Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
What Is Driving The UK’s CEA boom?
The main findings of the panel were that the UK has been lucky with its well-established greenhouse industry which offers a great foundation for vertical farmers to understand the CEA space
“In the UK, fruits and vegetables are quite cheap in comparison to other European countries and other parts of the world. In the UK, the market has been squeezed by supermarkets that squeeze out the margins of the supply chain,” said Andrew Lloud, COO at Intelligent Growth Solutions, during a panel at the Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit.
During the session, three UK-supplier panelists elaborated on the topic. Joining were, Andrew Lloud, COO at IGS, Ben Crowther, Co-founder and CTO at LettUs Grow, Jen Bromley, Head of Plant R&D at Vertical Future, and Oscar Brennecke with Rethink Events who led the conversation.
The main findings of the panel were that the UK has been lucky with its well-established greenhouse industry which offers a great foundation for vertical farmers to understand the CEA space.
However, at the same time, it's quite costly to produce indoors given the high electricity and transport costs. This might change over time, due to several renewable energies coming into the market that will allow for cheaper production. Later on, the panelists will elaborate on the differences between the US and Europe, being monocropping whereas EU farmers grow more different varieties at the same time.
What makes the UK CEA space unique?
Andrew noted that UK consumers are willing to pay a certain price for fruits and vegetables. However, indoor ag bring along high electricity costs, whereas UK transport costs are high as well. Next to that, the economic and political dynamic being post-Brexit and currently battling the pandemic has highlighted its challenges. “Technology can economically viable grow a wide variety of crops, forming part of the food mix in the UK and in other parts of the world.”
73% of the surface area available for farming, said Ben Crowther, Co-Founder and CTO at LettUs Grow, a UK-vertical farming supplier, however, the UK still imports half of the produce.” He claimed that there’s an opportunity to make things more sustainable and efficient. Jen Bromley, Head of Plant R&D at Vertical Future, said that it’s not always about growing at a large scale, but that it differs per crop. “It’s always about pushing boundaries to see where the economics can work for the crop.”
Opportunities
More renewables and power generation are coming in, so there’s the opportunity to drop in things like vertical farms according to Andrew. “The real trick is to see if you can get a tariff from the energy provider so that the price per kw/h consumed is optimized to grow plants in the cheapest way.
Jen added that there are some obvious low-hanging fruits that can be taken within the market. Such as leafy greens, herbs, and fruits, given they work really well with the infrastructure. “However, there are also markets we can go deeper into, such as proteins, high-care products that can all be managed very well in the vertical farming space.”
Andrew added that a wide variety of crops will eventually be important, depending on your location. The difference in the US is that it’s a lot about monocropping, but they don’t tend to have the same diversity as seen in the UK or other European countries. I’ve seen it here, but I expect it to come to America as well.”
UK greenhouse- vs vertical farming market
Ben notes that “because of the well-established UK greenhouse industry, we can better understand the vertical farming market.” Berries are a great example, in the UK there has been a 10% market growth. It drives how people are looking for rootstock in these markets, specifically in greenhouses. As well as looking into year-round growing to complement their off-season. The idea translates into more traditional farmers, looking for a more consistent, lower-risk way to make their business more resilient.
Jen said that a traditional farm is a long-term play as they’re handed down by generations. In a vertical farming system, it’s an infrastructure that has to last. Whereas, Andrew claimed that the seasonal variation will be smoothed out by multi-tenant farmers using the same facility for different crops for different points in the year.
Consumer perception
“On the whole, there’s a growing understanding I think,” says Ben. He explains that there are some products available at various retailers already. Jen noted that branding is far more developed in the US, given the produce brands they have. Whereas Andrew affirmed that the elephant in the room in the UK and Europe is the use of the word organic. In the US, vertically farmed produce can be labeled as organic, however, in Europe, we’re still looking at what post-organic looks like. It’s confusing for the consumers, however, we’re at the beginning of educating people, starting with kids.
Other topics discussed were subsidies and barriers in vertical farming in the UK.
For more information:
Intelligent Growth Solutions
www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com
For more information:
Vertical Future
info@verticalfuture.co.uk
www.verticalfuture.co.uk
For more information:
LettUs Grow
info@lettusgrow.com
lettusgrow.com
For more information:
Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit
www.indooragtechnyc.com
29 Jun 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© HortiDaily.com
USDA Funds Composition of New CEA Market Characterization Report
. “This is the first such supply chain assessment in CEA. We appreciate these leaders for stepping forward to support this important effort.”
Resource Innovation Institute (RII) has assembled a senior level of its Technical Advisory Council to support its USDA-funded project titled Data-driven Market Transformation for Efficient, Sustainable Controlled Environment Agriculture. The new Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Leadership Committee, composed of a range of subject matter experts in CEA, will advise the development of a Market Characterization Report that will analyze the emerging “controlled environment” horticultural supply chain to determine opportunities to increase energy and water efficiency in cultivation.
“Market characterization is a critical first step in a coordinated effort to transform an economic sector toward efficient production,” said Derek Smith, Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute. “This is the first such supply chain assessment in CEA. We appreciate these leaders for stepping forward to support this important effort.”
The Market Characterization Report represents the first publication that RII will deliver as part of its work on a three-year USDA Conservation Innovation Grant designed to advance resource efficiency in CEA, a diverse, expanding market that includes greenhouses and vertical farms growing a range of crops, from microgreens to tomatoes to berries. RII is partnering with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) to deploy the grant.
The CEA Leadership Committee is providing input on key market characterization issues such as supply chain: describing key market actors, barriers to energy efficiency and the best leverage points for market interventions; energy use: describing the energy used by producers (including on-site renewable energy, microgrids, and back-up generation); advantages of efficiency; describing the energy and non-energy benefits realized through implementation of efficiency projects; and baseline identification: describing key market baselines to be used in evaluating the impact of the market transformation initiative over time.
The organizations represented on RII’s CEA Leadership Committee include:
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
CEA Consultancy
Ceres Greenhouses
Energy Solutions
Fifth Season
Fluence by OSRAM
Grodan
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
Oregon Association of Nurseries
Priva
Resource Innovations
Schneider Electric
Signify
UVM Extension Services
Zartarian Engineering
For a complete roster, see www.ResourceInnovation.org/TAC.
For more information:
Resource Innovation Center
www.resourceinnovation.org
7 June 2021
Polygreens Podcast Episode 28 Jake Emling
Beginning in July 2018 he joined CropKing, Inc. based out of Lodi, Ohio. His experience with hydroponics, aquaculture, and aquaponics was instrumental to his desire to start Root 42 Harvests with his wife Katie
Jake attended Michigan State University where he earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in horticulture. He has nine years of experience across a variety of specialties including agriculture, agronomy, entomology, and viticulture.
During his early career in Michigan, he worked for Michigan State University, AgroLiquid, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Beginning in July 2018 he joined CropKing, Inc. based out of Lodi, Ohio. His experience with hydroponics, aquaculture, and aquaponics was instrumental to his desire to start Root 42 Harvests with his wife Katie.
Latest Episode
Widespread Investment In CEA Is An Important Piece of The Food Security Puzzle
It has become increasingly clear that traditional agriculture is simply not meeting the food demands of the future
Sky Kurtz, CEO, and Co-Founder, Pure Harvest Smart Farms
There is a commonly quoted statistic estimating that by 2050, we will have nearly 10 billion people on the planet and, in turn, 10 billion hungry mouths to feed. Aside from population factors, the world’s climate is changing in ways human beings have never seen before. Across the globe, our water sources are being diminished and arable landmasses are shrinking. Food security and sustainability is becoming an ever-more pressing issue. There are a number of pioneering companies worldwide working hard to address these critical issues.
The Problem with Traditional Agriculture
It has become increasingly clear that traditional agriculture is simply not meeting the food demands of the future. Food production is heavily driven by significant freshwater consumption and can be both labour intensive and inefficient. Alongside this, changes in climate are negatively impacting yields. This is being witnessed across the board by the food production industry, investors, and governments alike.
The Power of the Consumer
Increased awareness of these issues has led to changes in consumer demands. Consumers have become more discerning about the quality of the products they buy, specifically when it comes to pesticide use, sustainability, freshness, food safety, variety, and brands. They are ever more interested in having knowledge of and creating a relationship with the foods they consume. This is evidenced by the huge organic growth rates of organics over the past 10 years. People care about quality and are voting strongly with their wallets.
Cultural and socio-economic demographics heavily influence what can and should be grown. Some crops such as premium quality leafy greens tend to target more affluent demographics and palates, whereas tomatoes, cucumbers, and a number of other greenhouse vegetables are staples of many diets and can be produced affordably in most places in the world.
The Promise of Controlled-Environment Agriculture
Controlled-Environment Agriculture (CEA) facilitates the growth of sustainable, high-quality produce but not at the expense of the consumer. CEA allows for consistent, high quality production by eliminating the environmental impacts on food production, allowing for more localized production, and reducing, or even eliminating, the use of pesticides.
Reducing Risk
Since early 2020, COVID-19 has woken the world to the risks and fragility of global fresh fruit and vegetable supply chains. Given perishability, the fruit & vegetable market is uniquely vulnerable vs. other crops e.g. the likes of corn, wheat, rice which can be stored & siloed. Controlled-environment agriculture is a solution that addresses these issues facilitating more localized production and supply, offering high output, resource-efficient production capabilities, while meeting the consumer’s changing demands.
In March, the world’s gaze turned to the Suez Canal where a container ship, the Ever Given, became lodged, blocking the canal. On a daily basis, the Suez Canal carries 12% of global trade, around one million barrels of oil and roughly 8% of liquefied natural gas. The cost of the blockage was reportedly $14m-$15m every day!
The Local Promise
The local unique selling point (USP) is now possible pretty much anywhere. Solutions like ours at Pure Harvest Smart Farms have made it possible to affordably produce year-round, even in the harshest climates in the world for example, the UAE, Kuwait, and Malaysia serving Singapore.
Large-scale solutions are necessary for the food to be economic, due to economies of scale in what is ultimately a manufacturing process. Large-scale greenhouses are particularly suitable for dense urban populations, as just 1 or 2 large production sites within 100 – 500 kilometers of the city or town can serve a large group of people affordably.
Unfortunately for more distributed, rural populations, this becomes more challenging. If you scale-down the solutions to hyper-localize, you often lose efficiency (in terms of both capital expenditure/ m2 and operational expenditure/ m2 for production. With more of the world’s population urbanizing, this is another trend that supports widespread investment in CEA as an important piece of the puzzle to serve future food demands.
The Future
The challenge of feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 MUST be solved on both the supply side and demand side. From the supply side, adopting technologies that augment output and resource-efficient growing methods. From the demand side, via changing what we consume, reducing waste, and environmental consciousness. Addressing these issues means we can produce more food with less and less resources.
High-tech agriculture presents a multi-decade investment opportunity to contribute to food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and a more sustainable future for all.
Join Sky at the virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit on June 24 and tune into his live panel discussion on ‘Scaling at Speed: Delivering the Promises of a Mission-Led Industry’ at 16.50 EST.
For more information about Pure Harvest Smart Farms, follow them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Recent Posts
Indoor AgTech Investment Landscape
Widespread Investment in CEA is an Important Piece of the Food Security Puzzle
Workshop: Food for the Next Frontier
Connecting Retailers, Buyers, and Growers Across Indoor Farming
IGS enters UAE market, signing deal with Madar Farms to enhance food security in the GCC region
Archive
Twitter: @IndoorAgTech
LinkedIn: Indoor AgTech
Hashtag: #IndoorAgTech
10 New Trends In CEA In 2021 And Beyond
The world of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is continuing to develop at an accelerated rate. In line with Agritecture’s mission “to accelerate climate-smart agriculture strategies,” we’ve decided to share our top predictions for the future of CEA for 2021 and beyond
22-04-2021 | Agritecture
The world of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is continuing to develop at an accelerated rate. In line with Agritecture’s mission “to accelerate climate-smart agriculture strategies,” we’ve decided to share our top predictions for the future of CEA for 2021 and beyond.
This post is a follow-up to Agritecture’s post on the “10 New Trends In Hydroponics: What To Expect In 2017 And Beyond”.
Here are our top 10 predictions:
#1: Strawberries
In a sea of vertical farmers producing leafy greens, we’ve noticed sights shifting to strawberry production. While strawberries were initially difficult to produce given on-the-ground concerns like pests, fungal diseases, and weeding, growing vertically has allowed for easier harvesting and limited damage to the fruit. According to Agritecture’s Founder & CEO, Henry Gordon-Smith, “Strawberries are the hot new product for indoor growers because they can charge a lot for the best ones, they’re desired year-round, and the freshness and flavor are very noticeable,” being made more achievable by vertical farming.
Image sourced from Oishii
As of late last year, Driscoll’s and Plenty announced a partnership to grow strawberries indoors. We’re seeing increasing interest in high-quality strawberries with Oishii Berry’s $50m Series A fundraising for bee-assisted, carbon-neutral strawberry cultivation. In response to this growing interest, Agritecture’s Director of Operations, Yara Nagi, comments that “there is an interesting opportunity for growing strawberries hydroponically, especially for countries that import a majority of their strawberries. In order for strawberries to be exported to another country, they typically have to be harvested early. So, being able to grow them locally and in a controlled environment translates to better quality strawberries with a longer shelf-life. Other than the fact that growing strawberries hydroponically has become more and more efficient, the price point for strawberries can be relatively high when compared to other products grown in an indoor environment.”
#2: Breeding Seeds For Vertical Farms
As of recently, we’ve noticed a growing interest in breeding seeds for vertical farms. In February 2021, Kalera acquired Vindara Inc., a company developing non-GMO seeds for vertical indoor farms. Kasveista’s story of producing high-quality seeds and seedlings of open-source varieties for vertical farming similarly showcases this change in the industry.
Agritecture’s Lead Agronomist, David Ceaser, comments that “to date, crops grown in vertical farms have been grown using plant genetics developed for outdoor or greenhouse production. Environmental conditions in vertical farms are quite different from those environments, and so, plants respond differently. As genetics for vertical farms are developed, yields of current crops will improve greatly, and new crops will be successfully introduced into the vertical farm platform.”
#3: Fully Automated Vertical Farms
If you know anything about vertical farming, you know that labor is expensive and that this form of intensive agriculture requires highly skilled labor. According to Gordon-Smith, “new fully automated vertical farms are emerging” to respond to this labor challenge. He questions whether they will actually work, given that costs are high and the technology is new. Does this development in vertical farming mean fewer jobs or a more skilled workforce? Fully automated vertical farms are inevitable but will they pay off?
In September 2020, Agritecture’s new equipment partner, Urban Crop Solutions, launched their Module-X Automated Vertical Farm.
#4: Floating Farms
It’s always a struggle to find open space for agriculture in built-up urban areas. In recent years, we’ve seen abandoned and unused spaces converted into urban farms. So, why not take farming to the waters too? While it may not seem like the most sensible place to run a farm, it severely reduces food miles and pollution caused by the transportation of food.
Image sourced from Oceanix
Aqua Ark is a company that has taken to the waters to create Amphibious Homes that integrate floating wetlands for food production. Oceanix is a similar company that creates modular and self-sustaining communities on the water for people who want to live sustainably across the nexus of energy, water, food, and waste. The Floating Farm in Rotterdam is a project designed “for a future where rising sea levels mean that farmland is increasingly out of action due to flooding”.
To learn more, check out Agritecture Studios, where ‘floating cities’ is a challenging area within our inaugural cohort of architects.
#5: New Financing Options For CEA Startups
Financing for CEA operations is incredibly challenging. These capital-intensive projects require a robust business plan, strong management team, and access to capital to ensure on-time delivery of construction. Within the last year, we’ve seen SPACs be the latest means for private companies to raise capital. For startups, SPACs aren’t exactly the best route. “A new wave of investment and crowdfunding platforms are providing startups with alternative access to capital,” says Agritecture’s Director of Business Development, Jeffrey Landau.
Through Agritecture Designer, we have a partnership with several of these financing vehicles whereby our software users can access unique discounts and other benefits with these platforms.
#6: Labor Bottlenecks
According to Agritecture’s Director of Business Development, Jeffrey Landau, “the number of greenhouses and vertical farms is growing rapidly. Yet, the number of trained professionals with CEA operating experience is not keeping up with this increasing demand. Agritecture has been working with Cornell University through a National Science Foundation and Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant to study solutions to this challenge.”
In production systems, workloads often arrive too quickly for the production process and labor to manage. Although seemingly a small problem, the inefficiencies brought about can create delays and result in higher production costs. As a result, we need a highly trained workforce and more workforce development programs for CEA growers.
#7: Singapore, The New Hub For Urban Agriculture
As a country that imports over 90% of its fresh produce and has severe land scarcity limiting its agricultural options, Singapore was in serious need of CEA. This changed when the Government launched the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint. The objective is to develop 200ha of high-rise greenery by 2050, incentivize developers to include urban farms in their developments, integrate farming in mixed-use districts, and encourage the adoption of technologically advanced infrastructure and smart systems. Today, they have the best funding and planning in the sector.
Image sourced from Citiponics
Citiponics is one of Singapore’s first hydroponic rooftop farms, located on top of a carpark, a structure that services almost every neighborhood in Singapore. Sustenir Agriculture is another company farming in Singapore, creating indoor vertical farms that can retrofit into existing buildings. Natsuki’s Garden is another example of successful CEA operations in Singapore. It’s a greenhouse in the center of the city, occupying reused space in a former schoolyard.
Learn more about Singapore’s efforts here. Additionally, Agritecture recently wrote about several other cities that are paving the way for urban agriculture to thrive here.
#8: Architecture
The global pandemic continues to reshape our relationship with food. Challenged by a lack of food access and the declining retail real estate market, individuals have taken a new interest in growing their own food, in the comfort of their own homes. This interest in bringing food production closer to people’s homes is empowering architects to transcend the boundaries of traditional food production to integrate urban agriculture and AgTech into cities. This innovative step will help solve food supply and food access quandaries globally.
Agritecture Studios is working to empower architects to continue on this mission and be key stakeholders in shaping our food-secure futures.
#9: “Alternative Products” x CEA
Image sourced from Smallhold
CEA has a rap for only growing leafy greens. However, several commercial growers have scaled up recently to produce a variety of other specialty crops, including Smallhold (mushrooms), We Are The New Farmers (spirulina), Ynsect (insects), and Pure Salmon (aquaculture).
AgFunderNews groups all of these producers under the category of “novel farming” in their annual funding reports. Per their most recent report, novel farming startups raised more than $1.3B in private investment in 2020, a 16x increase from 2015.
#10: Rise Of Energy Producing Commercial Greenhouses
The high energy use in controlled environment agricultural operations has been a cause for concern from the beginning. Commercial greenhouses, in particular, are reshaping how we think of energy by producing it themselves. ClearVue Technologies installed their energy-generating photovoltaic glazing panels on the world-first clear solar glass greenhouse. TSO Greenhouses is another AgriTech company with the primary objective of maximizing greenhouse light management. There is a lot more research happening here at the university level to investigate some of the tradeoffs between upfront cost, maintenance, energy production, and crop yields. Wide-spread commercial adoption will be multiple years away - but is it 3 years or 10+ years?
There’s no doubt that there’s more to come for the CEA industry. Here at Agritecture, we are constantly combing through the latest research papers, new technology releases, and industry trends to ensure that our clients and software users are able to get creative, build a competitive advantage, but still have realistic goals. Build your first urban farm model today, or get in touch with us to see how we help organizations around the world plan smarter through custom services.
Source and Photo Courtesy of Agritecture
Explore The Sixth Edition of Clima, Powered by IGS
In this edition, we look at why precision farming and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) techniques are becoming more mainstream, and the skills and talent required to make this approach a success
In this edition, we look at why precision farming and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) techniques are becoming more mainstream, and the skills and talent required to make this approach a success. Technology is having a greater impact on agriculture than ever before, and this is only set to increase. It will bring with it a wider and more advanced agricultural ecosystem that requires a skilled, knowledgeable, and committed workforce, with as great an appetite for innovation and capacity to problem solve as any generation before.
Discover more on this topic in the sixth edition of Clima today.
Bringing future talent to Agriculture 4.0
We discuss the emerging influences on education and skills development across Agriculture and Horticulture with two senior leaders from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). We spoke to Professor Fiona Burnett, Head of Connect for Impact in SRUC’s Knowledge and Information Hub, and Ruth Vichos, Lecturer in Horticulture, about the evolution of Agriculture 4.0, and how technology is impacting skills evolution and teaching mechanisms.
Listen To The Full Interview
CHINA: $500 Billion To Bring All World Crop Farming Indoors
China will build 2 Million hectares (20 billion square meters) of controlled environment greenhouses by 2025 and this will produce half of their vegetables and crop needs
Brian Wang | April 3, 2021
China will build 2 Million hectares (20 billion square meters) of controlled environment greenhouses by 2025 and this will produce half of their vegetables and crop needs. Temperature, humidity, lighting would all be under controlled conditions. It would not matter if there were new extreme temperature swings outside or if there was drought. The needed food and water would be immune to any projected climate change over the next 500-1000 years.
Alibaba sells greenhouses for as little as 70 cents per square meter. The bulk, high volume cost to the manufacturer is about 50 cents per square meter. If installation labor costs are 50% of the 2 million hectare project then it would cost about $20 billion for the 2 million hectare project. $40 billion would be sufficient for China to make 40 billion square meters of climate-controlled greenhouses which could produce all vegetables and crops. It would cost $260 billion to make greenhouses for the food production of the entire world.
Indoor climate-controlled agriculture has almost no need for pesticides and uses 7% of the water. This would take up 3-5% of the total land area of open-air farming.
Additional funds could be provided for higher demand from population growth and for some level of automation, sensors and other systems.
There is an economic analysis of smaller scale greenhouse and vertical farming. The all-in delivered cost of a pound of greens grown in a commercial greenhouse is estimated to be $2.33 per pound. It cost $18.3 million to build 280,000 square feet (2.6 hectares) of commercial greenhouse in the USA. The total cost to grow would be just over $3.0 million per year for 2 million pounds of greens or $1.52 per pound. BrightFarms employs 165 people for the three greenhouses. $1.10 per pound consists of employee costs.
The cost estimates for greenhouses could be brought down to $1 per pound or less with large-scale construction. Below are costs for 2.8 hectare systems in the USA.
There is value to having national food security and not having to depend on imported food. Ten billion to twenty billion dollars per year in indoor farm subsidies closes the cost gap with open-air farming.
China’s controlled environment system will have a lot of automation and lower construction costs because of the massive scale and lower costs in China.
PNAS – Wheat yield potential in controlled-environment vertical farms
Wheat growing is vastly more land and water-efficient but costs are not yet competitive with open-air farming.
Wheat is the most important food crop worldwide, grown across millions of hectares. Wheat yields in the field are usually low and vary with weather, soil, and crop management practices. We show that yields for wheat grown in indoor vertical farms under optimized growing conditions would be several hundred times higher than yields in the field due to higher yields, several harvests per year, and vertically stacked layers. Wheat grown indoors would use less land than field-grown wheat, be independent of climate, reuse most water, exclude pests and diseases, and have no nutrient losses to the environment. However, given the high energy costs for artificial lighting and capital costs, it is unlikely to be economically competitive with current market prices. Wheat grown on a single hectare of land in a 10-layer indoor vertical facility could produce from 700 ± 40 t/ha (measured) to a maximum of 1,940 ± 230 t/ha (estimated) of grain annually under optimized temperature, intensive artificial light, high CO2 levels, and a maximum attainable harvest index. Such yields would be 220 to 600 times the current world average annual wheat yield of 3.2 t/ha. Independent of climate, season, and region, indoor wheat farming could be environmentally superior, as less land area is needed along with reuse of most water, minimal use of pesticides and herbicides, and no nutrient losses.
Meat production could also be brought under climate control. The feed for cows, pigs, chicken and fish could be either brought into greenhouses or converted to insects. Insect feed can be twenty to one hundred times more space and water-efficient.
Meat can be converted into cell-based production in large vats. This would be similar to the industrial production of beer.
There would be zero risk of mass starvation caused by temperature or drought-induced crop failure.
There may not be a need to bring all crops indoors. But if China brings half of all of their crops indoors in five years it clearly shows that civilization can bring all crops and farming indoors at any time. The cost as I have shown is less than 0.5% of global GDP for the crops and a few percent to deal with the meat and feed as well.
It is likely only truly economical (even with China’s mass production) to bring vegetable and fruit farming indoors. If China has indoor vegetable and fruit production at $1 per pound then other countries could follow at different levels based upon how cost-competitive indoor farming is against open-air farming for a particular crop. There is also the question if people will pay more for greenhouse crops. Greenhouses allow for year-round crop production. This means consistent prices and availability for fruits and vegetable year round. It also means indoor farms can be inside of cities for fruit and vegetables that are fresh from the tree and vine. The greenhouse crops would also be mostly or completely free of pesticides. Indoor farming share will grow as efficiency and costs are improved.
I think 20-60% of all crops (mainly higher-value fruits and vegetables) globally will go indoors by 2030 and gradually more as indoor becomes a lower cost and superior product to outdoor farming. Greenhouse farmed fruits and vegetables can have a higher quality versus outdoor grown fruits and vegetables.
Some of the advantages of protected culture greenhouse crops are:
Season extension is just one of the advantages gained from greenhouse growing. Protected crops are less apt to be damaged by wind, rain, and hail so the percentage of marketable products is higher. Yield is often higher as well, if you can provide optimum growing conditions for each crop. Greenhouses protect crops from many diseases, particularly those that are soilborne and splash onto plants in the rain. And greenhouse crops may be protected from common field pests. Of course, greenhouse crops have their own particular problems such as foliar disease, aphids, and whiteflies, so vigilance is still required.
SOURCES- Alibaba, PNAS, agfunder news
Oishii Sees Itself As ‘The Tesla of Vertical Farming.’ Here’s How It’s Cracking CEA Strawberries
“Strawberries are the hardest crop to grow in a vertical system and it’s been every vertical farmer’s dream to grow them. Conquering strawberries allows us to grow into other crops very quickly.”
March 31, 2021
Indoor farming is best known for leafy greens and micro-herbs. But New York’s Oishii is hoping to blaze a new trail and sweeten up the segment.
“A lot of people call strawberries the holy grail of vertical farming,” Oishii founder Hiroki Koga tells AFN. “Strawberries are the hardest crop to grow in a vertical system and it’s been every vertical farmer’s dream to grow them. Conquering strawberries allows us to grow into other crops very quickly.”
The startup announced a $50 million funding round this month led by Mirai Creation Fund, part of Tokyo-based SPARX Group. Additional investors included Sony Innovation Fund — the corporate venture arm of Japanese tech giant Sony — Tokyo-based AI company PKSHA Technology, and San Francisco-based VC Social Starts.
“We’ve had multiple offers from different funds but we ultimately decided to go with SPARX because they have a very strategically aligned mandate. They’re backed by Toyota, one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world [and] vertical farming is the intersection of agriculture and manufacturing,” Koga says.
Although it may seem odd for Toyota to be interested in agrifood tech, the carmaker is working on its Woven City project located at the base of Japan’s Mount Fuji. It’s a so-called “living laboratory” where researchers live and work full-time to imagine what future cities may look like through technological innovation.
Koga is no stranger to controlled environment ag (CEA). Six years ago, he was working as a CEA consultant in Japan, helping large corporations enter the space. While Koga views Japan as the birthplace of vertical farming, he moved to the US in 2015 – around the time that the method was becoming popular in the country.
Alongside the allure of being the first to crack indoor strawberry cultivation, Koga sees the fruit as a way to address what he calls the “unit economics problem” in indoor farming. He sees strawberries as providing a very strong revenue and profit model, as well as a crop that can further “democratize” vertical farming.
“In order to democratize it, I wanted to start with something that’s truly impactful — not products that people will buy because they are sustainable — [but] something that is superior compared to what is on the market, and that would completely change people’s experience,” Koga says.
He leveraged his personal network in Japan to collaborate with farmers and research institutions on the details of indoor strawberry cultivation – from seeding all the way to harvesting. It took “countless” iterations to get the formula right, he says.
“There’s probably 20 or 30 different things that you can tweak in a given cycle of the plant. So, let’s say there are five or six different stages of the plant life cycle – if you multiply all of those, there are millions of different combinations,” he explains.
“It’s a matter of tweaking those on a daily basis to figure out what the perfect mix is.”
However, this know-how isn’t what Koga considers to be Oishii’s “secret sauce.” Rather, that’s the bees that the startup’s using handle pollination.
While Koga won’t spill the ‘bees’ about how all this works in Oishii’s context, he claims to have found a way to replicate a natural environment within an indoor vertical farm that convinces the critters they’re outside.
“They live in harmony with our farmers and robots,” is all Koga will add.
The Tesla of vertical farming
With the initial R&D under its belt, Oishii is now turning its focus to consistency and quality of the product. Its current New Jersey facility spans a few tennis courts, Koga says; but its next one will be the size of an American football field. It currently sells direct-to-consumer through its website, and through traditional retail channels like supermarkets.
But its strawberries may be out of some consumers’ grocery budgets, retailing between $15 and $50 per pack depending on the size and the number of fruits. This price point puts Oishii’s berries in the luxury food category – for now, at least.
“If you think about how Tesla started with a Roadster or Nissan started with the LEAF, we like to think we are in the Roadster camp,” Koga says.
“Our current Omakase berry is our Roadster right now, but we already have developed multiple strawberry cultivars that we can produce much more cost-efficiently. Our Model S and Model 3 will be on the market soon,” he says, referring to the latter-day models now being sold by Elon Musk’s company.
Another US vertical farming startup, Plenty, is also trying to solve the strawberry equation. It recently added Driscoll’s to its list of backers and is collaborating with the major berry producer on indoor strawberry cultivation.
Koga welcomes competition in the space, particularly if it means branching beyond leafy greens.
“It’s generally a good thing that people are following in our footsteps and expanding out of the leafy green space. The more berries the better,” he says.
“Ten years ago, we only had Tesla, maybe a few other companies. But Tesla was the one who proved that it can be done, and now there are dozens and dozens of electric car manufacturers. [The electric car] become much more widely available.”
Evaluating Real Estate For Indoor Agriculture
Several factors need to be evaluated before purchasing or leasing a piece of real estate for CEA. Will you build new construction or rehabilitate a vacant building? Are you building a large-scale greenhouse or a small, urban vertical farm?
March 17, 2021
Traditionally, buyers of agricultural real estate have focused on rural land where primary considerations for their farm include things such as soil quality, annual rainfall amounts, and adequate drainage. Increasingly, however, agriculture start-ups are moving indoors. Compared to field-based agriculture, indoor farming allows for more crop cycles, less water usage, and the farms can be located closer to the consumer. The considerations for an indoor, or controlled environment agriculture (CEA) operation are considerably different than for outdoor farms.
Assessing Potential Real Estate for CEA
Several factors need to be evaluated before purchasing or leasing a piece of real estate for CEA. Will you build new construction or rehabilitate a vacant building? Are you building a large-scale greenhouse or a small, urban vertical farm?
Environment
Weather and terrain are important for natural light greenhouse projects. The primary limiting factor to crop production in a greenhouse is low light intensity during the winter so consult with an Ag-extension service or other resource to get that information for a proposed location. Adequate acreage is a must for not only the greenhouses themselves but, also shipping and receiving space, a retention pond (if needed), and potentially even worker housing.
Spacing
For a vertical or urban farm in an enclosed building, important factors to consider include adequate square footage to allow for proper spacing between growing systems and enough room to move the towers (if mobile) for cleaning or maintenance. Additionally, a building should have a sufficient water supply and potentially drainage, a robust HVAC system and humidity controls, and a ceiling which is high enough for the growing towers. Although indoor farms using high efficiency LED lighting, these systems, combined with pumps, humidifiers, and HVACs can use significant amounts of electricity, a developer should carefully and conservatively estimate those costs prior to negotiating those terms with a landlord or electric company. Finally, the farm should be in close enough proximity to allow for routine delivery to local customers, be they restaurants, groceries, farmers markets, or Community Supported Agriculture distributors.
Labor
In both types of farms, labor availability and cost is a critically important consideration. The cost of wages for urban farms, even for unskilled workers, will likely be higher than that of rural areas. And in the case of any real estate development, ensure prior coordination with relevant agencies has been done on permits, licenses, and zoning regulations prior to signing any leases or closing on a land contract. Prior to starting a search for a CEA project, it’s wise to seek expert help from outside consultants who can save an indoor farm developer time, money, and aggravation.
Tags real estate, indoor agriculture, cea
FRANCE: Jungle Says It’s Cracked How To Make Vertical Farms Profitable
“No matter how good your product is, if the price is higher than the alternative, then you’re dead.”
“No Matter How Good Your Product Is,
If The Price Is Higher Than The Alternative,
Then You’re Dead.”
BY FREYA PRATTY
22 MARCH 2021
Jungle, a French vertical farming company that says it can produce ten to 30 times more food than traditional greenhouses, has raised €42m in new funding.
The company also says its focus on large-scale farms will help it overcome one of the biggest challenges facing vertical farming: how to make a profit.
Jungle’s new funding, €7m of which is in equity and €35m of which is debt financing, comes from Founders Future, a French investment firm focused on impact startups. Jungle is the firm’s first investment.
The company’s funding comes as the wider industry continues to grow fast. It was worth $2.2bn in 2018 but is expected to reach $12.8bn by 2026. Investor appetite is clearly there: vertical farming giant Infarm raised $170m at the end of last year.
Jungle is building a 5,500m2 farm 80km from Paris, where crops will grow on stacked platforms. The site is already partly operational and the company has secured contracts with French supermarkets Monoprix and Intermarche.
At present, it’s growing a mixture of aromatic herbs, greens and, unlike other vertical farms, flowers. It’ll be fully operational by the end of 2021.
Less pesticides, more local and a greater yield
Gilles Dreyfus, cofounder of Jungle.
“We don’t claim to be instigating a revolution, we are part of an equation that wants to be a solution,” explains Gilles Dreyfus, who cofounded Jungle in 2015.
For Dreyfus, vertical farming has several advantages. Crops can be grown close to cities, where the majority of consumers are, thereby reducing the environmental costs of transit.
Plants can also be grown on more frequent cycles than on traditional farms because they’re not seasonally dependent, and they’re also grown without using pesticides.
“Our most popular product, Green Basil, gives 14 harvests a year in the vertical farm, compared to 3 or 4 in the South of France, where the crop grows best outdoors.”
National food sovereignty
Being able to grow crops out of season means vertical farming can help countries achieve better food sovereignty, Dreyfus says.
“We have to go further and further from the country to get crops when they’re out of season,” he says. “Brexit import taxes on food have shown the complicated situations this can lead to.”
“If the price is higher, you’re dead”
Despite the benefits, vertical farming has often struggled with how to make a profit. “Having a viable financial model and an efficient farm is the main hurdle for vertical farming,” Dreyfus says.
“No matter how good your product is, if the price is higher than the alternative, then you’re dead.”
The company believes that bigger farms is the answer.
German company Infarm, which is aiming at profitability by 2023, places microunits into supermarkets. Jungle, which is aiming at profitability in 18 months time, will focus on large-scale production facilities that then supply a whole area.
“Price depends on scale and we’re not aiming for small-scale farms, we’re aiming for less farms but a lot bigger. If you activate the economies of scale you can get a very reasonable product,” he says.
The company’s aiming to sell food at 5% more than the cost of conventional alternatives, but at 20% less than organic foods grown on farms.
For Valentine Baudouin, partner at Founders Future which has invested in Jungle, the focus on large-scale farms is the key to profitability, and what makes Jungle stand out.
“They’ve answered the economic question of vertical farming, which is very important because you have many similar enterprises that haven’t done so.”
Jungle’s vertical farm warehouse.
Beyond salad?
A criticism often leveled at the vertical farming industry is whether it can grow beyond just salad leaves and herbs.
Unlike other farms, Jungle also grows flowers for the perfume industry, but Dreyfus says the other crops its working on, including cherry tomatoes and mushrooms, won’t be in supermarkets until 2023.
“You can grow virtually anything you want, except truffles — which is a real shame actually,” says Dreyfus. “But the question shouldn’t be, can we grow it, it should be, do we have the financial model to make it work?”
Jungle’s currently got a team of 25 people based in France, but will use the new funding to double its workforce by 2022. It also plans to open two new large-scale farms in France, including one in the south that’ll be twice as big as its first site.
Freya Pratty is Sifted’s news reporter. She tweets from @FPratty
While Everything Is Falling Apart, It Could Be Easy To Miss The Incredible Opportunities That Are Coming Together Right Now
Check out the awesome opportunities growing on with access to the CEA census provided by Agritecture Autogrow and global market reports by Forward Fooding and United Nations
Take a look at the state of agriculture renaissance, with thousands of companies, and millions of people working toward food system transformation designed to sustainably feed 10B people, with 70% living in cities, using less energy, water, and waste, and reversing climate change.
Check out the awesome opportunities growing on with access to the CEA census provided by Agritecture Autogrow and global market reports by Forward Fooding and the United Nations
Some of the Numbers:
5.3k+ companies
$65B invested since 2010
$17B 2020 (up from $15B 2019) 42% CAGR
21% of funding went into AgTech and CEAs
5% went to digital services
48% to food delivery
Impact is being divided into five sustainable food action tracks - 10% Access, 35% Consumption, 40% Production, 5% Equity, and 15% Resilience aimed at innovative disruption.
Out of 300+ CEAs
40% were founded in the last two years
36% got funding from family and friends
35% from angel investors
80% were operating in indoor vertical farming
49% had no agriculture experience
46% were between ages 21-30
28% prefer using Coco Coir as a soilless growing medium
Largest crops microgreens, salad greens, leafy greens and herbs.
Introducing Vertical Farming To Mexico And Beyond
Above all else, Karma Verde Fresh is a social enterprise whose purpose, according to Tagino, “is to transform the lives of individuals and communities through the creation of accessible food options, that have positive economic and sustainable impacts on the environment.”
Karma Verde Fresh (KVF) is a vertical farm based in Monterrey, Nuevo León (northeastern Mexico), producing a variety of seedlings, leafy greens, strawberries, and beans, and manufacturing its own cultivation systems which can be installed in any urban environment to promote local agriculture.
First established in 2016 by Leo Lobato and Rafael Cuellar, Karma Verde Fresh sought to master vertical agriculture before developing its own system and initially purchased four vertical racks systems from a Dutch company. The company quickly realized that for vertical farming to be successful in Mexico and other developing countries, the technology needs to be both efficient and financially accessible so that any sized growers can participate in the development of their own urban, peri-urban or rural farms.
(F.l.t.r.) Leo Lobato and Rafael Cuellar, co-founders of KVF
According to Tagino, the company’s communications and social media manager, high capital and operating costs are the main barriers to vertical farming.
Technique available to anyone
This has led the company to develop its own technology within Mexico and make it as accessible as possible, all with the goal of providing as many communities with nutritious produce. Today, KVF has increased its cultivation grow racks by more than 89% in the same footprint and their solar LED lights use 21% less energy.
“We know that there are super sophisticated farms across the world, with high automation. That is one way, but in order to impact communities that are left behind, are looking for job opportunities, vertical farming needs to be affordable,” says Tagino.
Once Karma Verde Fresh successfully developed its own cultivation system, the company developed a digital strategy to reach its potential and future customers through various social media platforms which include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Pushing R&D
Aside from its strong social media presence to attract young customers and entrepreneurs, Karma Verde Fresh also strongly emphasizes the importance for scientific research in the vertical farming industry, publishing their first scientific research report in Cyprus at an international sustainable agriculture conference in March in conjunction with Dr. Gilda Carrasco of the University of Talca.
KVF's salad mix
“Back in 2018, we learned that vertical agriculture really needs the scientific research community to be on board because they can give us the best science for improving growing conditions. In 2019, we started our first laboratories at two UANL campuses (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León) and the UAAAN in Coahuila, and in 2021-2023, we’ll be installing cultivation systems at different universities across Mexico, Central America, and as far away as Chile,” says Leo.
By installing cultivation systems at numerous universities, Karma Verde Fresh hopes to attract youth to vertical farming and to develop businesses in the regions where the systems are being established. The company is also immersing itself in the academic world by collaborating on research projects and participating with NCERA-101, a research committee focused on exchanging information about technologies in controlled environment agriculture (CEA).
Expansion plans
Through these research collaborations, the company is creating models that it can replicate across Mexico. Thanks to the American Chamber Mexico, the company met Ken Moskal, now an angel investor and a new corporate structure will allow Karma Verde Fresh to transition out of its start-up phase. While the company hopes to attract investment fund managers, Leo also explained that Karma Verde Fresh is taking its time to grow organically, invest its own money and only bring in outside investments if needed.
Karma Verde Fresh plans to fund its growth mostly through sales of seedlings, produce to restaurants and selling the KVF systems through the national distribution network developed through Mexico’s Industrial Chamber CANACINTRA’s Ag Sector.
Above all else, Karma Verde Fresh is a social enterprise whose purpose, according to Tagino, “is to transform the lives of individuals and communities through the creation of accessible food options, that have positive economic and sustainable impacts on the environment.”
Their purpose garnered the attention of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA). The organization asked Karma Verde Fresh to join an alliance, which was signed in 2020 and will work to build cultivation systems in food banks in the country’s most food-insecure regions, as well as the first Vertical Agriculture Tech and Trainer Certification Program in Mexico City.
Sustainable systems
Another interesting initiative of Karma Verde Fresh is its solution called the Rolling Thunder Service. By developing 40-day forecasts over Mexico, the company will be able to better forecast severe meteorological events and begin producing seedlings in its racking systems ahead of such events. When severe storms damage agricultural crops, the company will be able to provide to healthy seedlings to help farmers recover quickly.
The company is guided by three core values: consciousness, innovation and collaboration. With respect to innovation, Tagino explained that it isn’t simply about buying innovation but about actually innovating in the countries seeking to build sustainable agricultural systems. That is ultimately why the company decided to develop its own vertical racks and LEDs. The company’s commitment to collaboration is evidenced by its numerous university partners and research projects.
“Not only are our processes enriched by the different perspectives and knowledge, but it generates a bigger impact among the communities and ecosystems where the collaborations occur,” says Tagino.
For more information:
Karma Verde Fresh
Blvd. Díaz Ordaz #130,
Col. Santa María, Piso 10, Torre 3,
64650, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México
+52 (81) 8851-8261
Leo Lobato, Co-Founder
leo@karmaverdefresh.com
Tagino Lobato, Communication Manager
tagino@karmaverdefresh.com
www.karmaverdefresh.com
Publication date: Thu 25 Feb 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com
2021 GLASE Webinar Series
The production of high nutrient density crops in controlled environments (such as greenhouses and plant factories) allows for high density, local, year-round food production
Urban CEA: Optimizing Plant Quality,
Economic And Environmental Outcomes
Date: February 25, 2021
Time: 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. EDT
Presented by: Dr. Neil Mattson (Cornell University)
Click Here To Register
The production of high nutrient density crops in controlled environments (such as greenhouses and plant factories) allows for high density, local, year-round food production. Mattson leads a National Science Foundation project that seeks to better understand the benefits and constraints of urban CEA including: economics, natural resource use, carbon footprint, and nutrition. Mattson will discuss research that seeks to optimize crop performance, nutrition, and resource use through strategic LED lighting and CO2 supplementation. Finally, Mattson will discuss efforts of the NSF project to define workforce development needs by the nascent urban CEA industry and a new USDA workforce development project to expand training opportunities in CEA for 2-year colleges and lifelong learners.
Special thanks to our Industry partners
Join today
If you have any questions or would like to know more about GLASE,
please contact its executive director
Erico Mattos at em796@cornell.edu
Take A Virtual Tour of The New CEA Center
“What OHCEAC is unique about is that we are integrative, interdisciplinary, and inclusive team conducting collaborative research to respond to CEA stakeholder needs
18-02-2021 | Urban Ag News
US, Ohio- Dr. Chieri Kubota, the Director of the new center focusing on controlled environment agriculture and protected cultivation hosted this event to introduces the programs and membership at The Ohio State University.
“What OHCEAC is unique about is that we are integrative, interdisciplinary, and inclusive team conducting collaborative research to respond to CEA stakeholder needs. Our focus inclusively covers various production systems and crop types. We use the terminology of CEA as having a very broad meaning including soil-bassed or soilless systems under various types of climate control or modification structures.”
Source and Photo Courtesy of Urban Ag News
Plants Talk: Creating The Perfect Environment For Growth
There’s more to growing the greatest greens on the planet than just using less water.
Nate Klingler
It is well known that plants grow best when the weather is just right. Traditional farming methods have developed ways to combat mother nature by using an abundance of water, pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. Crops are also transported, typically from California to Arizona, in the Fall and Winter months due to the changes in climate at that time of year. While these methods can help us adapt and grow crops in less than ideal conditions, they present potential problems, from resource consumption to introducing bacteria and disease into the crop. At Living Greens Farm, we have developed the perfect environment for our plants.
Hi, I’m Michelle Keller, Head Grower at Living Greens Farm. If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen how our non-GMO seeds grow into seedlings and eventually move from the nursery into our grow rooms. We recently showed you how we use 95% less water with our trolly mist system. But there’s more to growing the greatest greens on the planet than just using less water. Things like temperature, light, and air affect the plant’s growth.
Temperature is an easy element to control when you grow indoors. As the world’s largest indoor aeroponic farm, we have the responsibility to ensure that our grow rooms are highly regulated. That is why we continually monitor the temperature, not just for the health of our plants, but to make sure our energy consumption is at a responsible level.
Creating the Perfect Taste
We grow indoors to regulate the perfect amount of light given to the plants at just the right time. Our technology utilizes low energy LED lights that simulate sunlight and allow the plants to perform photosynthesis without being overwhelmed. This is one of the reasons our plants are known for their color and flavor. We’ve harnessed the energy of the sun and we give it to our plants right when they need the energy.
And we wouldn’t be an aeroponic farm without harnessing the power of the air. Our plants are grown in vertical grow racks and are challenged with the force of air which makes them stronger. When people eat Living Greens Farm salads for the first time, we are often asked how our greens are so crisp. Well, it’s because we grow our plants to be the strongest they can be.
Bringing Mother Nature Indoors
Controlling mother nature will always be a losing battle for traditional farmers. As the next generation of farming, we’ve brought mother nature indoors and can control the elements to grow the tastiest, healthiest greens on the planet.
Welsh Government Fund The Supply & Installation of CEA Systems
To date, the approaches to CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) have been vastly different, uncoordinated, and largely unsupported. Through this pilot, we will offer real growth potential at a scale that is impactful, replicable and delivers wider benefits for the region
To date, the approaches to CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) have been vastly different, uncoordinated, and largely unsupported. Through this pilot, we will offer real growth potential at a scale that is impactful, replicable and delivers wider benefits for the region.
This project, Crop Cycle, is being funded by the Welsh Government through the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund and we will be working with businesses and partners who are committed to the four pillars of the Economic Contract. The project will provide a testbed for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), in the community setting – the very heart of our Foundational Economy. The project is being led by Social Farms & Gardens supported by Welsh Government’s Horticulture Cluster group and NutriWales CEA Special Interest Group.
The project allows for multiple & differing CEA systems to be tailored to fit different community settings but allowing them to be investigated and assessed in a coordinated and joined-up way across the pilot sites. This approach is unique, allowing the testing of new socially focused business models, the engagement of the local communities and businesses with CEA, and the development of new technical solutions.
This project will introduce food growing right into the heart of our communities, ones where they understand the local issues and are connected to the particular dynamics of the local area. Activities will test new community-based engagement models looking at social well-being, local entrepreneurship, and environmental impact. In this way, the project will be innovative in its operational delivery, social engagement, and business model creation bringing together community, businesses, and local public sector organizations.
Three sites will be supported, two of which are in the Valleys. Green Meadow Community Farm in Cwmbran, one of only two ‘city farms’ in Wales, and one which connects people to food and farming in a very public way. It is owned and operated by Torfean County Borough Council, bringing with it a high-level partnership. The farm already welcomes thousands of visitors through its gates and connects locally through a number of schools and college partnerships – making it an ideal ‘showcase’ location for this pilot.
Welcome To Our Woods in Treherbert is the site of the second valley, nestled in the heart of the Rhondda Valleys. This proactive community group has been actively engaging with its communities through partnerships with the Green Valleys CIC and their joint ‘Skyline’ project. This partnership and ground-up way of working has led to several funding investments in the region looking to explore community ownership of land and the benefits that can be brought about by allowing the community to utilize some of their surrounding natural green assets for the betterment of the environment, and the local communities. This makes it a unique and perfect fit for this pilot.
Ian Thomas from Welcome To Our Woods, said, ‘work is progressing well on the growing facility in Treherbert and we are excited to be bringing such an innovative and progressive project to our local high street. We have already been engaging with the Upper Rhondda community to explore the projects that actively use our woodlands for the benefit of those they surround, and initiatives such as this help give local people an idea of what can be achieved’.
The third site will be in Ty Pawb Community Hub in Wrexham, situated in the center of Wrexham, this recently refurbished site boasts a monthly footfall of 50000. One of the key players in the successful regeneration of the town it will also link with the community rooftop garden where Welsh Heritage Fruit trees are to be planted. Its facilities include an art gallery, stage area for concerts, and rooms for educational visits and community clubs.
Gary Mitchell, the Wales Manager for Social Farms & Gardens who is leading the project team stated, "we are excited to be running the pilot project across a diverse set of sites to gain insight and further knowledge into how new agricultural systems can successfully support communities in delivering local, fresh and nutritious foods as well as important social benefits in a sustainable manner."
For more information:
Social Farms & Gardens
Gary Mitchell, Wales Manager
gary@farmgarden.org.uk
www.farmgarden.org.uk
15 Dec 2020
Global CEA Census Report Shows Continued Positivity Despite COVID-19
Autogrow and Agritecture Consulting have released the 2nd Annual Global CEA Census Report highlighting positive signs of growth despite the global pandemic
1 December 2020: Autogrow and Agritecture Consulting have released the 2nd Annual Global CEA Census Report highlighting positive signs of growth despite the global pandemic.
Data captured over an 8-week period show 95% of growers have an optimistic outlook for the next 12 months with all types of operations including greenhouses, shipping containers, tunnel, and vertical farms showing profitability.
“The optimism reflects what we have seen across many areas of the industry including increased technology adoption and increased consumer expenditure on fresh produce. And despite the challenges we’re seeing an overwhelming number of new entrants into the market,” says Autogrow CEO Darryn Keiller.
“What has not changed is the high percentage of new growers, almost 50%, that have no experience in agriculture before starting their business. That lack of experience has an impact on new technology solutions created and the need for more education to be available to support them. It also shows a real desire to make a difference considering their willingness to start during a pandemic.”
Respondents from 58 countries shared their views on their farming practices, financials, and the impact of COVID-19. The report also gave insight on three key growth regions around the world – India, the UK, and MENA (Middle East & North Africa).
"The results of the 2020 Census confirmed our hypothesis that the UK, India, and MENA regions are the emerging hotspots for CEA, albeit for different reasons. In the UK, Brexit is driving investment towards CEA to combat supply chain risks, while in India rising population and increased premium consumer demand for clean food are driving CEA. In the MENA region, government responses to COVID-19 have accelerated policies and incentives for developing scalable CEA solutions,” explains Agritecture Consulting Founder Henry Gordon-Smith.
“All of these regions present great opportunities for the CEA industry to grow and make a meaningful impact on their respective local conditions.”
Other takeaways from the Census:
68% of respondents are salad green growers
88% of growers surveyed are below age 50
29% of respondents receive funding from multiple sources
For a copy of the FREE report - https://engage.autogrow.com/census
Register For ERASMUS + ECVET PONICS VET LAUNCH - Friday, October 16th
Erasmus plus helps the CEA industry grow with free online vocational training courses in hydroponics for the technician level profile
ERASMUS DAYS PUBLIC LAUNCH
October 16th, 2020
Register for ERASMUS+ ECVET PONICS VET
LAUNCH:
Erasmus plus helps the CEA industry grow with free online vocational training courses in hydroponics for the technician level profile
PONICS VET:
Hydroponics Technician is an Erasmus + project. It aims to service agriculture communities and future growers from outside the industry. It provides essential basic training and an introduction into practices and the use of technology in the soilless growing of plants. Hydroponic systems have a proven track record in resource efficiency and resilience in the age of climate change. It also provides an attractive solution for existing farm operations that are not economical anymore and create new income streams for growers and would-be farmers.
The PONICS VET training services an innovative professional profile, the hydroponics technician, and delivers credentials for such a profile in a commercial context. The course will introduce system definitions, various technical insights, and important proficiencies in practical growing, including pest control, food safety, and certification information. Also included are case studies and ample supporting material. The micro-credential rules are drawn from the ECVET (the European credit system for VET) methodology, which will allow recognition of applied learning outcomes in the EU and beyond.
As the development of workforce pathways in times of CoVid19 and for the agriculture, communities has become a critical demand, FTS and its industry-based membership was selected as a critical partner in the development and deployment of PONICS VET project. Stay tuned for further modules and languages.“Workforce development in Agriculture has been underserviced in new and innovative agriculture practices and needs to be the main focus by the industry as well as the policymaker, PONICS VET is a great start for the Controlled Environment Agriculture sector as there currently no accredited vocational training courses online outside of the NL/BE greenhouse cluster. “ ~ FarmTech Society
HOW TO JOIN THIS EVENT:
Registration Page
INTERESTED IN JOINING THE COURSE:
Link to FREE ONLINE COURSE (Guest)
About FTSFarmTech Society (FTS) ASBL is an international non-profit association that unites and supports the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry, seeking to strengthen the sector through the development and implementation of resilient and future-proof methods and technologies for indoor growing. A prime focus area of the FTS is education, by developing training and education courses and creating credentials for graduates facilitating certification that meets industry needs. Secondly, the FTS engages with lawmakers in order to help promote policies and regulations that foster innovation and propel businesses in CEA. Thirdly, the FTS supports the establishment of standards to help the industry grow and innovate. Lastly, the FTS also provides an international network for the CEA industry.
Project Partners:
1 Latvia University of Lifesciences and Technology (Lativia)
2 Eurocrea Merchant Srl (Italy)
3 IDEC (Greece)
4 BIC Innobridge (Bulgaria)
5 FarmTech Society ASBL (Belgium)
6 zemniekusaeima (Lativa)
CEA Startup AppHarvest To Go Public, Expects $475m Funding At $1bn Valuation
“We are about to plant our first crop in a 60-acre, controlled environment, chemical-free farm. No one else in America is doing something at that scale. Investors look at that,” Peter Spac, AppHarvest’s newly appointed chief financial officer, told AFN.
October 1, 2020
US controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup AppHarvest has announced a merger with NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Novus Capital, enabling it to go public.
The deal is slated to bring in $475 million in gross proceeds for Kentucky-based AppHarvest, including a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction worth $375 million from existing and new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Inclusive Capital, and Novus. This commitment, at $10 per share, values the company at $1 billion.
“I can’t say this was the exact plan but what accelerated all of this was Covid-19,” AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb told AFN. “Typically, you would do 40 to 60 meetings to get a couple of investors. We had 22 meetings and had almost 20 ‘yeses.’ Very few passed on this deal and we eventually had to cancel meetings.”
Webb describes the SPAC transaction and PIPE financing experience as “absolutely phenomenal.”
A SPAC is formed with the sole purpose of raising capital through an IPO in order to acquire an existing privately-held company and take it public. Also referred to as ‘blank check companies,’ the mechanism has existed for several years but has received increased attention of late. This year alone, more than 50 SPACs have been formed in the US, collectively raising around $36.2 billion as of last month.
Invest with Impact. Click here.
PIPE deals effectively allow institutional investors to buy larger quantities of public company stock, typically at a discount to public market prices.
“AppHarvest is a unique and compelling investment opportunity that is redefining American agriculture by improving access for all to fresh non-GMO produce, growing more with fewer resources, and creating an agtech hub from within Appalachia,” Novus chairman Bob Laikin said in a statement.
“With significant tailwinds from heightened investor focus on ESG initiatives and the secular shift to plant-based foods, we believe AppHarvest is well-positioned to execute on its strategy for rapid growth and value creation,” he continued.
AppHarvest — which raised $28 million in its Series C round in August — is launching what it describes as the world’s largest greenhouse later this year, consisting of a 2.76 million square foot facility in Morehead, Kentucky. The system it uses reportedly reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional open-field agriculture, while also eliminating runoff.
Its first crop will be non-GMO tomatoes, which will be provided to a number of US grocers.
Other AppHarvest investors include TV cook Martha Stewart, VC veteran Peter Thiel, ValueAct Capital’s Spring Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Equilibrium Capital, and Narya – the new VC firm co-founded by JD Vance, author of best-selling Appalachian memoir Hillbilly Elegy.
“We are about to plant our first crop in a 60-acre, controlled environment, chemical-free farm. No one else in America is doing something at that scale. Investors look at that,” Peter Spac, AppHarvest’s newly appointed chief financial officer, told AFN.
“We have a phenomenal growing team. We have a phenomenal team of sustainability experts. They’re looking at a company and even though its pre-revenue it has all the necessary ingredients to succeed.”
AppHarvest knows it’s far from being the only player in the CEA game. But it’s confident in its approach.
“We aren’t burning through cash with pointless R&D when we can buy incredible technologies over in the Netherlands,” Webb says.
“The other thing is scale. Part of it is that building big stuff fast in the US is very hard. You have to get permitting, communities’ [buy-in], state and federal support, infrastructure, inspections. What we’ve proven through a global pandemic is that we can build one of the largest facilities in the world on time, on budget, at a record pace.”
Moving forward, AppHarvest is focused on bringing its beefsteak and on-the-vine tomatoes to market. The first harvest at its Morehead facility is slated for early 2021. It hopes to expand into leafy greens, berries, cucumbers, and bell peppers in the future.
CEA Success Story About Small Family Farms Using CEA Technologies To Feed Their Local Communities
To learn more about Snuck Farm and what they're up to, check out their website and instagram. If you’re near Pleasant Grove, Utah, consider visiting their Farm Stand or ordering a Snuck Share!
