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Vertical Farming Comes to Edinburgh
Scotland’s Rural College is to be the first higher education institute in Scotland to open its own vertical farm for research and education.
By Gordon Davidson
August 10, 2021
Scotland’s Rural College is to be the first higher education institute in Scotland to open its own vertical farm for research and education.
The half million-pound facility is to be built at the SRUC's King’s Buildings campus in Edinburgh next year, with the backing of a £200,000 grant from the Scottish Government. It will enable key research into plant and crop science, growing nutrient-dense fruit and vegetables with specific human health qualities, while analysing crop yield and growth rates – with all inputs recorded in the closed environment – to compare their carbon footprint to other production systems.
SRUC's vertical farm will operate on renewable energy sources from the national grid, supported by battery technology to manage peaks in energy demand.
With only a handful of commercial vertical farms in Scotland so far, it is envisaged that the facility will be important for demonstration and knowledge exchange with farmers, growers and small businesses. It will also be used by SRUC students as part of their educational activities, looking to a future when such systems will be far more common places of work.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, said: “As we look to produce more fruits and vegetables locally, vertical farming could provide us with a way to make better use of our land. It’s an exciting and innovative field that could bring us real benefits and it is important that we have the skills in Scotland to take advantage of this technology.
“By supporting the industry at an early stage, we can assess these benefits and help to focus our long-term strategy. We will also be reaching out to the wider industry to explore in further detail the opportunities low-carbon vertical farming offers. We will work together to establish the future of vertical farming in Scotland.”
Principal and chief executive of SRUC, Professor Wayne Powell, said: “One of the most critical challenges we face is how to feed a growing global population. We have been teaching farmers for generations but, as the population increases, it is important that we look at growing different, more nutritious crops to support healthy diets and local access to food.
“Not only will this vertical farming unit be a valuable asset to our students, but it will also provide us with important data to help optimise and promote innovation into this expanding industry.”
Lead Photo: A new vertical farm at SRUC will be used for education and research.
SRUC To Build Vertical Farm
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) will be the first higher education institute in Scotland to open a vertical farm for research and education.
By Michael Barker
August 9, 2021
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) will be the first higher education institute in Scotland to open a vertical farm for research and education.
The project, which has received a £200,000 grant from the Scottish Government, will be used in key research into plant and crop science, and will also be used by students. SRUC will build the half million-pound facility at its King’s Buildings campus in Edinburgh next year.
The facility will grow nutrient-dense fruit and vegetables that have specific human health qualities. It will also analyse crop yield and growth rates with all resource inputs to compare their carbon footprint to other production systems.
It will operate on renewable energy sources from the national grid, supported by battery technology to manage peaks in energy demand. The project will be going out to tender in the coming weeks.
With only a handful of commercial vertical farms in Scotland, the facility will be important for demonstration and knowledge exchange with farmers, growers and small businesses, giving vital support and promoting innovation, SRUC said.
Mairi Gougeon, cabinet secretary for rural affairs and islands, said: “As we look to produce more fruits and vegetables locally, vertical farming could provide us with a way to make better use of our land. It’s an exciting and innovative field that could bring us real benefits and it is important that we have the skills in Scotland to take advantage of this technology.
“By supporting the industry at an early stage, we can assess these benefits and help to focus our long-term strategy. We will also be reaching out to the wider industry to explore in further detail the opportunities low-carbon vertical farming offers. We will work together to establish the future of vertical farming in Scotland.”
Lead Photo: New facility will grow nutrient-dense fruit and vegetables that have specific human health qualities
IGS Completes Deal With Vertegrow to Build Scotland’s First Commercial Vertical Farm
A 245 m2 insulated superstructure will accommodate four nine-metre-high towers alongside a 1,600 m2 service area on Vertegrow’s site at Waterside Farm in Aberdeenshire. This will provide approximately 1,343 m2 of growing space, producing up to 70 tonnes of produce per annum when fully operational
New Vertical Farming Operator to Adopt IGS Agritech
Platform in Scotland
Edinburgh, Scotland – 08 July 2020 - Indoor agritech specialist IGS has today announced the completion of a deal with new vertical farming operator Vertegrow. The four-tower system will be built in Aberdeenshire in Scotland in late 2020.
A 245 m2 insulated superstructure will accommodate four nine-metre-high towers alongside a 1,600 m2 service area on Vertegrow’s site at Waterside Farm in Aberdeenshire. This will provide approximately 1,343 m2 of growing space, producing up to 70 tonnes of produce per annum when fully operational.
This is the first move into vertical farming for Vertegrow, diversifying alongside existing agricultural operations, currently growing crops including barley and rye in open fields.
Vertegrow was established through Steadman Partners, the UK-based private investment office set up by BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie. Located in Scotland, Steadman Partners has a wide range of interests and investments throughout the UK and beyond.
The IGS platform was selected after a rigorous analysis of the market and considered to be the most advanced, efficient, and scalable to meet Vertegrow’s requirements. The plug-and-play vertical farming product developed by IGS offers them a highly controllable platform, designed specifically to maximize productivity whilst minimizing energy consumption and allowing the production of consistently high-quality produce at scale.
The towers, which are expected to be operational in early 2021, will grow a variety of crops that are intended to service the local food supply chain. Vertegrow will work with a range of local customers including retailers, caterers, restaurateurs, and other local services, to deliver fresh, nutritious, high-quality produce all year round.
IGS CEO David Farquhar commented: “This is an exciting step for IGS and for Vertegrow as we set out to deploy a new vertical farm for a new operator in this space. With proven experience in traditional farming and extensive involvement, through its owners, in the food and drink sector, we are confident that this will bring a new and top-quality offering to the local market. Such re-localization of the food supply chain is a feature of post-coronavirus planning we are seeing all over the world.”
“We were delighted that the IGS platform was selected for this project. It is proof that our rigorous commitment to engineering design excellence and our unique patented systems deliver what customers want – a system that is highly pragmatic, flexible, modular, and scalable. We look forward to getting underway with the deployment of our Growth Towers with the Vertegrow team.”
Graeme Warren, of Vertegrow commented: “Vertegrow is delighted to be working with IGS on this innovative project as we position our farm business to address the challenges of the modern food supply chain. We have spent considerable time identifying the right partners and systems, and the IGS platform stood out as a quality solution that could be configured for our needs. Growing quality, nutritious food in North East Scotland will allow us to reduce food miles for our customers. Combined with our renewable energy sources and rainwater harvesting, the efficiency of the IGS system is a key part of our ambition to grow crops in a carbon-neutral way. We look forward to continuing to work with IGS as we construct the facility later this year.”
The team at IGS will continue to work closely with its new customer in the construction and deployment phases over the coming months.
Ends
Notes to editors:
For more information: please contact Kate Forster, IGS on kate@intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or call +44 7787 534999.
About IGS:
Founded in 2013, IGS brought together decades of farming and engineering experience to create an agritech business with a vision to revolutionize the indoor growing market. Its commitment to innovation has continued apace and it has evolved the applications of its technology beyond agriculture to create solutions for a wide variety of indoor environments that enhance life for plants.
IGS launched its first vertical farming demonstration facility in August 2018.
For more information visit www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Vertegrow
Vertegrow represents the indoor growing arm of an existing productive arable farm in North East Scotland. It is committed to producing high-quality food sustainably, responsibly, and ultimately in a carbon-neutral way. Vertegrow expects to sell its first crops in early 2021 and then to expand and improve its crop range through research and development.
More information will be available from www.vertegrow.com as the facility approaches completion. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram or contact hello@vertegrow.com