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Farmers, Nonprofits Sue USDA, Saying Hydroponics Can't Be Organic
Center for Food Safety (CFS), along with a coalition of organic farms and stakeholders, filed a lawsuit challenging the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) decision to allow hydroponic operations to be certified organic
Center for Food Safety (CFS), along with a coalition of organic farms and stakeholders, filed a lawsuit challenging the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) decision to allow hydroponic operations to be certified organic.
The lawsuit claims that hydroponic operations violate organic standards for failing to build healthy soils, and asks the Court to stop USDA from allowing hydroponically-produced crops to be sold under the USDA Organic label. The plaintiff coalition includes some of the longest-standing organic farms in the United States including Swanton Berry Farm, Full Belly Farm, Durst Organic Growers, Terra Firma Farm, Jacobs Farm del Cabo, and Long Wind Farm, in addition to organic stakeholder organizations including organic certifier OneCert and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
"Healthy soil is the foundation of organic farming," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of plaintiff Center for Food Safety, "Organic farmers and consumers believe that the Organic label means not just growing food in soil, but improving the fertility of that soil. USDA's loophole for corporate hydroponics to be sold under the Organic label guts the very essence of 'Organic'."
CFS's lawsuit cites the federal Organic Foods Production Act, which requires farms to build soil fertility in order to be certified organic. Hydroponics cannot comply with federal organic standards because hydroponic crops are not grown in soil, the CFS claims.
"The federal organic law unequivocally requires organic production to promote soil fertility," said Sylvia Wu, senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety and counsel for plaintiffs. "USDA's decision to allow mega-hydroponic operations that do nothing with soil to be sold as 'Organic' violates the law."
"Healthy soil is critical to producing nutrient-dense foods that benefit both people and the environment," said Paul Muller, one of the farm owners of plaintiff Full Belly Farm in Guinda, California, a diversified family farm that has been farmed organically since 1985. "Healthy soil increases and improves the availability of soil nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, and enhances the land's ability to sequester carbon and retain nutrients and water."
"While I welcome the work that my friends in the hydroponic industry are doing, hydroponic production does not conform to the soil-building precepts of organic farming," said Jim Cochran, owner of plaintiff Swanton Berry Farm, one of the oldest certified organic strawberry farms in California. "I would be perfectly happy to have my strawberries compete with properly distinguished hydroponically-grown strawberries, without the latter piggybacking on an Organic label that has taken more than 30 years to develop and establish in the minds of consumers. Certifying hydroponically-grown crops as organic devalues that label."
"The USDA's claim that hydroponics can be certified as organic is disingenuous and false," said Sam Welsch, president of plaintiff organic certifier OneCert, Inc. "Until the USDA started telling certifiers that they could ignore the parts of the law and rules that required fertility to come from organic matter in soil, no one was certifying hydroponic systems as organic."
For more information:
Center for Food Safety
www.centerforfoodsafety.org
Publication date: Tue 3 Mar 2020
US: The Secret To Singapore Airlines' Delicious Meals Is An Indoor, Vertical Farm In New Jersey
Inside a nondescript warehouse, sprouts are thriving under banks of LED lamps: kale, bok choy, arugula, tiny little plants only a horticulturalist could identify
BY PAUL BRADY
FEBRUARY 14, 2020
Photo: COURTESY OF SINGAPORE AIRLINES
On an industrial block in Newark, New Jersey, behind the cement and brick Ironbound Recreation Center, there’s some magic happening. Inside a nondescript warehouse, sprouts are thriving under banks of LED lamps: kale, bok choy, arugula, tiny little plants only a horticulturalist could identify. Rows and rows and towers and towers of plants — like a scene from a super-sanitized version of "The Matrix" — are quickly becoming salad greens at AeroFarms. This 70,000-square-foot vertical farm, which the company says is the largest of its kind in the world, is hidden in plain sight — as planes roar overhead, on final approach for Newark Liberty International Airport.
Photo: COURTESY OF AEROFARMS
During a recent visit to the farm, Travel + Leisure got an up-close look at how aeroponic farming works: A variety of greens are grown from seed to harvest, planted not in soil but rather in reusable cloth that’s woven from recycled plastic water bottles. Lettuces and other leafy greens are constantly monitored, and environmental sensors throughout the facility make frequent adjustments. AeroFarms co-founder and chief marketing officer Marc Oshima says they’re even able to alter the taste of their crops — say, making arugula that much more peppery — by manipulating water levels, lighting, and other factors. (They don’t, he’s quick to point out, use any pesticides or herbicides.)
Despite the energy-intensive technology powering the operation, AeroFarms says its food is significantly better for the environment compared to traditional farming. A single square foot of vertical farm — like the one in Newark — can yield 390 times the produce as one outdoors, Oshima says. Water use is limited, as the plants are grown aeroponically and only misted when necessary. All this helps reduce the carbon footprint of the food, both by greatly reducing the resources it takes to grow the greens in the first place and by putting the harvested crop closer to market.
The Top 10 International Airports
That’s where Singapore Airlines comes in. The carrier, which operates the longest flight in the world between Newark and Singapore, has been working for years to reduce its carbon footprint, an airline rep says. One way to do that? Reduce the impact of on-board meals by sourcing greens from right down the road. AeroFarms, which is just a few miles from Singapore Airlines’ catering facility at Newark, is now supplying hyper-local produce for the nearly 19-hour Singapore Airlines Flight 21.
“Passengers understand that we’re trying to limit carbon footprint,” says Singapore Airlines food and beverage director Antony McNeil. Beyond that, high-tech vertical farming gives a level of control not found anywhere else, he says. “The beautiful thing is that we can work together to design, say, do we want more pepper in the arugula?” he says. “It’s like Star Trek!” Singapore Airlines will start serving AeroFarms produce on their flights from JFK International Airport, starting next month, and they may soon have sustainably sourced cuisine on all flights from the six U.S. cities the airline serves.
“The goal is, in the coming months, to have ‘farm-to-plane’ at every one of our U.S. gateways,” said James Bradbury-Boyd, a spokesman for Singapore Airlines. That could mean sustainably fished seafood for Seattle flights or thoughtfully made cheeses from Oregon aboard West Coast routes, McNeil said, in addition to vertically farmed greens.
For now, passengers will find AeroFarms produce in both business class and premium economy on flights from Newark, in these selections: Soy Poached Chicken, a riff on the classic Singaporean dish chicken rice; The Garden Green, a hot-smoked salmon salad; and Heirloom Tomato Ceviche, a sort-of caprese salad with burrata and arugula.
It’s possible that the partnership could grow in the future: AeroFarms has started an expansion of its Newark headquarters, which will give them even more space for indoor farming. And if they scale up, who knows? We may all soon be eating Star Trek–style salad in the air, no matter our destination.
Congress Funds Office of Urban & Innovative Agriculture
The Mission of the Office is to encourage and promote urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural practices
By Brian Filipowich
The new Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production created by the 2018 Farm Bill had been sitting in limbo for the past year. The USDA declined to establish it without dedicated funding from Congress.
On December 20, 2019, the President signed into law H.R. 1865, The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The Law includes $5 million for the Office.
The Mission of the Office is to encourage and promote urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural practices, including:
community gardens and farms located in urban areas, suburbs, and urban clusters;
rooftop farms, outdoor vertical production, and green walls;
indoor farms, greenhouses, and high-tech vertical technology farms; and
hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic farm facilities.
The Office will disburse $10 million in grants before 2023 intended to “facilitate urban agricultural production, harvesting, transportation, and marketing.”
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) was the main sponsor of the new Office and was responsible for adding it to the 2018 Farm Bill. This past Fall, Senator Stabenow introduced an amendment to appropriate the $5 million to fund it.
The next step is to establish the Advisory Committee that will guide the establishment of the Office. The Committee is to be composed of 12 individuals from various sectors of the urban and innovative ag field.
The Farm Bill directed the establishment of the advisory committee by Summer, 2019. The USDA missed the target date because of the lack of funding and the USDA’s major relocation project from Washington, DC to Kansas City, MO, which “has resulted in catastrophic attrition at USDA’s top research agencies.”
Hopefully, with the new funding, the USDA can establish the Office soon.
Sustainability In Three Dimensions
Picture a snow globe. Inside its crystalline sphere, the conditions are always ideal for a winter wonderland—even in the hottest days of summer. So, what if farmers could take this idea and use it to create optimal, self-contained cultivation environments that allowed them to grow their crops during the dead of winter?
Technology Spotlight December 20, 2018
Picture a snow globe. Inside its crystalline sphere, the conditions are always ideal for a winter wonderland—even in the hottest days of summer. So, what if farmers could take this idea and use it to create optimal, self-contained cultivation environments that allowed them to grow their crops during the dead of winter?
A traditional approach to this challenge is greenhouse farming, in which glass domes heighten and retain solar energy within a growing environment that’s closed off from the surrounding atmosphere. As a result, the temperature inside the dome is warmer and more stable, allowing farmers to cultivate warm-weather crops during the cold seasons.
If farmers can grow their crops through the winter, what if they could grow them through the night?
WHAT IF GROWERS COULD CREATE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO GET 10 ACRES WORTH OF PRODUCTION FROM ONLY ONE ACRE OF LAND?
It may sound improbable to grow plants in closed environments without relying on the sun, but modern agriculture is already making incredible strides in bringing 24/7 cultivation to reality by augmenting existing practices with indoor vertical farms and robotic technologies.
In fact, vertical farms are on the rise. There are currently 2.2 million square feet of indoor farms operating across the globe, and that number is expected to increase almost tenfold to 22 million square feet in the next five years. Will vertical farming replace conventional farming practices? No, but this dramatic rise in indoor farms will add even more of a boost to our future food production capabilities, complementing the incredible innovations that are being made in traditional sun-soaked, outdoor crops.
Why such the exponential increase in interest and investment in both vertical farms and robotics? In short, this pairing offers profound potential to help agriculture achieve sustainability in the environmental, economic, and societal spheres.
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US - Indiana - Lafayette Resident Grows Produce Without Soil For Community
At Lafayette Produce farm on Wabash Avenue, 25 vertical, aeroponic towers produce basil, kale and other crops. Austin Kasso, Lafayette Produce owner, said he hopes to increase the farm to hundreds of towers as they become a year-round source of local, organic produce for Lafayette residents
BY LUCAS BLEYLE Staff Reporter
November 11, 2019
At Lafayette Produce farm on Wabash Avenue, 25 vertical, aeroponic towers produce basil, kale and other crops. Austin Kasso, Lafayette Produce owner, said he hopes to increase the farm to hundreds of towers as they become a year-round source of local, organic produce for Lafayette residents.
Lafayette Produce's vertical aeroponic system involves growing plants in towers, with the roots of the plants extending into the interior of soilless, cylindrical towers. Every 15 minutes, water mixed with an all-natural nutrient solution trickles down over the roots.
“With vertical aeroponics, we can grow 150 different fruits, vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers,” Kasso said. “We can do a great variety of things that people ordinarily don't have access to around here. We could do five different kinds of basil and five different types of tomatoes.”
Because the water-nutrient mix is reused and trickled through multiple times, none of the water or nutrients are wasted like they might be in soil-based agriculture, Kasso said. The resulting produce is healthier because the plants are never subjected to nutrient deficiencies while they grow, he said.
“(Aeroponic towers) use 98% less water than traditional farming and they can grow 150 different crops in about 50% less time with about 30% greater yield on average,” Kasso said.
“Yields in soilless systems are typically higher and you can reduce the crop cycle time, especially with the leafy vegetables if it's your fruiting crops,” said Petrus Langenhoven, horticulture and hydroponic crop specialist for Purdue's horticulture and landscape architecture department.
Up until last year, Kasso had worked with community members and the organization Habitat for Humanity to fundraise and purchase his first 12 aeroponic towers. Since he began in 2013, Kasso has experimented with numerous crops including tomatoes, kale, basil and zucchini.
In 2018, Kasso was approached by his current business partner, Bob Corbin, to start an aeroponic farm for Corbin’s Corner Market, a store on Wabash Avenue selling local goods such as handmade candles, raw honey and West Lafayette BONZ BBQ sauce.
Kasso said Wabash Avenue used to be considered the “armpit of Lafayette.” Historically, it was the part of the city that had little development and lots of crime. Over the last few years, community planners have worked to bring new life to the area, inviting artists to adorn buildings with murals and expanding the local park.
“I was inspired to start it here because I realized there's a food insecurity problem in Indiana as well,” Kasso said. “It needs to be addressed and I believe local food and urban farming are the answer to that.”
Langenhoven said the closer farming is to cities, the better.
“Urban farming is great," Langenhoven said. "I think the closer we can get to the major city centers, the better it is for that supply chain."
He said there is a potential for urban farming to help meet the demand for fresh produce. Two controlled-environment farms — Green Sense Farms in Portage, Indiana, and Gotham Greens in Chicago — both successfully supply produce year-round to the Chicago area.
Local produce often sells at a premium because customers are drawn to its superior taste and freshness.
“I'm a big fan of (local farming), because I like fresh produce,” Langenhoven said. “I know what fresh produce tastes like because I grow this stuff and I eat what I grow, and everybody else in the department ... they're always like, ‘Wow, this is so different from what it tastes like in the store.’ And it's really because it was picked this morning or yesterday and I've waited until it was fully mature to actually pick it.”
Langenhoven said customers are often willing to pay a premium for local produce that helps make capital- and energy-intensive controlled cropping systems such as aeroponics more viable.
“First thing to note about aeroponics is that it's actually a very management-intensive system," Langenhoven said. "Anything can go wrong if you don't have backups. You (can) have total crop failure because the roots are hanging in the air.”
Any sort of power outage can devastate a crop if proper electricity backup systems aren’t in place. These backup systems and the other controls needed to have a functional production system makes aeroponics very expensive, Langhoven said.
Due to the productivity and efficiency of his system, Kasso said he is able to make up for the increased infrastructure and energy costs, especially when compared to produce shipped from California. His goal is to sell produce at an affordable cost.
“Instead of charging more for organic, local, it's going to be similar to what you'd find at Pay Less or Walmart,” Kasso said.
Lafayette Produce currently sells basil to two local restaurants, Bruno’s Pizza and Town & Gown Bistro.
US (CO): Ultra Local Denver Farm Grows Using Aeroponics
Fifty-six-year-old Sally Herbert, co-founder, and CEO of Altius, walks through her fields, pausing often to pluck baby kale leaves or fronds of pink-tipped lollo rosso lettuce for sampling
At the intersection of 25th and Lawrence streets in Curtis Park, on the second story of a building—high above the millennials zipping around on electric scooters and the yoga warriors exiting a nearby studio—sits Altius Farms, an 8,000-square-foot aeroponic greenhouse. Inside, small fans whoosh gently overhead and the temperature is always somewhere between 65 and 80 degrees. There’s a slight, almost pleasant humidity to the air and the fresh, clean mineral smell of lettuce. The clear polycarbonate roof diffuses and softens the Colorado sunlight, and glass walls make you feel like you’re surrounded by open sky.
Completing the urban Garden of Eden picture is Altius’ version of fields: 340 columns, each eight feet tall, from which sprout floppy green rosettes of butter lettuce, neon mustard frills, ruffles of baby red Russian kale, and lily-pad-like nasturtium leaves. The plants blanket the white, food-grade-plastic columns so thickly they look like edible topiaries.
Fifty-six-year-old Sally Herbert, co-founder, and CEO of Altius, walks through her fields, pausing often to pluck baby kale leaves or fronds of pink-tipped lollo rosso lettuce for sampling. The kale is mild and tender, the lettuce juicy and crisp. Nearby, a smiling intern snips baby arugula leaves into bins while farm manager Ethan Page and other staffers wash, dry, and package the day’s harvest. Assistant grower and account manager Brian Adams will soon deliver bags of the greens to Altius’ growing list of clients, which include Uchi (the farm’s downstairs neighbor), Il Posto, Butcher’s Bistro, and Marczyk Fine Foods.
Publication date: Thu 7 Nov 2019
Western Dakota Tech Saves The Agriculture Industry By Working Indoors
USDA grants $50,000 to Western Dakota Tech to expand their aquaponics project from a small closet to a bigger facility. With agriculture being one of the leading industries in the state and frequent weather changes, Bryan Mitchell said indoor methods can help preserve the agriculture industry
October 23, 2019
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA TV) - Western Dakota Tech is saving the agriculture industry with controlled environment agriculture indoors. The school receives thousands of dollars in grant money to expand their project.
USDA grants $50,000 to Western Dakota Tech to expand their aquaponics project from a small closet to a bigger facility.
With agriculture being one of the leading industries in the state and frequent weather changes, Bryan Mitchell said indoor methods can help preserve the agriculture industry.
"I think this year we've only had 140 days without snow. Well, that leaves quite a few other days where we can be controlling the environment and still producing at least something," Bryan Mitchell, program director of electrical trades at Western Dakota Tech, said.
The school produces specialty crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce. The goal is to produce 36 heads of romaine lettuce a week.
About 200 fish, 150 tilapia and the rest being fish for aesthetics, are in a tank ready to start the process.
The students and staff built a pipe system that circulates 800 gallons of water and filters out the nitrogen from the fish's waste. The nitrogen passes through the pipes and nourishes the seeds that lay on the floating rafts.
With pink and blue lights, underwater cameras and an intricate technical system, it's a hands-off method way to produce food.
"It is really impressive and it really shows how capable Western Dakota Tech's faculty and students are in helping to have a big impact in the future of the state," Western Dakota Tech President Ann Bolman said.
The future of putting a fresh salad on every person's plate.
"Ultimately, we want people to be eating healthy. We want to be apart of providing a solution to food insecurity in our community," Mitchell said.
The food will be donated to the Fork Real Cafe and the student food bank on campus.
Can Altius Farms Convince Denverites To Pay More For Ultra-Local, Aeroponic Produce?
Sally Herbert's urban farm in Curtis Park uses less water and land to produce lettuce, arugula, and other greens for Denver's booming restaurant scene—and for your kitchen table
Towers of produce at Altius Farms. Photo by Rebecca Stumpf.
Sally Herbert's urban farm in Curtis Park uses less water and land to produce lettuce, arugula, and other greens for Denver's booming restaurant scene—and for your kitchen table.
BY CALLIE SUMLIN | NOVEMBER 2019
At the intersection of 25th and Lawrence streets in Curtis Park, on the second story of a building—high above the millennials zipping around on electric scooters and the yoga warriors exiting a nearby studio—sits Altius Farms, an 8,000-square-foot aeroponic greenhouse. Inside, small fans whoosh gently overhead and the temperature is always somewhere between 65 and 80 degrees. There’s a slight, almost pleasant humidity to the air and the fresh, clean mineral smell of lettuce. The clear polycarbonate roof diffuses and softens the Colorado sunlight, and glass walls make you feel like you’re surrounded by open sky.
Completing the urban Garden of Eden picture is Altius’ version of fields: 340 columns, each eight feet tall, from which sprout floppy green rosettes of butter lettuce, neon mustard frills, ruffles of baby red Russian kale, and lily-pad-like nasturtium leaves. The plants blanket the white, food-grade-plastic columns so thickly they look like edible topiaries.
Fifty-six-year-old Sally Herbert, co-founder, and CEO of Altius, walks through her fields, pausing often to pluck baby kale leaves or fronds of pink-tipped lollo rosso lettuce for sampling. The kale is mild and tender, the lettuce juicy and crisp. Nearby, a smiling intern snips baby arugula leaves into bins while farm manager Ethan Page and other staffers wash, dry, and package the day’s harvest. Assistant grower and account manager Brian Adams will soon deliver bags of the greens to Altius’ growing list of clients, which include Uchi (the farm’s downstairs neighbor), Il Posto, Butcher’s Bistro, and Marczyk Fine Foods.
There’s an efficiency to the way the staff moves that might make you think Altius has been honing its operations for many seasons. In truth, the farm’s been operating for a little over one year. In that time, the company has become a supplier for 40-some restaurants and luxury grocers, and it’s one of Denver’s largest hydroponic vegetable farms. It’s also the only aeroponic-specific facility producing food in Denver proper.
Aeroponics—which was popularized in the 1980s at Epcot’s Land pavilion in Walt Disney World—takes the principles of hydroponic gardening literally to the next level. As with hydroponics, there is no soil involved. In aeroponics, however, plants commonly grow out from vertical columns, not up from pots or beds. The plants’ root systems are housed in ports of spongy, inorganic growing mediums, which are popped into little openings in the columns. A gravity-fed, automated irrigation system pushes a pH-balanced, nutrient-fortified mist through the columns for three minutes at a time in 15-minute intervals, keeping the plants’ air-suspended roots moist.
Aeroponic towers produce lettuce in less space than traditional farming. Photo by Rebecca Stumpf.
The concept has become trendy around the world because these farms can produce food using up to 90 percent less land and water than traditional crops require and can be grown within miles—or even feet—of consumers. In 2018, GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) invested $90 million into Bowery Farming Inc., a New York-based brand that bills itself as “the modern farming company.” Everyone from IKEA executives to the sheik of Dubai has thrown money at AeroFarms, a similarly ambitious outfit in New Jersey. All provide answers to American consumers’ ever-louder demands for local and sustainable food. But the question remains: Can Herbert convince Denverites to join the movement and pay more for greens raised without soil?
Five years ago, Herbert had exactly zero farming experience when a friend recommended she check out Veterans to Farmers, a local nonprofit that trains former service members in traditional and hydroponic agricultural systems. Herbert, who served in the Air Force for 13 years (active duty and reserve), liked the group’s mission to provide veterans with fulfilling civilian careers and joined the board.
While helping a Veterans to Farmer’s trainee at his hydroponic operation in Lakewood in 2014, Herbert learned about controlled-environment agriculture and was fascinated. The timing was apt: Herbert, who typically dresses in plain T-shirts and the sort of breathable pants one might wear hiking, was burnt out as CEO of GS1, a global logistics company. She started researching farming trends and realized that Denver’s short growing season and proliferation of consumers who care about sustainability made it the perfect place for an innovative aeroponic operation.
Finding a location for Altius in the city proved challenging. “I needed a developer who believed in the cause and saw food production as an amenity to their site,” she says. When she connected with Westfield Company Inc. (the developer behind the S*Park complex of luxury townhomes and condos that encompasses Uchi and Altius) in 2015, things clicked.
As it turned out, the plot of land in Curtis Park had been a farm site before. (Elaine Granata, Denver’s grandmother of urban farming, had long coaxed peas and tomatoes from the ground there.) When the Denver Housing Authority sold the property to Westfield, it did so under the condition that the development includes a farming or green space component. Enter Altius. Where other new condominiums tout pools, S*Park’s tenants would have access to fresh vegetable subscriptions and events in the outdoor farm-to-table dinner space, making their “#gardengoals become a reality,” as the S*Park website promises.
With her location secured, Herbert needed funding to bring her vision to fruition. Despite the global interest in vertical farming and her business connections, she had no luck courting local investors. “There’s a lot of money floating around this town for tech startups,” Herbert says. “But trying to get someone to invest in an agriculture company? Forget it.”
It’s not surprising that some investors would be scared off by food production: Slim margins can mean a slow return on capital, and in a city where an acre of land can sell for upward of a million dollars, high-revenue businesses or development projects are preferable to farming’s modest profits. So, to get off the ground, Herbert financed the business herself.
In the midst of Denver’s brutal mid-July heatwave, Herbert’s plants are comfortable in their climate-controlled environment. Herbert, though, is outside, working in Altius Farms’ brand-new garden and event area. Just weeks ago, this ground-level space was a fenced-in rectangle of dirt. Now, it is fully built out with raised beds and long communal tables, ready for ticketed farm-to-table dinner events.
Herbert, her shiny, dark hair pulled into a low ponytail, hunches over one of the 15 soil-filled beds to carefully prune a tomato plant. Nine months in, things are going well at Altius: Through trial and error, Herbert’s team has figured out which varieties of seeds work best in the indoor tower environment. High-end restaurants all over town have begun to name-drop Altius’ greens, herbs, and edible flowers on their menus. And the farm has donated hundreds of pounds of produce to nonprofits We Don’t Waste and SAME Café.
Herbert hopes to expand her aeroponic business beyond Denver. Photo by Rebecca Stumpf.
But it is not enough to turn a profit—yet. It’s still difficult to convince a grocery shopper to pay $4.99 for a clamshell of salad mix when they can get a head of lettuce for less than $2 at King Soopers. “Farming is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Herbert says. And that’s even with Altius’ automated irrigation and temperature control systems, the polycarbonate roof that prevented a June hailstorm from shredding her crops, and a strong customer base.
Because, at the end of the day, it’s still farming. It’s still waking up in the middle of the night panicking about the crops. It’s still having to convince folks to buy a premium local product and coaxing nature into a business model. The aeroponic system has drawbacks, too: The towers aren’t suitable for growing root vegetables, and proponents of organic produce tend to frown upon the aeroponic method, which requires plants to be fed liquid nutrients.
Another challenge, which Herbert has grappled with since the beginning, is that the arrival of Altius in Curtis Park meant the displacement of other farmers; Granata now grows at a small space abutting a parking lot at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Herbert is conscious of the fact that to some, her aeroponic farm is just another sign of a gentrifying neighborhood. As such, she seeks ways to better serve the surrounding area (donating produce to Comal Heritage Food Incubator) and to support other farmers (continuing to serve on the Veterans to Farmers board).
While Herbert is surprised at just how many setbacks have arisen, she’s still confident in Altius. Just as she trusts her seeds will sprout, she says that the farm is on track to profitability. Her lofty goal—to potentially put locations in Denver and cities across the country—feels distant but possible. In the meantime, she pauses to wipe sweat from her brow and survey her work, just for a moment, before heading back to the greenhouse above.
CALLIE SUMLIN, CONTRIBUTOR
Callie Sumlin is a writer living in Westminster and has been covering food and sustainability in the Centennial State for more than five years.
US: Indiana - High-Tech Aeroponic Farming Company Bringing Greenhouse To Electric Works
A northeast Indiana native and Purdue graduate, Clint Crowe, with an extensive background in health technology, is bringing his innovative and high-tech urban-farming concept to Electric Works
September 18, 2019
A northeast Indiana native and Purdue graduate, Clint Crowe, with an extensive background in health technology, is bringing his innovative and high-tech urban-farming concept to Electric Works.
Sweetwater Urban Farms, an Atlanta-based company founded in 2017 that uses aeroponic technology, helped by with proven Internet of Things — no human interaction to transfer data — to produce nutrient-rich greens and herbs, will open a greenhouse in the food hall at the planned Electric Works, according to a statement from a spokesman for the developer, RTM Ventures.
The greenhouse uses a “zero-mile delivery” system, so food is available closer to where it is consumed. It will also offer retail sales of its produce at Electric Works, a mixed-use project that reuses the former General Electric complex on Broadway. As of Aug. 29, the project had up to 15 leases or letters of intent for leases on between 200,000 and 225,000 square feet at Electric Works.
Sweetwater Urban Farms plans to make produce available for delivery to local restaurants, hotels, health care institutions, and schools.
The greenhouse is expected to house up to 400 patented commercial Tower Gardens and produce an estimated 47,000 pounds of produce a year, according to the statement. Tower Garden aeroponic technology re-circulates valuable water, requiring only 10% of the land and water of traditional growing methods.
Crowe, a Decatur native with nearly 18 years of experience in healthcare technology, founded the company with his wife, Sheree.
“When we visited the Electric Works site, we immediately saw the unique potential it offered our company and the community,” Crowe said in the statement. “Being from the region, it’s exciting to come back and see the momentum in the city. Food security is at the heart of any community’s long-term plan, and we see Sweetwater Urban Farms and Electric Works as a strategic starting point and will play a key role in ensuring this community’s future food security.”
Crowe expects to partner with area healthcare and educational institutions, and fellow agricultural-business entities to support increased awareness and education of the value of locally sourced food and its impact on health and wellness. The company may also support a planned agriculture-technology program that Fort Wayne Community Schools is exploring for its planned STEAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics school at Electric Works.
“At the intersection of agriculture and technology, Sweetwater Urban Farms is the kind of innovative company that we want to bring to Electric Works and Northeast Indiana,” said Jeff Kingsbury of the Electric Works development team in the statement. “Clint’s unique background — both in health care technology and as a regional native — makes the company a perfect fit for Electric Works. The food hall and public market are important to building community within the Electric Works district. But, it’s also about enhancing access to healthy food to address this neighborhood’s long-standing status as a food desert – Clint and his team will play an important role in that from the beginning.”
Agriscience Program Teaches Urban Farming, Plant Biotechnology To High Schoolers
Agriscience is a new addition this year. The program, housed in a former manufacturing plant on Portland Road, doesn’t have garden beds or outdoor space. Instead, Valenzuela plans to teach students how to use aeroponic systems, growing everything from lettuce to herbs in a tower where plants get water and LED light
By Rachel Alexander – Salem Reporter September 6, 2019
Agriscience teacher Luis Valenzuela shows the aeroponic towers where students will grow plants at Salem-Keizer's Career Technical Education Center. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
Salem-Keizer's new program has aeroponic towers and a tissue culture lab. Now, they're looking for a few more students.
Running an agriculture program with no soil is a challenge, but Luis Valenzuela is up to the task.
Valenzuela teaches agriscience at Salem-Keizer’s Career Technical Education Center, a hub where juniors and seniors from across the district take in-depth classes on careers from cosmetology to video game design.
Agriscience is a new addition this year. The program, housed in a former manufacturing plant on Portland Road, doesn’t have garden beds or outdoor space. Instead, Valenzuela plans to teach students how to use aeroponic systems, growing everything from lettuce to herbs in a tower where plants get water and LED light.
“We can grow almost any type of plant,” he said.
The career center started in 2015 as a partnership between the district and Mountain West Investment Corporation, which bought the building and worked with staff to develop programs.
The first offerings were residential construction and commercial manufacturing, and district staff rolled out two new programs each year. With the new agriscience and culinary arts programs, there are a total of 10.
Only 14 Salem-Keizer students had enrolled in the program by the first day of school, and Valenzuela wants more. Most other programs are near their capacity of 60 to 70 students.
That’s in part due to the program’s newness, but staff think it’s also because prospective students and their parents may not realize what’s being taught.
“When you hear ag science — our community doesn’t know what that is,” said James Weber, assistant principal at the career technical education center.
Valenzuela said his curriculum is inspired by urban agriculture and the role plants increasingly play in urban design. As more people look to grow food inside cities, using rooftop gardens or empty buildings, he wanted to focus on the possibilities of indoor agriculture.
“I think there is a stigma with agriculture,” he said. Many people perceive it as only running or working on farms, Valenzuela said, but with his background in horticulture, he’s interested in expanding that view.
Dakota Poehler, a junior at McKay High School, was among the students to sign up. After just one day of class, he proclaimed the program “definitely better than regular school” because of the hands-on aspect and chance to socialize with students with similar interests.
Poehler said he loves nature and wanted to learn more about it. He grew up on his grandparents’ farm in Newberg, where they raise sheep and chickens, and is interested in going into the environmental industry.
In the program, students will work in a tissue culture lab to propagate plants, grow food for a cafe operated by culinary students and have opportunities to partner with manufacturing students to design things like wall hangings with living plants.
First-year students will take courses in ecology, food safety and science, and sustainable plant propagation. Second-year students will study plant biotechnology, learning about genetics to breed and engineer plants.
“The sky’s the limit,” Valenzuela said.
Reporter Rachel Alexander: 503-575-1241, rachel@salemreporter.com
Chance To Grow
Aeroponics has been steadily refined since the earliest crude versions were attempted in the 1920s then advanced during the 1970s. The process uses small plastic containment tubes hosting seeds that will sprout and grow relatively quickly in any enclosed room of a home or commercial building
OPINION MIKE MASTERSON:
Chance to growby Mike Masterson | September 10, 2019
I read reporter Doug Thompson's recent story about Sen. John Boozman visiting the Vet Veggies hydroponic farm in Springdale founded by veteran Jerry Martin.
It was a natural stop for the senator who serves on the Senate Veterans' Affairs and the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry committees. Among other things, the senator was introduced to vertical farming indoors with the aid of grow lights and nutrition-infused water.
The idea was this was a potentially profitable business that veterans could pursue with an investment of about $350,000. This indoor approach to farming, which I'm convinced is a growing trend in years ahead, is capable of supplying enormous amounts of food. It's especially timely considering the unpredictable weather in recent years, much of which has not been conducive to traditional farming.
Thompson's story reminded me of the column I wrote more than a year ago about Brent Stewart, an entrepreneur farmer who has been perfecting aeroponics methods.
Considering the timely issue is more relevant than ever, I'm re-sharing edited portions of that column here.
The future tiptoed quietly into our lives years ago when it comes to raising vegetables and plants aeroponically. This space-age system uses only air, efficient LED or fluorescent lighting and minimal amounts of nutrient-soaked mists to grow food without the destructive nature of unpredictable weather or the worries over location, soil conditions, and pesticides or fertilizer applications affecting our food supply.
Brent Stewart of Harrison has applied for a patent to recognize his cutting-edge contribution he calls "Mr. Tip" that could transform seemingly magical aeroponics into something even more efficient and effective to grow food.
Aeroponics has been steadily refined since the earliest crude versions were attempted in the 1920s then advanced during the 1970s. The process uses small plastic containment tubes hosting seeds that will sprout and grow relatively quickly in any enclosed room of a home or commercial building. Operators of these systems see roots quickly propagate and a final product such as lettuce ready for harvesting in as soon as 30 days.
"It's pretty mind-boggling when you think about the significance and possibilities this holds for the planet," Stewart said. With the right equipment to accommodate ever-larger vegetation, it could be possible to grow fruit-bearing and other trees in indoor settings.
I liken it to placing seeds in tubes on the seats of miniature Ferris wheels that continually rise back to the light while being lightly misted with water-soluble foods they need to fully mature.
"I predict this so-called vertical growth method will become the standard for growing in all types of areas worldwide," said Stewart, adding that his revolutionary quick-connect Mr. Tip will make aeroponic agriculture much more efficient by more quickly and effectively applying the important nutrients in tiny yet precise amounts.
Developing his sophisticated nutrient-spraying tip required 12 years from the time Stewart sketched its rough prototype until the "very expensive" mold was completed that brought life to his drawing. Now the Mr. Tip mold is capable of churning out at least 8 million plastic Mr. Tips each year, he said.
I admitted shameful ignorance to this prolific food-production method until meeting Stewart, with his attorney Robert Ginnaven of Jasper. He was eager to explain how an efficient, larger aeroponics operation can produce an unlimited amount of plants a year of pretty much whatever a grower chooses that will fit in an appropriately sized tube to accommodate and nurture its root system.
"Surprisingly, it's not that expensive or space-consuming for a person to become involved in aeroponics. People can dedicate a room of their house or a shed to growing herbs, flowers, or other plants and vegetables," he said. "Entrepreneurs can set up vast numbers of the vertical growth towers to serve the needs of area grocers. There are different ways and forms in using aeroponics. Overall, the basics are simple."
He said aeroponics also has shown itself capable of virtually doubling the growth rates of plants and vegetables grown both through hydroponics and in traditional soil, as evidenced by the results of a NASA comparison study of the three methods.
Successful and prolific aeroponic gardens constructed in different formats could easily be capable of steadily supplying grocers across all of Northwest Arkansas with fresh produce, Stewart added. He cited what a boon such facilities also could have on assisting nonprofit organizations and food banks that are continually seeking contributed food. They could establish their own mini-indoor farms.
In short, the coming revolution in how we produce foods can benefit many in so many ways, including veterans and employment for the handicapped who, through aeroponics and hydroponics, could establish successful operations.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 09/10/2019
Print Headline: MIKE MASTERSON: Chance to grow
New Life CA Selects AEssenseGrows’ Aeroponic System For Its Socially Conscious Cannabis Business
New Life is a vertically integrated, state-licensed cultivation, distribution and non-store front company based in Oakland, California
The East Bay Cannabis Producer Selected Complete AEssenseGrows Automated System for Precision Cruise Control of Indoor Sterile Grow Environments
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 12, 2019 -- AEssenseGrows, an AgTech company specializing in precision automated aeroponic platforms for consistent high-yield plant production, announced today that New Life CA, a socially conscious California cannabis company, has purchased the AEssenseGrows AEtrium system for its operations. New Life determined the AEssenseGrows equipment could best deliver the precision and controls needed to grow superior cannabis at its East Bay facility.
“We wanted a cultivation system that was easy to use and provided a great degree of control over and visibility into the grow environment,” said Carlton Williams, founder of New Life. “The cutting-edge AEssenseGrows system meets those requirements with the automation and precision delivered with its revolutionary Guardian Grow Manager software.”
Williams added: “In addition to our own cultivation, New Life is dedicated to fostering opportunities for those in our community considering entering the cannabis industry, and we’ve worked with non-profits to help individuals establish equity requirements and build business plans. I always encourage these budding entrepreneurs to consider an indoor platform like the AEssenseGrows system.”
New Life is a vertically integrated, state-licensed cultivation, distribution and non-store front company based in Oakland, Calif.
The AEssenseGrows AEtrium system delivers cruise-control automation to simplify aeroponics and amplify its inherent benefits. The company's Guardian Grow Manager central management software monitors grow conditions 24/7 and, if needed, automatically adjusts key variables such as lighting, nutrients, and environment to maintain optimal conditions for the grow recipe.
“The AEtrium System can help cultivators achieve breakthrough aeroponic yields and lowest cost of production at the same time,” said Phil Gibson, AEssenseGrows vice president of Marketing. “Whether for large corporation’s or smaller, community-based growers like New Life, we are committed to helping our customers gain a competitive advantage through the integration of plant science and advanced technology.”
About AEssenseGrows
AEssenseGrows (pronounced "essence grows"), founded in 2014, is a precision AgTech company based in Sunnyvale, CA. AEssenseGrows provides accelerated plant growth SmartFarm platforms and software automation delivering pure, zero pesticide, year-round, enriched growth to fresh produce and medicinal plant producers globally. With AEssenseGrows, you can precisely control your production operations at your fingertips from anywhere in the world.
Heliponix Capturing Innovation And Hearts In Indiana's Great Southwest
Heliponix is an Agriculture Technology company that sells the GroPod to consumers. The GroPod is a revolutionary smart appliance that grows fresh produce in your home any time of year with an organic seed-pod subscription without any preservatives or pesticides
See The First GroPod One In-Person At The Purdue University Graduate Student Plant Science Symposium on August 1 At The Beck Agricultural Center.
Heliponix is an Agriculture Technology company that sells the GroPod to consumers. The GroPod is a revolutionary smart appliance that grows fresh produce in your home any time of year with an organic seed-pod subscription without any preservatives or pesticides.
The business model is similar to the keurig k-cup model, but is also a practical solution to counter the environmental damage wreaked by conventional soil agriculture since it uses hydroponics which grows produce faster with 95% less water. This is important because the human population will reach 9.8 Billion in the year 2050 which will increase food demand by 70%. This will likely not be met with current agriculture practices in the US accounting for almost 80% of all freshwater consumption and 50% of land use.
Heliponix was co-founded by Southern Indiana natives, Scott Massey and Ivan Ball. Although they did not know each other before completing their respective engineering degrees at Purdue University, they met each other as co-working on a NASA funded research study at Purdue.
There, there research energy efficent LED lighting spectrum optimization to reduce the energy consumption of the hydroponic growing systems on the International Space Station. As undergraduate students, they had the idea to create an IoT (internet of things) appliance that would automate the complex process of hydroponics so every-day consumers would have the ability to grow their own produce at home. They then competed in business plan competitions at various universities and research institutions to raise several hundred thousand dollars in funding to commercialize their proprietary technology. Purdue University was among their first investors through their venture division focused on innovations within the agricultural and biological engineering domain.
Heliponix won first place in the Evansville Regional Pitch Competition after debuting considerable traction bringing the GroPod to market as well as the their first production model from their manufacturing facility that will have the capability to produce several thousand GroPods.
Scott Massey said: “We considered many other cities when deciding where to locate a high-tech appliance company such as Heliponix. Fortunately, the Ohio River Valley is fertile in engineering talent and manufacturing plants to produce our exact product. We will continue creating high-paying jobs as we define an entirely new frontier for agriculture. In the not so distant future, the majority of culinary herbs, microgreens, and leafy green vegetables will be grown indoors as consumers favor the flavor, health, and food safety benefits of fresher food. That’s why we are excited to advance to the state finals since our company truly has so much growth potential for our region.”
Russia: City Farming In Tomsk
The Orlov family started an unusual business two years ago. Despite Siberian frosts, they successfully grow strawberries year-round with the help of their own engineering inventions
Growing Strawberries In The Basement of a Block of flats
The Orlov family started an unusual business two years ago. Despite Siberian frosts, they successfully grow strawberries year-round with the help of their own engineering inventions.
In the basement of a regular 5-storeyed block of flats, the city farmers grow their berries, without a single ray of sunshine and natural warmth.
“The agricultural method is based on hydroponics and aeroponics”, explains Alexander Orlov, demonstrating the small farming facility. “These are important factors, but lighting is even more vital. The technology was worked out by my son; it is his know-how that formed the basis of our business”.
The family have various technical devices, but the main factor is lighting, due to which the berries get all the needed warmth and light for growth, aroma and color.
The inventive son, Kirill Orlov, is a professional engineer, who specialized in applied mathematics in Tomsk University. His lamps allow for reduced energy consumption and stabilize the temperature regime. One lamp lasts 7.5 days, if used 18 hours a day. With these lamps, strawberries grow and ripen faster, productivity increases up to four times.
“I had already retired when one day my son came and suggested growing strawberries. He experimented with light before and grew greenery like onions, parsley and spinach quite successfully. The volume wasn’t big and nobody had thought he was going to start big production”, shares the father, Alexander Orlov.
The local government supported the idea; they liked the systematic approach and the idea of growing and selecting strawberries in Tomsk all year round. The first grant that was received for the complex creation came from the local government. Currently the growers have three rooms, two of which are occupied with beds for 3000 berry bushes and various systems, and the third one contains the enterprise management system: water conditioning, fertigation and irrigation unit and other equipment.
“We get a lot of positive feedback from customers on our Instagram page, both private persons and restaurant business representatives. Parents write that they are happy that our strawberries cause no allergic reaction with children”, shares Mrs. Alla Orlova.
“Our dream is to create the best greenhouse not only in Siberia but also in the world”, shares Kirill. “We have an opportunity to pick a suitable land plot for the construction and we want to show that Siberia can boast the most advanced agricultural technologies and contemporary profitable greenhouses. Any plant can be grown with our technology, not only strawberries but also greenery and tulips that we purchase in huge amounts form the Netherlands. I feel we can do it with the support of the family. Further development will be related to expansion of our interest and gradual fulfillment of the plans”.
The vegetation period in Orlov’s greenhouse lasts 45 days, after which harvesting is done every day all year round. 40 thousand bushes can produce 40-60 tons of berries per year.
Source: rg.ru
Publication date: 5/15/2019
Will Vertical Farming Solve The World’s Growing Ecological And Human Crises?
4 Apr 2019 by Jonny Williamson
Vertical Farming is a new approach that could help solve the world’s escalating food chain crisis. And it is all made possible by data and Lean manufacturing.
We have witnessed an exponential rise in the capability of digital systems to gather data through sensors and process and analyse it – image courtesy of Depositphotos.
Though vertical farming is not a new concept – the theory that food can be grown in large quantities inside tall buildings has been around for decades, it is only recently that it has become possible at a price point that matches that of produce grown using traditional methods, and that is thanks to the same digital manufacturing technologies that are revolutionising our factories.
AeroFarms of Newark, New Jersey, is a pioneer of aeroponic farming with an ambition to set up vertical farms in towns and cities across the world to meet the growing ecological and human crises of the next few decades.
(Unlike hydroponics, where plant roots sit in a small container of water, aeroponics involves ‘misting’ roots with water and nutrients.)
Founded in 2004, and the recipient of substantial financial investment from major Ag investors like ADM Capital, to global celebrity chef David Chang, and the Swedish furniture giant IKEA, AeroFarms is the very model of a solution rising to a global challenge using imagination, ingenuity and technology.
As the company’s founding date suggests, it takes time, coupled with intensive, micro-level R&D to reach that critical point where costs are brought down, allowing prices to compete with traditionally farmed produce.
AeroFarms co-founder David Rosenberg says they are there, producing their own-label pre-packed ‘Dream Greens’. But it was not always easy.
“We didn’t always understand why plants sometimes grew, sometimes didn’t grow,” he told me. “We started tracking data, at first for data’s sake, seeing if we could understand what’s going on in this puzzle called plant biology.
“Slowly, after disseminating the data, the picture became clearer, and we understood sometimes we were saturating a plant with too much light. Sometimes not enough. Sometimes not enough water, sometimes too much. Sometimes different nutrients and micronutrients. The problems we have to solve are analogous to the field, and at the same time, very different.”
Technology growth
AeroFarms is a pioneer of aeroponic farming with an ambition to set up vertical farms in towns and cities across the world – image courtesy of AeroFarms.
The technology world today is also very different from 2004. We have witnessed an exponential rise in the capability of digital systems to gather data through sensors (IoT) and process and analyse it, and an exponential fall in the transmission and storage costs that that data analysis requires.
As the technology matured, so Rosenberg and his team began to acquire the tools they needed to refine how their vertical farm works.
“Having access to the information at our fingertips, having it separated into its different components to be interpreted is key,” he said. “We have used imaging systems, including multispectral cameras to capture our plants in our farm. We have sensors that are connected wirelessly through systems like the Dell Gateways, to connect to our different people.
“We have plant scientists, physiologists, plant pathologists, and molecular biologists that are trying to understand what’s going on. We have people in operations using Lean manufacturing. So, the interconnectedness of the farm is all coming together. It wouldn’t be possible without a complete harmony of these systems, hardware and software, that are connecting all the data.”
It is the application of manufacturing principles like Lean, in a way that could never happen in traditional agriculture, that stood out for Nigel Moulton, Global CTO for Dell EMC, whose systems make the AeroFarms ambitions possible.
“If you take the Six Sigma principle, and you applied it to agriculture, you end up with AeroFarms,” he told me. “It is the combination of a lean process married to a set of technologies that help you deliver Six Sigma, in this case, in agriculture.
“There is the added benefit that it’s in a brownfield location that might have very low yield and use if it weren’t for somebody as innovative as AeroFarms coming in and saying, ‘We can occupy this space, we can apply Six Sigma. We can apply technology to actually grow something.’”
Global challenge:
70% of the world’s water goes to agriculture
70% of freshwater contamination is caused by agriculture
50% more people on the planet by 2050
30% loss of arable land over 40 years
60% of food currently spoiled before it’s eaten
CO2 emissions from food miles increasing
AeroFarms grows produce without sun or soil in a fully-controlled indoor environment – image courtesy of AeroFarms.
Upscaling
Nigel Moulton’s point about the sites AeroFarms uses is well made. Their global HQ is their ninth farm, and is in a converted steel mill in Newark, New Jersey. It’s R&D centre, also in Newark, is a former nightclub. Another farm in Newark is a former paintball and laser tag arena. This is entirely consistent with their philosophy of using as few new resources as possible and recycling as much as they can.
AeroFarms is a member of the Ellen McArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy 100, an elite grouping of companies whose goal is to minimise waste and live by the principles of the circular economy.
Inevitably, it was their ability to micromanage waste out of the system that also contributed to reaching that crucial price point. As a small example, if a plant only needs a part of the light spectrum to grow, why not find a way to deliver just the bit it needs?
AeroFarms is also a certified B Corporation, which means they meet “the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”
Their contribution to social and environmental good is augmented by programmes such as placing a growing unit inside inner city schools to enable children to see the technology at work – and give them fresh food to eat.
AeroFarm solution vs traditional field farms
Up to 95% less water used and no pesticides
Up to 50% less time to grow plants
Millions of data points each harvest
390-times more productivity annually
One million kilos of leafy greens per farm annually by AeroFarms
Farms growing food where people live
The future is vertical
AeroFarms’ commitment to the philosophy and principles of the B Corporation is apparent in more than just the way its values and management are entirely bent towards solving global issues such as population growth, hunger and water contamination. It is also obvious in the way that this is not just another high-tech company seeking to corner a lucrative market for itself.
“AeroFarms are the world leaders in this space,” David Rosenberg told me. “But it’s
not a space where there’s one winner and lots of losers. There’s going to be several winners in this space. It is not unlike other industries: there’s a rush of people getting in, excited and inspired by what AeroFarms is doing. And hopefully that competition is good, ups the game, and makes us innovate faster and get to our goals faster.”
To put it another way, onwards and upwards.
How does AeroFarm’s do it?
Smart aeroponics
Mist the roots of the greens with nutrients, water, and oxygen. The aeroponic system is a closed-loop system, using up to 95% less water than field farming and 40% less than hydroponics.
Smart light
LED lights create a specific light recipe for each plant, giving the greens exactly the spectrum, intensity and frequency they need for photosynthesis in the most energy-efficient way possible. This allows control of size, shape, texture, colour, flavour and nutrition with razor-sharp precision and increased productivity.
Smart nutrition
Constantly monitoring all the macro- and micro-nutrients for plants to provide them with everything that they need to thrive. The exact same seed from the field can be grown in half the time as a traditional field farmer, leading to 390 times more productivity per square foot annually than a commercial field farm.
Smart data
Plant scientists monitor millions of data points every harvest, constantly reviewing, testing and improving the growing system using predictive analytics to create a superior and consistent result. With remote monitoring and controls in place, the typical risks associated with traditional agriculture are minimised.
Smart substrate
A patented, reusable cloth medium for seeding, germinating, growing, and harvesting. The growing cloth medium is made out of BPA-free, post-consumer recycled plastic, each taking 350 500ml water bottles out of the waste stream. The cloth can be fully sanitised after harvest and reseeded with no risk of contamination, acting as a barrier between the mist and the plants.
*Adapted from here – courtesy of AeroFarms
Feeding Roots Via Nutritious Mist
First lettuce from French aeroponic greenhouse
The roots of the plants are hanging in the air. Nutricients, needed for the growth, are directly sprayed under the roots. This way a one hectare greenhouse equipped with the CombaSystem would be able to produce 750 tons of salad per year.
The recently installed pilot greenhouse is 5,000 sqm. From the location in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, French retail and foodservice markets will be supplied with fresh salads and herbs.
The greenhouse is an initiative from CombaGroup and Les Crudettes . Les Crudettes is the French leader in bagged salads, CombaGroup is a Swiss agro-technology company active in aeroponic solutions.
Since 2013, CombaGroup has developed an innovative technological solution for growing healthy, pesticide-free salads and aromatic herbs. Its pilot greenhouse is installed in Molondin (Vaud, Switzerland). Since mid-February their first commercial greenhouse has been operational in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire (France). Comprising 5,000 sqm, it will supply French retail and foodservice markets.
To celebrate the launch of this first commercial project with Les Crudettes and to share further information about the partnership and the project, CombaGroup will host an event at Châteauneuf-sur-Loire (France) on 2 April. Over here the CombaGroup's Mobile Aeroponics will be presente.
"This solution of soilless agriculture in controlled-environment greenhouses reduces water consumption by 97 per cent and makes it possible to avoid any use of pesticides and phytosanitary treatment (including biological)", the team with CombaGroup explains. "Our farming system is committed to delivering the vegetables of the future with sustainably produced agriculture that benefits both the environment and consumers." To achieve this, nutrients necessary for the natural growth of plants are directly sprayed under the roots.
Mobile Aeroponics
"The CombaSystem™ contains two key innovative elements: mobile aeroponics, which is the automated spraying of a nutritive mist on roots hanging in the air, and space optimisation thanks to growing plates that move according to the stages of development of the product”, says Serge Gander, CEO of CombaGroup.
"As an innovation in innovation, this mobile and evolutionary system with additional faster harvest facilitation, immediately attracted the attention of French customer Les Crudettes, convincing them to implement the first CombaSystem™ greenhouse in France."
“The lettuce production and demonstration greenhouse located in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire is coupled to our bagging facilities, will allow us to deliver the freshest products possible to our customers”, says Thierry Dubois, General Manager of Les Crudettes.
Publication date : 3/27/2019
Author: Arlette Sijmonsma
© HortiDaily.com
Nepal: AeroRoots Wants To Transform Nepal’s Agriculture By Farming In The Air
In 2017, Rana and Singh designed a system with over 150 plants and put it at Rana’s house. “At that point, we were in a hit and trial process. We didn’t know if our system would work,” shares Rana.
Linked by Michael Levenston
We want to be able to grow Himalayan herbs in the Terai and Terai vegetables in the Himalayas,” claims Rana.
By Shashwat Pant
Online Khabar
March 10, 2019
Excerpt:
In 2017, Rana and Singh designed a system with over 150 plants and put it at Rana’s house. “At that point, we were in a hit and trial process. We didn’t know if our system would work,” shares Rana.
Of the 150 plants they had planted, only one survived. But the survival of one plant was enough to give the two partners the boost to continue the project which they started as a dream.
“The one plant that survived gave us the confidence that we were heading on the right path. Had that plant not survived, I don’t think AeroRoots would have existed today,” shares Rana.
Since then AeroRoots has come a long way. Learning from their mistakes, they have till date created four systems, each upgraded and better than the other.
The co-founders also share that they not only want to create a pesticide-free tomorrow, they also aim to revolutionize agriculture in Nepal. The company through its system is paving way for a soilfree farm which ensures higher yield and less investment of resources including the workforce.
Read the complete article here.
Agri-Tech Business Wins Vodafone Funding
15 Feb 2019
Josh Morris Digital Staff Writer
A Bristol-based agricultural technology company has been awarded £45,000 in funding from Vodafone.
LettUs Grow, which is developing aeroponic and vertical farming techniques was awarded £35,000 by the telecommunications giant as part of its Techstarter awards, as well as a further £10,000 Techstarter Champion’s award.
Jack Farmer, co-founder and operational lead at LettUs Grow, said: "We are seriously excited to be working with Vodafone. As much as the funding is incredibly useful, we are particularly keen to collaborate with them from a technical and a commercial standpoint. That mentorship is really going to help us to develop our business.
"We are looking to work with Vodafone and a number of other key partners this year, to implement our hardware and software and deliver profitable pilot farms – both greenhouse and vertical – before then working with these partners to scale nationally and internationally.
"We are very excited technically to work with Vodafone on both our communications platform and also the application of data analysis in large scale farms."
Nick Jeffery, chief executive, Vodafone UK, said: "The range and calibre of the Vodafone Techstarter winners show that the UK is home to a thriving social tech sector.
"We believe some of the biggest challenges in society can be addressed using technology and innovation. These awards are just one way we can recognise, celebrate and support start-ups developing and using technology as a force for good."
Hanging Gardens of Steel & Glass
Vertical farming is conceptually simple. Instead of spreading out a farm over the land, you stack it into the air using shelves and multi-storey buildings
By: urbanagnews
February 11, 2019
Article by Lunacy Now
Long spires of steel and glass stretch up towards the sun. Within, teeming billions go about their busy lives, like ants in a kilometer tall nest. But every human in this vast metropolis needs to eat. And the solution is all around: towering vertical farms. Precise algorithms calibrate the exact amount of water and other nutrients required for optimal growth, and deliver it on a pre-determined schedule to ensure optimal growth.
That’s the sci-fi hive city dream, right? So how far are we from being able to produce that density of food production? And can you start producing enough food to feed your family in a regular suburban home?
We spoke with Dr. Joel Cuello, vice chair of the Association of Vertical Farming and Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona to find out.
What is Vertical Farming?
Vertical farming is conceptually simple. Instead of spreading out a farm over the land, you stack it into the air using shelves and multi-storey buildings. That’s how a company like Bowery Farming is able to produce 100 times more food on the same footprint of land as conventional agriculture, according to its statistics.
But it’s not just about horizontal versus vertical. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) technology allows farmers to measure every aspect of their plants physical surroundings. The type and level of light, the temperature, and humidity are tightly controlled. Furthermore, farmers can supply the exact amount of water and nutrients a plant needs at the right time. Complex data analysis programs and AI enable a farmer to track progress and further optimize efficiency.
Types of Vertical Farming
There are two main technologies underpinning indoor farming.
Hydroponic: The plants are grown in a solution of water and nutrients.
Aeroponic: The plants are grown in a nutrient-infused mist.
Subcategories like fogoponic, deep water hydroponics, or aquaponics where fish are added to create an entire ecosystem also exist.
When Cuello spoke with us he had a clear vision that this industry could be the future of agriculture. He identifies three primary types of vertical farms, depending on the buildings.
Skyscrapers: This is probably what most people think of when they imagine a vertical farm. Although the technical capacity to construct them is there, Cuello says the economics don’t necessarily add up. Real estate is at such a premium in urban centers such as New York that it makes no sense to use it for agriculture, even if densely organized. Some architects such as Ken Yeang favor mixed-use skyscrapers which grow plants as part of a broader set of purposes.
Warehouse: Cuello sees this as the most viable for large scale commercial operations. You either build a new warehouse and fill it with vertical farming equipment or buy an existing building and convert it.
Modular: This is the most efficient and practical way to scale out vertical farming, according to Cuello. The beauty of modular farms is you can put them anywhere, in the desert, in Antarctica, it doesn’t matter.
The Japanese were among the first to commercialize this type of agriculture, perhaps due in part to the space restrictions in Japan. Cuello says the best use of vertical farming in terms of return on investment is to grow certain kinds of high-value fresh fruits and vegetables which require specific but not particularly complicated conditions for optimal growth. Grains and cash crops like wheat or rice still make much more sense to grow in fields in the traditional manner, while boutique crops like orchids or and other horticultural crops are already cost-effectively mass produced in large-scale greenhouses.
Cuello has high hopes for modular vertical farms in particular to extend the reach and community-adoptability of vertical farms from its current warehouse form. Although. Although vertical farming is energy intensive and therefore quite expensive, the costs plummet where a renewable energy source is readily available. This makes the desert a fantastic place to put modular vertical farms, as you can simply bolt solar panels onto the roof. The Gulf States are experimenting with this technique at the moment.
History of Vertical Farming
Sophisticated vertical farming techniques such as rice terraces have been used in South America and East Asia for centuries. As early as 1909, Life Magazine produced a sketch of vertical homesteads stacked on top of one another and in 1915, the American geologist Gilbert Ellis Bailey published his book Vertical Farming. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that technology caught up. Professor Joel Cuello did a postdoctoral internship at NASA in 1994, in the Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems division. That unit worked on creating methods of farming which could be used in space, with an eventual view to colonizing other planets. NASA developed efficient crop nutrient
systems based on hydroponics and aeroponics, which utilizing about 90% less water than the typical open-field cultivation.
Based on these and similar ideas of what was possible to do, Professor Dickson Despommier adopted the term vertical farming in 1999 while teaching a course at Columbia. Dr. Despommier wrote The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, which was published in 2010. In 2013 the Association of Vertical Farming was founded in Munich, Germany.
Feed The World
Ever since British economist Thomas Malthus published “An Essay on the Principle of Population” in 1798, a certain subset of demographers have worried the human population is going to grow and grow indefinitely. If this doesn’t stop, eventually we will consume the entire world, like fire ants in the jungle. The global population currently stands around 7.68 billion. “To feed those who are currently hungry—and the additional 2 billion-plus people who will live on the planet by 2050—our best projections are that crop production will need to increase between 60 and 100 percent,” the Food Matters report put out by the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment says.
Others are more skeptical. “Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality, not scarcity,” Eric Holt-Gimenez, the Executive Director of Food First, wrote in the Huffington Post. Food First engages in research and action dedicated to helping people achieve control over their food systems. “For the past two decades,” Holt-Gimenez continues, “the rate of global food production has increased faster than the rate of global population growth. The world already produces more than 1 ½ times enough food to feed everyone on the planet. That’s enough to feed 10 billion people, the population peak we expect by 2050.”
Historically, food production capacity has expanded as a result of technological innovations such as the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 70s. Much of our future increased crop yield per acreage is also likely to come from technological innovations such as vertical farming.
Regardless of whether enough food is produced, there is a secondary question of whether or not current methods of agricultural production are sustainable, in terms of land and energy use. An estimated 38.6% of available land is already devoted to agriculture, according to National Geographic. If we don’t want to chop down every last tree to make way for corn fields, something is going to have to be done about density.
Future of Vertical Farming
Market research firm Arizton projects that the US Vertical Farming market will grow to $3 billion by 2024, as reported by PR Newswire. The market is expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 24%. The report predicts that hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic business will triple their revenue in the next six years.
Surprisingly, the cannabis industry has been at the forefront of the commercialization and scaling of indoor farming technology. Because cannabis has been illegal for many years, manufacturers usually grow their product indoors, to avoid detection. However, since drug dealing is fundamentally a money making enterprise, they learned to optimize for quality and cost just as any legitimate business operation would do. These standard market pressures pushed producers to experiment with hydroponics/aeroponics. As legalization of recreational marijuana is rolled out, companies like California-based GrowX are maximizing their profits using vertical farming.
One exciting possibility brought about by modular farms is the option to deploy them rapidly where needed, eg. in conflict zones. That’s why Cuello is in talks with Dubai about using specially designed farming units in refugee camps to ease the burden on aid requirements. He is also currently working on a shipping container design which he expects to see operational in the Philippines by the end of the year.
Another way vertical farms can be used is to facilitate the return of nomadism. You can fit a small vertical farm in a roof compartment of a caravan and continue to be mobile while growing enough food to feed a couple. This empowers people to move around and remain self-sufficient in a way that hasn’t been possible for a long time.
The ultimate goal, of course, is space, the final frontier. While Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are competing to get to Mars, how humans will be able to eat once we get there is a vital question. Perfecting vertical farming on Earth could hold the key to a fully functional year-round lunar base, or the world’s first resource-independent Martian colony.
But enough about the outer reaches of interplanetary existence. Let’s take this right back down, to your zone of control, to an ordinary family home somewhere in America.
The Suburban Vertical Farm
Most suburban homes in America have garages. There is certainly enough space to produce food for your family inside, although Cuello thinks running a commercial operation out of your garage may not be cost effective. The technology is consumer accessible, just go to your local hydroponics shop.
So we called Brite Ideas Hydroponics, Aquaponics and Organics shop in Austin, Texas, to ask them how to rig your garage into an indoor farm.
Athena told us that the most expensive part would be the lights, which range from around $50 to $500. LED lights are best since they are low energy and low heat. They also offer a variety of light spectrums, leafy vegetables need more of a full spectrum, whereas fruit like strawberries needs more red light.
There are lots of different ways to set up a vertical or hydroponic indoor farm. You can use buckets, hang the plants in the air or put them on shelves in float tables.
To fill your whole garage with units with 4-5 shelves with float tables on each unit could run you between $1000-$2000, not including the $300 a year in costs for nutrients. Of course, as with all things, your mileage may vary depending on circumstances. Energy costs will add to the price, but securing a renewable power source is an entirely different conversation.
If you own land, it’s a different story. The company Freight Farms is already selling fully-functional ready to operate vertical farms in up-cycled shipping containers. You can buy one from their website right now if you want (average operating costs are around $13,000/year).
Vertical farming is a sustainably sourced locally grown solution to feeding urban populations. You can even start today and feed your family in a normal suburban home.
Article by Lunacy Now
Innovative Veg Growing Firm Secures £1 Million To Build The Farms Of The Future
January 11, 2019
An innovative Bristol firm which has developed a range of aeroponic technology for indoor farms has announced it has secured £1 million in funding to build world-leading indoor growing facilities.
LettUs Grow was awarded a grant of £399,650 by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, to lead a £700,000 project – which will help increase food resilience and security in the face of climate change.
This is alongside a further €100,000 from the Green Challenge and several additional research grants.
As part of the project, LettUs Grow will work alongside ECH Engineering, industry leaders in controlled environment technology, and urban agriculture experts from Grow Bristol.
The grants came hot on the heels of the disruptive startup’s most recent investment round, where they raised £460,000 from ClearlySo, Bethnal Green Ventures, the University of Bristol Enterprise Fund II, managed by Parkwalk Advisors, and angel investors.
This funding has allowed the company to scale operations and drive forward product development to access a rapidly growing global market for efficient and sustainable farming technology.
By 2050, it’s expected that humanity will need to increase food production by 70% to feed over nine billion people. Existing methods of agriculture will not be enough to feed this burgeoning global population.
Alongside this, most ‘fresh’ produce is imported out of season, often travelling hundreds of miles to reach consumers and resulting in colossal waste throughout the supply chain.
LettUs Grow has designed a patent-pending aeroponic system that has shown growth rate increases of over 70% compared to existing solutions for leafy greens, salads and herb production.
What Is Aeroponic Growing?
Aeroponics is a way of growing plants without soil, where the roots are watered using a fine mist. Not only does this allow greater oxygenation of the roots, delivering better flavour and faster growth, but it uses up to 95% less water than traditional agriculture.
Charlie Guy, co-founder and managing director said: “This injection of private and public funding into the company enables us to accelerate our innovative products to market and build one of the most technically advanced facilities for indoor growing in the world.
The global agri-tech industry is very exciting right now, all stemming from the necessity to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of food production.
“We are fielding enquiries from all around the world from food producers and farmers who want to experience the benefits of our technology across a growing range of crops.”
Matias Wibowo, investment manager at ClearlySo: “Innovation is critical to ensuring long-term food security and sustainability.
“Our investors see the value, both in terms of financial and environmental returns from tackling this systemic global problem. That’s why they got involved in LettUs Grow.
“LettUs Grow provides the technological innovation piece to the vertical smart farming movement that is currently trending rapidly in the urban context.”