Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Guest Op-Ed: From Field To Skyscraper
Imagine rows upon rows and layers upon layers of crops, enough food to feed a city grown locally right in your next-door skyscraper. Growing food in warehouses or skyscrapers is the future, and this new innovation is called a vertical farm
By Nathan Riehemann
May 13, 2021
Imagine rows upon rows and layers upon layers of crops, enough food to feed a city grown locally right in your next-door skyscraper. Growing food in warehouses or skyscrapers is the future, and this new innovation is called a vertical farm. New research shows crop yields in vertical farms can be 200-600 times greater than your typical field farm. The world is growing and farming is growing with it.
This growth has resulted in the need for another form of farming. With an alarming decrease in the world’s topsoil, farm yields are decreasing. Topsoil contains all the important nutrients necessary for healthy plants, but erosion is washing or blowing the topsoil away and the plants are not being nurtured. Compacted soil, which limits root growth, is also prevalent in our ever-industrializing civilization. Crop yields in compacted areas of China, even after soil rehabilitation, produce yields that are 60% less than a typical farm, and rehabilitation of the soil can take up to two years. The world needs another solution like vertical farming until our soil can be managed and preserved properly.
AgriHouse Inc. and AeroFarms are both well-known vertical farming companies located in South Korea and the United States. The methods these companies use are LED lights designed specifically to meet the PPF (photosynthetic photon flux) a plant needs and aquaponics which reduce both water and fertilizer use while maximizing produce.
Currently, vertical farms produce spinach, lettuce, cabbage, peas, strawberries, peppers, potatoes, radishes, carrots, and tomatoes. By stacking growing areas, a vertical farm is able to produce 500 fold what a traditional farm can. This is all completed with a workforce of about six to 10 people. It is amazing to see how much food can be produced with such a small amount of manpower. This is just the beginning because rice is also perfectly suited for vertical farming. It is a prominent crop in Eastern Asian countries so it will surely join the others. Wheat is also one of the top 10 most prevalent crops in the world and has been tested and found to be growable in the controlled environments of vertical farms. Soon, most crops will be grown not out but up.
Vertical farms do have some drawbacks such as the possibility of insects terrorizing the controlled and pesticide-free crops. And since vertical farms are dependent on electricity, power outages could potentially destroy entire yields. The initial cost of building vertical farms is also potentially high. These are valid concerns and more research is needed to address them. With technology constantly updated and redesigned and with increased support, vertical farming will continue to grow along with the produce. Vertical farms are still more reliable than field farms because they are not affected by seasons or natural disasters. Soon, your local farmers won’t have to look down at their fields but rather up at the towering gardens.
Lead photo: Nice leafy vegetables at the Sky Greens vertical farm in Singapore.
Nathan Riehemann is a senior at NUAMES graduating with his associate degree from Weber State University. He is planning to study mechanical engineering and participate in Air Force ROTC at Montana State University. He enjoys playing hockey, traveling and board games.
Robots Take Vertical Farming To New Heights
Braddock, Pa., is where Andrew Carnegie first mass-produced steel. The city, now one-tenth its former size, is home to a new kind of industry: robotic farms that grow greens inside buildings
Braddock, Pa., Is Where Andrew Carnegie First Mass-Produced Steel. The City, Now One-Tenth Its Former size, Is Home To A New Kind Of Industry: Robotic Farms That Grow Greens Inside Buildings.
June 28, 2021
A decades-long decline of industry in Braddock has left the western Pennsylvania town in ruins. Ten miles upriver from Pittsburgh in the Mon (Monongahela) Valley, most of the city’s factories, businesses and homes were abandoned long ago and leveled. Among the ruins, a sprawling steel mill, built by Andrew Carnegie in 1874, is still producing slabs of steel, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s stained blue walls and maze of giant, rust-colored pipes and vents stand in contrast to the brand-new, block-long, gleaming white structure directly across the street. The mill’s neighbor is Fifth Season, a vertical farm growing greens indoors by stacking racks of plants on top of each other.
Fifth Season is the brainchild of brothers Austin and Brac Webb, and co-founder Austin Lawrence. “We view vertical farming as really a smart manufacturing system,” says Austin Webb. “We just happen to manufacture living organisms.”
The partners consider their fledgling enterprise as more than a means to feed people, but also a chance to work with a community in need. Almost none of the old steel plant’s employees live in Braddock. Conversely, everyone hired to work at Fifth Season lives close by and in the surrounding communities. “We’re creating a workforce of the future,” Webb says. “It’s an entirely new ag-manufacturing job that hasn’t existed before.”
Since the collapse of the steel industry in Braddock, the borough has struggled to attract new business and residents.(David Kidd/Governing)
Automated City Farming
Two shifts of 20 people oversee operations at the vertical farm. And like the steel maker across the road, the work never stops. Dressed in blue scrubs and lab coats, with heads covered and gloves on their hands, workers inside the plant look more like medical research professionals than farmers. The entire process, from seed to harvest, is controlled robotically. “What we have built is the industry first, and industry only, end-to-end automated platform,” says Webb.
Fifth Season’s proprietary software allows efficiencies otherwise not attainable. Spinach, arugula and other greens move around the 60,000-square-foot facility in plastic trays, each with its own unique ID. Sensors are constantly monitoring everything from nutrient mix, carbon dioxide levels and light spectrum, in order to ensure that the greens follow their prescribed grow recipe. Every plant can be traced from any point in the process, at any time.
Webb is quick to tout the advantages of vertical farming. Fifth Season uses up to 95 percent less water and 98 percent less land than conventional farming. Water from the municipal system is filtered and proprietary nutrients added before getting to the plants directly through their roots. “It means you can replicate any form of soil environment,” he says. Whatever water is not used by the plants is retreated and recirculated, with nutrients added as needed. A peat mix is used to support the roots, but all the nutrients are in the water, not the “soil.”
“We use no herbicides and no pesticides,” Webb says. “And that’s because we have hermetically sealed environments.” The possibility of contamination is all but eliminated. Fifth Season recently received a perfect score from the Safe Quality Food (SQF) program, an international, independent body that certifies food safety management. “The second time in 25 years they gave 100 percent,” he says.
With only their faces exposed, employees work among the various conveyor belts that crisscross the high, white-walled rooms of Fifth Season’s production floor. But there are no humans in the adjacent grow room, where tightly spaced racks, supporting trays of plants, are stacked 30 feet high, bathed in an otherworldly purple-magenta glow. The dramatic color comes from the LEDs that replicate the most useful parts of the spectrum of sunlight. “You can’t control the sun,” Says Webb. “But what you can control are LEDs.”
Fifth Season’s proprietary systems allow more plants to be grown in less space. The purple-magenta LED lighting replicates the most useful parts of the spectrum of sunlight, improving growth of the greens.(Fifth Season)
Every few minutes, a robot glides forward and back along a raised guideway that runs down the center of the room, dividing the stacks in half. The machine is not much more than a plain box, just a few feet tall. A metal beam rises from its back, extending to the ceiling. Its task is to place and remove trays of plants, taking its instructions from the all-knowing software. Because they are so tightly spaced, more trays can be stacked on top of each other, resulting in greater production.
“Compared to some other vertical farms out there, we have a lot more density,” says Webb. “We’re able to have more racks that grow inside the same space.” Moving trays is a task well-suited to a machine. Not only does the robot fit into places no human could, it always knows where every tray of greens should be, and for how long.
Vertical Farming Comes to Braddock
After a five-year career in finance, Austin Webb enrolled in an MBA program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “I believe that robotics will possibly disrupt every industry in the world,” he says. “And so I went to C.M.U., specifically because it’s the No. 1 school in computers, science and robotics.”
There he met Austin Lawrence, who shared his interest in controlled environment agriculture. Together they visited a few vertical farms, coming to the conclusion that what was needed was an entire robotic platform, something the two of them could not accomplish on their own. Webb’s brother Brac, a self-described engineer and entrepreneur, was soon recruited to help. Their new business was incorporated in 2016, initially as RoBotany, which later morphed into Fifth Season.
With financial backing in hand, the partners looked for a place to build, quickly settling on nearby Braddock. They broke ground in May of 2019, were installing equipment less than a year later and were at full production before the end of 2020. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity for resurgence in a place like this,” says Webb. “A lot of folks that stayed are passionate around Braddock being able to grow and thrive and we want to be a part of that.”
In the foreground, Fifth Season’s new structure stands in contrast to the steel plant behind it that still dominates the town.(David KIDD/Governing)
Andrew Carnegie’s mill was the first of many that would proliferate in the Mon Valley, making it the nation’s steel capital. The churches, schools, stores and restaurants that served the town’s 20,000 inhabitants are mostly gone now. Shops and services are few and far between for the 2,000 that remain. “The nearest grocery store is up the hill, two towns over,” says Braddock Mayor Chardae Jones. “And most people don’t have cars.” It’s a hot day in June when a few of the locals gather in a brand-new park along Braddock Avenue. Everyone agrees the park is nice, but it’s no consolation for the hospital that used to stand on the site.
Many years ago, steelworkers and their families lived close to the mill.(David Kidd/Governing)
A few blocks away, an ever-present din still emanates from Carnegie’s steel mill, and a parade of trucks continues to roll past the boarded-up stores and empty lots that line the borough’s main thoroughfare. “We have a lot of vacant buildings,” says Mayor Jones. “That’s our biggest issue.” But there are signs of a revival among the ruins.
Present Day Braddock
Against the backdrop of empty and dilapidated storefronts, “The Ohringer,” a former furniture store built in the streamline moderne style of the 1940s, has recently been completely rebuilt and modernized as apartments and studio space for artists. Applicants are expected to present their work for review and answer a few questions, one of which is “why are you interested in becoming part of Braddock’s resurgence?”
Not only does Braddock lay claim to Andrew Carnegie’s first steel mill, but also the first Carnegie library, dedicated in 1889. Narrowly escaping demolition in the 1970s, the impressive stone structure is today undergoing a comprehensive restoration and modernization. Bright yellow notices of this year’s street sweeping schedule are affixed to telephone poles near the library and all over town, an indication that the local government is still functioning.
A repurposed furniture store now provides updated living and studio space to area artists.(David Kidd/Governing)
Further up the avenue, more official-looking signs are attached to random telephone poles. “NOTICE, WRITE MORE LOVE LETTERS” says one. “NOTICE, LOVE IS FREE,” says another. The signs were placed there, unofficially, by Gisele Fetterman, wife of former mayor and current Lt. Governor John Fetterman. Among her many initiatives to improve the lives of people in Braddock, she founded the Free Store nine years ago, a place where “surplus and donated goods are received and redistributed to neighbors in need.”
Fifth Season is a regular contributor to the Free Store, having recently given them a new refrigerator and donating 100 pre-packaged salads every Thursday. “We’re treated like we’re a customer,” says Gisele Fetterman. “We’re not getting things that didn’t sell, or surplus. Our families get to come in and choose. They can feel like they are at a grocery store. There is great dignity in the process of being able to choose.”
Offering “produce grown in soil by humans in Braddock,” workers at Braddock Farms do it the old-fashioned way.(David Kidd/Governing)
There are more signs along Braddock Avenue. “BE ALERT: VEGETABLES AHEAD.” Another simply says “TURNIPS.” Back in 2007, when John Fetterman was the mayor, he encouraged a nonprofit group of community gardeners to establish a farm in Braddock. Bisected by a side street, the organic farm has expanded to a little less than an acre in size, growing greens, tomatoes, onions, peppers and eggplant. This is Nick Lubecki’s fourth year as manager of the farm. “We’re here in Braddock, so the people in Braddock are our main focus,” he says. “We want to be useful.”
At best, the little farm on Braddock Avenue can produce 13 plantings of greens in a year. It is entirely different from the computer-controlled, machine-driven, non-stop production that takes place a few blocks away at Fifth Season, where a half-acre indoors can produce the equivalent of nearly 100 acres of farmland. But higher yields don’t matter as much if a significant portion is ultimately lost in transit to the table.
Serving a Market
Localized food production means less spoilage and waste. “If it takes anywhere from five to eight days to go from California to Pittsburgh, you’ve just lost five to eight days of shelf life,” says Austin Webb. Most of what Fifth Season produces is consumed in the Pittsburgh area. “The day after it was cut, not 10 days later.” Their ready-to-eat salads can be purchased at a local supermarket chain, or delivered directly to the consumer at home, a direct response to the pandemic. Local restaurants, hospitals and universities are also customers.
Convinced they have successfully demonstrated the viability of their proprietary technology, the three partners are looking to expand beyond western Pennsylvania. “We can build these anywhere… even larger than what we have here today,” says Austin Webb. “And we don’t have to re-create the wheel. It’s not like it would take us another five years.”
Conversations are already taking place about licensing the technology, proceeding in partnership with someone else, or going it alone. “That will allow us to build a facility just like we built in Braddock, in other parts of the U.S., and other parts of the world, even faster.”
A Job You Can Walk to
Andrew Carnegie built his steel mill in the Mon Valley because he needed the river, the raw materials, and access to labor. His plant was expressly designed to use the Bessemer Process, the first method to inexpensively mass-produce steel. Nearly 150 years later, the Webb brothers and their partner Austin Lawrence chose the exact same location to showcase their own new manufacturing technology and to fill a need in the community. “Knowing that we could build these anywhere, we wanted to build in Braddock because we knew that we could create jobs,” says Austin Webb. “That we could create this new workforce of the future.”
Employed since January, John Davis lives less than a block away from Fifth Season. “I have family in Braddock. They’re very happy I’ve got a job.”(David Kidd/Governing)
Braddock resident John Davis may or may not think of himself as part of the workforce of the future. But he’s happy to have a good job. Covered head to toe in his surgical outfit, he works in the seeding department at Fifth Season, a job he’s held since January. He’s lived here for 20 years, and this is the first job he’s had that didn’t involve a commute. He walks to work from his house, half a block away.
Davis is 32 years old and anxious to put the past behind him. “To have a job that you like, where you live, it’s comfortable,” he says. “And you can see that this is going to change Braddock for the better because it gives the residents jobs and new innovations. It’s going to bring life.”
While awaiting their fate, many of Braddock’s empty buildings provide space for murals and artwork.(David Kidd/Governing)
Lead photo: Greens leave the grow room at robot farm Fifth Season, ready for harvest. (Fifth Season)
Tags: Economic DevelopmentFood AssistanceTechnology
David Kidd is a photojournalist and storyteller for Governing. He can be reached at dkidd@governing.com.
Kalera – Curtis McWilliams Proposed As A New Member of The Board of Directors
McWilliams, the former President and CEO of the nation’s largest restaurant REIT and a seasoned independent director of a number of publicly-traded corporate boards, brings a wealth of experience as Kalera prepares for rapid domestic and international expansion
June 28, 2021
McWilliams, the former President and CEO of the nation’s largest restaurant REIT and a seasoned independent director of a number of publicly-traded corporate boards, brings a wealth of experience as Kalera prepares for rapid domestic and international expansion
ORLANDO, Fla., June 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalera (Euronext Growth Oslo ticker KAL, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the fastest-growing and largest vertical farming companies in the world and a leader in plant science for producing high-quality produce in controlled environments, today announced the proposed appointment of Curtis McWilliams to its Board of Directors. In addition, it is expected that McWilliams will chair Kalera’s Audit Committee responsible for oversight of the financial reporting and disclosure process. An executive with deep experience in mergers & acquisitions, real estate, corporate governance as well as financial accounting and analysis, McWilliams brings nearly 40 years of executive leadership and experience to the Kalera board. After an extended career in investment banking with Merrill Lynch, McWilliams transitioned to the CEO of Trustreet Properties where over the course of the following 10 years, he oversaw the growth of the company from under $100 million to over $3 billion when it was sold to GE Capital in 2007. He presently is the non-executive chair of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE: ASC), an independent director for Braemar Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BHR), and lead independent director for Modiv Inc. McWilliams has previously chaired the audit committee for CNL Bank and presently serves as chair of the audit committee for Braemar Hotels as well as serving on the audit committee for Ardmore Shipping.
The addition of McWilliams to the board coincides with Kalera’s rapid expansion into several new markets and its acquisition of Vindara Inc., the first company to develop seeds specifically designed for use in vertical indoor farm environments as well as other controlled environment agriculture (CEA) farming methods.
“We are thrilled and honored to have Curtis McWilliams join Kalera’s Board,” said Bjørge Gretland, Chairman. “Curtis has been tremendously successful as a CEO and has extensive experience chairing Audit Committees. He also brings valuable expertise doing M&A deals. I am confident he will be a strong contributor to Kalera’s success.”
In addition to his aforementioned business experience, McWilliams also has served on numerous civic and non-profit boards including the Orlando Museum of Art and Young Life. McWilliams received his BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and his MBA from the University of Chicago with a concentration in finance.
“There has never been a more pressing need for vertical farming than there is today. I’m honored and excited to have the opportunity to join the Board at Kalera, the leader in this innovative and disruptive industry,” said Curtis McWilliams. “I look forward to working with Kalera as they continue to grow and expand domestically and abroad.”
Kalera currently operates two growing facilities in Orlando and a newly opened facility in Atlanta and is building facilities in Houston, Denver, Columbus, Seattle, Minnesota, and Hawaii. Kalera is the only controlled environment agriculture company with coast-to-coast facilities being constructed, offering grocers, restaurants, theme parks, airports, and other businesses nationwide reliable access to locally grown clean, safe, nutritious, price-stable, long-lasting greens. Kalera uses a closed-loop irrigation system which enables its plants to grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming.
The appointment of Curtis McWilliams as a member of the Board of Directors will be presented for approval by Kalera’s shareholders at a general meeting and is expected to take effect upon completion of the contemplated merger between Kalera AS and the new Luxembourg parent for the group, which was announced previously.
For further information:
Bjørge Gretland, Chairman
Email: bgretland@kalera.com
About Kalera
Kalera is a technology-driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and cleanroom standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistent high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact. To learn more visit www.Kalera.com.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Research Signify And Fragaria Innova Into Growing Strawberries With LED Bears Fruits
“Extra growth light is needed to realize sufficient yield and quality in winter”, according to plant specialist Peer Hermans, who conducts the research on behalf of Signify
June 15, 2021
· Provides better steering of the plants
· Optimizes winter growth
· Helps growers realize a stabile production pattern with high yield and good quality strawberries
Eindhoven, the Netherlands – Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, has worked together with Fragaria Innova to develop specific light recipes for strawberries, resulting in a steady production pattern with high yield, and good quality strawberries in wintertime. The joint research over the past year helps to further optimize the winter production of the so-called ‘June bearers’, a strawberry cultivar known for relatively short peaks in production.
Within Fragaria Innova, progressive strawberry growers commit themselves, together with external partners, to innovation surrounding the themes of growing under light and plant health. For growing under light, Fragaria Innova and market leader Signify conduct a multi-year program with participating growers/propagators. At one of the production companies, a special compartment has also been equipped with separate climate control, this enables the testing of several growth- and light strategies for multiple cultivars under full LED. One of the main goals of the research is realizing a (more) stable production pattern during wintertime.
Current winter productions usually take place with June bearers with a short production period of 8 to 10 weeks, after which a new planting in another section takes over production to create a stable, flat production. Unlit cultivation dominates before- and after the winter production.
“Extra growth light is needed to realize sufficient yield and quality in winter”, according to plant specialist Peer Hermans, who conducts the research on behalf of Signify. “The trials have shown that you can influence the plant build-up somewhat with specific light recipes, for which LED is ideally suited.” By accurately tuning the light intensity and spectrum offered to the developmental stage of the plant, you can optimize the leaf surface and stretching of the flower trusses and leaf stalks. A better plant build-up can benefit the production. The idea is to raise the production quality through light optimization.
Grower Marcel Dings from Brookberries, co-initiator behind Fragaria Innova, noticed some influence on the plant build-up, but the extra assimilates that came with it, went mostly to the crop and less to the fruits. Dings: “Next season will focus on how we can further optimize the division of the assimilates in the plant, and how we can get the assimilates to the fruits”. The grower notices that there are a lot of variables at play, such as: cultivars, planting times, cultivation goals, light spectra, light intensity, and the balance between natural daylight and artificial lighting. “The benefit of this new generation of LED grow lights is that we can play with lighting efficiently and that we can finetune the recipe to our own wishes and possibilities. Within this project, together we can achieve faster and more progress. I am satisfied with the results of this first year, but there is definitely room for further optimization. Hopefully, we can keep this going in the coming years.”
Grower Dave Linssen, a participant within Fragaria Innova (cultivar: Malling Centenary), had a trial with different spectra at one company location, planted in August just like his unlit crop. “The lit plants went into production earlier in winter, as expected. When it came to kilos and plant build-up, we hardly noticed any difference between the light spectra”, he concludes. “We may need to tinker a little to get the ideal light recipe for our company. It seems obvious to me that growing under LED is a desired addition.”
Based on these encouraging results, the trial set-up for the coming season will be determined. Spectrum research and testing different cultivars will be part of this research. For more information on growing strawberries with LED grow lights, please go to www.philips.com/horti.
--- END ---
For further information, please contact:
Global Marcom Manager Horticulture at Signify
Daniela Damoiseaux
Tel: +31 6 31 65 29 69
E-mail: daniela.damoiseaux@signify.com
About Signify
Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-enabled services, deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings and public spaces. With 2020 sales of EUR 6.5 billion, we have approximately 37,000 employees and are present in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We achieved carbon neutrality in 2020, have been in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index since our IPO for four consecutive years and were named Industry Leader in 2017, 2018 and 2019. News from Signify is located at the Newsroom, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Information for investors can be found on the Investor Relations page.
About Innoveins | Fragaria Innova
Innoveins is an ecosystem where organizations cooperate at the cross-over between plants and technology to develop innovations through co-creation and bring them to the market.
Within Innoveins, Fragaria Innova unites ambitious strawberry growers to jointly tackle challenges in the areas of labor, upscaling, efficiency, plant health and resilience, biodiversity, growth media, product quality, continuity, delivery reliability and smart farming.
VIDEO: World Food Prices Rise At Fastest Pace In A Decade As Inflation Concerns Continue In U.S.
What's driving the increase? Drought in key growing regions including the western U,S. and Brazil, slowing vegetable oil production in Southeast Asia along with increasing costs for livestock producers and soaring Chinese demand
AgDay 06/04/21 - Food Prices
By AGDAY TV June 4, 2021
The United Nations issued a warning this week as world food prices are rising at their fastest pace in a decade.
The data comes from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s Food Price Index for May. The Index surged in May with prices rising at their fastest monthly pace since October of 2010. Global food prices have risen for 12 consecutive months and now sit at their highest level since September of 2011.
What's driving the increase? Drought in key growing regions including the western U,S. and Brazil, slowing vegetable oil production in Southeast Asia along with increasing costs for livestock producers and soaring Chinese demand.
Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says inflation is also part of the equation.
"It definitely is a factor," says Suderman. "And we saw after the Beige Book report [Federal Reserve] came out this past week talking about inflation pressures, how money came into the commodity sector in the overnight trade following that report's release, and it's a hedge against inflation. However, whenever that causes the dollar to rise sharply because interest rates start to go up, then they start to pull back because the fear factor takes hold, we're not going to compete. Longer-term, though, the trend is inflation tends to be positive for the commodity sector, particularly those with a story."
Suderman says data indicates wage inflation is also having an impact. He says wage inflation is increasing at rates the U.S. hasn't seen since the 12th Federal Reserve Chair Jimmy Volcker held his position from 1979 to 1987, under U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
"I still see momentum building on the flip inflation pressures right now," Suderman adds. "And a lot of people talk about it being transitory, the Fed talks a lot about that supply lines refilling, that's not what we're seeing in ag, this is a build up a demand that's been building up over time. And then when you look at wage inflation, the last four quarters in a row combined, the strongest wage inflation we've seen in four decades going back to the Paul Volcker era."
FAO says the world food price surge comes with a warning as it echoes similar moves in 2008 and 2011, when high costs led to food riots across some 30 nations.