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Webinar: The State of Vertical Farming In Asia - September 28, 2020
This webinar is designed for vertical farmers, cultivation and operation teams, support technology companies, business executives as well as investors looking to connect with industry leaders to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing the vertical farming industry in Asia during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
AVF Roundtable: Vertical Farming in Asia:
Challenges & Opportunities During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
(To be held on the 28th of September at 10:00 a.m. CEST)
This webinar has a limited number of tickets available, please register your participation soon
This webinar is designed for vertical farmers, cultivation and operation teams, support technology companies, business executives as well as investors looking to connect with industry leaders to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing the vertical farming industry in Asia during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Panelists:
1. Dr. Peng Li, Head of International Sales Department at SANANBIO
Dr. Li has a Ph.D. in Ecology from Peking University and a post-doctorate degree from the same university in Plant Nutrition. Since 2016 he has been working at SANANBIO as a senior engineer in Plant Factory Research Institute, COO in Hutou Produce Center, and now as Head of the International Sales Department.
2. Dr. Joel Cuello, Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona
Dr. Joel L. Cuello is Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Director of the Global Initiative for Strategic Agriculture in Dry Lands (GISAD) at The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. He is also currently Vice Chair of the International Association for Vertical Farming (AVF).
A globally recognized expert in the engineering of sustainable biological and agricultural systems, his technical expertise in both engineering and biology provides the platform for engineering designs in various agricultural and biological systems with an emphasis on optimizing productivities while fostering resource sustainability and environmental protection.
Prof. Cuello has designed, constructed and implemented varied types of engineered agricultural or biological systems, including those applied to bioregenerative space life support, vertical farming, plant tissue culture, micropropagation, industrial mass production of algae and plant cell and microbial cultures for production of biomass, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, etc. He is the Principal Inventor of the patented algae photobioreactor series — the Accordion photobioreactors — as well as the Vertical Farming systems — the Mobile & Modular Vertical Farm and the V-Hive Vertical Green Box
3. Eri Hayashi, Vice President at the Japan Plant Factory Association
Eri is the Vice President of Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA), a non-profit organization devoted to academic and business advancements in the Plant Factory/Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry.
Before joining JPFA, Eri worked at a private research/consulting institute in Tokyo as a researcher specializing in the technology advancement for global food production. She has been conducting international field researches on Plant Factory/Vertical Farm and CEA since 2008. She has published multiple research papers and has been a research project manager on AI- and phenotyping- based smart plant factory systems and breeding.
She is also the chief executive officer of E*Green Lab Inc.
4. Yasuhiro Suzuki, General Manager for Asia at Heliospectra
Yasuhiro Suzuki is responsible for Heliospectra’s Product management, Business development and Asian sales. He covers both Sales and Marketing in Asia with his rich experience in Business Development and Sales from his previous carriers. Yasuhiro holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from St. Paul’s University in Tokyo. Previous positions include Marketing & Product Management Director at Tetra Pak in Japan.
5. Christine Zimmermann-Lössl, Chairwoman at the Association for Vertical Farming
Christine Zimmerman-Loessl has a background in studying political science, sinology and philosophy at Munich University – which was the starting point for her interest in international work. She has worked in different Asian countries which has given her experience and deeper insight in the culture and people. In Germany, she benefited from this as a project manager for risk analysis and crisis management. Networking was always easy for Christine and she founded the Asia Network Information Center – a research and project organization bridging East and West. Later on, as the representative for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in China, she took responsibility in different areas and led a German-Chinese Management Institute, initiated environmental protection and poverty alleviation projects, as well as engaged in women’s programs. Christine was inspired by her son’s interests in Vertical Farming and founded with a group of like-minded young people the first nonprofit in the world – the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) in 2013, since then she is acting as the chairwoman of AVF.
Topics:
1. Key challenges and opportunities in the context of the pandemic
2. Emerging trends and new market opportunities
3. Change in consumer behavior and preferences
4. New retail strategies
5. New technology developments
6. Private and public financing
7. Certification and standardization
8. Educating the next generation of farmers
9. Need for interindustry networking and partnerships
Take-Home Value:
• Deeper understanding of the Asian Vertical Farming industry
• Background and exploration of the Asian Vertical Farming Markets
• Understanding constraints and opportunities in Asia for this industry
• Exploring the continent’s legislative and private financial support for the industry
• Exchange of ideas and solutions
This webinar has a limited number of tickets available, please register your participation soon.
If you cannot attend the live session the recording of this webinar will be sent to you.
Note that AVF members can attend or access the recording of this webinar for free. contact our vice-chair, Ramin Ebrahimnejad at re@vertical-farming.net for more information.
Autogrow Cracks The Yield Prediction Code With FarmRoad
After three years of research, development, lab and farm trials; Autogrow’s FarmRoad solution has set the global benchmark for crop yield prediction with an initial 90 percent accuracy rate
After three years of research, development, lab and farm trials; Autogrow’s FarmRoad solution has set the global benchmark for crop yield prediction with an initial 90 percent accuracy rate.
“Accurately predicting harvest time and yield is the holy grail of agriculture. It allows clarity of availability to the entire food chain from the grower to the marketer and on to the consumer. Getting 90 percent accuracy rate up to six weeks out in our first three farms has been exceptional,” says CEO Darryn Keiller.
“Under-production and over-production can financially impact a farm. Under supply brings both less revenue, potential financial penalties from purchasers e.g. supermarket chains and the need to buy off a competitor to meet contractual requirements. Over production creates a surplus, which is then sold on the open market, usually at a price less than market value. It’s an unpalatable and expensive roller coaster ride.”
“When you consider the numbers, the ROI (return on investment) of increasing yield prediction of tomatoes by 10 percent - from 80 to 90 percent - based on a 30ha grower producing 60kg/sqm could be up to USD $1.3million. Savings can also be made with regards to labor by automating manual forecasting and through increased efficiency of farming practices.”
FarmRoad’s Yield Prediction model has initially been created to service large scale greenhouse tomato producers combining the biophysical understanding of crop varieties, with crop and environmental data and proprietary A.I. based models and engines. The service is built and hosted on AWS cloud, and can be delivered to any enterprise farm operator, anywhere in the world.
“Not only do we have on average 90 percent accuracy but we are achieving that working with three different growers in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, using a mix of hydroponic substrate and soil and utilizing three different tomato cultivars - Marnax by Axia Seeds, Maxeza by Enza Zaden and Merlice by De Ruiter Seeds; showing the flexibility of our AI-based prediction,” says Mr. Keiller.
Accurate yield prediction is dependent on available data and variables include weather, pest and pathogen events and management practices. The industry baseline for large scale greenhouse production ranges from no prediction to 80 percent certainty up to two weeks in advance for the more experienced growers. FarmRoad is 90 percent accurate from one to six weeks in advance and anticipates achieving 95 percent accuracy within six months.
“Tomatoes are one of the most complex plants to apply yield prediction, but there is also a substantial amount of data available due to the crop registration techniques growers utilize. The key to prediction is the availability of data and we have been incredibly lucky to work with some fantastic growers with over 40+ years of experience who have shared their knowledge and data,” says Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Morgan.
“The first step is getting the data, but the biggest challenge has been turning the data into a form that works. When you look at environmental data, it is great for controlling systems but it’s not easy to go from the real-time data to a prediction of how plants are going to grow. When you also add in unexpected variables like a grower changing from loose pick to truss tomatoes half-way through the growing cycle, then your accuracy rate can decrease.”
With yield prediction achieved, Autogrow is currently developing crop registration and crop planning services.
“Yield Prediction by FarmRoad, is one of our many industry-leading services designed to enhance crop productivity and make farm operators more profitable. With their personalized yield model, growers can utilize their prediction and trends to materially improve farm profitability. The future is A.I. and digital farming, and we look forward to working with large scale growers who are looking to utilize their own data and gain a competitive and financial edge,” says Mr. Keiller.
For more information www.farmroad.io or email info@farmroad.io
MEDIA QUERIES
Kylie Horomia, Head of Communications
(e) Kylie.horomia@autogrow.com
(m) +6421 733 025
(w) www.autogrow.com www.farmroad.io www.cropsonmars.com
Sales queries – info@farmroad.io
About Autogrow
Autogrow leverages the power of technology, data science, and plant biology to provide indoor growers affordable, accessible, and easy-to-use innovation – 24/7, anywhere in the world.
Our hardware, software, and data solutions support growers and resellers in over 40 countries producing over 100 different crop types.
We are the experts in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and continue to stay ahead of a rapidly evolving landscape.
Autogrow, Level 1, Building 3, 61 Constellation Drive, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Free Webinar With Industry Experts - The Road Ahead for Vertical Farming
The Road Ahead for Vertical Farming: Building Tomorrow's Industry Blueprint Today - Webinar Date & Time: Thursday, May 28 at 4:00 pm (Central European Time)
By Growers For Growers Webinar Series Presents
The Road Ahead for Vertical Farming:
Building Tomorrow's Industry Blueprint Today
Webinar Date & Time: Thursday, May 28 at 4:00 pm (Central European Time)
Click Here to Register
This free webinar is designed for vertical farmers, cultivation and operation teams, support technology companies, business executives as well as investors looking to connect with industry leaders to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing the vertical farming industry in 2020 and beyond.
Discussion includes:
Current state of the vertical farming industry and where it is heading
How COVID-19 will affect the vertical farming industry and associated businesses
Why retail demand is changing the way cultivation teams work
New scientific and academic collaborations that create industry impact
Why you should attend:
Identify key technology investments to grow and expand your business
Evaluate roadblocks and business gaps that may be holding back your business
Share insights on industry partners and networks needed to move vertical farms forward
Assess new market opportunities and retail strategies for your vertical farm
Collaborate with peers to shape the future food supply chain
Register For This Free Webinar
Five Bold Questions For Artemis CEO: Allison Kopf
I knew that technology could be a catalyst to move the industry forward. This was the spark that inspired me to venture into entrepreneurship and start Artemis
Warren Bobrow Contributor
Vices I work with cannabis and have done some wild things in life. cocktailwhisperer.com
Allison Kopf, CEO of Artemis | RICKEY PEETE
WB's Note: I grew up on a Biodynamic/Organic farm in northern New Jersey. Part of the difficulty of growing crops outside is the mostly inclement weather. There are just too many variables at work to make farming anything less than controllable. Lack of sunshine, oft inclement weather- hail, snow, rain, insects, all contribute to short growing seasons and lack of a good investment harvest. To the commercial grower, outdoor growing can be rewarding, or it can be a loss of an entire grow, and you should pick which one is more enticing. I would pick the one with the most comfort for the investors. Which means, don't mess it up or they are coming for their investment, as in right now! One of my fascinations in commercial growing is something that I saw in Arizona. It was a vast greenhouse, originally manufactured in Holland for growing tomatoes and tulips. What was being grown in this "Dutch" greenhouse was far from tomatoes and flowers. It was nearly three hundred thousand square feet of ultra-high-end cannabis and with the nearly 350 days per year of natural sunshine, this vast greenhouse earned it's keep in short measure.
Allison Kopf is also intrigued by greenhouses and farming. If you read on, you'll discover her passion for growing facilities and why we should embrace the sun.
Warren Bobrow=WB: Where are you from? What was your path to farming? Schooling? What did you originally want to be? (when you were a kid)?
Allison Kopf=AK: I was born and raised in New York. Not New York City; not upstate New York – but smack dab in the middle of the two. Spending as much time as I did in the black dirt region, I’ve always had a deep respect for our state’s farmers and farm workers, though I had no clue I’d end up working in the industry. As a kid, I was always interested in science and technology and originally wanted to be an engineer in Silicon Valley when I grew up. While getting my degree in physics from Santa Clara University, I started my professional career in the solar industry. I was the Project Manager for the California entry into the Solar Decathlon, which is a design and engineering competition for students at over twenty universities worldwide. We raised over $1.2M and over a period of two years, designed and built a solar-powered, efficient, fully functional home.
I loved seeing the innovation and creativity at the Solar Decathlon and I fell in love with solving problems within complex supply chains. This led me back to New York to join BrightFarms, which is one of the largest venture-backed indoor agriculture companies in the country. I was one of their first employees and helped scale up projects across the country as well as focusing on how we could improve operational performance at each individual site. I became frustrated at an over-reliance in the industry on spreadsheets and pen-and-paper to track critical operational data.
I knew that technology could be a catalyst to move the industry forward. This was the spark that inspired me to venture into entrepreneurship and start Artemis.
(FKA Agrilyst).
WB: Why cannabis? How does cannabis fulfill your passion? What is your passion? Outdoor or indoor grown?
AK: Cannabis is an exciting industry and something we started really scaling into this year, and now accounts for about half of our customer base. There’s so much going on today around regulatory compliance and consumer safety, and it seems every day there’s something in the news about a large public cannabis company going through some kind of compliance or product recall issue. It’s a bit of a roller coaster, but it’s exciting to be in the midst of such a fast-growing sector with lots of opportunity ahead for businesses that approach compliance the right way.
The Artemis platform | COURTESY: ARTEMIS
For us, the cannabis industry fits right into our passion for helping specialty crop growers minimize risk, increase profit margins, and scale their businesses in what’s becoming a highly competitive and consolidated industry, with many companies even starting to go public on the U.S. stock market. Whether cultivated indoor or outdoor, cannabis, like any crop, is subject to risk. Furthermore, as an emerging industry with a controversial product (still illegal federally in the U.S.), cannabis is subject to increased levels of scrutiny. This translates into a maze of regulations which are constantly changing. Our goal is to help growers safeguard their business from these fast-changing regulations and compliance laws. With the recent news of the CannTrust debacle, cannabis growers, now more than ever, need to make regulatory compliance a core component of their company culture. This includes conducting regular internal audits and digitizing their regulatory compliance paperwork.
It also goes beyond just compliance. Cannabis cultivators are scaling across multiple states and countries, opening up locations faster than ever before. This is hard to do without proper systems in place. One of the easiest things a cultivator can do is implement technology to help plan production and workflow. It adds a layer of accountability, even across multiple locations. The companies that will be at the top in a few years will be the companies who invest in technology and systems for growth.
I’m currently obsessed with outdoor operations. We’ve spent a lot of time in the indoor space (it’s how we got our start), but as the hemp space begins to scale in the U.S., it’s brought me to more and more outdoor operations. The opportunity for cannabis and hemp to play a major part in regenerative agriculture, sustainability, and economic re-birth of the agriculture industry is completely fascinating. Indoor will always be my first love and it’s always exciting to see a really clean, well-run greenhouse or indoor operation.
Artemis - Laptop + Phone (1) | PHOTO COURTESY: ARTEMIS
WB: Tell me about your company? What do you do? What is your six month plan? One year?
AK: Our mission is to solve a problem I’ve personally been obsessed with for a while — creating a more efficient, traceable, and compliant agricultural economy. As part of our mission, we developed the industry’s first real Cultivation Management Platform (CMP) to help global enterprise farmers growing fruits, vegetables, cannabis, hemp, flowers, and other specialty crops to manage all of their people, plants, process and compliance with a single solution. Many growers today aren’t protecting themselves from risk without technology implementation across their full operation. Existing technologies available for the industry weren’t designed for growers with business expansion in mind. Enterprise operations deploy expensive, bulky, ERP systems and/or use regulatory software mandated by states. There hasn’t been a good solution for the enterprise operation to manage cultivation designed for them as the operator. This leaves them at a disadvantage in what is already a low-margin, high-risk business.
We developed our platform as the solution to close this gap. Providing growers with a CMP to add to their technology stack (CMP + ERP or Seed-to-Sale) sets them up for true long-term success. Since launching in 2015, we’ve seen strong customer growth with companies worth a collective $5 billion using the platform daily. Over 1 billion pounds have been harvested using our system in just the past year and a half. Our core customers are enterprise specialty crop farmers interested in security, compliance, profitability, and potential to expand their operations. We also have partnered with many others in the agtech ecosystem, enabling users to further reduce risk across all areas of their business. Over the next 6 - 12 months, we have aggressive growth plans. This year, we entered into the fast-growing cannabis and hemp industries, and we plan to expand our work in this sector. We are also working hard to carve out an industry leadership role and platform in regulatory compliance — helping customers stay ahead of the curve of regulatory compliance in food and cannabis to not only improve product outcomes and satisfy regulations, but to protect the integrity of the trust between producer and consumer.
Artemis - Laptop + Phone (1) | PHOTO COURTESY: ARTEMIS
WB: Is there anything that you eat or drink *or smoke* that brings a tear to your eye when you eat, drink, or smoke it? Do you cook? What is your favorite thing to eat? Favorite restaurant? Where? What kind of food?
AK: My grandmother’s chicken and rice. This has become somewhat of a family joke over the years. My grandmother makes the most incredible chicken and rice dish – the secret is in the butter and the old baking pan. All of the grandparents and cousins have tried to duplicate the recipe to no avail. Nothing is as good as the original. At my wedding shower, my grandmother gifted me the recipe and I definitely let a tear out.
I do love to cook. I’m currently into making comfort food recipes with fresh and local ingredients. The other day, I made biscuits and a summer stew that was pretty stellar. I’ve also been known to dip into Bavarian recipes. My family is German and it’s my favorite food region.
WB: If you can be anywhere in the world right now, where would that be? Doing what? With whom, even *Dead or Alive!* Why?
AK: Easy; playing tennis with Serena Williams. Not only has she set the bar for women who excel in their field, she’s the greatest athlete of her time and it would be incredible to play a game or two against her. I love playing tennis and it would be fun to see if I could return her serve. Perhaps a speaker showdown at Forbes Under 30 in Detroit?
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.Check out my website or some of my other work here.
Warren Bobrow, the Cocktail Whisperer, is the multi-published author of six books. Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today, Whiskey Cocktails:
Artemis, Publisher of State of Indoor Farming Report, Launches First Annual Global Ag Report Survey
Today we work with large international specialty crop farms that face a different set of challenges and opportunities than smaller, local operations. This report will dig into their pain points and market potential, to produce a comprehensive look into the global specialty crop industry
Data and insights on emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities for enterprise specialty crop farmers to be included in new generation of State of Indoor Farming Report, now Artemis Global Ag Report
Today we work with large international specialty crop farms that face a different set of challenges and opportunities than smaller, local operations. This report will dig into their pain points and market potential, to produce a comprehensive look into the global specialty crop industry.
NEW YORK (PRWEB) AUGUST 21, 2019
Artemis, the leading enterprise Cultivation Management Platform (CMP), today announced the launch of its first Global Ag Report survey to capture the latest trends, biggest challenges, and opportunities for global enterprise farmers growing fruits, vegetables, cannabis, hemp, and other specialty crops. The survey will inform the newest iteration of the State of Indoor Farming Report, released in previous years by Artemis under the company’s former name—Agrilyst.
The survey is open to all speciality crop growers and operators of enterprise farms, including operators of greenhouses, high tunnel farms, indoor facilities, and field growers, and will close for responses on October 15, 2019.
The purpose of the new and improved survey is to give enterprise specialty crop farmers an industry voice around the most significant issues they are facing today. Artemis plans to use the survey responses to inform its first Global Ag Report. The report will provide an overview of the global specialty crop industry, as well as a deep dive into key topics such as production & operations, technology, and market outlook.
“Today we work with large international specialty crop farms that face a different set of challenges and opportunities than smaller, local operations,” said Allison Kopf, CEO of Artemis. “This report will dig into their pain points and market potential, to produce a comprehensive look into the global specialty crop industry. That is our priority in constructing our new survey for the Artemis Global Ag Report.”
Data from the survey will be supplemented with additional research from Artemis, and growers can use these shared insights as a resource for industry awareness, strategic planning and implementation of best practices in coming years.
Artemis is a trusted partner to some of the world’s largest farming companies. Since launching in 2015, it has seen strong customer growth with companies worth a collective $5 billion using the platform daily. Artemis has attracted a wide range of users that are foremost interested in the security, compliance, profitability, and potential to expand their operations. The company has also partnered with others in the agtech ecosystem, enabling users to further reduce risk across all areas of their business.
About Artemis
Founded in 2015, Artemis provides a world-class Cultivation Management Platform that enables owners and managers of enterprise horticulture facilities to drive efficiency, profits, and growth while ensuring security and regulatory compliance. With Artemis, users can manage workflow and daily tasks, register crop batches, trace food safety issues, manage workers, and leverage data insights to increase workforce efficiency and crop productivity.
The platform integrates easily with other software for climate control, shipping/logistics, accounting, ERP/MRP, CRM, and Point of Sale Commerce.
The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. For more information visit Artemis