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Stop the Presses: Hydroponics Certified Organic
While both sides still feel they’re in the right as to whether or not hydroponic produce should be certified as organic, that argument ended on November 1, 2017, with an industry decision that such certification was allowable.
Stop the Presses: Hydroponics Certified Organic
Lee Allen | February 15, 2018
Takeaway: Until November of 2017, growers debated the organic certification of hydroponics. Now, the verdict is in.
While both sides still feel they’re in the right as to whether or not hydroponic produce should be certified as organic, that argument ended on November 1, 2017, with an industry decision that such certification was allowable.
The highly emotional status declaration came down at the Fall 2017 NOSB meeting in Florida, where the advisory body to the USDA ruled that hydroponic and aquaponic farms could carry the organic label. They’ve been allowed to be called organic for a number of years, but now it will be official.
Still, the proverbial Hatfield and McCoy battle on the issue remains pretty heated. Both sides still believe they have the best idea.
The Coalition for Sustainable Organics put the approval in the win column for them, pleased that NOSB rejected a number of proposals that would revoke the certification of many hydroponic, aquaponic, and container growers. President Lee Frankel’s contention was that more, not less, the organic product was needed to feed a hungry world. “Everyone deserves organic, and this proposal would have made it harder for consumers to access organic produce as a meaningful solution to environmental challenges faced by growers (who) need to adapt to site-specific conditions,” he says.
Another supporter, the Recirculating Farms Coalition, was equally pleased with the vote. “NOSB made the right decision,” says executive director Marianne Cufone. “Many products already carry a USDA Organic label and to now withdraw that would be irresponsible and confusing for both farmers and consumers.”
Conversely, The Cornucopia Institute group had sought rejection of what they called a “watering down” of organic standards supported by “big money and powerful corporate lobbyists who want their piece of a growing organic pie.” They advised a “no” vote to “protect soil-based farmers who raise fruits and vegetables in a sustainable, healthy fashion.”
The NOSB ballot count wasn’t an overwhelming landslide but a squeaker win with an eight to seven final tally to reject proposals prohibiting hydroponic/aquatic production certification. By a much larger margin (14 to zero, with one abstention), however, aeroponics was denied the organic certification.
Biosystems engineer Dr. Stacy Tollefson of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona, a member of the Hydroponic and Aquaponic Taskforce, says she’s dumbfounded the NOSB didn’t support aeroponics. She asks, “If they support aquaponics and liquid systems, why not aeroponics?”
The NOSB recommendation is now in the hands of USDA. The federal agency and the staff of the National Organic Program will decide on the rules to modify existing organic standards. Once that is done, there will be a public comment period and a regulatory review before the new classifications become regulation.
Going forward, “This decision should promote more innovation in organic production,” Tollefson says. “There may be increasing pressure to be more transparent within the USDA Organic label, perhaps a push for mandatory labeling that differentiates ‘soil grown’ versus ‘container grown.
2018 U.S. Farm Bill Campaign
2018 U.S. Farm Bill Campaign
JANUARY 18, 2018 URBAN AG NEWS
About every five years the Federal Government passes a massive, far-reaching “Farm Bill” with the main aim of providing an adequate national supply of food and nutrition. The Bill affects all facets of the U.S. food system including nutrition assistance, crop subsidies, crop insurance, research, and conservation. The 2014 Farm Bill directed the spending of about $450 billion.
The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill is on track to ignore aquaponics unless we make our voices heard! Here are some ways to get involved:
- Share a copy of the: Aquaponics Association 2018 U.S. Farm Bill Fact Sheet PDF
- Click here to join the: Aquaponics Association 2018 Farm Bill Coalition. Coalition Members will:
- be signed onto Farm Bill Coalition messages to Congress;
- receive updates and information about the 2018 Farm Bill; and
- receive action alerts when opportunities arise for you to get involved.
- Click here to read the Aquaponics Sign-on Letter to Congress.
Here’s the Aquaponics Association’s 2018 Farm Bill Fact Sheet:
Organic Industry Debates Certification of Aeroponic Systems
Organic Industry Debates Certification of Aeroponic Systems
At its fall public meeting, the National Organic Standards Board heard testimony about hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponic operations.
Feb 05, 2018
On Jan. 25, 2018, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service released an update on the status of organic hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.
At its fall public meeting, the National Organic Standards Board heard testimony about hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponic operations.
What is the status of hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponic operations?
Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations and has been since the National Organic Program began. For these products to be labeled as organic, the operation must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent, and maintain compliance with the USDA organic regulations.
The NOSB has recommended prohibiting aeroponic systems in organic production. USDA will consider this recommendation; aeroponics remains allowed during this review.
What is the Organic Farmers Association saying about this certification?
The Organic Farmers Association is raising concern with USDA’s recent statement that “Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations, and has been since the National Organic Program began,” labeling this action as revisionist history, and an incorrect interpretation of the organic law.
“The USDA has several times in the past sought guidance from the National Organic Standards Board on the advisability of allowing hydroponic production to be certified organic,” said Francis Thicke, OFA policy committee chair, and outgoing NOSB member. “This issue is far from settled.”
The association pointed out that in 2010 the NOSB, in a 14 to 1 vote, recommended that hydroponic production not be allowed to be certified organic, stating “systems of crop production that eliminate soil from the system, such as hydroponics or aeroponics cannot be considered as example of acceptable organic farming practices…due to their exclusion of the soil-plant ecology intrinsic to organic farming systems and USDA/NOP regulations governing them.”
The USDA National Organic Program did not follow through on that NOSB recommendation. However, most USDA-accredited certifying agencies have avoided certifying hydroponic operations because of the long-standing requirement—rooted in the Organic Foods Production Act —that organic production must be in the soil.
“There are no federal standards for certifying hydroponic production as organic,” said Jim Riddle, OFA steering committee chair and former NOSB member.
Organic Farmers Association said OFPA—the enabling legislation that created the National Organic Program—indicates that organic production must be soil-based. Quoting the Act, “An organic plan shall contain provisions designed to foster soil fertility, primarily through the management of the organic content of the soil through proper tillage, crop rotation, and manuring.”
Further, Organic Farmers Association asserts that no legal justification accompanied USDA’s recent position of unconditional allowance for organic certification of hydroponic production.
To Members of Congress, We Request That The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill Include Aquaponic Agriculture on a Level Playing-Field With Traditional Agriculture.
Aquaponic growers around the world have proven that we can provide the freshest, healthiest produce in any environment with the fewest resources. We employ water-based, recirculating systems of fish, plants and bacteria to produce vegetables, fruits and fish (edible or ornamental).
To Members of Congress, We Request That The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill Include Aquaponic Agriculture on a Level Playing-Field With Traditional Agriculture.
Attached is the final letter with over 200 of our signatures ready to be distributed to Congress.
THIS IS JUST THE FIRST STEP
The Aquaponics Association will be delivering copies to Congress... but this is only one slice of the pie, we all need to continue the push.
Here's how you can help:
- Send a copy directly to YOUR representatives. It will have much more impact if congressional offices receive info from their own constituents.
- Send a copy to agricultural press outlets.
- Post info on social media (pic below to use for image)
- Continue getting more people to sign up for the Coalition
REMEMBER the Farm Bill only happens once every five years so we have to make sure we get included in these programs NOW.
Final letter is Here
Thanks!
Brian
USDA Reaffirms Organic Certification for Container Production Systems
In the most recent edition of the Organic Insider newsletter, USDA states, “Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations, and has been since the National Organic Program began.”
USDA Reaffirms Organic Certification for Container Production Systems
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) clearly reaffirmed its position this week on the inclusion of hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic within the organic program. In the most recent edition of the Organic Insider newsletter, USDA states, “Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations, and has been since the National Organic Program began.”
This is a significant victory for farmers and producers across the country to provide more certainty over certification standards. The Coalition for Sustainable Organics, a group of environmentally and socially responsible growers committed to maintaining USDA’s current high standards, thanks USDA for its thoughtful approach on this issue. In addition, CSO thanks all the growers, consumers, farm workers, marketers, input suppliers, auditors, and others who took the time to participate in the debate by submitting comments, providing testimony, speaking with your customers and consumers, and reaching out to government officials to help educate members of the NOSB as well as the broader organic community regarding the benefits and legitimacy of organic container production methods.
The Organic Insider is a routine publication of the USDA to inform the organic community and industry on a range of topics related to organic agriculture at USDA, including regulatory updates, requests for public comments, and notices about upcoming activities. This edition also includes links to the materials from the Fall 2017 National Organic Standards Board meeting such as transcripts,presentations made by the USDA, votes, formal recommendations and USDA’s initial responses to the recommendations.
While this publication is important, growers are still reporting wide differences in how individual auditors are evaluating their organic operations with frequent changes to their reviews despite USDA’s consistent policy. In addition, the National Organic Standards Board’s (NOSB) Crops Subcommittee continues to discuss additional regulations for container production systems. It remains unclear how these efforts may unfold moving forward. In addition, USDA acknowledged it received NOSB’s recommendation to prohibit aeroponics from certification.
CSO continues to work with its members to ensure the organic community remains open to a wide diversity of participants in order to provide organics to all and ensure regulatory certainty.
How This Greenhouse And Fish Farm Operation Is Fuelled
How This Greenhouse And Fish Farm Operation Is Fuelled By Bitcoin Mining
Local company using waste heat from bitcoin miners to operate new business in St. Francois Xavier
By Samantha Samson, CBC News Posted: Jan 04, 2018 5:00 AM CT Last Updated: Jan 04, 2018 6:34 PM CT
Myera Group uses waste heat from bitcoin miners to keep their building warm enough to grow plants like lettuce. (Lyzaville Sale/CBC News)
- Where to invest: Bitcoin or Canadian Tire money?
- Beyond bitcoin: How cryptocurrencies are changing the world
- Bitcoin's dirty secret: it wastes an incredible amount of energy
More than 30 computers sit on the second floor of a former car museum west of Winnipeg, quietly working to mine bitcoin.
The heat generated by those computers, which are verifying bitcoin transactions by solving cryptographic puzzles, helps warm nearby plants in a makeshift greenhouse.
To water, the trays filled with lettuce, basil and sprouted barley fodder, Bruce Hardy, the owner of this 20,000-square-foot building in the Rural Municipality of St. Francois Xavier, clicks a button.
A pump waters the plants with wastewater from tanks located on the first floor in which around 800 Arctic Char swim and breed. The wastewater from the tanks is rich in nitrates, a great fertilizer for the plants upstairs.
It's a complex operation but that's the beauty of it, according to the owner.
"It's all connected, much like Earth," said Hardy, president of Myera Group.
'A popular move'
His company's goal is to use technology to create sustainable food systems.
Hardy runs his own software company and has been in the bitcoin mining business for two years. He used to pay for air conditioning to cool off the computers but quickly realized there was a better use for the heat.
"When bitcoin came, they were an excellent proxy for what a server could do in terms of emulating heat, and whether we could use that heat for agricultural purposes," he said.
About a year ago, he opened his operation in the old Tin Lizzie Auto Museum and the former Grey Nuns convent located on Highway 26 just west of Winnipeg
The greenhouse operation is small right now, but Hardy says he hopes to create several greenhouses in St. Francois Xavier that are fuelled by waste heat from bitcoin mining. (Lyzaville Sale/CBC News)
"From what we've seen so far, it looks like a popular move for the community," says Dwayne Clark, the Reeve of the RM of St. Francois Xavier. "It's already cleaned up what used to be an eyesore for a number of years."
The company is still experimenting with using the heat from bitcoin mining in different ways. Right now, about one-quarter of the second floor is filled with computers and plants, but Hardy hopes to eventually fill the space.
Starting the operation would have been a lot more difficult without the bitcoin cash, said Hardy. The price of a bitcoin is hovering around $19,000 Cdn.
"The revenue from those bitcoins has helped me to keep staff on, it's helped me create these displays so we can show people what we're doing in agriculture innovation," said Hardy.
Hundreds of Arctic Char swim in these tanks at Myera Group's operation in St. Francois Xavier. (Lyzaville Sale/CBC News)
Ways to use 'Manitoba's gifts'
Hardy hopes his operation becomes a place where people can research and develop sustainable food systems while programmers work with bitcoin technology.
Australian researchers and Chinese investors have expressed interest in his operation, he said.
Manitoba is a prime location for electricity-intensive operations like this, said Hardy.
"Hydro is one of our best assets in the province," said Hardy.
Manitoba has the cheapest commercial hydro electricity rates in the country and among the lowest temperatures of major North American cities, making it attractive to bitcoin miners.
"If we can take our energy and use it here in Manitoba, we value-add that energy, and we can do all sorts of great things," he said.
Bruce Hardy, president of Myera Group, hopes to create a global campus in St. Francois Xavier for food sustainability. (Lyzaville Sale/CBC News)
Farming Without Soil
Farming Without Soil
Meena R. Prashant
January 11, 2018
Vijay Yelmalle teaches agriculturists – both urban and rural – how to apply technology to practice eco-friendly farming and increase yield
Mumbai: Vijay Yelmalle had a steady career spanning 14 years in the chemical industry in Singapore. But there was something that kept tugging at him back home. “Whenever I read about farmer suicides, it depressed me. I wanted to do something for them, especially farmers from my home State, Maharashtra,” says Mr. Yelmalle.
In 2012, he ended his lucrative career and returned to India to establish the Center for Research in Alternative Farming Technologies (CRAFT). Mr. Yelmalle spent the first two years doing extensive research in technologies like hydroponics and aquaponics, which involve farming without soil. “These technologies make farming sustainable. The main reason for farmer suicide is unsustainable conventional farming,” says Mr. Yelmalle.
He began by growing vegetables on his terrace in Mumbai and giving them to his family and friends. After the success of this initiative, he began CRAFT in 2014 with four employees and a personal investment of ₹30 lakh.
Breaking through
The beginning was challenging. “I began CRAFT to become a leading service provider in alternative farming technologies. Despite being one of the leading companies in the field, business was not good, as not many people knew about these methods,” he says.
Mr. Yelmalle had to devote a good deal of time educating people and destroying misconceptions: most of their knowledge came from YouTube videos, and they would come to him asking how to produce 200-400 tonnes of vegetables in one acre, with no idea of the cost it entailed. Many others were not aware of the volatility of the agricultural produce market, while some thought hydroponics or aquaponics were forms of magic, and required no technical skills.
Today, CRAFT has a pan-India customer base. “We have sent supplies and do-it-yourself kits to hundreds of people which cost anywhere between 2,000 and 40,000. Till date, we have trained almost 1,500 people in hydroponics, aquaponics, urban farming, commercial aspects of the technologies etc,” says Mr. Yelmalle.
CRAFT helps its customers set up farms and provides consultation and training at Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. Mr. Yelmalle stays in touch with his clients on WhatsApp to help with problems they face.
In addition, CRAFT has developed two sustainable business models. One is focused on the health of urban dwellers. This model is about growing vegetables in urban spaces and supplying fresh, nutritious produce to subscribers from nearby areas at market prices. The other model, called ‘Rural Integrated and Digitalised Economical Aquaponics’ relates to the economic sustainability of marginal farmers using aquaponics. Mr. Yelmalle is also looking at establishing an institute to bring in
more educated people into this sector. The government, he says, needs to subsidise protected cultivation to allow more farmers to adopt this technology. He plans to collaborate with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to impart these skills to farmers.
Sustainable farming
Traditional soil-based farming has many problems. Farmland is getting increasingly fragmented [as families expand, successive generations own less land per person]. Land is also getting infertile due to the heavy use of fertilizers, and climate change is having its own adverse effets. Soilless farming, on the other hand, uses just 10% of water as compared to the traditional method, says Mr. Yelmalle. There is no drainage of water or fertilizers into the ground, and all the nutrients are re-circulated within the system. Mr. Yelmalle says soilless farming gives a higher yield as all the parameters such as pH nutrient concentration and water temperature are controlled within the required levels. The produce in soilless farming is also more uniform.
As for the costs involved, he says, “Hydroponics [providing crops synthetic nutrients in the right quantity and combination for the highest yield] is very technical and scientific and requires a very high investment. It is more suitable for urban areas and rich farmers who can afford to employ skilled manpower. Aquaponics, where fish and vegetables are grown together, is a more organic method; after the initial training, a farmer can work it out on his own. The cost of inputs could be reduced drastically with innovation.” A kitchen garden made with recycled material works out to a few thousand rupees, while the cost of a commercial farm runs into a few lakhs.
Further, these technologies require minimal use of nutrients and no pesticides, thereby reducing input costs and giving pesticide-free produce, which has a premium in the market in terms of pricing as well as demand. The technologies also reduce the incidence of crop failures due to drought, thanks to the minimal use of water and inspect or pest attack due to the use of protected growing environment such as shade net, greenhouse, etc.
The greatest advantage of hydroponics or aquaponics is vertical farming — utilising scarce land in cities to get a greater higher yield per square feet. Although the cost of setting up a vertical farm is high, the selling of vegetables in retail makes the venture attractive. Urban farms also have a smaller carbon footprint as produce is grown locally, avoiding transportation.
Manas Kulkarni, a farmer from Vivare village in Jalgaon district said, “We are into traditional farming and grow bananas, cotton, onion, maze, gram, and wheat. Using hydrophonics, we can now grow all types of vegetables, like coloured peppers, tomatoes, exotic leafy vegetables, broccoli and Chinese cabbage.”
Mr. Kulkarni said he attended the CRAFT workshops with the understanding that with the growing population, availability of land for farming will be a challenge in the near future. He has opened a small hydroponics setup in his village and will soon start growing leafy vegetables.
Pravin Tulpule, an entrepreneur said, “I was looking to improve my kitchen gardening skills; something I love doing at home. The use of cocopeat [a natural fibre made of coconut husks] and clay pops, not soil, made it easy to manage.” The technology, he said, is “not rocket science”, and the advantage is that one can practise it at home or on a commercial scale. “The results of micronutrients were phenomenal. The best part was getting fresh vegetables to eat. It helped me understand the optimum use of resources, including space.”
The concept
In hydroponic farming, crops are given synthetic nutrients calculated to meet their requirement.
In aquaponics, fish, and plants are grown together with the single input of fish feed. Fish are reared in tanks and the water is circulated to vegetable roots. All other nutrients required for plant growth are provided by the fish excreta
The advantages
Vertical farming: utilizing scarce land in cities to get a greater higher yield per sq ft
Eco-friendly: Urban farms have a smaller carbon footprint as produce is grown locally.
Snapshot:
Center for Research in Alternative Farming Technologies
Founder: Vijay Yelmalle
Employees: 6
Funding: Bootstrapped
Web: www.craftagro.com
Why Use Hydroponics or Aquaponics
Your best chance for success in gardening in a survival situation is diversification.
Why Use Hydroponics or Aquaponics
Posted on January 8, 2018
Hydroponics, Aquaponics or Soil?
Your best chance for success in gardening in a survival situation is diversification.
Traditional soil crops paired with hydroponics and aquaponics, indoors or out, can increase your yields extend your growing season, and ensure food sources even if one method fails.
Example: Corn is not necessarily an ideal hydroponic crop, and does well in traditional soil methods. Tomatoes do well in hydroponic setups. You can increase your corn planting area, giving a higher yield of a crop that is versatile and can be stored easily.
Moving your tomatoes to a hydroponic setup gives you more control over harvest time, staggering crops to ensure you lose less of a highly perishable crop. If done indoors with lights, tomatoes can be grown year round.
Protein readily available and renewable
With aquaponics, not only do you create a symbiotic natural environment, but you get a complete balanced offering of food, with vegetables being grown and fish being fed. A readily available protein source never hurts.
Food unique to you and your needs
By using alternative methods of growing, You can give yourself and your family nutritional variety in winter months or off seasons. If done indoors, you can have food that may not grow in your climate or USDA zone.
Expanding the variety of your crops ensures your family’s health and can be a valuable asset for bartering.
What crops do best for each setting
Crops that do very well in hydroponics systems: tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, and eggplants.
The best crops for aquaponics: leafy lettuces, kale, chard, basil, mint, arugula.
What this means for you
Think of the diversity you can add to your diet without sacrificing space for precious potatoes, corn, beans, and wheat. Imagine being able to offer such a variety in a bartering situation.
Hydroponics and aquaponics may seem complicated or like too much work, but they are worth the effort. It really doesn’t take much equipment or know how to start the simplest setups.
Both methods are becoming very popular alternatives to traditional farming, so information, kit plans, and physical kits are widely available.
Recommended reading:
Aquaponics Gardening: A Step-By-Step Guide
Hydroponics for self-sufficiency
Kits and supplies:
Sustainable Farming Gets An Urban Upgrade
Sustainable Farming Gets An Urban Upgrade
Aquaponics systems use a combination of hydroponics and aquaculture to farm aquatic animals for food. (Photo courtesy of Catherine Schrading)
ANISH SALVI | Staff Writer
January 8, 2018
Kareem Adam Rabbat formed an appreciation for nature from fishing with his father as a young boy, which eventually led him to join an initiative as an adult to find sustainable ways of getting fresh food to people.
“That kind of instilled in me a great value for the outdoors,” Rabbat said. “I wanted to do everything I could to save and protect the environment.”
As a sophomore environmental engineering student at Pitt, Rabbat combined both his passions for protecting nature and his academic knowledge to become president of The Aquaponics Project — an initiative meant to provide food for communities using sustainable practices and energy-efficient means. Students from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Michigan work together on The Aquaponics Project and develop a facility that provides both basil and fish for local communities in Pittsburgh. The facility was previously used by the students working on the project to educate the public about sustainable practices through tours. The students involved in The Aquaponics Project are now working on making improvements and are hoping the facility will start producing food for wider consumption this spring.
The East Liberty facility consists of a 500-gallon fish tank housing tilapia with 30 grow towers — vertical structures within the tank that are capable of growing 27 basil plants each. It operates through the use of aquaponics, a combination of hydroponics — growing plants in water without soil — and aquaculture, farming aquatic animals for food.
Essentially, the facility creates a closed loop system that follows a circular flow. The waste products of the fish provides nutrients for the plants while the plants keep the water clean for the fish. The only input into the system is the food for the fish. According to Rabbat, the output is food produced in an environmentally sound way.
“We’re really trying to attack the whole food issue from multiple perspectives so we can produce this food and distribute it to the community, but at the same time take food waste that would usually go to landfill and decompose [it],” Rabbat said.
Catherine Schrading, a junior majoring in environmental science, co-founded The Aquaponics Project as a first year in 2015 alongside fellow first year and computer science major Vinh Luong with the intention of finding a solution for “food deserts” — communities across the globe without easy access to fresh, healthy foods.
“It’s a portable farm to bring fresh food,” Schrading said. “And also educate people about where their food is coming from, and bring that to communities that would otherwise have no knowledge of those sorts of things and no access to fresh food.”
While the project did begin at Pitt, additional members from the other schools joined to bring a more varied approach with their differing majors, including information sciences and engineering. The original group met its new members from outside of class through volunteering opportunities and Pittsburgh’s environmental community, Schrading said.
“We needed people in different majors and we have students from three different universities and basically every major that you can think off which provides a lot of different insight,” she said. “There are people just very passionate about environmental work in all the different universities.”
The team recently won first place in the 2017 Ford College Community Challenge — a sustainability contest held by the Ford Motor Company Fund — for their project in November. They received $35,000 and a 2017 Ford Transit for their “portable farm.”
Farah Harb, the education program coordinator for the Ford Motor Company Fund, said the projects in the 2017 competition focused on sustainability and that mobility was also part of the challenge — either literal movement or social mobility.
“We want [the students] to think more about community needs, impacting lives,” Harb said. “By exposing them to a project like this we put leadership in their hands.”
According to Rabbat, the team began designing the project in 2015. After a year of collecting grants, fundraising and coming up with a final design for the facility, they began constructing their farm out of a decommissioned shipping container, completing the facility in the summer of 2016.
“The idea is you put this container really anywhere and you don’t have to put that much water into it, don’t have to put that much energy into it,” Rabbat said. “It’ll just provide food for the community whether that be a food desert in the United States or a place in the Sahara Desert in Africa.”
Rabbat said the system allows for 90 percent less water to be used for growing fish and plants compared that for traditional farming.The group had its most successful crop yield this past summer.
“It relies on the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants,” Rabbat said. “[This relationship] also takes out the toxicity of the water so it is clean for the fish so you can just recycle the water through the entire system.”
The group has used their project as a teaching device for Pittsburgh residents. According to Schrading, the group has given tours to the community to explain how the project worked and how this was a sustainable method of procuring food because it produced little to no emissions.
Rabbat said the group has also developed partnerships with several Pittsburgh organizations, including The Door Campaign, an organization that encourages STEM-based learning among young people. The Door Campaign at Savoy utilized the basil that the group grew for hors d’oeurves and drinks at an event last summer, according to Rabbat.
The team plans on reinvesting their prize money back into their aquaponics project by adding on an anaerobic digester that will take on any food waste produced and convert it into energy.
“Food waste would usually go to landfill and decompose and produce methane,” Rabatt said. “But we can control it, have it decompose, harvest that methane, and use it for energy to grow more food.”
The group hopes to finish completing the digestor this spring. Schrading said finding funding for this device is one of the reasons the group entered the Ford College Community Challenge.
“This Ford grant … made us rethink our focus so we’ve expanded our view from just aquaponics to now the food system at large with the anaerobic digester,” Schrading said. “We’re looking at all different aspects of the food system now, so we might actually rebrand.”
Company That Led Failed Great Northern Paper Restart Pursues A New Venture In Maine
Company That Led Failed Great Northern Paper Restart Pursues A New Venture In Maine
By Darren Fishell, BDN Staff • December 29, 2017
Darren Fishell | BDN
The paper trail tells of Organic Nutrition's backstory, its key technology and more recent backing from the Portsmouth-based private equity firm Cate Street Capital, who led the failed restart of the Great Northern Paper mill in East Millinocket.
Cate Street Capital, the firm that leveraged $16 million in public money for its failed restart of East Millinocket’s Great Northern Paper Co. mill, has another project for Maine. This time, it is backing two entrepreneurs who want to grow farm-raised fish, fed with insects, and use the fish waste to grow produce in nutrient-rich water, a technique called hydroponics.
Their company, Organic Nutrition Inc., plans to do that with a headquarters in Florida and a hydroponics facility on the campus of St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
The Maine facility, planned for construction in 2018, is part of the college’s Institute for Local Food Systems Innovation. Organic Nutrition began construction on its Florida facility in October, according to property records.
angram 3DS
A computer rendering by the Kittery-based firm Tangram 3DS depicts a finished Florida facility of Organic Nutrition Inc., an agriculture and aquaculture business backed by the Portsmouth private equity firm Cate Street Capital. Cate Street also used the Kittery company to produce renderings of its scuttled Thermogen Industries projects in Millinocket and Eastport.
With Organic Nutrition, business partners Ernie Papadoyianis and Xavier “Sal” Cherch are seeking a comeback story after a dispute with their previous financiers ended in an adversarial 2009 bankruptcy.
Out of the bankruptcy, they retained their patented aquaculture system and other research. Now, with Cate Street’s backing, the duo wants to put their inventions to work. It could be Cate Street’s comeback in Maine, too.
The eventual bankruptcy of Great Northern Paper left behind a trail of debt that the attorney overseeing the case attributed in part to mismanagement, as managers at Cate Street inked unfavorable deals with related companies plunged the company into more debt and despite clear signs that it was out of cash.
An investigation by the Maine Sunday Telegram into Cate Street’s deal also prompted state and federal regulators to close loopholes in incentive programs that Cate Street used to deliver roughly $16 million in Maine tax dollars to out-of-state financiers, for investments that didn’t improve any part of the East Millinocket mill.
To get Organic Nutrition off the ground, Cate Street plans to use a combination of private financing, federal government support, its partnership with St. Joseph’s and a program that gives foreign investors a fast-track to citizenship.
Bill Diamond, a Democratic senator who represents Standish and who served on the Government Oversight Committee that reviewed the Great Northern deal, said he didn’t know Cate Street Capital was backing Organic Nutrition. But he toured St. Joseph’s in October to hear about its plans and sees no reason for concern.
“I think that’s a wonderful program and I think they are going to be one of the leaders in the east,” Diamond said.
The Maine plan
The facility in Maine will support a new certificate program at St. Joseph’s and provide support to other hydroponics businesses, according to the college. Organic Nutrition committed $750,000 to the effort, helping to match a $2 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
“The Organic Nutrition Hydroponic Farm will help entrepreneurs across the region scale up small greenhouse pilot programs into larger operations, preparing them for transition to stand-alone, for-profit businesses,” St. Joseph’s said in a news release.
The college anticipates the farm will sell about $120,000 worth of strawberries a year, by 2021, during a time when demand is highest for the fruit most often shipped from outside New England, according to an economic study the college commissioned.
The institute also will include the Hannaford Food Venture Center, focused on new food production technology, a commercial test kitchen where budding food manufacturers can use professional equipment and a livestock farm.
St. Joseph’s College
The site plan for the Institute for Local Food Systems Innovation at St. Joseph’s College in Standish shows three major components: at left, Organic Nutrition’s hydroponics greenhouse; at center, the Hannaford Food Venture Center; and, at right, a livestock barn.
As the hydroponic farm is just one part of St. Joseph’s plan, Organic Nutrition is just one of its founders’ ventures.
Cherch and Papadoyianis also lead North American Medical Holdings, a company that aims to build a network of health clinics providing controversial and unregulated hormone mixtures they tout as anti-aging treatments and possible treatments for conditions like erectile dysfunction.
The company wants to sell its so-called “bioidentical” hormone treatments at clinics across the country, under the name “Body & Life” and the slogan, “Your body. Your life!”
That company is still in the works. A website for the health clinic, registered to Cherch and a defunct aquaculture-related entity Closed Containment Systems Inc., asks visitors to “stay tuned while we finish preparing our interactive website to service you best.”
Organic Nutrition’s origins
Organic Nutrition emerged from Papadoyianis and Cherch’s aquaculture research started in 1996. By 2007, they had restarted an aquaculture facility in Florida City and had trademarked their circular, solid-walled fish farming pen as the “Aqua-Sphere.”
The vision, then, was largely the same: to build a better feedstock for fish farming and to use waste from the aquaculture process as fertilizer for hydroponic crops.
“We’re taking a liability of aquaculture, which is the waste, and creating an asset out of it,” Papdoyianis said in a 2007 interview with the Discovery Channel Canada show “What’s That About.”
The company’s first prototype of its circular tank cut about 30 days off the growth cycle for the fish, compared with rectangular “raceways” used at their Florida City operation.
Regulatory filings in 2008 tell of big ambitions for that year, with plans get more Aqua-Spheres into the water and to make moves on other research to breed insects to feed those fish. The planning began after a meeting on the topic in June 2006, with executives at their previous company, Neptune Industries Inc.
“In the weeks that followed, several suggestions arose as alternative sources for fish meal, including rats, insects, snails, worms and fish processing waste, and extensive research was conducted,” the filing states. “The team quickly concluded that insects appeared to offer the greatest commercial potential.”
Behind the scenes, trouble was brewing over ownership of Papadoyianis and Cherch’s aquaculture technology.
A deep recession complicated their effort to get additional loans as Neptune was staring down payments coming due, from roughly $2.5 million in debt instruments it issued to investors. On Feb. 13, 2009, three of those investors forced Neptune into bankruptcy. Papadoyianis, Cherch and various investors in Neptune fired back two weeks later, accusing financiers of foul play to enrich themselves by sabotaging Neptune.
They eventually settled the claims, the last of which they resolved in 2009 as part of the bankruptcy they left with their inventions and trademarks intact.
Enter Cate Street
By 2011, Papadoyianis and Cherch had caught the eye of Cate Street. The Portsmouth-based investment firm listed Organic Nutrition as one of its earliest portfolio companies, according to an archived webpage.
In May of 2012, as Cate Street CEO Halle told Maine officials that its East Millinocket mill restart would not go beyond making newsprint, Organic Nutrition had started the process of securing its trademark on “entoponics.”
With Cate Street’s backing, Papadoyianis and Cherch were back in business.
Last year, they won their trademark for the word “entoponics,” which they define as using insect components and waste to produce vegetables, fruits, plants and algae.
In August, the company announced it secured a $5 million loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finance the first phase of its Florida operation, along with roughly $1.5 million from private investors, who received equity in the company.
In November, Cate Street CEO John Halle told the South Florida Business Journal that the company hopes to capture customers like Carnival Cruise Lines or supermarket chain Publix, which receive some greens shipped from California.
Eventually, the August statement said, Organic Nutrition plans to build that facility out to 500,000 square feet of hydroponics greenhouses and seven Aqua-Sphere fish farming systems.
That vision includes pairing its fish and hydroponics operations with breeding facilities for Black Soldier Flies, according to promotional company videos posted on YouTube. It plans to use food waste to grow the insects. The insects would provide protein meal to their tank-based fish farming systems, and it plans to use the fish waste as fertilizer for its hydroponic crops.
While the details of their plans have emerged in Florida and Maine, Organic Nutrition said in its August statement that it’s planning five facilities in four states. It has not disclosed details of those other plans.
It hopes to fuel some of its future projects with $50 million in foreign investment through the China-based Da Tang Investment Group and the EB-5 program. The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program gives expedited green cards to investors who put more than $500,000 into a qualifying U.S. business.
Leaders of Cate Street, Organic Nutrition or the U.S. contact for Da Tang Investment Group did not respond to requests for comment left in mid-December and this week.
On Wednesday, a company website at organicnutritioninc.com disappeared at least two weeks after going live. Google saved portions of the page Dec. 25.
Farmers of The Future at Urban Organics
Farmers of The Future at Urban Organics
December 26, 2017 by Morgan Mercer0 Comments
The interior fish incubation room of Urban Organics // Photo by Tj Turner
An inconspicuous white tube travels along the length of the ceiling, connecting two very different rooms. The first room is a cool 60 degrees and smells slightly fishy. Gray concrete floors and colorless walls make the space appear colder than it is. The neighboring room couldn’t be more different. The air smells sweet and vaguely earthy. When you open the door, it feels like stepping into the glow of a warm spring day.
This is a farm of the future.
In the middle of St. Paul, tucked inside a brewery that sat empty for years, life is thriving in the dead of winter. No soil. No natural light. Just a white pipe that carries the lifeblood of the entire operation from room to room: water. Kale, red romaine, and other leafy greens grow on racks stacked five planters high. In an adjacent room, tens of thousands of Arctic char swim in 26,000-gallon tanks. Thanks to the fish, the plants at Urban Organics grow all year long.
With a new 87,000-square-foot space at the Schmidt Brewery complex, Urban Organics is one of the largest commercial aquaponics facilities in the world. The company converts waste produced by fish to fertilize thousands of pounds of produce a month. The farm, which is certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is 10 times larger than Urban Organics’ first facility at the historic Hamm’s Brewery complex in St. Paul.
An Arctic Char pool, racks of leafy greens and an Arctic Char // Photos by Tj Turner
“When we would tell people our plan, we still joke about the number of people who thought we were nuts. They would say, ‘Don’t quit your day job,’” says Dave Haider, who did just that when he closed down his construction business to launch the original Hamm’s site with three other partners in 2012.
Since then, the team has built a worldwide reputation as a pioneer in year-round urban organic farming. In 2014, the Guardian dubbed Urban Organics one of the 10 most innovative farms in the world. The company sets itself apart with a state-of-the-art design, courtesy of an ongoing partnership with Pentair, a global leader in water technology. At a time when the agriculture industry faces increasing environmental challenges like climate change and water shortages, Urban Organics is out to prove there is a more sustainable way to produce fresh food—one that uses less water, and stays close to home.
“People want to know where their food is coming from and that it is being farmed in this safe, sustainable manner,” says Dave, who has seen aquaponics transition from a largely unknown concept to more of a mainstream idea in recent years. “We’re still trying to prove to people that we’re not nuts, but it’s not as many as it was.”
A game-changing partnership
Fred Haberman examines rows of Romaine Lettuce // Photo by Tj Turner
Limp. Tasteless. Old. Too many stores in the Twin Cities stocked bad lettuce, and Fred Haberman was fed up. The problem was shipping. By the time his salad greens arrived from California and hit local shelves, they were already days old. That’s when Fred remembered Will Allen, a former professional basketball player who started an urban farm in Milwaukee. That’s what the Twin Cities needs, Haberman thought—food grown where it’s consumed. Coincidentally, Dave had the same idea, too.
With two other partners, they formed Urban Organics. At the time, there were only a handful of companies testing hydroponic growing methods in urban areas, and even fewer trying aquaponics. A partnership with Pentair helped the company break into the fledgling industry.
“When they reached out to us it seemed too good to be true,” says Dave of the water tech company. “They saw it as a way to address some of these food concerns we’re facing now. This was their way of not only supporting a local company like ours, but catalyzing an industry as well.”
Pentair supplied all of the pumps, filters, and aerators needed to get the state-of-the-art aquaponics facility up and running. The system converts wastewater from the fish tanks into plant food. First, solid waste is filtered out. Then, bacteria convert the remaining ammonia into nitrates. This nitrate-rich water is what nourishes the 12 varieties of leafy greens Urban Organics grows.
Not only is the company’s organic produce free of pesticides and chemicals, but it also uses significantly less water than traditional soil-based farming practices. Nitrate-rich water is pumped underneath plant beds to minimize evaporation and deliver nutrients straight to the plant’s roots. All the water—except what evaporates on the plant side—is continually recycled and reused through the facility’s closed-loop system, too.
Last April, Co-op Partners Warehouse started selling the St. Paul-grown greens to stores and restaurants across the Midwest, including Wedge Commuity Co-op, Mississippi Market, and Seward Co-op. For a company that often buys and transports large volumes of California-grown salad mixes throughout the Midwest, Co-op Partners Warehouse was happy to finally have a local option.
“Urban Organics is using a sustainable system for production. Our customers want to support this type of innovation in the food industry,” says Lori Zuidema, the sales manager at Co-op Partners. “It reduces the need to transport food across the country [and] our year-round reliance on California produce.”
Packaged greens at Urban Organics ready to be shipped to stores // Photo by Tj Turner
By the time California lettuce makes it to stores, Lori says it’s already often six days away from expiring. Thanks to Urban Organics’ proximity, its products last seven to 10 days longer on the shelf. Plus, the St. Paul company offers unique salad mixes—like the rosé blend, a mix of red lettuces—that she can’t find anywhere else.
Right now Urban Organics harvests up to 15,000 pounds of produce a month. That’s enough to fill 45,000 pre-packed salad containers for stores like Lunds & Byerlys. Annually, the St. Paul farm will also harvest 275,000 pounds of fish—either Atlantic salmon or Arctic char—for restaurants like Birchwood Cafe that want a local and sustainable protein option. Beyond food, Urban Organics is an investment in a neighborhood. By rehabbing spaces at two defunct breweries, the St. Paul business leveraged urban farming to create jobs and spur economic development.
“We don’t want to replace traditional farming. It should be complementary,” says Dave, who sees smaller, local farms like Urban Organics as an opportunity to conserve water, save on distribution costs, and expand traditional growing areas. “I think we can do a lot better.”
High-tech food, designed by data
An Urban Organics seed planting machine // Photo Tj Turner
Aside from leafy greens and fish, Urban Organics is a data farm. Hidden throughout Urban Organics’ facility are more than 100 probes and sensors programmed to measure the slightest shifts in water temperature, pH levels, and dissolved oxygen. From seed to shelf, Urban Organics can track a single plant throughout its 35-day life cycle. Harvest logs allow the team to monitor growing trends and see how the fish influence the plants and vice versa. Every day, each probe in the facility shoots off a report to the company’s central computer. Those small slices of information help Dave and his team understand how to improve the farm’s design to raise fish and grow produce in the most sustainable and efficient way possible.
“We’re still in some ways pioneering an industry. There is no playbook for this. We learn something on a daily basis,” says Dave. “Everything we’re doing here is being recorded, which is going to help us design the next better facility.”
That’s in part what made the first site at Hamm’s Brewery so valuable. After farming that location for more than two years, Urban Organics knew how to upgrade the blueprint of the Schmidt Brewery site. First, Urban Organics scaled up in size—from 8,000 square feet to 87,000 square feet. Then, it switched out its grow lights from compact fluorescents to LEDs. That change alone helped the company cut down on its biggest cost, electricity, by 40 percent. Last, Urban Organics got smarter about its water. At the Hamm’s site, water flowed from the fish tanks, to the sump, to the plants, and then back to the fish again. But Dave found that wasn’t ideal. If the pH in the water from the fish tanks spiked, it could cause the plants’ leaves to yellow. So Urban Organics devised a solution that allowed him to separate the system into two continuously looping water cycles. Dave can pump nutrient-rich water from the fish to the plants as they need it, giving him greater control to create the best water conditions for both sides.
“This is a world that requires a lot of iteration because it’s new,” says Fred, who credits the engineering strength and aquaponics experts at Pentair for putting Urban Organics in a league of its own. “Even though this idea of leveraging the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants has been around for millennia, the idea of using technology to do it is new.”
Urban Organic’s seedlings // Photo by Tj Turner
By early 2018, Dave plans to have the Urban Organics farm in St. Paul running at its full potential. His team hopes to harvest the first of the Arctic char this spring, and more than triple the amount of greens it cranks out each month. But that’s just the beginning. Dave and Fred are already plotting the next city they want to expand to and brainstorming the next iteration of Urban Organics: a facility powered entirely by solar energy.
“I don’t think we can stay the course with traditional farming as our population grows in hopes that we’re going to have healthy food 50 years from now,” says Dave. “I’m not saying we’ve cracked the code and others haven’t. We’re just doing our part to come up with a perfect solution.”
Filed Under: Arts and Culture, Homepage Featured, MakersTagged With: Aquaponics, craft culture, Dave Haider, Fred Haberman, Schmidt Brewery, Urban Organics
What the USDA Organic Board's Decision Means for Aquaponics and Hydroponics
Many USDA Organic soil-based growing should be about restoring the nation's soil, and therefore organic farming cannot happen in the water. Some of these activists, such as Dave Chapman, a soil organic tomato grower, have threatened to leave the USDA label, saying that it undermines the value of the program.farmers say that organic
What the USDA Organic Board's Decision Means for Aquaponics and Hydroponics
By Lexi Harder | 12.20.2017
As an aquaponics farmer, I know that the produce and fish I grow are organic. How could they not be? At Oko Farms, the NYC aquaponics farm where I work, we use pesticide-free forms of pest management, feed our fish non-GMO food and treat sick fish without the help of antibiotics. However, we do not sell our produce with an organic label, choosing instead to emphasize the sustainability of our growing practices. This is because Oko Farms is not USDA Organic certified, and farmers who sell produce with an organic label without being certified face steep fines.
USDA Organic is a certification process for farms, akin to a long checklist. The label is helpful for consumers to know that any USDA Organic produce they buy has met a minimum standard of organic growing. USDA Organic farms must follow federal guidelines dictating use and quality of pesticides, soil quality, additives, and animal raising practices, with the aim of reducing the impact on the environment. More importantly for farmers, having the USDA Organic label allows farmers to sell their goods at a higher price point than conventionally grown produce. Still, many small farms, like Oko Farms, choose not to certify because it is an expensive process. In addition to USDA Organic, other organic certifications exist, and consumers can also look for labels denoting local produce and humane treatment of livestock.
The "Battle" Over Hydroponics and Aquaponics
On November 1st of this year, an important "battle" over USDA Certification came to a head. Unlike in the European Union, USA hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic farms have all been eligible for USDA Organic certification, and in the past decade or so more and more organic hydroponic produce has been appearing on grocery shelves. Proponents of soil organic farming have fought this allowance for over twenty years. This fall, after an opposite vote in April, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) voted that aquaponics and hydroponics should be allowed to continue to be certified organic, but voted no on aeroponics (a practice similar to hydroponics, but where plant roots are sprayed with instead of suspended in a nutrient solution). Currently, around 100 hydroponics farms are certified organic, only one aquaponics farm, and no aeroponics farms.
Many USDA Organic soil-based farmers say that organic growing should be about restoring the nation's soil, and therefore organic farming cannot happen in the water. Some of these activists, such as Dave Chapman, a soil organic tomato grower, have threatened to leave the USDA label, saying that it undermines the value of the program. In actuality, there is no legal provision that organic growers must benefit the soil. But in many ways, this anger is due to the fact that increasing amounts of organic produce in big grocery stores are now hydroponically grown by huge agribusinesses, specifically from Driscoll and Wholesum Harvest. Hydroponic greenhouses can produce, for example, organic tomatoes at a lower cost than soil grown tomatoes. This worries soil organic farmers who fear being edged out of the $40 billion organic market.
Still, for small hydroponics and aquaponics farmers (like me), the NOSB's ruling is a good thing. As Marianne Cufone has testified, hydroponics and aquaponics farms do use organic practices, so they shouldn't be excluded from the economic benefit of the USDA Organic label. The board's decision is an economic boon to young aquaponics and hydroponics entrepreneurs, many of whom want to start operations in urban areas where there is low access to fresh greens. While it is unlikely that every small operation will decide to follow the USDA Organic certification route, it brings a level of legitimacy to a form of farming that the general public still views with a heavy level of skepticism. In my opinion, a situation that benefits many and diverse types of sustainable farming can only be a good thing.
How Farmwall Plans to Revolutionise Dining By Helping Eateries Grow Their Own Food
THE mission? Reduce “food miles”, waste and packaging while bringing food production closer to where the food is eaten. The solution? Small-scale “farms” inside the very produce.cafes and eateries that will use their
How Farmwall Plans to Revolutionise Dining By Helping Eateries Grow Their Own Food
Claire Heaney, Herald Sun
December 6, 2017
In the Herald Sun’s ongoing series on Victorian entrepreneurs with great ideas, we meet the team bringing farm freshness to Melbourne eateries — without the need for a paddock.
THE mission? Reduce “food miles”, waste and packaging while bringing food production closer to where the food is eaten.
The solution? Small-scale “farms” inside the very cafes and eateries that will use their produce.
It’s a revolution that an enterprising Victorian start-up business, Farmwall, wants to usher in.
Founded by Geert Hendrix, Farmwall provides small, vertical gardens that are similar in dimension to bookcases.
Geert Hendrix wants eateries across Melbourne to grow their own food. Picture: Tony Gough
The gardens, planted with microgreens — young, edible greens — will initially be installed at cafes and in kitchens.
Based at Alphington, in Melbourne’s inner north east, the social enterprise uses aquaponic principles, which combine aquaculture and hydroponics so fish and plants are grown in an integrated system.
Farmwall undertook a successful crowd-funding campaign, raising more than $30,000 to get the business started.
Each Farmwall prototype cost $10,000, but Mr Hendrix says he expects that as the system is finetuned, the cost will be substantially reduced.
The Farmwall prototypes cost about $10,000, but the cost is expected to fall.
They will be made available on a subscription basis, where businesses pay for use of the vertical farm and for weekly upkeep.
Mr Hendrix says the business came about after he quit his long-time job as a sales manager in March last year and became an Uber driver while he worked out the next step.
“I was really keen to get back to basics,” he says.
He read widely and was looking for something that would give him a sense of purpose and an income.
Mr Hendrix, right, assembled a team to fuel the venture, including Serena Lee, who has branding and marketing experience.
The challenge was building on activities he enjoyed, including spending time outside, to create a business that would combine passion and talent, and earn an income.
“I also drew on the idea of Japanese Ikigai, which means having a reason to get up in the morning.” he says.
“I was doing the morning runs to the airport and was meeting some interesting people. It was always a good opportunity to have a conversation about things that could change the world.”
He assembled a core team including Serena Lee, with branding and marketing experience, and Wilson Lennard, an aquaponics expert.
He also has an advisory group of other experts who provide know-how and have equity in the business.
He says the idea of the Farmwall urban farms was to replicate what a large farm could do, but in an city environment.
Mr Hendrix says the business was fortunate to have the operator of cafes Top Paddock in Richmond and Higher Ground in the city take an interest.
In coming weeks, the Farmwall will be installed at the restaurants, ensuring fresh crops of microgreens are on hand for chefs.
Melbourne’s vibrant cafe scene is ripe for an in-house garden revolution, Farmwall believes.
In the meantime, a Farmwall established at a business incubation hub is supplying five local businesses with microgreens. Mr Hendrix says the enterprise is seeking feedback and suggestions from those businesses.
He expects that in the future, businesses may pay for Farmwall gardens through financing deals offered by companies that specialise in leasing out equipment. The benefits of Farmwall are many, he says, including cutting water and energy costs and providing fresh produce.
Cafes and restaurants go through a lot of microgreens and they are expensive and often do not keep well packaged in plastic, he says.
The Farmwall is one metre long, 40cm deep and two metres high.
The cafe industry is always evolving, Mr Hendrix says, and is looking to differentiate itself and embrace new ways of doing things.
The business is at an early stage, he says, but he can see a time when Farmwalls could be installed at aged-care facilities, in schools and at residential apartment buildings.
While grateful for the help of crowd-funding, Mr Hendrix says the process can be exhausting. But, he says, entrepreneurs have to get out of their comfort zones to make crowd-funding work.
Many people espouse the virtues of crowd-funding, he says, but those people often need to be prompted and reminded that they are “the crowd”.
What our experts say ...
John Downes
Business coach, Acorro.com.au
WELL done Geert, Serena and Wilson. Microgreens grown at the place of consumption, reducing food miles while maximising freshness and adding visible eco-sustainability features to the restaurant — I’d love that at home.
Business coach and social media guru John Downes is the director of the Acorro business advisory group.
Two issues: What is your implementation and deployment plan to get the first three Farmwalls installed with customers?
Conceptualising and prototyping a product for a production run of one is gruelling. Delivering on scale in the field takes a whole new realm of skills, relationships, communication, planning, management, compliance, quality systems, redesign, and even more capital than you expect.
How are you managing these, and do you have a plan capturing the learnings?
Secondly, consider your tribe. Since the crowd sourcing, the social feed has pretty much fallen away.
This is understandable as there is so much going on to deploy the systems. But it is vital to have regular communication updates sharing your progress.
At least once a fortnight, share where you are at, what has been done in the past two weeks, what is planned for the next two weeks, the challenges and what you have learned. This keeps the tribe informed, includes them in your process, can be a source of inspiration and problem solving and keeps them actively promoting your project.
Vivian Vo
Mentor, Melbourne Innovation Centre
CONGRATULATIONS Geert and team on running a successful crowd-funding campaign. Your pitch is passionately presented with a value proposition that impacts the community from a social and environmental perspective.
Vivian Vo is a mentor for the Pitch a regular feature in the Herald Sun. Picture: Sarah Matray
Preparation has definitely paid off: not only has Farmwall raised its crowd-funding target, the campaign’s wide audience validated the concept.
As a start-up, you are constantly testing, measuring and learning from your customers. Be mindful of the difference between being customer friendly and customer-centric.
Start-ups that are customer-centric spend enormous amounts of energy on providing a solution-based product instead of a product they only think customers want.
Now that you are ready to test your product in the market, the biggest challenge will be determining whether the product is leading to real progress. Measure progress by using metrics such as customer engagement, customer lifetime value, and cost of acquisition.
These metrics will offer valuable insight into customers and their reactions to your product, and can demonstrate growth and be desirable when pitching to investors.
Learning is the essential unit of progress for start-ups, and validated learning is demonstrated by positive improvements in metrics.
Bruce Hall
Mentor, Small Business Mentoring Service
OCCASIONALLY you come across a product or idea that has the potential to make a real difference.
Bruce Hall is a mentor at the Small Business Mentoring Service.
Not only does the Farmwall significantly contribute to sustainability but also gives restaurants and cafes a real point of difference — something that will delight consumers and give them a story to share.
From a marketing perspective, the framework of a great story is there, but flesh needs to be put on the bones. The website looks great but a lot more copy is needed to increase its reach.
The stories can be around sustainability and the ”journey” of the concept, its evolution, the problems and challenges overcome.
You could include information about how the product can help restaurants and cafes provide a better experience, attract customers and enhance their offerings.
To be found, pages and posts on the site also need to be optimised for search. Page titles such as Produce, Market, Impact and so on should be changed to terms potential customers will be using when searching for information on micro herb suppliers, sustainability and similar subjects.
The chosen phrase then needs to be incorporated into meta headings and copy to give the page “search relevance”.
Finally, I suggest the site header be made “sticky”, and adding a contact number.
Thank You and Next Steps From The Coalition For Sustainable Organics
Thank You and Next Steps From The Coalition For Sustainable Organics
Eighteen months ago, the outlook for hydroponic, aquaponic, and containerized growing methods in the National Organic Program looked bleak. A small, yet vocal, minority in the organic sector had mounted a campaign within the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to prohibit these production methods from organic certifications despite a lack of scientific basis to do so. Through the hard work and dedication of CSO’s Board and member companies, we were able to launch a strategic advocacy plan to push back against this unfair and arbitrary effort. After three failed votes in the NOSB, our place in the organic industry is safe for now but more work is needed to ensure the continued success of these systems.
As the NOSB considers additional potential regulations that may impact your on-farm practices, we must remain vigilant in our efforts to educate policymakers on the integrity and sustainability of your production systems. The CSO still needs you as a member to fight the good fight and ensure a sustainable future in the U.S. organic industry for farmers incorporating containers in their operations. Please fill out the linked application form today to join the CSO.
The CSO is closely monitoring the following additional potential threats to hydroponic, aquaponics and containerized growing methods:
1) Some Certifiers Continue to Refuse to Certify Legitimate Organic Operations: In spite of the recent NOSB votes rejecting proposals to prohibit container, hydroponic, and aquaponic production tools used by organic growers, widespread inconsistencies remain between USDA-authorized certifiers. Many certifiers are defying USDA regulations and refusing to certify operations incorporating containers beyond their use for nursery stock. Other certifiers will certify growers using certain types of substrate, but not growers using Nutrient Film Technique or Floating Raft Systems regardless of the fact they have created complex, living biological systems to cycle nutrients in an organic manner.
2) NOSB’s Next Steps for Containers Remains Unknown: At the close of the November 2017 NOSB meeting, the Board released a draft agenda indicating a plan to continue to pursue additional recommendations to revise USDA’s organic standards related to containers including potential regulations on new labeling requirements and the reuse and recycling of containers. This remaining uncertainty hurts growers and producers looking to make investments and upgrades.
3) Groups Opposed to Organic Certification for Containers Threaten Legal Action: After their latest setback at the NOSB, our opponents are now planning to file legal action against the USDA over the current certification policy that does allow for container production systems. Specifically, they claim that the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and as amended REQUIRES that crops must be grown in the soil. The CSO stands ready to defend the rights and interests of its members.
4) Voluntary “Regenerative Organic” Label Efforts Move Forward: The Rodale Institute is leading efforts to create a new and at this time voluntary, label currently taking the name of Regenerative Organics. This label would exclude containers from participation. Groups like the Organic Consumers Association are coalescing around this effort. Details of that standard can be found here. The idea is to add specific requirements for soil management including tillage practices as well as social justice and animal welfare elements that are not part of the current USDA standard.
Your Help Is Needed
The CSO needs your continued participation in efforts to safeguard your rights to select the most appropriate growing methods in your organic operations. Our opponents continue to push Congress to pass restrictions on our operations and will only ramp up their efforts after their defeat at the NOSB.
Actions to take:
Join CSO if you have not done already. Our sustained efforts on behalf of the hydroponic, aquaponics and container industry in Washington, DC rely on dues from farming operations like yours.
Contact your elected officials to make sure that they see this issue as being important to their district or state. You are a key to humanizing the issue for them. Some examples of ways to engage include:
- Send a version of the draft letter below.
- Offer a tour of your operations to the Member or staff.
- Visit Washington, DC to see your Member of Congress. If you are a member of CSO our team in will coordinate meetings on your behalf.
Please forward any notes and the contact information you gathered during the visit to Lee Frankel at info@coalitionforsustainableorganics.org.
You can find the contact information for your Member of Congress and Senatorat the highlighted links.
Thanks for your help.
Sample Letter to email or fax
The Honorable XXXXXX
United States House of Representatives or United States Senate
Local Address
Date
Dear Representative XXXXXX,
As your constituent, I am writing to invite you to visit our farming operation to learn more about the use of hydroponic/container/aquaponic cultivation to grow certified organic produce for our community.
Our company grows [list your products here] in [city of facility/farm] and employs XXX people. In addition, we are perfecting our growing methods to expand our line into more and more fresh produce items. Our current production is helping to make fresher produce available to our community and alleviating food deserts in the area. We achieved certification under the U.S. Department of Agriculture and take pride in meeting all the necessary requirements under the law to meet this incredibly high standard.
You may be aware that, over the last few years, USDA’s advisory committee on organic agriculture, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), has been considering multiple proposals to revoke the existing organic certifications for growers using hydroponic methods to produce fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit. While the latest proposal was defeated by an 8 to 7 vote, the NOSB continues to examine ways to limit our ability to maintain our organic certification through their insistence that only farms that look like theirs should carry the organic label.
This is an unnecessary and burdensome action that will significantly impact our livelihood, jobs in your district, and reduce the availability and accessibility of fresh organic produce. If the use of these innovative and practical growing techniques is limited, our company will no longer be permitted to continue to produce certified organic fresh produce, and our economic potential will be significantly impacted.
I look forward to welcoming you to our operation to demonstrate our use of these techniques to help meet the rising consumer demand for organic produce.
Thank you for your consideration. You can contact me at [email address] or by phone at [phone number].
Respectfully,
Your Name
Farm/Operation Name
A Beginner’s Guide to Vertical Farming
Also known as indoor farming, vertical farming has in recent years gained recognition as a solid method of sustainability. The system was born out of the challenges affecting the 21st century, specifically issues like food shortage, resource depletion, and overpopulation.
A Beginner’s Guide to Vertical Farming
November 28, 2017
Written by Claudia Beck
Also known as indoor farming, vertical farming has in recent years gained recognition as a solid method of sustainability. The system was born out of the challenges affecting the 21st century, specifically issues like food shortage, resource depletion, and overpopulation.
Feeding the future: vertical farming
Vertical farming is the practice of food production that takes the form of vertically stacked layers and vertically inclined surfaces. The method is executed inside a controlled environment building, usually without soil or natural light.
The method of growing the crops in a vertical farm involves the following elements.
• Temperature control
• Humidity control
• Artificial lighting
• Control and monitoring of nutrients and fertiliser
When undertaking vertical agriculture as a small to medium business, planning is essential. You need to ensure that you can sell what you grow, and that your production costs are not too high. The first step to ensuring this, therefore, is picking the right crops.
The aspiring vertical farmer needs to conduct a feasibility study and come up with a profitable and sustainable plan. This is because each species you plan to grow will have a growing method tailored to its needs. Determining the daily nutrient and light uptake each crop requires is crucial.
Animated GIF credit: Lizzie Lomax
The indoor farm represents significant benefits to the consumer as it increases food accessibility. Because farms can be located anywhere, more people can start growing their own crops. Production then moves closer to the consumer, and farms are able to produce consistent value and volume year-wide. Currently, building-based and shipping container vertical farms are the most common.
How does indoor farming work?
There are several key factors that determine the viability of a vertical farm.
1. Physical layout
The objective of indoor farming is to maximise volume. This is achieved by maximising the output efficiency per square meter, which is where the vertical tower structure comes from.
2. Lighting
Image credit: Business Wire
Optimising light for crop growth in vertical agriculture usually involves a mixture of grow lights and natural light. Specialised technologies like rotating beds increase the efficiency of the light sources and can fulfil different crop requirements.
3. Growing medium
There are three different models for the indoor agriculture system.
A. Hydroponics
In hydroponics, crops grow in the nutrient-rich water basin and water is recirculated, creating better efficiency and lower water consumption. Scalable in size and cost, hydroponic farming is highly adaptable to its farmers’ production goals and needs. It includes methods like Drip Irrigation, Deep Water Culture, Ebb and Flow, Nutrient Film Technique, and the Wick System.
B. Aeroponics
Image credit: Foundation Far
Aeroponic farming involves frequently spraying crops with a nutrient-based mist, using a periodic timer (no soil, sunlight, or water). Aeroponics delivers nutrients directly to the plant roots to conserve water and reduce intensive labour. Scalability is another massive benefit with this method, and crops are easily harvested without soil.
C. Aquaponics
A closed-loop food production system, aquaponics is the practice of cultivating both fish and plants. The fish provide nutrients and beneficial bacteria to the plants,which in turn filter the water for the fish. Aquaponic farming creates a highly productive and balanced ecosystem with many benefits, including its water-conservative approach.
4. Sustainability features
Image credit: Cleanroom News
Many built-in sustainable features like rainwater tanks, wind turbines, and multipurpose spaces can offset energy costs in a vertical farm. Indoor farminguses less water than conventional farming practices and is not season-dependent for seed growth, which maximises revenue year-round.
What can you grow in your vertical farm?
With the right hydroponic, aeroponic, or aquaponic farm set-up, you can grow almost anything. Just because you can do so, however, doesn’t mean you should. Consider the following aspects when choosing the best crops for your vertical farm.
1. Economic viability
Especially if you’re growing for profit, study the economics of the species you have shortlisted for your indoor farm.
A. Demand
What is the demand for this crop within your area or within the market you choose to serve? You may decide that your project will provide for your family as well as for your local community.
B. Growing technique
Though vertical farming methods mean lower overheads on average, the size and particular system you use dictates your short and long-term production costs. You’ll want to keep these figures as minimal as possible.
C. Climate
Different systems have climate requirements (heating, cooling, and lighting) that may necessitate another sectioned-off space. Consider if you have the room and operations budget for your chosen system design.
As a grower, striking a balance between these elements ensures maximum yield and value out of your indoor farm.
2. Timing and liability
All good things take time—patience is a necessary element of indoor agriculture. This truth is embodied in what is called in farming as a ‘turn.’ A turn is the total amount of time it takes to introduce a seed or seedling into the farm system, grow it, and harvest it as a mature plant, for sale at the market or serving on your plate.
There are two types of crops you can choose to grow: fast turn crops and slow turn crops. Dependent on your growing reason, needs, and requirements, you can pick either one or both for your vertical farm.
Image credit: Forbes
Fast turn crops include lettuce, cabbage, chard, collard greens, mustard greens, parsley, cilantro, mint, chives, basil, and various microgreens. They usually take up to six weeks to produce.
Slow turn crops are typically harder to grow, but have a higher revenue margin compared to leafy greens. This includes ‘woody’ herbs like oregano and rosemary, and fruiting crops like strawberry and tomato. A good guide to follow for a beginner grower is to plant 80 percent greens, and 20 percent herbs.
Vertical agriculture: from farm to fork, all under one roof
Vertical farming can be as small or as large in scale—it all depends on the farmer’s goals and requirements! A vertical farm can benefit both your home and business, providing your community with reliable access to fresh produce.
While the traditional block of land enabled families to grow their own food, block sizes have gotten increasingly smaller throughout the decades.
Luckily, indoor farming lets us grow crops with a fraction of the space, sun, soil, and water conventional farming uses. What’s more, vertical farms are protected from the harsh weather brought about by climate change. The result? Robust and resilient crops turning up whenever needed, grown in soil and water-conservative, stable crop systems.
Title image courtesy of Digital Trends
University Greenhouse Expands to Include An Aquaponics System
University Greenhouse Expands to Include An Aquaponics System
- By Emily Gielink | Reporter
-
- November 27, 2017
Aquaponics, the combination of hydroponics and aquaculture, is working its way on to the University’s campus as the greenhouse attempts to expand its newest program. As the University strives to become a more green and sustainable campus, aquaponics may be the next step toward this goal.
Hydroponics, the study of growing plants without soil, and aquaculture, the farming of fish or other aquatic organisms, are efficient methods of producing both plant and fish crops, according to a study conducted by Iowa State University professor D. Allen Pattillo.
The University greenhouse is home to different species and biomes, but its newest addition includes tanks of fish, pumps and crops. Kevin Neves, the University biology instructor, started this system in fall 2016 when he arrived on campus along with two other students. He has been working in aquaculture for 15 years, and in the three years before coming to the University, he was working on an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture setup in Maine.
“In a standard aquaculture operation, you’re growing fish and you’re feeding the fish. Fish produce waste, and we need to deal with that waste in one form or another,” Neves said.
The greenhouse aquaponics system currently has two tanks full of yellow perch, which are fed standard fish food. The perch grow to about 10 or 12 inches, the standard to sell them for consumption. Next, all the feces and uneaten food go into another tank filled with freshwater shrimp and an orange mesh that allows bacteria growth.
The shrimp then take the ammonia fish produce and convert it into nitrate, which is a type of plant fertilizer. The nitrates travel through pipes into floating beds in which plant roots grow into water. Most of the water then is drained out and pumped back into the yellow perch tank.
Plants being grown from this system include kale, spinach and a few experimental plants, such as tomatoes. Neves first tried to grow thyme and lettuce, which failed in the system.
“It’s environmentally friendly, it’s sustainable, everything looks good and it has so little impact on the environment,” Neves said.
This system is low maintenance, only requiring those who maintain it to feed the fish, and occasionally add a few gallons of water to the system as water evaporates in the greenhouse.
Frank Schemenauer, a horticulturist for the greenhouse, became involved with the project after he discussed the possibility of housing the aquaponics system with Neves. Schemenauer focuses on logistics and input during assembly, assisting students growing plants for and within the system and troubleshooting potential pest problems for the plants.
“I think the aquaponics system is a great addition to the greenhouse,” Schemenauer said. “It highlights the potential to produce food in a closed-loop system, utilizing fish waste as a resource to facilitate plant growth with minimal environmental impact.”
One of the students who helped create the aquaponics system was Lana Neff, a third-year marine and aquatic biology major. She now helps with basic care and maintenance of the system.
“I think this system is providing students and future students with a fun and hands-on educational source where students can actually see what an aquaponics system looks like, instead of going off of pictures in a book,” Neff said.
Although the Office of Campus Sustainability has no knowledge of the system, some students are aware of the newer program and have visited the aquaponics system.
The aquaponics system can be compared to the green roof system on top of the Oaks Dining Hall. The Oaks grows fresh produce and then incorporates them into the meals served to students. With the current system, Neves hopes to incorporate the fish and plants he grows into Dining Services.
Aquaculture is expanding in numerous states, including Ohio, where over 25 fish and crustacean species are cultured and sold.
As the Earth’s population grows, people continue to deplete the Earth’s resources, including marine life, according to Matthew Smith, Ohio State University Extension Aquaculture Specialist. “Overfishing is real, and although harvesting techniques have gotten a lot better, much of our bodies of water are overfished,” he said. “Aquaculture helps alleviate the burden on our waters.”
As for long-term goals, Neves is trying to gain funding for the greenhouse aquaponics system. If he receives funding, he intends to add on to the greenhouse and add more tanks and plants for large-scale production, in hopes of profiting from the system.
“It’s proof of the concept, and so the goal would to be to sell these locally-environmentally-friendly, green perch,” Neves said. “There’s a huge market for hydroponic crops, and people are really excited about that.”
Controversial Ruling Says Organic Crops Don’t Have to Grow in Soil
Is soil an essential element of organic farming? Or can a crop grown in a soil-free container still be considered organic?
PHOTO BY MUSTAFAGULL/ISTOCK
Controversial Ruling Says Organic Crops Don’t Have to Grow in Soil
Some organic growers say hydroponics shouldn’t be certified organic
BY KATIE O'REILLY | NOV 13 2017
Is soil an essential element of organic farming? Or can a crop grown in a soil-free container still be considered organic?
Since the launch of the National Organic Program in 2000, hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic crop systems have been eligible to use the coveted USDA Organic seal on their products, so long as their operations comply with all other USDA organic regulations. But some organic farmers say healthy soil is the non-negotiable foundation of organic methods, and for years they have objected to the inclusion of hydroponics in organic certification. In recent months, the discussion over organic hydroponics has become more intense than ever and, to their great disappointment, organic pioneers have lost the latest round of the debate.
On November 1, members of the government-appointed National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which functions as an advisory board to the USDA, voted eight-to-seven to reject a proposal that would disallow hydroponic and aquaponic farms from being certified organic. In the months leading to the vote, organic farmers organized 15 rallies around the country with signs reading, “Real Farmers Do it in the Dirt” and “Don’t Water Down Organics with Hydroponics.” In a last-ditch effort to speak out in support of what they see as preservation of the integrity of organic certification, dozens of them packed the NOSB’s two-day-long meeting earlier this month in Jacksonville, Florida.
The NOSB did vote against continuing to allow aeroponically grown crops, which typically have to be sprayed with nutrients, to use the organic-certified label. But hydroponics and aquaponics are still fair game—and organic traditionalists say this decision likely came down to market considerations. “The National Organic Program’s mission seems to be changing from serving the organic community to serving corporate agriculture,” says Dave Chapman, a longtime Vermont-based organic tomato farmer. Chapman points out that in 2010, the NOSB voted 14-1 to exclude soil-less forms of growing; the USDA, however, opted not to take the recommendation, prompting the past seven years’ debate on the subject. “What changed between now and then? A multi-million-dollar hydroponic industry with powerful lobbyists is what’s changed,” Chapman says.
Dave Chapman speaks at a "Protect Organic" rally in Jacksonville, Florida. | Photo courtesy of Dave Chapman
He’s referring to global hydroponic market, which is projected to hit $490.50 million by 2023. In the United States, approximately 100 hydroponic operations are already certified organic. Investors tend to see agri-technologies—such as those that allow crops to grow in artificially lit, vertical indoor stacks, or in water-filled containers with farmed fish or other aquatic animals whose waste supplies plants with nutrients—as profitable ventures, given their potential for high yields.
Some organic farming pioneers, now mourning what they see as the devaluation of the organic brand they fought for decades to establish, see the ruling as a way to allow corporate agriculture to continue to infringe on their $47 billion industry. So in a sense, the dirt debate invokes the age-old Davis vs. Goliath question of whether this marks another triumph care of capitalism. (Case in point: one of the biggest container producers presently enjoying the bona fides of the USDA Organic seal is Driscoll’s—a berry giant worth nearly $3 billion whose organic supply comes from both certified in-ground and containerized production, and a company that lobbied the NOSB for continued hydroponic certification.) But at its heart, it’s a battle over food production methods and, to an extent, over the values we place on various styles of production.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Organic
Proponents of hydroponics and aquaponics say their methods of production offer an environmentally conscious solution for feeding a growing population in our rapidly changing and resource-challenged climate. “Sure, having more farmers produce food bearing the USDA Organic label creates more competition in the marketplace, but the reality is, we don’t have enough food in the U.S. to feed people, and so we import a lot of food,” says Marianne Cufone, an aquaponic farmer, environmental lawyer, and the executive director of a food security-focused nonprofit, theRecirculating Farms Coalition. “Organic food has long been cost-prohibitive, and maybe this ruling will allow urban farmers and others who don’t have access to soil to invest in organic production, create some healthy market competition, and make good food a little more affordable.”
But traditional organic advocates—many of whom Chapman says shed tears when the November 1 decision was handed down—believe that truly healthy food can only be grown in truly healthy soil. “It’s not possible to grow food with optimal nutrition in a system that doesn’t necessarily photosynthesize the sun, and carelessly ignores the soil,” he says.
But Cufone, who rejects what she describes as the stereotype of the sterile, indoor hydroponic farm (her own aquaponic operations, pictured to the right, are outdoors), insists that hydroponics and aquaponics could lead to more resilient community food systems. “Expanding production cuts down on the fossil fuels needed to import food and could really help mitigate climate change,” she says. “The NOSB is sending a critical message that sustainability and innovation are valuable in U.S. agriculture. This could spur growth of urban and rural farms alike—inclusiveness is important in our food system.”
Often, container farmers use less water than traditional farmers. The fact that controlled-environment farms can be constructed near cities carries the potential to slash transportation emissions. But critics of controlled agriculture systems point out that indoor farms often consume huge amounts of energy, negating hypothetical climate benefits. Dirt-firsters’ main argument, however, centers around the fact that “organic” is about much more than a lack of synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
Chapman points to Sir Albert Howard, the British botanist who planted the seeds of the organic movement in the 1940s. “Howard’s research showed that ‘organic’ was about building sustainable systems that are based on the looping of nutrients and resources in the soil,” says Chapman, adding that true organic farming calls for “intensive composting, obsessive marshalling of organic matter, and precise cover-cropping and rotation systems.” He says modern soil science supports Howard’s findings. “Maintaining and improving the organic matter in the soil without fail leads to an increase in plant health and fertility,” Chapman says, adding that all this is optimized when plants photosynthesize energy from the sun, outdoors. “None of these interactions are happening with hydroponics or aquaponics.”
What’s more, recent studies have proven what many organic farmers and environmentalists have long suspected: soil with high amounts of organic matter is better at sequestering carbon—and thus mitigating climate change—than other soil. As Chapman sees it, those who cash in on the lucrative organic seal have a responsibility to contribute to the planet’s “carbon sponge,” by developing and nurturing healthy, diverse soil systems. “If we change how we farm on a big scale, we can literally start to cool the planet. [Traditional organic farming] can repair broken water cycles, and desertification and drought are results of broken agriculture,” Chapman says. He says he’s worried that the organic movement could lose soil farmers to more novel tech-assisted farming methods—and that this could result in “a real loss for global society.” He adds, “And now we have to have a confusing conversation about whether certified organic food is actually organic, or if it’s fauxganic—grown without soil?”
At this month's NOSB meeting, there was talk of compromise in the form a food label that would indicate whether a food item was grown in natural soils. Think: “USDA Organic In Ground”, “USDA Organic Hydroponic,” and “USDA Organic Aquaponic.” Cufone, for one, is fine with that, saying, “All farmers are very proud of their process and product, so more transparency is comfortable for most people.” Chapman concedes that such a system would be “better than what we have now.” However, he says he can’t support it as a solution. “It implies that organic-certified hydroponic-grown food is organic. So on some level, I’d need to accept that, but I just don’t—it’s a complete reinvention of the word [organic].”
Chapman says that among his fellow soil-loyalist compatriots, there’s early but earnest talk about jumping ship altogether and creating a new organic label. “That sounds huge, but you know, when I started doing this 35 years ago we were an alternative label, and the USDA hated us. It’s gonna be a lot of work, but we want integrity in a label, with no confusion.” As Chapman sees it, last week’s NOSB ruling amounted to a death knell for the National Organic Program. “They’re killing it,” he says. By this he doesn’t mean to imply the organic industry will be dead and gone. “It’s just going to be like a zombie having lost its soul,” he explains, “and those of us who started the movement aren’t going to stand for it, and be part of the walking dead.”
Murphy: Down and Dirty
Murphy: Down and Dirty
NOVEMBER 9, 2017 09:30 AM
World Variety Produce launched organic vegetable kits in pouch bags last December, says Robert Schueller, director of marketing.
© World Variety Produce
By AgWeb Guest Editor
AgWeb.com
At first glance, the decision of the National Organic Standards Board last week to allow hydroponic and aquaponic production methods to be marketed as Certified USDA Organic might seem logical. If no chemicals or synthetic fertilizers are used, why wouldn’t the resulting hydroponic produce, for example, be considered organically grown?
But the board’s decision was vociferously opposed by a coalition of organic farmers and producers, who lobbied intensely, according to news reports, urging USDA to restrict certification to soil-based systems of farming.
“[The decision] was sad, because the rally speeches and all the testimonies of the farmers were so moving,” Dr. Linley Dixon, lead scientist at the Cornucopia Institute, an industry watchdog organization supporting the ban, was quoted on the Organic Authority website. “Everyone did such a good job explaining the situation, [but] it didn’t matter. It was very sad. There were a lot of tears.”
The 15-person board voted eight to seven to reject the proposal that would have restricted organic certification to “traditional” farmers, according to news reports. There are approximately 100 certified organic hydroponic operations in the U.S.
So why the controversy? What’s the difference if crops are grown organically in soil or in a water-based medium? Isn’t that merely a matter of a different medium?
Soilless is Soulless
Not at all, many organic farmers argued. Indeed, this issue has been debated within the organic industry for many years. Those against the continued certification of soilless systems argue that such techniques violate the basic principles of organic, which, as Abby Youngblood, executive director of the National Organic Coalition, explained to National Public Radio, “are really about soil health, regenerating the soil.”
Dixon agreed, noting that hydroponic systems do not cycle nutrients back into the soil to build soil health, an important tenet of organic agriculture. Indeed, most marketing and advertising for organic foods depict pastoral scenes of farmsteads with amber waves of grain, contented cows grazing on green forage and tidy orchards bursting with ripe apples or cherries.
The family farm, old-school image of hardworking growers toiling to deliver healthier foods, while simultaneously healing the land, is key to the organic movement’s positioning.
The argument in favor of organic hydroponics, of course, centers on efficiency, and in fact, those systems can be energy-efficient and sustainably operated. Hydroponic systems also do not normally require the addition of pesticides, even those permitted by organic rules, due to the fact that such crops are grown under controlled conditions indoors.
As far back as 2010, organic farmer coalitions were badgering USDA to institute a moratorium on the organic certification of all new hydroponic and aquaponic operations. In a letter to then-USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, they argued that, “We believe it is incumbent upon USDA to accept the NOSB’s 2010 recommendations to prohibit soilless hydroponic vegetable production as certified organic. The recommendation specifically states that hydroponic and aeroponic ‘cannot be certified as organic growing methods…’ ”
Part of the dispute is related to the fact that farmers seeking organic certification must undergo rigorous soil testing in order to be certified organic. Hydroponic and aquaponic systems are getting a free pass around those criteria, the farmers said, claiming that it confuses consumers when there is no distinction between the farming methods and their importance to the health of the larger food system.
Leaving aside the issue of whether soil itself is essential for foods to be identified as organically grown, the organic farm coalitions may have a point, albeit not on the dirt vs. no-dirt issue.
Along with the environmental impact of organic methods of crop and livestock production, the other important element is the opportunity to maintain agricultural diversity and support access to the business for family and small-scale growers. Because organic produce, meat and dairy command premiums in the marketplace, it’s possible for small farms to be profitable at a scale that would be near-impossible if production revolved around hybrid corn and GMO soybeans.
Hydroponic operations, on the other hand, tend to require sufficient capitalization that if such production methods are to be scaled up, they’re more than likely to be sustainable only by well-funded corporate interests. Leaving aside the optics of food grown with miles of plastic piping inside what amounts to a translucent airplane hanger, the last thing that organic agriculture needs is to continue on the path of corporate domination of the market, which is already well underway.
Certainly, population growth alone, not to mention the ongoing loss of prime farmland to development, argues for the expansion of hydroponics as a supplement to conventional food production. Forget exports for a moment; by mid-century, the U.S. is going to have to ramp up its domestic ag output just to keep pace with the growth in the American population, and hydroponics need to play a role in that effort.
In the end, it seems to me the solution is for organic farmers opposed to indoor agriculture to make their case the old-fashioned way: One customer at a time.
If soil health is so critical to environmental protection and food sustainability — and it is — that ought to be an easy argument to make.
And win.
Editor’s Note: The opinions in this commentary are those of Dan Murphy, a veteran journalist, and commentator.
Something Fishy About Downtown Toronto’s Waterwheel Farms
Something Fishy About Downtown Toronto’s Waterwheel Farms
With aquaponic farming, the root systems of plants grow directly through pipes into water.
TORONTO • Arts & Life • Food
Solutions to growing local produce may be as close as Queen Street West
By Katherine ForteDecember 4th, 2017
When you think farm you may not think of downtown Toronto, but Alec Wheeler is trying to change that perception.
His Waterwheel Farms uses aquaponic techniques to grow leafy greens and herbs in the facility near Queen Street West and Dufferin Street. The farm employs fish and microbes to grow the plants, which in turn filter the water for the fish – no soil required.
“It looks a little ‘labby’ in here but this is the identical ecosystem you’d find in a lake,” Wheeler said during a recent tour for the Toronto Observer. “You have fish, you feed them, they produce waste, the waste feeds the plants and just as importantly, the plants then filter the water for the fish. It’s a closed loop cycle.”
At Waterwheel Farms, instead of aquatic plants, they are growing crops for human consumption.
“So that’s aquaponics in a nutshell. It’s a living ecosystem between fish, microbes, and plants.”
Aquaponic farming is a closed loop cycle in which the fish act as the fertilizer for plants. The environment is similar to a lake. (WATERWHEEL FARMS)
Wheeler began a small aquaponics farm in his apartment five years ago, when he got tired of his store-bought greens going rotten too quickly. All of his education on aquaponics farming came from research and translating knowledge gained from growing up on his family’s open-field farm in Northern Ontario. He works as a financial analyst for a renewable energy provider. He jokingly refers to himself as “a renewable energy crusader by day and an urban farmer revolutionist by night.”
In May 2017, Wheeler expanded from his apartment to a 1,000 square foot research facility and farm. On-site at there are two tanks containing 400 tilapia fish who aid in growing Bok Choy, arugula, sorrel, spinach, lettuce and Waterwheel Farms’ most popular product, their tender kale. Anyone can purchase their fresh produce by visiting on Saturdays.
The seeds start their life cycle in peat moss. When they’ve grown to the point where their roots are the appropriate length they’re transplanted into pipes with running water where they have more room to flourish. The vegetables grow under different kinds of lights, at controlled temperatures that mimic the longest summer day in Toronto, for optimal growing conditions.
“Because we are indoors we’re controlling the lighting and heating and all that kind of stuff. In Toronto we are at the 43 latitude. Our longest day is just shy of 16 hours. We have these lights timed so they run on 16-hour cycles,” Wheeler said. “We can get, like, seventeen harvests for certain plants as opposed to the one or two you’d get traditionally.”
Waterwheel Farms doubles as a research facility. Founder Alec Wheeler experiments with different colours in the light spectrum to see which yield the best plant growth. (KATHERINE FORTE)
Wheeler finds that aquaponic farms have the ability to provide farmers with more, using less space.
“In traditional agriculture – nothing against it – you’ll read on the packet it says plant every 18 inches or whatever, it’s mainly because there’s a limited amount of nutrients in that soil and those plants are competing for those nutrients. With aquaponics it’s more of a smorgasbord for the plants because the nutrients are coming to the plants. So you can pack them in closer and produce more food and faster,” Wheeler said.
He boasts that his lettuces grow in 20 days, rather than three months.
Plentiful crops aren’t the only benefit of aquaponic farming. Since crops are grown indoors, they’re resistant to poor weather and climate change. The closed-loop system also uses 90 percent less water than traditional agriculture. The only water that leaves the system is what’s used by the plants, and the fish are edible, as well as the vegetables.
There’s no need to worry about toxins from the fish poop or harmful pesticides either. Just like in nature anything toxic in the fish waste or water would “crash the system” according to Wheeler. The same can’t be said about many methods of traditional open-field farming. Though crops can flourish with chemicals in the ecosystem, these chemicals often run off into our rivers and lakes.
Wheeler thinks his style of urban agriculture could change the way Toronto eats, and its impact on our lives could be huge. More people don’t have their own aquaponic farms due to lack of awareness, he believes.
“Like everything, there’s an education barrier. “ Wheeler said. “That’s kind of why we have the facility here so that people from Toronto and in Toronto can come and see the farm.”
That education barrier and lack of awareness is exactly why Rhonda Teitel-Payne and the other members of Toronto Urban Growers celebrated the first Urban Agriculture Day, on Sept. 15, 2017. Farms and gardens, including Waterwheels, opened their doors for tours, and urban farmers from Toronto got together to host a week of events.
What began as a community of urban farmers became Toronto Urban Growers in 2008. The group helps potential city-based farmers and gardens locate resources and connect to each other, so they can share tips, tricks, and anecdotes.
“We started to realize one of the biggest barriers we had in terms of getting projects going was lack of awareness of what urban agriculture is and what it can do and what it’s capable of,” Teitel-Payne said. “We thought that Urban Agriculture Day would be a great way both to celebrate and build that urban agriculture community in Toronto but also to get out the message of ‘Hey look what we can do when we’re growing food in the city. Let’s do more of it.’”
According to Teitel-Payne, urban farming can have more of an effect on us than just what’s on our plate. While Toronto probably couldn’t be self-sufficient when it comes to agriculture (some of the most optimistic statistics estimate we could only produce 10 per cent of our own food), there are other changes that could come with bringing some of the farm to the city.
Not only is diversifying our food sources a bonus, but Teitel-Payne finds that food connects us in different ways to different issues. That connection through food and urban agriculture could empower others to become more vocal on a number of issues.
“Food is that pathway into greater action.” Teitel-Payne said. “What comes out of that is people saying ‘There’s something about our neighbourhood we wanna change.’ Whether it be climate change, political action, access to food, or income or transit, there’s a whole constellation of issues that food touches.”
So where do we start?
Both Teitel-Payne and Wheeler agree condos could hold some potential for the future.
“Let’s start having a discussion with the developers and owners and let’s start cutting out a portion of the space for each condo to have it’s own farm,” Wheeler said. “The condominium right next to us has a beautiful and massive grocery store in it. Well, let’s just add to it. Rather than them having to ship in their food, let’s have it produced on site.”
Until then, Wheeler and Teitel-Payne hope that when people see urban agriculture in action it’ll inspire them to get on board.
“I envision it being a snowball effect,” said Wheeler. “You plant a couple of seeds and let it grow.”
from research and translating knowledge gained from growing up on his family’s open-field farm in Northern Ontario. He works as a financial analyst for a renewable energy provider. He jokingly refers to himself as “a renewable energy crusader by day and an urban farmer revolutionist by night.”
About this article:
By: Katherine Forte
Posted: Dec 4 2017 12:16 pm
Edition: Toronto
Filed in: Arts & Life • Food
Multimedia: Photos
Tagged: alec wheeler • aquaponic farming • Food • gardening • lettuce • tilapia •Toronto • toronto urban farm • Toronto urban growers • waterwheel farms
Indoor Ag-Con Asia Returns to Singapore, Introduces Indoor AG Pitch Competition with $150,000 In Cash Grant Prizes
NOVEMBER 27, 2017 BY RONY DELUCIA
Indoor Ag-Con Asia Returns to Singapore, Introduces Indoor AG Pitch Competition with $150,000 In Cash Grant Prizes
Indoor Ag-Con
Indoor Ag-Con covers growing using hydroponic, aeroponic & aquaponic techniques. It is hosting a 2-day conference, trade show & pitch competition on Jan 16-17.
Still buzzing from @indooragcon Asia! Thanks for the great event.” — @Galactic Farms
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SINGAPORE, SG, November 27, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ —
The indoor agriculture industry has grown rapidly as consumer demand for fresh, local produce anytime, anywhere is forcing shifts in global supply chains. Indoor Ag-Con is the premier event covering the technology of growing crops in indoor systems, using hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic techniques. It is returning to Singapore for the third time in January 2018. This years’ event will be focused on accelerating innovation in the industry, in areas as diverse as plant biology and artificial intelligence.
Our two-day event will be hosted at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore on January 16-17, 2018, and will include an exhibition hall and an exciting lineup of speakers including representatives from AEssense, Eco Insect Farming, Microsoft, Sanan Bio and Urban Crop Solutions, among many others. We will be covering a broad range of crop types – such as leafy greens, mushrooms, insects, aquaculture and medicinal crops – as well as technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to LED lighting to control systems. Participants will receive an exclusive hard copy of the newest edition in our popular white paper series in the event gift bag. Participants will have the chance to network during the day, through our event app and at our popular after party on the first evening of the event. The event is sponsored by Fresh Box Farms, Upgrown Farming, and Urban Crop Solutions.
For the first time, Indoor Ag-Con Asia’s exhibition hall will include country pavilions, with companies from Canada, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands able to represent their home countries at the event. Further details on joining a country pavilion can be found at indoor.ag/Asia.
Our events have long supported entrepreneurs in this fast-growing industry, for instance, we sponsored the first Startup Weekend Singapore to include an indoor agriculture focus in 2017. We are taking this commitment one step further in 2018 with an indoor agriculture pitch competition – Indoor Ag-Ignite – to find the most innovative new ideas globally in indoor agriculture. The competition is open to any team or company of under 40 employees developing or deploying technologies for the indoor agriculture industry. Three winning teams will receive prize packages including Startup SG grants of S$50,000 per team thanks to the sponsorship of SPRING Singapore. Startup SG grants are divided into two parts; a S$25,000 non-dilutive cash grant and a further S$25,000 grant with an option to convert into equity at the next institutional fundraising.
We’re accepting applications to pitch on our website until January 8, 2018. The initial round of pitches will take place on January 15, 2018 at Marina Bay Sands, and a panel of three judges will select five finalists to pitch to our entire Indoor Ag-Con audience on January 17, 2018. A panel of judges will select the three winners. Please visit our website at indoor.ag/pitch for more information.
Participant Feedback: @Galactic Farms “Still buzzing from @indooragcon Asia! Thanks for the great event.”
Indoor Ag-Con, which hosts meetings in Las Vegas and Philadelphia in addition to Singapore, is the leading convener of growers, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors involved in the growth of the sector. Our audience includes greenhouse and vertical farm growers, technology companies, executives from the food and beverage sector, venture firms, startups and established urban farmers.
Since it was founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con has captured an international audience at all its, attracting some of the top names in the business. Events have welcomed over 2,250 participants from more than 20 countries.
Newbean Capital, the host of the conference is a registered investment advisor; some of its clients or potential clients may participate in the conference. The Company is ably assisted in the event’s production by Rachelle Razon, Michael Nelson and Sarah Smith of Origin Event Planning.
3rd Annual Indoor Ag-Con Asia
Date – January 16-17, 2017
Place – Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Registration – currently open to the general public from US$399
Features – Two-day seminar, with keynote speakers, exhibition hall, after-party, and pitch competition
For more information, please visit www.indoor.ag/asia or call +1.775.623.7116
Nicola Kerslake
Newbean Capital
7756237116
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