VIDEO: Is the Future of Agriculture Micro-Farms?

July 2, 2021

Is the future of agriculture micro-farms? When the pandemic hit, the retail food landscape changed dramatically. With “big food” supplying most restaurants and grocery stores, they faced numerous challenges— from labor shortages, redistribution challenges to distribution sites with long travel times— causing many individuals to turn to smaller, local farms.

In this week’s episode of TheSquare Podcast, we have a curious conversation with Jeff Bednar, Owner and founder of Profound Microfarms and Profound Foods. The Profound family business started as a 2.6-acre farm in Texas growing leafy greens, edible flowers, culinary herbs, and microgreens in 17,000 sq ft of hydroponic greenhouses.

Source: Vertical Farm Daily

Affordable, Image-Based Crop Monitoring Using Smartphones and Microcontrollers

Smart Sensors From Purdue University

With a mission to deliver easy-to-use, rapid and affordable technologies to the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, Dr. Krishna Nemali and his research group at Purdue University are tackling crop-monitoring challenges facing hydroponic and flower growers. Of the group’s many research foci, image-based crop monitoring using smartphones and microcontrollers has been at the forefront of Purdue’s technological advancements for the CEA industry.

Image-based crop monitoring made practical and affordable
Image analysis is being used for monitoring plants in conventional, field-based agriculture through satellites, drones, and camera-mounted vehicles. However, these technologies are not practical for greenhouses and indoor farms due to the architecture of these facilities, which limits the movement of drones or camera-mounted vehicles over plants. Dr. Nemali and his research group are working to bring image-based crop monitoring on smartphones as handheld sensors. For installations where using cameras fixed to the growing systems is preferred (e.g. vertical farms with multi-tiered racking) or applications where continuous monitoring is useful, the research team is also building a system with a Raspberry Pi microcontroller and high-resolution camera, which sends the images to a central computer for processing and interpretation.

Left: Dr. Krishna Nemali. Right: smartphone sensor  

Compared image-based monitoring to human evaluation
To test the efficacy of image-based crop monitoring, the research team grew lettuce and tomatoes under optimal and suboptimal conditions. In a blind trial, crop growth was visually evaluated daily by people (using a rating system) and by image-based sensors. As Dr. Nemali explains, the image-based system recorded statistically significant differences in crop growth between optimal and sub-optimal conditions 3-4 days before the human eye could detect differences.

“When you regularly take these photos and develop growth curves, you can monitor how your crop is measuring up against expected optimal growth. If these images indicate an issue, growers can resolve this before it is too late,” says Dr. Nemali.

The images can also be used to assess nitrogen status, germination percentage, and rate, and color progression, allowing the grower to monitor crop health, planting material, and estimate the time to harvest. Plant nitrogen status is usually measured in a laboratory, which is expensive and time-consuming or using expensive chlorophyll meters. Dr. Nemali’s research developed accurate algorithms using images captured by smartphones and microcontrollers to rapidly estimate plant nitrogen status.

Different plant measurements can be measured using images collected by a smartphone or microcontroller 

Instantaneously assessing plant nitrogen 
“Imaging the benefits of instantaneously assessing plant nitrogen status in CEA industry. Growers can supply fertilizers based on plant needs and avoid over or under application rates,” says Dr. Nemali   

As these technologies are being developed at Purdue University, they will be made available to growers at a low cost, with any generated funds being poured back into further research and development. The smartphone app should be available in the spring of 2022, with a low purchase price and yearly license.

With photo-quality varying according to the camera, ambient light conditions, and distance from the crop, normalization processes have been incorporated into algorithms to ensure high-quality analyses. To account for differences in distance from the crop between imaging sessions, each photo is taken with a standard, measured object in the frame.

“Let’s say we have a red square with a known area of 25 cm2 and we place it beside the crop in each image. The computer will recognize that object, uses its area to determine the right pixel-area conversion and apply it to the plant. This creates a relative scale and eliminates height/distance altogether,” says Dr. Nemali.

To normalize for different light conditions, the technology considers different reflected wavelengths, both of which are affected by light intensity. By taking the ratio of two wavelengths, the setup can eliminate the effects of light intensity on the images altogether.

A demonstration of smartphone-based image technology can be viewed on Dr. Nemali’s website at this link.

Additional areas of research
Aside from image-based crop monitoring, Dr. Nemali’s research group is conducting extensive research on nitrogen management in hydroponically grown organic lettuce production.

“The yields of organic lettuce is usually lower compared to conventional production, because of challenges with nitrogen availability to plants in organic production. While organic lettuce does command a higher price, we still need to increase these yields to make it sustainable and organic produce more available to consumers,” explains Dr. Nemali.

 Other areas of research include the use of ultraviolet radiation and ozone to reduce the risk of E. coli contamination in lettuce, and the optimization of production techniques to improve the nutritional density of leafy greens.  

For more information on ongoing research in Dr. Nemali’s research group:
Dr. Krishna Nemali
Assistant Professor in Controlled Environment Agriculture
Purdue University
https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/cea/ 

24 June 2021
Author: Rose Seguin
© HortiDaily.com

Meet The Woman Reconnecting African Communities With Locally-Grown Food

Editor’s note: The following information is derived from an interview Agritecture conducted with Claudia S. Ondo, Owner & General Manager at La Ferme Urbaine Okoume. Visit their website or contact the team to learn more about or to partner with La Ferme Urbaine Okoume.

From College To Agricultural Entrepreneur

After completing her studies in Political Science at the University of Montreal, Claudia S. Ondo was contemplating the next phase of her adventure in order to make a positive impact on global politics, the environment, and on communities.

After spending that summer in Libreville, she was dumbfounded with the discovery that her native country of Gabon was extremely dependent on food imports. She highlights that “local agricultural production covers less than 35% of [the population’s] needs, and food imports are growing by 11% each year.”

Image sourced from La Ferme Urbaine Okoume

Claudia shares that “Gabon is a very small country - small population, only about 2 million inhabitants - but, a rich country in terms of resources. We have lots of wood and oil, so most of the working population is directed to the public and private sectors. The agriculture sector is left out.”

Drawing from her political science education, she saw an opportunity to offer the Gabonese people a sustainable agricultural model that not only “met this need for local fruits and vegetables, but also offered up a solution for youth unemployment and encouraged the Gabonese people to take an interest in agriculture.” 

Whilst small in scale (only 10 meters in diameter), La Ferme Urbaine Okoume’s hydroponic microfarm produces an astonishing 300 lettuces and herbs per week. Claudia comments that the farm produces “mostly lettuces, romaine, and iceberg, alongside parsley, coriander, basil, oregano, and arugula.” 

Alongside this technological approach, the team at La Ferme also wanted to take advantage of Gabon’s rich soil and weather conditions. “We have an experimental garden in which we grow tomatoes, green onions, lettuces, and now zucchinis too.” This garden is experimental because the team is still testing out rotating crops throughout the year, depending on the seasons. 

The team not only prioritizes local production, they also want to deliver organic produce. With a mix of hydroponic and greenhouse set-ups, the farm is also still able to utilize natural sunlight and collect rainwater for the crops. 

Claudia shares that produce brought into Gabon is not supervised, and, as a result, you can’t trust the quality. “We don't know where it comes from. We don't know what has been used. What is the process? How has it been cleaned?” This is a huge reason that customers come to La Ferme Urbaine Okoume. 

The key was to form a stronger relationship between the Gabonese people and urban agriculture. To Claudia, hydroponics seemed to be the perfect combination to achieve these goals, and to build greener cities and communities for future generations.

Image sourced from La Ferme Urbaine Okoume

The team calls it their “little green paradise.” 

So far, the farm has been able to add to the neighborhood a place for relaxation, and positive thinking. “It allows many city dwellers to reconnect with nature, agriculture, and the process of growing a plant. What does a tomato plant look like? What does a seedling look like? How are in-soil crops like carrots, potatoes or onions harvested?”

The construction of this farm is encouraging curiosity. Today, more and more people are contacting La Ferme Urbaine for viewings, schools are desiring workshops, individuals are coming in to learn how to grow their own plants at home, and restaurant owners are delighted to know where their products come from.”

Claudia and the La Ferme Urbaine team are grateful to Agritecture for making their dream a practical reality.

Having studied agribusiness in university, Claudia had tons of practical knowledge on how to transform an idea into a business. But, what she didn’t have was the agricultural knowledge and expertise in hydroponics and urban agriculture.

Image sourced from La Ferme Urbaine Okoume

After being awarded a grant by The World Bank, Claudia knew she needed more agricultural expertise to tackle this vast mission of transforming Gabon. Whilst Claudia initially looked for a local company, after stumbling across Agritecture in a newsletter, she felt an instant connection. She not only found a team with shared values, but also one with international agricultural expertise. This was key to her given the Gabonese context.

With over 6 years of experience in agriculture, specifically between the North American and MENA-GCC region, Agritecture’s Director of Operations, Yara Nagi, shares her experience working with La Ferme Urbaine. “Agritecture guided Claudia on equipment selection, the bill of materials for the farm, and management planning. The model was to grow fresh, local lettuces and herbs that are not available in that same quality to restaurants, hotels, and public markets. Guiding clients on making the best use of their grant money and avoiding costly mistakes fits within our social mission to help young farmers make a positive impact on their community.”

On her experience working with Agritecture, Claudia adds that “as someone who had a political & agribusiness background, but no prior agricultural experience, Agritecture really gave me the assurance and guidance I needed in this new business and adventure.”

Image sourced from La Ferme Urbaine Okoume

Since being hit by the pandemic, the farm still runs 24/7. However, they’ve changed their primary clientele. Today, they serve more restaurants than hotels. Claudia adds that “95% of our customers are restaurants. 5% are just individuals who want fresh products.”

Additionally, the team has come into contact with the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation run by the First Lady of Gabon, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba. The two teams have come together to scale up urban farming in the region and create more revenue streams for locals. 

Not only this, their partnership empowers women by highlighting how young women in Gabon can run their own businesses. 

Claudia shares that “this field was thought to be exclusively for a certain category of people, so, the fact that it’s a women-led business speaks volumes. We’re often congratulated by our customers when we deliver lettuce in stores or to restaurants, because they’re surprised to see women in farmer outfits. 

Yara shares that what makes this farm and team unique is “the vision of the entrepreneur, Claudia. It is always incredibly inspiring to see women of our generation lead agricultural projects like these, but this project in specific has a vision of shifting the local food system and making produce more accessible. I think there are many more projects like these to come.”

No Dirt? No Farm? No Problem. The Potential For Soil-Less Agriculture Is Huge

By CATHARINE HAMM

At Plenty’s South San Francisco hydroponics growing facility, a million plants produce leafy greens that are sold through area grocery stores. The company plans to open a farm in Compton this year.

(Plenty)

Imagine kale that doesn’t taste like a punishment for something you did in a previous life. Envision leafy greens that aren’t limp from their journey to your plate. Anticipate the intense flavor of just-picked herbs that kick up your latest culinary creation a notch or three.

Then consider the possibility that such advancements will play a role in altering the face of agriculture, becoming sources of flavorful, fresh produce in “food deserts” and making farm-to-table restaurant cuisine possible because produce is grown on the premises, even in urban areas.

This is the potential and the promise of hydroponics (a term that also includes aeroponics and aquaponics systems), the soil-less cultivation of crops in controlled environments. It’s a growing industry — $9.5 billion in sales is expected to nearly double in the next five years — that stems, in part, from concerns about growing enough food to feed a worldwide population expected to hit 10 billion in the next 30 years.

The growing method isn’t new. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, dating to the 6th century B.C., maybe a precursor to today’s hydroponics, if they existed. (Historians disagree on that as well as where the gardens were.) Then, as now, technology is a key to giving growers, not Mother Nature, more control overproduction.

The size of today’s systems varies. They might be as simple and compact as an in-home system that’s about the size of a couple of loaves of bread stacked on top of each other. Some of the growing popularity of those units may be connected to the pandemic, according to Paul Rabaut, director of marketing for AeroGarden, which produces systems for in-home crop production.

“As soon as the pandemic was declared in mid-March and the quarantine took effect, we saw immediate growth spikes, unlike anything we’d ever seen before,” he said. Those spikes resulted, he said, from the need for entertainment beyond Netflix and jigsaw puzzles, a desire to minimize trips to the grocery store and the promise of teachable moments for kids now schooled at home.

At the other end of the spectrum are large urban farms. Plenty, for instance, has a South San Francisco hydroponics growing facility where a million plant sites produce crops, some of which are sold through area grocery stores. The company hopes to open a farm in Compton this year that’s expected to be about the size of a big-box store and will grow the equivalent of 700 acres of food.

Plenty scientists, engineers and growers at work in their South San Francisco hydroponics growing facility.

(Plenty)

“It’s a super vibrant community with a rich agricultural history,” Nate Storey, a cofounder of the vertical farming company, said of the Compton facility. “It also happens to be a food desert.

“Americans eat only about 30% of what they should be eating as far as fresh foods,” he said. “We started this company because we realized the world needed more fresh fruits and vegetables.”

As different as hydroponics growing systems are, most have this in common: The plants thrive because of the nutrients they receive and the consistency of the environment and can produce crops of fresh leafy greens and other vegetables, various herbs and sometimes fruits.

Such controlled-environment agriculture is part of the larger trend of urban farms, recognized last year by the May opening of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. The farms’ proximity to larger markets means produce can be delivered quickly to consumers, whether they’re grocery shoppers, airline passengers, students or communities in need or restaurants, an industry that has been devastated in the last year.

Today’s micro-and mega-farms have taken on increased importance, partly because of world hunger, which will increase as the population grows.

Add increasing urbanization that is gobbling available agricultural land in many countries, mix in climate change and the scramble for water to grow crops — as much as 70% of the world’s water is used for agriculture — and the planet may be at a tipping point.

No single change in the approach to feeding the world will shift the balance by itself.

Hydroponic farming is “a solution,” said Alexander Olesen, a cofounder of Babylon Micro farms in Virginia, which uses its small growing units to help corporate cafeterias, senior living centres, hotels and resorts provide fresh produce, “but they are not the solution.”

Babylon Micro farms in Virginia provides fresh produce for corporate cafeterias, senior living centers, hotels and resorts.

(Babylon Micro-Farms Inc.)

For one thing, not all crops are viable. Nearly everything can be grown using hydroponics but some crops, such as wheat, some root vegetables (including carrots, beets and onions), and melons and vining crops, are impractical. The easiest crops to grow: leafy greens, including spinach and lettuce; microgreens; herbs such as basil, cilantro, oregano and marjoram; some vegetables, such as green peppers and cucumbers; and certain fruits, including tomatoes and strawberries.

Although hydroponic farming means crops grow faster — thus increasing output — the process comes with a significant carbon footprint, according to “The Promise of Urban Agriculture,” a report by the Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Marketing Service and Cornell University Small Farms Program. Lights generate heat, which then must be removed by cooling. Lettuce grown in traditional greenhouses is far cheaper, the report says.

If these crops can be grown traditionally — in a garden or in a commercial field — why bother with growing systems that are less intuitive than planting seeds, watering and harvesting? Among the reasons:

Climate control: Such indoor agriculture generally means consistent light, temperatures, nutrients and moisture for crops no longer held hostage by nature’s cycles of drought, storms and seasons.

Environmental friendliness: Pesticides generally aren’t used and thus create no harmful runoff, unlike field-grown crops.

Productivity: Leafy greens tend to be cool-season crops, but in a controlled environment, it’s an any-time-of-year crop without the worry of depleting the soil because of overuse because, of course, there is no soil.

Use of space: AeroFarms, a former steel mill in Newark, N.J., boasts that it can produce 2 million pounds of food each year in its 70,000 square feet, or about 1.3 acres. California’s Monterey County, by contrast, uses nearly 59,000 acres — out of 24.3 million acres statewide of ranches and farms — to grow its No. 1 crop, which is leaf lettuce valued at $840.6 million, its 2019 crop report showed.

AeroFarms in Newark, N.J. boasts it can produce 2 million pounds of food each year at its 70,000-square-foot facility in Newark, N.J.

(AeroFarms)

Food safety: In E. coli outbreaks in late October and early November of last year, fingers pointed to romaine lettuce that sickened consumers in 19 states, including California. In November and December of 2019, three other outbreaks of the bacterial illness were traced to California’s Salinas Valley. A Food and Drug Administration study, released in May with results from that trio of outbreaks, “suggest(s) that a potential contributing factor has been the proximity of cattle,” whose faeces often contain the bacteria and can find its way into water systems.

That’s less of an issue with crops in controlled-environment agriculture, said Alex Tyink, president of Fork Farms of Green Bay, Wis., which produces growing systems suitable for homes and schools.

“In the field, you can’t control what goes where,” he said, including wildlife, livestock or even birds that may find their way into an open growing area.

And as for workers, “The human safety approaches that we take [with] people in our farm make it hard for them to contaminate even if they wanted to,” he said.

“Before people walk in, they gown up, put their hair in nets, beards in nets, put on eye covering and bootie covers for their shoes, then walk through a water bath.”

None of the statistics matter, though, unless the quality of soil-less crops matches or exceeds that produced traditionally.

Not a contest, new-age growers say. Flavors of leafy greens, for example, tend to be more detectable and, in some cases, more intense.

So much so that when AeroFarms introduced its baby kale in a New York grocery store, Marc Oshima, a cofounder and chief marketing officer, says he saw a woman do what he called a “happy dance” when she sampled this superfood. The version that AeroFarms produces is lighter and has a “sweet finish,” Oshima said, compared with adult kale grown in traditional ways that some say make the superfood fibrous and bitter.

Storey, the cofounder of Plenty, judged his Crispy Lettuce mix successful when his children got into a “rolling-on-the-floor fistfight” over a package of it.

Some credit for that flavor can be attributed to the time from harvest to market. Arizona and California are the top lettuce producers in the U.S., but by the time the greens get to other parts of the country, they have lost some of their oomph. AeroFarms and Plenty, for instance, distribute their commercial products to nearby grocery stores in New York and the Bay Area, respectively, where their time to market is significantly reduced.

And when was the last time you had a salad on an aeroplane flight that didn’t taste like water gone bad? Before the pandemic constricted airline traffic, AeroFarms was growing greens to be served to passengers on Singapore Airlines flights from New York’s JFK. The fresh vegetables travelled just five miles from the warehouse to Singapore’s catering kitchen, a new twist on the farm to (tray) tabletop.

Because the turnaround from harvest to market is shorter, Storey said his products often last several weeks when refrigerated.

Leafy green vegetables are grown by AeroFarms.

(Emily Hawkes)

And perhaps best of all? Growers say that because the greens have a flavorsome peppery, some like mustard — salad dressing may be optional, perhaps dispossessed in favor of the flavor of naked greens.

Getting consumers interested in vegetables and incorporating those foods into their diets is especially important, growers say, because of skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, especially for populations in food deserts.

Tyink grew up in rural Wisconsin but moved to New York to pursue a career in opera. By chance, he sampled some produce from a rooftop garden that he called life-altering. “My eating habits changed because [the greens] changed my emotional connection to food,” he said.

His exposure to homelessness and poverty on the streets of New York also focused his attention on what people consume and why. Price and convenience often drive bad food decisions and unhealthy habits.

Young farmers in training can help change those habits; some of Fork Farms’ systems are used in schools and other nonprofit organizations for children. Kids become accidental ambassadors for the nutrient-rich crops, and the fruits of their labors go to school cafeterias or to local food distribution centres in their communities.

“I really think when you lose fresh, locally produced food, you lose something of [the] culture,” said Lee Altier, professor of horticulture at Chico State University, where he has been working with students to develop its aquaponics program. “I think it is so important when communities have an awareness … that this is for their social integrity.”

As for the future, much still needs to be done to put such products in the right hands at the right time. That requires investment, innovation and technology to perfect the systems and keep costs under control, never mind persuading buyers and consumers that food that’s healthy can also be satisfying.

Is it a puzzle worth solving? Storey thinks so. “I want to live in a world where [we create] delicious, amazing things,” he said, “knowing that they are not coming at a cost that we don’t want to pay.”

About Catharine Hamm

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Catharine Hamm is the former Travel editor for the Los Angeles Times and became a special contributor in June 2020. She was born in Syracuse, N.Y., to a peripatetic family whose stops included Washington, D.C.; Honolulu; and Manila. Her varied media career has taken her from McPherson, Kan., to Kansas City, Mo., San Bernardino, Salinas and L.A. Hamm has twice received individual Lowell Thomas Awards, and the Travel section has been recognized seven times during her tenure as editor. Her favourite place? Always where she’s going next.

US - INDIANIA - Vertical Farm Is On The Way Up In Nappanee

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by Steve Grinczel

October 23, 2020

It's harvest time throughout Michiana.

Then again, it's always harvest time at Micro Farms LLC in Nappanee, where growing season for tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers includes every day from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

No matter what the weather is outside, the inside of Micro Farms' futuristic, squared-off, Venlo Dutch greenhouse is as balmy as a pleasant summer evening. The facility covers just one-quarter of an acre of land, but the output of produce sustains the cash-and-carry business managed by Dion Graber.

"We have the best of all seasons in Indiana here inside, so that's what's really nice," he said.

Cucumbers and lettuce are harvested on a daily basis and tomatoes and peppers are picked three times a week.

"With most of your outdoor stuff, some things harvest earlier in the season, but basically, you have four months of harvest, so they're all done now. We have 12, and that's what really sets us apart," Graber said. "It is really hard to grow in winter, with a lot less lighting and stuff, so your production is down, but we're still able to produce fresh produce when it's snowing outside."

Evidence of greenhouse-like structures dates back to the 1400s, but Graber's facility—known as a vertical farm—has more in common with science fiction than archeology.

Micro Farms' hundreds of plants are grown in a high-tech, aeroponic-hydroponic system, which means their roots never touch a speck of dirt.

Seeds are germinated in foam cubes and eventually moved to the main growing area where they reach up to the underside of the pitched roof. Four varieties of lettuce grow in patented plastic cups, developed by Micro Farms, that fit into wide PVC tubes.

"Nothing is sitting in water," Graber said. "Our tubes are a combination of aeroponics and hydroponics. There's a nozzle that comes down the middle of each tube and sprays out. The cups hold the cube of lettuce, and then the water just drips down through and the roots grow into the middle of the tube."

Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are rooted in rows of large, rockwool growing medium cubes set on the floor.

"With that, you have fewer chances for diseases," Graber said.

Non-stinging bumblebees are brought in to pollinate the plants and other natural means are used to control pests. No chemical growth or pesticide inputs are used, Graber said.

Tomato vines produce optimally for six to eight months and average about 45 to 55 feet in length. Cucumber plants average about 3 inches of growth per day and plants eventually stand 18 feet tall. Pepper plants get up to 15 feet.

While water is obviously key component of a hydroponic operation, greenhouses typically use far less water to grow the same plant cultivated outdoors.

"We also collect rain water off of this roof and the building next door to feed our plants," Graber said. "Close to 80 percent of our water is rain water. We have about 35,000 gallons worth of storage."

The watering system, located in the basement, is tailored to the needs of each crop with nutrients Graber compared to over-the-counter, human health supplements.

Graber grew up on his family's nearby farm that transitioned from dairy to spe-cialty beef cattle when he was a youngster. His father, Loren, became interested in hydroponics after reading an article about the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where they have been growing and abundance of vegetables indoors without soil or "fairy dust," according to FarmFlavor.com, since 1982.

"That really intrigued him so he kind of just stayed with it, and 25 years later he and his agronomist, Steve Kiefer, decided to go into the greenhouse business, and here we are, six years in now," Graber said. "I was working on the farm with the cows and doing custom hay, and helped build the greenhouse.

"I wasn't planning on working here, but then it just all came together and decided to give it a shot."

In addi-tion to being self-taught, Graber crammed his way through Arizona State University remote classes on growing tomatoes and peppers indoors.

As arable farmland continues to dwindle and populations grow, hydroponic agriculture has long been studied as a potential solution to increased demand on the world's food supply. Hydroponic plants are generally considered three to 10 times more productive than outdoor soil-based plants. According to Neil Mattson, of Cornell University's School of Integrative Plant Science, 20 to 50 times more lettuce per acre can be produced in a greenhouse than in a field.

In a recent LAist.com story, Plenty farms, a San Francisco-based startup, claimed its state-of-the-art vertical system can grow 350 times more produce per square foot than a conventional farm can.

In 2006, Epcot set a world record with 32,000 tomatoes produced by a single plant over a 16-month period.

"We're looking at how to grow things indoors and what works best in this area," Graber said. "This is basically a university for growing. I've tried close to 60-some different kinds of lettuce, four different kinds of tomatoes, six different kinds of peppers and four different kinds of cucumbers just to see what works best in this environment."

Graber makes due with whatever sunshine Mother Nature will provide, while supplementing minimally with artificial light.

"You actually have a little more wattage of sunlight in winter than you think with all the reflection," he said. "That's why everything inside of this greenhouse is powder-coated white because 1 percent more reflection creates 1 percent more yield, and you've got rays bouncing all over the place in here.

"It's definitely big for us to be able to grow fresh produce all year-round."

Graber's mature produce looks uniform and flawless, and he said it compares favorably with similar products grown outdoors.

"We feel we're pretty close to garden-taste," he said. "Some people prefer different flavors, and our lettuce definitely sets us apart just because of how fresh it is. It's harvested less than eight hours before you get it."

Graber sells his produce on-site on Wednesday and Friday afternoons with an order-and-drive-through set-up patterned after the one the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain has been employing during the pandemic.

"Even in the dead of winter, you never have to get out of your vehicle," Graber said. "We also supply some mom-and-pop grocery stores, a couple of restaurants and a bakery."

Micro Farms is also part of a start-up, online delivery service called Local Farms Direct (localfarms direct.com) that is designed to deliver fresh produce and a wide variety of fresh baked goods from Amish bakers and other private bakeries to work environments, such as office complexes.

"One of the best things about this job is you see new growth and progress every day with your plants, along with just being able to get your customers some healthy food throughout the year," Graber said. "We have a very loyal base of customers."

With advancements in LED lighting, hydroponic producers are able to grow produce in almost any enclosed space, including abandoned buildings, warehouses and even caves. Futurists have long envisioned the day when urban crops for big cities will be grown indoors in tall buildings occupying a real estate footprint that's a fraction of a farm field.

Indoor farming was a $23.75 billion industry in 2016 and expected to grow to $40.25 billion in 2020, according to MarketsandMarkets.com study.

"This is definitely just the beginning," Graber said. "I would have said, when this first was built, we were one of the most advanced facilities in Indiana if not the U.S. We've probably been way surpassed by now because this industry is growing very fast.

"It's food and people have to have food to live."

GP Solutions Partners With Soilless Science to Create Premier Brand of “Living Soils”

Product line will heighten company’s brand in $262 billion organic food market

Corona, CA – March 19, 2019 – GP Solutions (OTC:GWPD), a leading developer of modular automated micro-farms, has partnered with Soilless Science to create a proprietary lineup of premium “living soils.”

These unique soil-less mediums contain no dirt and will be certified pathogen free. The mixtures will contain beneficial micro-organisms that form the foundation of highly active “living soils” that will produce abundant, healthy crops of all types.

Soil mixtures will be developed for a variety of crops - each with its own unique, beneficial composition.

The mixtures are vegan based, and use no animal products. Compare this to other products that use fish and animal waste products, which inherently contain harmful pathogens and bacteria, and can contaminate crops and potentially cause widespread illness.

As the public becomes more aware of the dangers of traditional farming and the potential harm from “dirty” soil, consumers will start demanding that their food is grown in controlled environments using healthy soil mediums.

GP Solutions will be providing this proprietary soil-less mixture to its customers of GrowPod automated farms, as well as to the general public within the near future.

GrowPod, by GP Solutions, is a unique, stackable, modular indoor micro-farm that grows clean produce in a controlled environment. By utilizing specialized air and water filtration, and its proprietary pathogen-free living soils, the GrowPod system can deliver some of the highest quality produce in the world.

“The traditional approach was to add chemicals, fertilizers, weed killers and other dangerous additives to soil and crops,” said George Natzic, President of GP Solutions. “Today, we know this can be very harmful to the public. That’s why I’m proud to be developing new living soils that are pathogen free and full of beneficial nutrients to produce high velocity, healthy crops of all kinds.”

For more information, visit: www.growpodsolutions.com, or call (855) 247-8054.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes statements considered “forward-looking” within securities laws. These statements represent Company’s current judgments, but are subject to uncertainties that could cause results to differ. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements, which reflect management’s opinions only as of today’s date. Company is not obligated to revise statements in light of new information.

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Email: info@growpodsolutions.com  

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What Makes Your Lettuce Look and Taste So Good? It May Be the Fish

Karel Holloway, Special Contributor

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That perfect lettuce in the clamshell box at the grocery store may owe its deep color and rich taste to fish.

More and more produce grown aquaponically is pouring into the highest-end restaurants, farmers markets and grocery stores in North Texas. Hydroponics, a similar water-based growing method, is increasing as well, providing the perfect produce prized by chefs and consumers.

One innovation is "living lettuce." The lettuce is harvested with the roots still attached. The roots harbor water and nutrients that continue feeding the plant, giving it a much longer shelf life. Mostly green leafy vegetables, like lettuce, and some herbs are grown aquaponically or hyrdroponically. Microgreens and edible flowers also are part of the mix. Larger vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are grown in some bigger facilities.

These types of farms require far less space, water and artificial chemicals than traditionally grown produce. Entrepreneurs and enthusiasts see water-based growing as the future in supplying urban areas.

Profound Microfarms owner Jeff Bednar harvests lettuce inside the hydroponics greenhouse at Profound Microfarms in Lucas. 

(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

Fish or no fish?

Aquaponics uses fish, usually tilapia or koi, to provide nutrient-rich water that is circulated to plant roots. The plants clean the water, which is pumped back to the fish tanks.

Goldfish tank in the aquaponics greenhouse at Profound Microfarms in Lucas. 

(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

Please, no jokes about lettuce growing in fish poop. The solids from the fish are cleaned from the water before it ever reaches the plants. Ammonia in the water is refined into nitrogen that feeds the plants. Aquaponics systems can be outdoors, but commercial growers usually use greenhouses.

Hydroponics systems don't use fish, instead depending on a mix of nutrients that are endlessly recirculated. And, please, no marijuana jokes. 

The systems don't use herbicides or pesticides and are less subject to contamination.

Lettuce growing in the aquaponics greenhouse at Breeden Fresh Farms in Terrell. 

(Erin Booke)

Upstart ideas

Harrison Breeden, 27, is president of Breeden Fresh Farms in Terrell. His aquaponics greenhouse produces 6,000 heads of lettuce a week on less than an acre of land.

"I'm passionate about this," Breeden says.

He had an interest in alternative ways to produce high-quality food and studied agricultural resource management at Texas State University. There was no class in aquaponics, but it was presented in some class materials. Intrigued, he put together a small system to see how it worked and was hooked. He decided he'd like to start an aquaponics farm, and his parents agreed to help. 

"They believe it is the future," Breeden says.

The aquaponics greenhouse at Profound Microfarms uses koi fish and goldfish. 

(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

'Let's move to the country'

Richard and Sharon Hastings of East Texas Aquaponics have a similar story.

They worked in technology and lived in a suburban home in an increasingly crowded Austin. Their kids were grown and they were thinking ahead to retirement.

"We certainly wanted to look at doing something different. We were getting more and more interested in food," Richard Hastings says. "I said, 'Let's move to the country.'"

While they thought it was a good idea, they weren't sure what to do. Neither had farmed and they weren't really interested in traditional growing. They had a large koi pond in their yard, which prompted them to look into aquaponics.

They studied it and decided it had potential as a business and bought a small farm in Mineola to begin their aquaponic adventure growing lettuce, herbs and edible flowers. They now have a 6,600-square-foot greenhouse and plan to expand. Most of their produce goes to East Texas grocery stores and farmers markets, and they also contribute to the East Texas Food Bank.

Profound Microfarms owner Jeff Bednar harvests lettuce  inside the hydroponics greenhouse. 

(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

A sustainable option

It was a small aquaponics kitchen experiment with his daughter, Lily, that led Jeff Bednar to create Profound Microfarms in Lucas. 

He was working in real estate, tired of driving all over the area and missing his kids. He began researching and taking classes and decided an aquaponics farm was the business he wanted to start.

Growing crops traditionally didn't seem to be a viable business model, he says. Soil is depleted, it takes a lot of water, and is too subject to the weather, he says.

"I wanted to do something more sustainable for the future," he says.

He grows more than 150 types of produce, most of which goes to Dallas area restaurants such as Petra and the Beast, Cedars Social and more. Chefs are interested because they can get different types of greens when they want them and it's really, really fresh.

And because it's fresh, there is less waste.

"Chefs tell me that a typical box of lettuce from farms has about 40 percent waste. Ours is about 5 percent," Bednar says.

Swiss chard grows in a hydroponics system greenhouse at Profound Microfarms. 

(Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

A growing trend

What the three growers have in common is the desire to start a sustainable business that will help with food supply issues. The number of those like them is growing, though most of the evidence is anecdotal.

"We are seeing an uptick in young people looking to get back into agriculture," says Chris Higgins, owner and editor of Urban Ag News. 

Hennen Cummings, a professor at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, concurs. He teaches aquaponics and has seen an increase in enrollment. Classes have grown to the point that students jostle for position in the Hydrotron, the university's name for the aquaponics lab.

Bednar thinks water-based crops will always be a small part of the market, but already there are restaurants and some grocery stores that get much of their greens from local water-based farms. Breeden supplies several large chains and is working to provide produce to school districts.

And even though the product is more expensive than traditional lettuce, it makes up part of the difference with lower transportation costs and less waste.

"It's not going to solve world hunger," Higgins says, "but there is value there."

Purdue Grad Wants His Invention To Reduce Food Deserts

Purdue Grad Wants His Invention To Reduce Food Deserts

May 24, 2018, by Randy Spieth

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A new appliance for the home could soon get mass produced, allowing owners to grow fresh fruits and vegetables without ever leaving their homes. Scott Massey, the CEO and co-founder of Heliponix, has just unveiled his first GroPod and wants to see it become an appliance to tackle hunger.

A GroPod is a little smaller than a standard dishwasher or oven. It uses hydroponic technology to grow seed pods, similar to single-serve coffee containers.

“When you buy a pod for it, and you plug it in, your GroPod already knows what you put in," Massey said. "Different plants have different environmental preferences and the unit will find the average temperature, light cycle, humidity for your variety, among many other variables, and give you specifically the best growing conditions based of what you like to eat.”

Massey first worked on self-sufficient plant growing while on a NASA project as a student at Purdue. He has also used hydroponic technology to start farms in the western Africa country of Togo. Today, he has help start one of the largest farm systems in the region, with space at two Togo universities, a co-working space, and at the U.S. Embassy compound.

“One system for $300 can grow about 500 pounds of vegetables, annually," said Massey. "That’s enough to feed a family.”

Massey said once you see a child suffer from malnutrition, it's a difficult image to get out of your head. That's why he wanted to help.

The creator of the GroPod said he'd like to see the appliance come hand-in-hand with federal housing assistance programs. He came up with the idea after an internship on the El Paso, Tex. and Juarez, Mexico border. There he was building Section 8 housing and saw what a food desert can do to people.

The SNAP program could serve as financial assistance to have seed pods mailed to the homes of low-income families.

"The only thing they had was a McDonald's and a convenience store," Massey said. "After time, you just get obese."

Massey unveiled his first finished GroPod Thursday. He's using it as part of a demonstration to people and organizations working to improve food options in the city at the Flanner House. Some investors were also expected to be on hand.

The finished product is being given to his customer later Thursday night. He added he has many more orders in for the appliance.

Massey, who is from Evansville, is discussing selling the invention to a mass producer of kitchen and household appliances. He said he believes his creation could be on shelves everywhere in a little over a year.

“This is designed to be a common appliance that can be integrated into any home," said Massey. "It does not to be plumbed in. It does not need a special outlet. It only requires Wi-Fi and a standard 110-volt outlet.”

Filed in: News

Good Life Growing Wants To Bring Back North City, One Micro-Farm At A Time

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Raising North St. Louis

Good Life Growing Wants To Bring Back North City, One Micro-Farm At A Time

By Tiffany Shawn

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James Forbes, Micah Pfotenhauer, James Hillis and Jack Redden work in one of the hoop houses of Good Life Growing at the corner of Sarah and Evans avenues in the city's historic Ville neighborhood.    

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

According to the USDA, food deserts are parts of the country void of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.

The local business Good Life Growing is combatting urban decay and food insecurity by way of urban farming. Located northwest of Saint Louis University in the city of St. Louis, it is working to bring healthy food to local food deserts. Sitting on almost two acres, Good Life Growing is focused on methods of organic farming, like aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics.

"We convert vacant, neglected urban spaces into thriving, productive micro-farms,” said co-founder and CEO James Forbes.

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants) that grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment rather than soil.

“I got my start in sustainable agriculture accidentally after graduating from Mizzou’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in ‘08, but I never planned to use the degree," Forbes said.

He was inspired to learn more haphazardly while watching an episode of "Doomsday Prepper" about surviving the apocalypse by using a solar panel and junk to make an aquaponics system. After his college days, Forbes and friends would practice building systems in one another’s backyards, and it was mind blowing.

“You can catch rainwater and raise fish and plants in any setting – rural or urban, indoors and outdoors, hot or cold," Forbes said.

City dwellers often have to live by way of convenience, lacking access or education to obtain healthy food.

"People load up on unhealthy food, which is why I think North St. Louis has such a higher rate of diabetes, liver failure, heart disease, obesity, asthma, etc.,” Forbes said. “It’s a compounding problem. Convenient food is not actually cheap. It adds up over the long run, and adds insane medical bills and prescriptions."

Poor health can lead people to self-medicate, which may lead to addiction, then fueling crime and narcotics trafficking.

“Because people living in food deserts lack access to food and dignifying work, it leads, from my observations, to the many social issues plaguing society today," Forbes said.

Good Life Growing aims to inspire, train, educate and incubate aspiring social enterprises to take up empty, blighted land that developers and investors ignore and turn them into thriving food-production organizations.

"I hope that people copy our urban farming model and spread it in every economically and resource-depressed part of the planet,” Forbes said. “Food injustice, to me, is one of the greatest tragedies that exist in the developed world, and I believe St. Louis is a microcosm.”

Forbes realizes it takes a village to improve the village.

His mentor, Ellis Bell, a 5th generation sharecropper from Mississippi, supported Forbes’ vision while he worked for him.

“He hired me on to his insurance brokerage and had me focused on agricultural insurance. I attended St. Louis Agriculture Club meetings with him,” Forbes said.

“From those meetings I got hooked up with the developers working on Farmworks, met a ton of great people and ultimately got access to our property in The Ville. I thought blending his concept of connecting youth to agriculture in an urban setting would be a good way to repurpose property and provide a skilled trade component. Lastly, he had me pursue expanding his non-profit organization that aimed at getting rural African-American youth exposed to agricultural studies so they can get access to the growing agriculture business sector.

He also relies on his aunt Ruth Smith, former president and CEO of Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St. Louis, for daily guidance, community engagement and empowerment, and Alderman Sam Moore helped navigate city politics. His partners Matt Stoyanov, Bobby Forbes, and James Hillis, constantly help him to improve operations, and Roy Roberson, Jack McGee, and Janette Kohl are North St. Louis residents who keep him informed.

"On one acre of land, a family can generate over $40,000 a year. One acre equals three vacant lots in the city,” Forbes said. “They just have to learn how to grow, wash, package, and sell. With urban agriculture, we can introduce a new system of self-sustainability, healthier food options, occupied land, rising property values, better housing and schools, legal enterprise – and more businesses will move in."

Forbes noted that urban farmers with small plots face obstacles getting into the for-profit sector of the agriculture industry.

"It’s been historically geared to wealthy, predominantly white, rural people. I tell kids in The Ville all the time that there is a $5.2 trillion pie in food retail/production, and 99 percent of that is coming from the top 10 percent of the wealthiest food producers. The bottom 90 percent don't even touch the industry because we all assume farmers are poor and work too hard,” he said.

“I hope to see 1,000 families get into micro-farming, unify under a local collaborative of brands, retake and then reinvest in their communities. I'd then hope that, with good health and money, North St. Louis and other blighted urban cores can begin the long journey of unraveling systemic oppression."

Microfarm Startup Wins Pitch Competition

Microfarm Startup Wins Pitch Competition

Mike Platania February 22, 2018

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Two food-based startups won a total of $11,000 Tuesday night at Randolph-Macon College. (Mike Platania)

A UVA-born startup focused on water-based gardening is set to sow more seeds after taking home $10,000 in a pitch competition this week.

Charlottesville-based Babylon Micro-Farms, which makes a Keurig-like appliance for growing produce, won Dominion Energy Innovation Center’s 2018 Pitch Competition, held Tuesday at Randolph Macon College.

Startups pitched to a panel of judges that included Virginia BioTechnology Research Park president and CEO Carrie Roth and Startup Virginia executive director Bryan Bostic. The $10,000 prize was provided by the center, an Ashland-based office and coworking space for startups.

Founded in 2017, Babylon makes a “micro-farm,” which grows produce through hydroponics, a gardening method using nutrient-rich water instead of soil as a base to grow plants. Babylon has set up micro-farms in some Charlottesville eateries and UVA dining halls.

Other finalists were TMI Consulting, a Richmond-based firm focused on diversity in workplaces, and AnswersNow, an online service connecting parents of autistic children with therapists. AnswersNow was part of Richmond-based accelerator Lighthouse Labs’ 2017 class.

In addition to the startup competition, three R-MC students also pitched for a $1,000 prize, provided by the college’s The Edge Career Center.

Veg Head Foods, a vegan food truck concept by R-MC senior Sheridan Skurupey, won the student competition, beating out tutoring service Meta Language and Northern Virginia United FC, a semi-professional soccer team.

The competition was the second startup pitch contest in the region in recent months.

In November, Capital One held a competition for Lighthouse Labs’ latest class at its West Creek campus. RoundTrip, a non-emergency medical transportation company, won the $5,000 prize. A few weeks later, RoundTrip went live in the Richmond market.