The Future Of Farming Is Here And It Is Happening In Lakewood

The Future Of Farming Is Here And It Is Happening In Lakewood

Infinite Harvest is growing crops in an efficient, environmental friendly way.

Tommy Romano walks through the grow room at Infinite Harvest, a vertical farm, Aug. 29, 2017 in Lakewood.  Kathryn Scott, 

By JOSEPH RIOS | jrios@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

September 5, 2017

Unless you’re a vertical farmer, the “fields” inside Infinite Harvest in Lakewood are unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Step inside under the glow of the blue LED lights and you might think you’re in a spaceship. Then you see the tens of thousands of plants growing in rows that stretch toward the ceiling.

Walk down the aisles of the 5,400-square-foot building, and you’re flanked by green, leafy plants growing on white tiers.

Infinite Harvest’s crops are grown in a controlled environment — lights, humidity, temperature, gases (think carbon dioxide), nutrients and fertigation, can all be regulated. Fertigation provides nutrients to plants and soil through an irrigation system.

“We can’t control the sun, but we can control the LED lights. The only thing unnatural (about our farming methods) is our ability to control the environment,” said founder Tommy Romano.

Infinite Harvest’s methods also differ in other ways from those used on many traditional farms, Romano said.

“We don’t use any pesticides or herbicides, no foliar sprays whatsoever. What you eat is 100 percent plant. We have a phrase that we pretty much use: We are ‘going beyond organic,’” Romano said.

“Going beyond organic” means producing crops in a way that is better for the environment, Romano said. He estimates Infinite Harvest uses 95 percent less water than a traditional farm with the same harvest.

“We bring the water right to the plants rather than letting it seep through the soil. We don’t spray, we don’t irrigate through sprinkler systems. We save a lot of water from that standpoint,” Romano said.

Infinite Harvest, which was 5 years old when it made Lakewood its home in 2014, is currently growing about 60,000 plants. Romano said it has the capacity to feed roughly 2 percent of the more than 140,000 people who live in Lakewood, based on average annual consumption rate. It’s owned by a group of shareholders interested in boosting efficiency in modern farming. One example of Infinite Harvest’s efficiency: It can grow and harvest year-round with no worry about weather damage.

“I don’t care if it’s the middle of January or the middle of July. You get the same thing,” said operations manager Nathan Lorne.

Infinite Harvest grows lettuce, kale, basil, arugula and other crops sold as fresh produce to local restaurants. Its harvests are also making their way into the kitchens of area schools. Buyers are interested in the farm-to-kitchen freshness, Lorne said.

“From the time we harvest it’s usually on someone’s lunch or dinner plate at the restaurants within 24 hours,” Romano said. “That freshness factor produces a lot more flavor.”

The business is attractive to employees too, because it offers year-round work rather than the seasonal work found at many traditional farms.

According to “Vertical Farming Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023,” a report by Research and Markets, the global vertical farming market is projected to reach $6.4 billion by 2023. In 2016, the global vertical farming market was valued at $1.5 billion.

“People are starting to understand that there is a demand for this. There is a viable business. We’re just still working on all of the kinks, technology-wise, and teaching the market more about this type of product,” Romano said.

Romano’s interest in feeding people in the distant future inspired his business. The former aerospace engineer focused on space habitat and colony design while working toward his master’s degree at the University of Colorado Boulder. While there, he wrote a thesis about how to feed a colony on Mars.

“I figured, well, if I can do this in such an adverse environment on Mars and produce healthy, sustainable crops, why aren’t we doing that here?” he said. “We have more people to feed here than we do on Mars.”