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Darryn Keiller, Autogrow CEA And The Way Forward In A COVID-19 Reality
Autogrow is a New Zealand-based global technology company and a world leader in controlled environment farming
Autogrow is a New Zealand-based global technology company and a world leader in controlled environment farming. Most of the work they do is about moving farm operators from analog to digital management of the farm. They offer products for both smaller farms, like automation systems, and for newer, larger farms they offer a crop management platform FarmRoad and yield prediction for greenhouse based tomato production. Darryn Keiller, CEO of the company (photo right), talks about how the virus is impacting the industry and how their technologies can help growers post-COVID.
Dashboard FarmRoad
COVID-19 impacts
A major impact of COVID-19 is that virtually every greenhouse producer in the world relies on immigrant labour and there have been a lot of challenges to get labour forces across the borders everywhere. “There’s been high infection rates on large commercial greenhouse producers in North America.” There’s also been a concern about the safety of the produce.
The impacts of the virus have been very different for growers around the world. “For instance, we have two similar customers producing leafy greens and herbs, one in the US and one in Australia. They both supplied their produce to restaurants and specialty supermarkets and got hit really hard with those supermarkets and restaurants having to shut down. They had to find new ways of getting their product into the market. The one in the US started supplying directly to consumers, was able to pivot quickly. And unfortunately, the one in Australia is in a very remote location and did not have that option. They’re still operating but had to let a large portion of their staff go.”
Solutions
There were a lot of challenges in food production before COVID-19, but the virus does amplify those issues. To summarize it, farms have to become more efficient. Most of the industry is still analog, and Autogrow is creating new solutions to take growers into the digital realm. “It’s about how we apply software and data and artificial intelligence. In that regard, we’re having a lot of engagement from growers in Europe, the US, Mexico, Canada. All large enterprises looking for ways to advance the way that they operate their farms.”
Another thing that Darryn and his colleagues see it that the global crisis is invoking local business helping other local businesses. They are curious to see if those changes will stay, and expect that to become visible in the coming months or years. “And for us, it’s really about the growers who need help. Our focus is on them now. The last thirty years have been about the individual, now the situation requires us to work together and be more selfless.”
Vertical PAR
Action
The company has seen a little extra enquiry from the Middle East, but even more from India. People there are looking into hydroponics, looking to start up a hydroponic business for local productions. There is also more enquiry from South East Asia and parts of Europe. “People are taking more proactive action now, realising their own risk and wanting to do something about it.”
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Publication date: Fri 21 Aug 2020
Author: Marlies Guiljam
© HortiDaily.com
How Leafy Greens Growers Have Turned Food Safety Challenges Into Opportunities
Growing lettuce and other leafy greens in a controlled environment presents its own set of challenges and opportunities
July 30, 2020
Editor’s Note: This article is the second of a three-part series on food safety concerns in the production of leafy greens in a controlled environment.
Click here to check out Part One of the series, which covered the formation of the CEA Food Safety Coalition.
Growing lettuce and other leafy greens in a controlled environment presents its own set of challenges and opportunities. During United Fresh Live in June, Marni Karlin, Executive Director of the CEA Food Safety Coalition, moderated a discussion that outlined how indoor growers who make food safety a priority, rather than dismissing it as a problem unique to field-grown crops, can inadvertently create market opportunities for themselves. The panel featured growers of all types (greenhouses, vertical farms, and warehouses) and sizes. Here are a few insights from the discussion.
Don’t Overlook Irrigation and Growing Media
Jackie Hawkins, Senior Manager of Food Safety at BrightFarms, says irrigation water is likely potable if it comes from municipalities or wells. However, it can still be contaminated, so don’t assume it’s clean and forsake the necessary testing.“Test your incoming water, treat it if necessary, and test it again,” Hawkins says.
Growing media, as well, may not seem like a concern because many leafy greens producers are not growing in soil. “But the seeds might have been grown in media, so it’s important to do routine monitoring of your media as it comes into the greenhouse,” Hawkins says.
From Data Comes Solutions
Michael DeChellis, Co-Founder of Livingston Greens, a small indoor farm in Montana, says it’s critical for greenhouse producers to compile the data they’re able to collect from growing in a controlled environment to create a plan for developing a safer product.“
For small farms, working with other growers in the CEA Food Safety Coalition is a great opportunity,” DeChellis says. “Our members share data, and this culture of collaboration can help us identify ways to overcome challenges.”
For example, DeChellis cites a mold issue at Livingston Greens, which he addressed by using temperature and humidity data to highlight the problem area and the conditions that caused the problem.
Consider Design Upgrades
Simon Yevzelman, Managing Partner and Leader of Biosecurity at Planted Detroit, a vertical farm in the Motor City, says his company saw the concerns of food safety looming, so it opted to temporarily suspend production so it could enhance its production systems with food safety as a guiding principle.“
Thanks to those efforts, we are now in an expansion mode,” Yevzelman says.
Full Company Responsibility
Oscar Camacho, President of Superior Food Safety, a California-based consulting company, says any greenhouse production system should be designed to optimize best food safety practices.“
The system needs to work across the entire company,” Camacho says. “This means communication from one end of the production line to the other is critical.
Retailers and Consumers Care
Chris Livingston, General Counsel at Bowery Farming, a vertical farming company in New York, says the CEA Food Safety Coalition is currently developing a standard specific to controlled-environment production that addresses unique challenges such as water management and infrastructure.“
Our goal is to have a seal that members can use to show their customers they are complying with standards unique to our industry,” Livingston says. “We are also developing a research agenda based on food safety topics.”
Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series, which will focus on how the coronavirus pandemic added value to CEA-grown leafy greens.
FDA Releases Protocol on The Treatment of Agricultural Water
The Food and Drug Administration has a new protocol for the development and registration of treatments for water used on crops before harvest
July 30, 2020
The Food and Drug Administration has a new protocol for the development and registration of treatments for water used on crops before harvest.
( Courtesy FDA )
The FDA announced the protocol during a July 30 web seminar on its 2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action Plan, referring to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, which has caused 40 foodborne illness outbreaks from 2009 and 2018, according to the federal agency.
The FDA and Environmental Protection Agency worked on the protocol.“
This new protocol is a huge milestone for produce safety and for the Leafy Green Action Plan released by the FDA earlier this year,” Frank Yiannas, FDA deputy commissioner for food policy and response, said in the agency’s announcement. “Working together, the FDA and EPA have supported the development of this protocol that may ultimately help farmers address contamination issues in their water sources and protect consumers from foodborne illness.”
There are no registered antimicrobial treatment products authorized to control “microorganisms of public health significance” for agricultural fields, or treatment of irrigation water systems or ponds, according to an FDA news release.
The protocol is intended to help companies develop data on the effectiveness of their products on pathogens including E. coli and salmonella in preharvest agricultural water.“
Teams of FDA experts have been working collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to help protect agricultural water from the many ways it can be contaminated in the environment or from unsanitary practices on a farm,” according to the FDA announcement. “This effort has included hundreds of farm visits over the past few years.”
The FDA plans to propose a rule late this year that would revise agricultural water requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule, according to the announcement.