Co. building on S. 2nd Street in February 2017 and have renovated it to create an indoor farm facility. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF
Its vision is to establish year-round indoor farming operations in major cities around the world growing more nutritious produce, according to Mike Zelkind, 80 Acres Farms’ co-founder and CEO.
80 Acres Farms’ closed-loop, modular systems grow crops more sustainably, and their proximity to consumer locations dramatically decreases the distance produce must travel, thereby increasing shelf life and more importantly taste.
“Hamilton is a rising community looking for diversified growth and is strategically located near multiple large population centers,” Zelkind said. “Sustainability continues to be an essential part of our business, and Hamilton’s commitment to emissions-free, renewable energy through hydropower was also an important component in our decision to become an even bigger part of the Hamilton community.”
MORE: Hamilton’s large indoor growing operation is so advanced they want it around the world
Hamilton City Manager Joshua Smith said 80 Acres Farms’ decision to call Hamilton home is catalytic for three reasons.
“First, they will soon be one of our largest utility customers,” Smith said. “Second, their presence in Hamilton is attracting interest from other innovative companies. And third, their multiple locations throughout the city will have a positive impact on local businesses.”
The company was founded in 2015 by Zelkind and Tisha Livingston, two veteran food industry executives. It is supported by a board of directors representing executive and leadership experience at leading food, healthcare and other companies.
80 Acres Farms provides customers with a variety of locally grown, just-picked leafy greens, microgreens and vine crops, including the world’s only tomatoes and cucumbers grown completely indoors using proprietary technologies. That includes modular grow zones, customized LED lighting, precisely tuned climate controls and an artificial intelligence-powered growing system.
The company said that allows to produce flavorful and nutritious locally grown fruits and vegetables at affordable prices.
80 Acres Farms is now producing tomatoes in downtown Hamilton. They purchased the former Miami Motor Car Co. building on S. 2nd Street in February 2017 and have renovated it to create an indoor farm facility. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF
MORE: Dilapidated Hamilton building transforms into an industry-changing grow facility
80 Acres Farms launched renovations on the former Miami Motor Company building on South 2nd Street in early 2017, with plans to create 30,000 square feet of office and food production space downtown. The company is growing vine crops in that renovated location, where it started harvesting its first crops in April.
In September 2018, 80 Acres Farms broke ground on the first phase of its Hamilton Enterprise Park facility and in late March the first phase of the site started when the company started growing its first crop there.
It is set to become the country’s first fully automated indoor farm.
Most recently, the company moved its corporate headquarters, as well as 15 employees, to a newly renovated office space in downtown Hamilton. The company’s planned investment in Hamilton is expected to be more than $26.9 million.
MORE: Company with large Hamilton indoor growing operations joining international food effort
Future phases will add around 150,000 square feet of controlled environmental agriculture, or CEA, space. That space will allow 80 Acres to “dramatically increase” distribution with its growing list of retail and food service partners, which includes Whole Foods, Jungle Jim’s International Market, Dorothy Lane Market and Green Bean Delivery, Zelkind said.
GP Solutions Partners With Soilless Science to Create Premier Brand of “Living Soils”
Product line will heighten company’s brand in $262 billion organic food market
Corona, CA – March 19, 2019 – GP Solutions (OTC:GWPD), a leading developer of modular automated micro-farms, has partnered with Soilless Science to create a proprietary lineup of premium “living soils.”
These unique soil-less mediums contain no dirt and will be certified pathogen free. The mixtures will contain beneficial micro-organisms that form the foundation of highly active “living soils” that will produce abundant, healthy crops of all types.
Soil mixtures will be developed for a variety of crops - each with its own unique, beneficial composition.
The mixtures are vegan based, and use no animal products. Compare this to other products that use fish and animal waste products, which inherently contain harmful pathogens and bacteria, and can contaminate crops and potentially cause widespread illness.
As the public becomes more aware of the dangers of traditional farming and the potential harm from “dirty” soil, consumers will start demanding that their food is grown in controlled environments using healthy soil mediums.
GP Solutions will be providing this proprietary soil-less mixture to its customers of GrowPod automated farms, as well as to the general public within the near future.
GrowPod, by GP Solutions, is a unique, stackable, modular indoor micro-farm that grows clean produce in a controlled environment. By utilizing specialized air and water filtration, and its proprietary pathogen-free living soils, the GrowPod system can deliver some of the highest quality produce in the world.
“The traditional approach was to add chemicals, fertilizers, weed killers and other dangerous additives to soil and crops,” said George Natzic, President of GP Solutions. “Today, we know this can be very harmful to the public. That’s why I’m proud to be developing new living soils that are pathogen free and full of beneficial nutrients to produce high velocity, healthy crops of all kinds.”
For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call (855) 247-8054.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes statements considered “forward-looking” within securities laws. These statements represent Company’s current judgments, but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management’s opinions only as of today’s date. Company is not obligated to revise statements in light of new information.
Connect:
Email: info@growpodsolutions.com
Website: www.growpodsolutions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/GrowPodTechnology
Twitter: @GrowPodSolution
Vertical Farming Systems Raises $1M For Automated Agtech
April 30, 2019
Image via VFS
Australian agtech company Vertical Farming Systems (VFS) has raised $1 million for its automated indoor farming technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although company co-owner Ashley Thompson told StartupSmart the investment comes from someone with “significant experience in the agriculture industry.”
Based in Queensland, Australia, VFS says its system can take plants from seedling stage to fully grown in just 28 days. Thompson, along with co-owner John Leslie, run the farm out of a warehouse facility divided into three climate cells, or insulated environments where computers control the lighting, water, and humidity levels, to give plants optimal growing conditions. The system automatically plants the seeds in trays of clay pods, then loads those trays onto stackable racks equipped with LEDs, where the plants will grow. Currently, the facility houses about eight acres’ worth of crops.
You can watch a video of the system in action here.
VFS isn’t just growing greens, however. Running with the idea that vertical farming needs to be fully automated to offset labor costs, Thompson and Leslie spent nine years developing their patented XA Series warehouse system to sell to customers around the world. The system comes in 28 different configurations, which can be matched to a customer’s business needs and expanded if need be in the future.
They’re not alone in bringing indoor farming into the spotlight of the agtech space in Australia. A company called Modular Farms sells a variety of expandable container farms, though these require a little more hands-on work from humans than VFS’ system (think Freight Farms in the U.S.) Invertigro, meanwhile, sells a modular system the company says can grow everything from leafy greens to berries.
In addition to further developing the XA system, VFS is also using the new funds to develop other technologies, including an automated fodder machine, which can feed livestock for 14 days without human intervention, and a mealworm farm system.
DelFrescoPure Introduces The LivingCube
BY DELFRESCOPURE | APRIL 19, 2019
Our exciting partnership between DelFrescoPure and CubicFarms has resulted in the LivingCube -- a system of automated vertical farming growing machines that continuously produces living lettuce, living basil and microgreens all year long.
LivingCube - Vertical Growing System
LivingCube is powered by DelFrescoPure, which produces power by using an off-the-grid electrical cogeneration system. The growing chambers are all individually climate controlled to optimize the environment for each crop to create an independent growing facility.
"We wanted to offer our retail partners innovative and local commodities and the ideal solution was to partner with CubicFarms," stated Carl Mastronardi, President of DelFrescoPure.
The LivingCube living lettuce, living basil and microgreens are always fresh, nutritious and flavor-filled. LivingCube finally offers you the freshness you love without sacrificing nutrition and flavor!
Living Lettuce
Who says you need to compromise quality for flavor? Our LivingCube allows our living lettuce to be vertically grown without pesticides in multiple varieties. Available in a 3-count lettuce bag, our living lettuce is convenient and delicious; you can grow it in your fridge or on your counter. Lettuce grow for you!
Basil Microgreens
With 12x the nutrients of mature leaves, LivingCube microgreens are a small way you can add health benefits to food! We offer multiple varieties and customized packaging combinations. Our LivingCube machines are flexible -- allowing quick crop changes that adjust seasonally. It's convenience with flavor!
"Our LivingCube microgreens allow you to add flavor, quality and fresh health benefits to your food without having to put in hard work to get it," stated Fiona McLean, Marketing Manager of DelFrescoPure.
Our packaging is made from 100% post-consumer recycled PET and comes in 50g and 100g, making our microgreens versatile and easy to buy, store and use. No need to chop, just sprinkle!
Plant Factory With Artificial Lighting: Toyoki Kozai's Brilliant Research On An Interesting Practice
According to AgriGarden, 'Plant factory is a highly efficient agriculture system which uses high precision control facilities in the continuous production of crops."
1/9/2019 9:16:19 AM
(MENAFN - GetNews) Dr. Toyoki Kozai's research work is on ' Opportunities and Challenges for Plant Factory with Artificial Lighting (PFAL) (or vertical/indoor farming). Dr Kozai graduated from Chiba University, Japan in 1967. He obtained a Master's degree in 1969, and a PhD degree of Agricultural Engineering in 1972 from the University of Tokyo in 1972. He served as Dean of Faculty of Horticulture and Director of Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences of Chiba University. He was inaugurated as the President of the prestigious Chiba University in 2005. He resumed his career in research as a professor emeritus in an endowed chair position at the Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences during 2009-2012. He established Japan Plant Factory Association (non-profit organization) in 2010 together with his colleague, and served as the president until 2018, and is serving as the honorary president to date.
Furthermore, Kozai's academic excellence and his scientific interest can be gauged from the multiple books he has written, namely, 'Smart Plant Factory: The next generation indoor vertical farms (2018), 'LED Lighting for Urban Agriculture (2016), 'Plant Factory: An indoor vertical farm for efficient quality food production (2015), and 'Photoautotrophic (Sugar-free) Micropropagation as a New Micropropagation and Transplant Production System (2005).
His early work on greenhouse light environments, energy savings, ventilation, computer control, knowledge engineering, integrative environment control using a heat pump, fogging and null-balance CO2 enrichment systems, and closed systems with artificial lighting for transplant production in the fields of greenhouse horticulture earned him great recognition in his field.
Kozai has recently been working on 'plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL) and has been leading the R & D of PFAL. His continuous quest in this field allowed him to dive deeper into this subject. He has been invited as a keynote speaker on the PFAL to more than 20 international symposia during 2015-2018.
According to AgriGarden, 'Plant factory is a highly efficient agriculture system which uses high precision control facilities in the continuous production of crops."
According to Kozai, it is believed that PFAL is expected to contribute to solving the food-environment-resource-health issues concurrently. Kozai has further described the six major components of the PFAL viz., thermally well-insulated, almost closed structure, multi-tier unit with lighting and hydroponic cultivation devices, air conditioners and fans, CO2 supply unit, nutrient solution supply unit and environmental control unit. Furthermore, he has mentioned that relatively large automated PFALs have been built in Japan in the year 2018, and the number of profit-making PFALs has been increasing in Japan since 2016. Besides, there are ongoing large-scale projects in the world hence stressing the fact that this concept is gaining prominence not only in Japan but globally as well.
In addition to the above, Kozai's study throws light on the essential benefits of PFAL as well. First, that PFAL offers a high degree of freedom of environment control and that any environment can be created at minimal costs, thereby making it highly cost-effective. Second, all rates of resource supply, plant production and waste production can be measured and controlled. Then, Resource Use Efficiency (RUE) (amount ratio of resource fixed or kept in plants to the resource supplied to the PFAL) can be estimated online for each resource element including electricity, water, CO2, fertilizer and seeds. This shows the convenience and the hassle-free process.
Currently, compared to the greenhouse, the PFAL can save water consumption for irrigation per kg of produce by 95% by recycling use of transpired water vapor from plants (The transpired water vapor is condensed and collected at the cooling coil of air conditioners and returned to nutrient solution tank). The productivity of leafy lettuce per unit land area is more than 100 times higher in the PFAL than in the open field. Thanks to this high productivity per unit land area, the PFAL can be built in urban areas with non-fertile or contaminated soil, resulting in the reductions of CO2 footprint, loss of produce during transportation, and delivery time of fresh vegetables to citizens.
However amongst all the benefits, there is one issue which still remains unresolved i.e., a methodology to find an optimal set of environmental factors automatically to maximize the CP (or productivity) under given conditions is yet to be developed. To maximize the CP, unit economic value, plant growth rate, percent marketable portion, cost of each resource element, consumption and RUE of each resource element needs to be measured or estimated online, and be integrated to calculate the CP.
Kozai's excellent research suggests how the CP can be more than doubled and the impact and the expected increase this will have on the PFAL market. He has therefore proposed the reduction in cost per kg of produce, an increase in sales per m2 of cultivation space by introducing recent advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence. Currently, costs for electricity, labour and depreciation for the initial investment account for about 20%, 20% and 30%, respectively. The rest (about 20%) is for seeds, fertilizer, water, containers, maintenance, etc.
Further, Kozai has the discussed the idea of next-generation PFAL (n-PFAL) and the associated requirements, scheme for R & D, challenges and opportunities. According to him, n-PFAL needs to create unique environments for plant production to produce high-quality plants with high yields using minimum resources and minimum emission of waste by introducing advanced but inexpensive technologies. He has suggested different technologies, which can be of great use in the same. However, he has submitted some challenges and opportunities, for example, smart LED lighting, phenotyping (plant trait measurement), production management including seed processing and circadian rhythm, efficient use of resources with minimum waste, breeding using DNA markers of plants suited to PFALs, et cetera. He has defined plant phenotyping and has given a detailed account of its usage in n-PFAL. Plant traits include plant architecture, chemical components, physiological status and response, etc.
In the n-PFAL, a huge time-series dataset of plant phenotype (traits), environment and management (human and machine interventions including seed processing) is automatically accumulated in a data warehouse. The data warehouse is connected with a related genome database and other n-PFALs' data warehouse via Internet. This global and local network of n-PFALs each with semi-open database will bring about a paradigm shift of plant/food/agricultural production and breeding of plants suited to PFALs. For example, breeding of plants suited to PFALs can be speeded up using the n-PFAL. Kozai has further recommended four types of models to be implemented in the PFAL: 1) mechanistic models for photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration and growth, and for substance, energy and monetary balance, 2) multi-variate statistic models, 3) behaviour (or surrogate) models, and 4) AI (or deep learning) models.
Kozai's study has won great acclaim amongst the researchers and his brilliant research on PFAL, an upcoming innovation will be of great use not only nationally but internationally as well.
GrowPod Provides Solutions to Help Feed Earth's Growing Population
Modular micro-farms provide additional food production to meet global needs, and bring healthy produce to underserved areas.
NEWS PROVIDED BY Grow Pod Solutions
Feb 20, 2019
CORONA, Calif., Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GP Solutions (OTC: GWPD), a leading developer of automated micro-farms, announced its new systems can help meet the food production needs for the future.
Earth's population is 7.68 billion, and is expected to grow to over 9 billion within 30 years.
According to a report from the University of Minnesota, "To feed those who are currently hungry—and the additional 2 billion-plus people who will live on the planet by 2050—our best projections are that crop production will need to increase between 60 and 100 percent."
However, with scarcity of land and resources, this poses immense challenges.
"Further expansion of agriculture is a poor solution to meeting future needs because we're using nearly all of the land that's suitable for agriculture already," the report emphasized. "Relying on increased production will be an important solution, but not a sufficient one."
Additionally, food isn't being grown near where it is needed. According to the United Nations, 815 million people in the world are under-nourished.
GrowPod is part of the solution.
GrowPods are modular, scalable, transportable, indoor "micro-farms" that grow high quality, pathogen-free foods using a fraction of resources required for conventional farming.
The system utilizes both hydroponics and soil-based platforms along with proprietary air and water filtration, to create the perfect environment for growing food virtually anywhere, in any season or climate.
GrowPods can be installed in just hours, so as demand rises or shifts, it is easy to put additional pods into service.
For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call (855) 247-8054.
ABOUT GP SOLUTIONS:
GP Solutions designs "GrowPods" – innovative indoor micro farms that provide optimum conditions for plant cultivation with total environmental control.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes predictions or information that might be considered "forward-looking" within securities laws. These statements represent Company's current judgments, but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date of this release. The Company is not obligated to revise any statements in light of new information or events.
Connect:
Email: info@growpodsolutions.com
Website: www.growpodsolutions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/GrowPodTechnology
Twitter: @GrowPodSolution
Hamilton Ohio Facility To Be First of Its Kind In North America
By Eric Schwartzberg - Dayton Daily News (TNS)
HAMILTON — A private investment will enable an indoor farming company to complete its previously announced Hamilton facility, which it says will be the first fully automated indoor farm in North America.
The company 80 Acres Farms received “significant investment” from San Francisco-based private equity firm Virgo Investment Group, which invests in companies transforming and disrupting high-potential industries.
Terms of the financing were not disclosed.
Founded in Cincinnati in 2015 by veteran food industry executives Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston, 80 Acres Farms is supported by a board of directors representing executive and leadership experience at leading food, healthcare, and other companies.
80 Acres Farms provides customers with a variety of locally grown, just-picked leafy greens, microgreens and vine crops, including the world’s only tomatoes and cucumbers grown completely indoors using solely LED lighting.
The company has developed its own artificial intelligence-powered growing system, sophisticated data monitoring, and automation technologies to deliver high quality and nutritious products at an affordable price.
By locating its indoor farms close to customers, 80 Acres Farms is able to eliminate the costs, time and environmental impact of cross-country transportation, providing customers with a fresher, longer lasting product while drastically reducing food waste, company officials said.
80 Acres distributes to major national grocers, local retailers, restaurants, and food service companies from its facilities in Ohio, Arkansas, North Carolina and Alabama.
“Virgo Investment Group joins our existing notable and experienced food industry investors in supporting the Company to rapidly commercialize the indoor vertical farming technology we have developed over the past three years,” said Mike Zelkind, co-founder and chief executive officer of 80 Acres Farms. “We are optimizing every aspect of our production processes and driving down costs, which is crucial to scaling an indoor farming business like ours.”
The first phase of the Hamilton project under construction at 7512 Hamilton Enterprise Drive is expected to be operational early this year. It will be automated from seeding to growing to harvesting to produce specialty greens, including leafy greens, culinary herbs and kale.
The Hamilton facility will feature handling robotics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and around-the-clock monitoring sensors and control systems to optimize every aspect of growing produce indoors.
It will allow 80 Acres Farms to start to service what it said is a “substantial and growing demand” for fresh, locally grown produce year-round from both retailers and restaurants.
“Over the past three years we have provided our customers with fresh, flavorful and nutritious produce grown locally in our facilities with no pesticides and highly efficient usage of water and nutrients,” Zelkind said. “We are rapidly increasing yields for our produce, while advancing each generation of our grow zone designs to lower capital costs, production costs and reduce the use of natural resources.
80 Acres Farms’ Cincinnati location sells to Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield and Eastgate, Dorothy Lane Market’s three Dayton area locations, Clifton Market in Cincinnati and Whole Foods Market locations in Cincinnati, Deerfield Twp. and Dayton. It also distributes to several local restaurants.
The company plans three additional phases at the Hamilton site. When completed, the project will comprise over 150,000 square feet of fully-automated indoor farming. The full-phase expansion will allow 80 Acres Farms to provide more product to serve its existing customers and new ones with just-picked, year-round produce.
Produce grown at the Hamilton site will supply Whole Foods Markets, Dorothy Lane Markets, Jungle Jim’s, U.S. Foods, and other retailers and food service distributors.
Zelkind said 80 Acres Farms’ facilities represent “the realization of the next generation of farming.”
“Our vision is to prove that indoor farming can be fully-automated, commercially scalable, higher-yielding, and profitable,” he said.
Eli Aheto, partner of Virgo Investment Group, said the firm is excited to partner with 80 acres to bring freshly picked produce to local markets year round.
“80 Acres Farms has created a unique and automated growing process and has built great relationships with its retail customers,” Aheto said. “We want to help accelerate the company’s growth in this multi-billion-dollar market.
The 80 Acres investment is an expression of Virgo’s long standing focus on investing in energy efficiency opportunities driven by reduced equipment costs, he said. Virgo has completed investments in utility-scale wind, community solar, electric vehicle charging and now an LED lighting driven business
Future Farming Hub Is Creating A One-Stop-Shop Vertical Farming System For ‘Anyone’
January 15, 2019
The Vertical Farming Development Centre at Stockbridge Technology Centre (a Liberty Produce consortium member)
For a company less than one year old, Liberty Produce has already taken some big strides along its path to make vertical farming a more scalable, economically feasible reality. Specifically, the UK-based agtech company hopes to not just grow food, but also create an end-to-end, automated vertical farm system that, according to founder Zeina Chapman, “anybody” could use.
On vertical farming in the UK, Chapman notes there are “really great things happening . . . but they’re all siloed.” In other words, LED companies aren’t talking to those who make HVAC systems, and thus the development of these products happens independent of one another. As technologies by themselves, they work, but when put together in one environment, are they creating the most energy- and resource-efficient way to grow the best crop yield?
It’s a question Liberty will address with its new project, the Future Farming Hub. For the £1.3 million (~$1,652,000 USD) project, Liberty will lead a consortium of 11 different partners, each focusing on a different capability of the vertical farm. Chapman wouldn’t name specific names over the phone, but she did note there were partners in Taiwan, where vertical farming is a huge industry, a major LED company, as well as companies working on sensors, nutrient delivery (for the plants), and the growbeds themselves. For the latter, a partner will redesign growbeds to reduce the amount of bacterial growth that can sometimes hinder plant growth or damage plants. Sensor technology, meanwhile, would immediately tip the grower off to there being a bacterial problem in the growbed.
Underscore that word “immediately,” as that’s the other point Liberty and the Future Farming Hub are pushing. The project will also focus on a developing a system that gives growers real-time data about the farming operation
All of this rolls up under one goal focused on, according to a press release, reducing operational costs of vertical farms by 25 percent, increasing crop yield by 30 percent, and cutting down the amount of decisions growers themselves have to make when it comes to caring for plants.
“There’s lots we don’t know about growing plants in this artificial environment and we’re not giving them optimal conditions,” says Chapman. She cites lighting as one example: “With lighting, there isn’t an option to control it in a way that maximizes plant growth. So we might be putting plants under stress.”
Chapman also wants to make it easier for virtually anybody to operate a vertical farm. When I asked if that includes an open-source framework for growing, as others have suggested, she noted this project goes a step beyond open source. “If you decide you’re going to grow basil, you just press the button and the system will take care of that,” she said. In theory, at least, Liberty will have already developed the formula for growing optimal basil and programmed it into the system, effectively taking the guesswork out of growing.
Automated vertical farming is slowly gaining momentum around the globe, and other proprietary farm systems abound. Stateside, AeroFarms’ patented system can create light “recipes” to give each plant the exact spectrum and intensity it needs to grow. Bowery, too, uses a mix of hardware, analytics, and proprietary software to produce greens year-round. They also just got a $90 million shot of fresh investment. Over on the West Coast, Plenty more than doubled that figure last year, when Softbank invested $200 million in the company’s system.
But no one’s yet come out with a one-stop-shop system that you need neither an agricultural or engineering background to operate and which relies on real-time data to do the heavy lifting.
The project doesn’t kick off until April of 2019, which makes all of this somewhat abstract at the moment. But Chapman’s optimistic. “One of the greatest things we want to achieve is to pull together a system that’s fully integrated and get all these systems to talk to each other,” she says. “We hope it can reduce the costs, which is a huge barrier to entry and also increase yield. As we increase yield, more and more products become viable.”
Chapman and Liberty aim to have a full product ready for market at the end of the 27-month project, and along with it, a more accessible, scalable approach to vertical farming.
Whole Foods Supplier Embraces Robotic Farming
By PYMNTS
2018
To supply retailers such as Whole Foods and U.S. Foods with greens, 80 Acres Farms is constructing a “fully automated indoor farm.” The project’s reported cost is in the range of $10 million to $15 million, CNBC reported.
“With the … facility, we will achieve the next-generation of indoor vertical farming,” 80 Acres Farms’ CEO and co-founder, Mike Zelkind said. “This project will deliver our proof of concept that indoor farming can be fully automated, commercially scalable, higher-yielding, and profitable.”
The first phase of construction will bring grow centers that can make products such as kale, culinary herbs and microgreens. Then, three more phases could follow. In all, the facility could grow to over 150,000 square feet — or roughly 3.5 acres.
Another vertical farming company, Smallhold, works sort of like a nursery to expedite the growing process. The company grows the produce — mushrooms, at the moment — three-quarters of the way. Then it delivers the almost-grown produce to their customers, who finish growing the fungi in their vertical growing units. The company also helps customers create the right growing conditions with WiFi enabled units that allow Smallhold to monitor and control them remotely. As a result, customers simply have to pick and serve the produce.
Smallhold’s farms also reduce the environmental impact of growing produce. Their farming units reportedly create 40 times the output per square foot compared to a traditional farm, and use 96 percent less water, according to the company.
Smallhold is not the only urban farming concept in the U.S. Boston-based agricultural tech company Freight Farms grows produce inside of shipping containers. One freight farm can grow approximately two acres worth of produce, according to the company, and that can either be sold direct to consumers (D2C) or through partnerships with local distributors, restaurants and grocery stores.
Nation’s First Fully Automated Vertical Farm Breaks Ground In Ohio
Posted by Laura Drotleff| September 25, 2018
Cincinnati-based 80 Acres Farms announced that it plans to build a large, fully automated indoor farm in Hamilton, OH, which will produce specialty greens to supply local independent retailers including Jungle Jim’s International Market and Dorothy Lane Markets, and national chain locations for Whole Foods and U.S. Foods.
The facility would be the first of its kind in the nation, according to 80 Acres. A groundbreaking was held for one of two facilities on Monday, Sept. 24. An MSNBC article stated the project would cost between $10 million and $15 million initially, and create 40 jobs would be created, which would average in the $40,000 to $50,000 range including benefits. The city discounted land in Hamilton Enterprise park for the project and is providing an Enterprise Zone property tax abatement of 75% for 10 years, MSNBC reported.
80 Acres Farms personnel will manage the facilities, which will feature robotics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and around-the-clock monitoring sensors and control systems to optimize every aspect of growing produce indoors. The Cincinnati firm will work with its current technology partners, Signify, an LED horticultural lighting company, and Priva, which provides environmental controls and process management software, according to Tisha Livingston, President and Co-founder of 80 Acres.
The initial phase, which is to be completed later this year, will feature grow centers to produce microgreens, culinary herbs, leafy greens, and kale. Three additional phases are planned. When completed, the indoor farm is to encompass more than 150,000 square feet, which equates to nearly 3.5 acres.
The full-phase expansion of controlled environmental agriculture will enable 80 Acres Farms to provide more product to serve existing customers and new ones with fresh-picked, year-round produce. 80 Acres Farms now serves Cincinnati-area customers from its facility in Spring Grove, where it grows microgreens, culinary herbs, leafy lettuce, kale, and vine crops such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.
“We already have demonstrated that we can provide to our customers the freshest, best-tasting and nutritious locally grown produce, while using renewable energy, very little water, and no pesticides,” said Mike Zelkind, CEO and co-founder of 80 Acres Farms in a September 21 release. “With the Hamilton facility, we will achieve the next-generation of indoor vertical farming. This project will deliver our proof of concept that indoor farming can be fully automated, commercially scalable, higher-yielding, and profitable. It will serve as a prototype for our ambitious plans to co-locate similar facilities with commercial customers in other parts of the country.”
Zelkind said 80 Acres Farms will work with partners such as JDL Warm Construction and Open Architecture Inc., both of downtown Cincinnati. Site Solutions Consulting of Loveland will do excavation site preparation work.
80 Acres Farms is headquartered in the Spring Grove community of Cincinnati, where the company was founded in 2015 by Zelkind and Livingston, both veteran food industry executives. It now employs more than 60 people in Cincinnati and other company research and development, engineering, and production facilities in three other states. In its mission to locally grow the best tasting, most nutritious fruits and vegetables, the company partners in research with many agrotechnology and academic research institutions.