Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
Entrepreneur Eyes High-Tech Farm on RIDC Property
Entrepreneur Eyes High-Tech Farm on RIDC Property
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: News
Entrepreneur Juan Lacey is hoping some day to grow some of these same vegetables using aquaponics technology in McKeesport. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Urban farming in the Mon Valley isn't anything new --- but local businessman Juan Lacey isn't proposing an ordinary garden.
Lacey says he can grow produce and raise fish for 12 months out of the year at the RIDC Industrial Center of McKeesport using a technology called "aquaponics."
And if he can line up the financing --- if McKeesport is designated as an "opportunity zone" by the federal government --- Lacey says such a farm could be employing 16 or more people, producing fresh vegetables and fish for sale in supermarkets and use by restaurants within four to six months.
"Four acres can support 16 growing systems," Lacey says. "Each one of those creates 93,000 heads of lettuce per year, which is approximately 1.6 million heads of lettuce. That's a lot of product coming out."
James Rakocy, a retired researcher at the University of the Virgin Islands who is considered one of the fathers of aquaponics, says Lacey's goal isn't unattainable.
"Aquaponics is technically sound if the best technology is used," Rakocy tells Tube City Almanac, by email from his home in Thailand. "With good planning and smart decisions, an aquaponic operation in McKeesport can succeed and become an asset to the community."
Aquaponics is the science of raising plants in water in an environment that also includes fish or other aquatic life. In a properly designed system, the plants and the aquatic life help support one another --- waste matter from the fish is recycled into fertilizer that helps the plants grow, which also keeps the water clean.
According to some sources, Chinese farmers were developing above-ground rice paddies as early as the 13th century. But modern aquaponics stems from Rakocy's research at Auburn University in Alabama and 30 years of experiments he conducted in agriculture at the University of the Virgin Islands, beginning in 1980.
The technology appealed to the university because of the lack of abundant freshwater and land in the Virgin Islands. It was later commercialized by Rakocy and a business partner and fellow researcher, Wilson Lennard of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
Lacey isn't a farmer or a scientist. He's an MBA who owns a Pittsburgh cleaning companythat specializes in environmentally friendly techniques. But he has experience buying and selling produce for Sam's Club, so he says he knows what kinds of problems retailers have with their supply chains for fruits and vegetables.
He first learned about aquaponics when he moved to the Pittsburgh area nine years ago, Lacey says. A group of Pittsburgh's North Side was trying to encourage someone to experiment with aquaponics, he says.
Their effort didn't succeed --- in part because nearby residents were concerned that the operation would create unwanted smells. But after nine years of talking to people who have tried aquaponics, and looking at technology available from several companies, including Wisconsin's Nelson & Pade, Lacey is convinced that the time is right for aquaponic farming in the Mon Valley.
"This is a proven system," Lacey says. "It is not new technology. And to be honest, my goal is not just to build an operation for growing. My goal is to build an industry here."
Lacey is looking to start on a site next to PurePenn's new medical marijuana cultivating facility.
Rather than selling directly to retail supermarkets, he says, an aquaponic farming operation might supply other businesses with raw ingredients for use in their products.
"One of my goals is to be able to attract start-up businesses to McKeesport that can take some of the product and do things with it, rather than just sell it in raw form," Lacey says.
(Above: Courtesy James Rakocy at The Aquaponics Doctors website)
Aquaponic systems work best for leafy green crops, Rakocy says, such as lettuce "and particularly herbs. An aquaponic operation could be large enough to supply supermarket chains in your area with these crops.
But aquaponic operations are not economical for crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers, Rakocy cautions. In addition, he says, aquaponic farming is capital-intensive and works on very thin profit margins.
"Most commercial operations today are relatively small in size, to allow direct sales to high-end niche markets such as farmers' markets and 'white tablecloth' restaurants," Rakocy says. "A single-owner/operator model with a few part-time employees is a popular size to capture these niche markets and high prices."
Scaling up an aquaponics operations requires a very high volume, Rakocy says, and the output must be sold to wholesale distributors. Intermediate-sized operations may find it "more difficult to achieve profitability," he says.
Lacey believes that a McKeesport-based aquaponics farm would sell at least some of its output to supermarkets. Even if its overhead was higher than that of conventional farms in the southern United States, Mexico or South America, he says, the costs of transporting the produce would be lower.
And, Lacey says, supermarkets and restaurants have been shaken by incidents where contaminated produce made their customers ill. An aquaponic farm such as his would be able to track a head of lettuce, for instance, almost from seed to table.
"When you go to a grocery store right now, you pick up a head of lettuce, there's no code on it that says where it was grown or how it was treated," Lacey says. "When there's a recall, companies go through an inordinate amount of back tracking."
The ability to control the entire supply chain, he says, means a well-run aquaponics operation will be as much of an information technology company as it is a farm.
At least half of the effort going into a new aquaponics operation, Rakocy says, "must be devoted to business planning and marketing studies."
"Entrepreneurs often assume their product will fly off the shelves --- or more precisely the growing beds and fish tanks --- and that they will get the price they want," he says. "It's not that easy."
The important thing, Rakocy says, is that an entrepreneur such as Lacey has to stay focused on the correct goal.
"The goal of an aquaponics operation is not to grow fish and cultivate vegetables," he says. "The goal is to sell fish and vegetables and make money."
Lacey is estimating that he will need to raise about $2 million to get started --- and that, he says, depends on the federal government approving the designation of McKeesport's waterfront as an "opportunity zone."
Included in the federal tax bill passed in late 2017 was a provision allowing states to request that certain census tracts in distressed communities be declared "opportunity zones."
People or companies who invest in businesses in these "opportunity zones" get preferential tax treatment from the IRS, including the ability to defer taxes until 2027 on gains that they reinvest into a opportunity zone.
The goal, according to the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, is to stimulate investment in distressed communities. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Department of Community and Economic Development have recommended that parts of McKeesport and Glassport, all of Clairton and Duquesne, and much of North Versailles Twp. be declared "opportunity zones." (See map, below.)
The IRS has yet to rule on the recommendation.
In the meantime, Lacey's dream of an aquaponics operation in McKeesport --- potentially feeding other businesses --- hangs in the balance.
Most of the operations he's looked at, he says, have run by charities as non-profit operations, but he doesn't want to go that route.
Right now, Lacey says, the closest aquaponics operation to Pittsburgh that he's identified is in northern West Virginia. If what he's calling "Mon Valley Aquaponics" opens, Lacey believes it would be one of the first in Pennsylvania.
"We're waiting on pins and needs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury to adopt Pennsylvania's request," he says.
Originally published June 11, 2018.
Aquaponics Association Calls For Presentations For Their 2018 Conference
Aquaponics Association Calls For Presentations For Their 2018 Conference
By urbanagnews
June 1, 2018
The 2018 Aquaponics Association Conference will be held in Hartford, CT at the Hilton Hartford Hotel. Mark your calendars from Friday, September 21, 2018, through Sunday, September 23, 2018, for this exciting three-day conference.
The conference will run for three days and feature: the top aquaponics experts from around the world; tours of commercial aquaponics operations; a vendor showroom; interactive discussions and social events for aquaponics growers of all stripes to collaborate. We will continue to update you with more information about the topics that will be discussed as well as provide videos from last years conference.
https://aquaponicsassociation.org/2018-conference/
The deadline for presentation proposals is July 1, 2018.
Interested presenters can fill out the form here: https://aquaponicsassociation.org/2018-call-for-presentation/
The Conference Committee will make the selection within 15 days of the Presentation Proposal and will notify selected presenters.
Agri Production Sees A Three-Fold Rise, Thanks To High Tech Farming
Agri Production Sees A Three-Fold Rise, Thanks To High Tech Farming
June 08 2018
Agrico managing director Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf
Qatar’s use of advanced technology in agriculture has substantially increased local vegetable production even as the blockade against the country entered its second year, a prominent Qatari agriculturist has said.
“Increasing local vegetable production by more than 300% in less than a year is impressive and it shows how dedicated this sector is to support His Highness the Amir and the government’s vision of achieving food security,” Agrico managing director Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf told Gulf Times.
Agrico, a private Qatari agricultural development company established in 2011, produces organic vegetables and fruits year-round in Al Khor and aims to help Qatar achieve food security.
Al-Khalaf said they expanded their high tech and locally developed greenhouse to other farms in the country under Agrico’s management. Out of the 1,400 registered farms in Qatar, he noted that around 300 are active and have been continuously increasing their production since last year. “The number of new (active) farms is growing and it means that some non-productive farms have turned into producing farms,” al-Khalaf explained.
“Many farms (or even houses) are now producing high quality organic fresh produce all year long without being affected by the outside environment,” he pointed out. “Other farms also developed themselves by using greenhouses with cooling pad system, which is adequate for some types of vegetables.” The country’s daily consumption reaches around 600 tonnes of vegetables and 400 tonnes of fruits, which can be achieved locally by operating 6-8mn sqm of greenhouses, he noted.
Al-Khalaf said hydroponics system can also save 90% of water consumption compared to conventional farming methods. He cited the uniqueness of Agrico’s greenhouses saying such technology is suitable for Qatar’s environment, even during the summer.
“Other greenhouses imported from outside have different cooling systems which are not suitable for our environment,” he said. “However you can still grow some types of vegetables in it but not all.” Agrico is also experimenting with growing organic papayas and other fruits such as melon, watermelon, and pomegranate.
“It is only a matter of time and people will see Qatar not only self-sufficient in vegetable production but also could start exporting its products to other countries (with the use of hydroponics),” said al-Khalaf, adding that such technology is also suitable for livestock, poultry, and fish farming. Currently, Qatar is producing 1,000 tonnes of freshwater fish annually and hopes to increase production in the near future with the use of modern technology to meet the growing demand.
A senior official from Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality and Environment’s Aquaculture Department earlier cited the completion of the QR237.7mn Aquatic Fisheries and Research Centre in Ras Matbakh. The new state-of-the-art facility aims to develop the aquaculture sector in the country and carry out experiments and researchers aimed at setting up adequate aquaculture techniques by using the latest rearing fish and shrimp technology suitable for local fish species.
US (WI): Superior Fresh Grows Salmon And Veggies At High-Tech Facility
US (WI): Superior Fresh Grows Salmon And Veggies At High-Tech Facility
Superior Fresh is the largest aquaponics facility in the world. Their state-of-the-art fish facility is coupled with a 3-acre glass greenhouse where they grow various leafy greens and herbs. They grow everything from seed in their greenhouse under LumiGrow grow lights and produce 1.8 million pounds of leafy greens each year. The leafy vegetables make their journey from the greenhouse to supermarket shelves within 48 hours.
Superior Fresh’s fish house and greenhouse have been meticulously designed and built using state-of-the-art technology to maximize profits with a superbly modern facility. For their greenhouse lighting, Superior Fresh is using LumiGrow LED grow lights paired with LumiGrow Light Sensor technology to ensure yield and quality goals are met consistently while reducing energy costs by 50% compared to traditional HPS lighting.
The light sensor technology allows Superior Fresh to monitor the exact light levels in the greenhouse and create programs that automatically adjust the fixtures to efficiently meet production goals year-round.
“Our biggest leap forward has been the LumiGrow smartPAR software,” says Adam Shinner, Head Grower at Superior Fresh. “…When we have enough sun, the lights turn off. When we don’t have enough sun, they turn back on. It allows for full integration of our lighting system [with the greenhouse zoning], which has truly not been possible up until this point.”
“Understanding that we are going to have 9 billion people on this planet in the next 30 years or so, we have to start thinking about how we’re going to efficiently grow food close to the marketplace,” says Brendan Gottsacker, CEO at Superior Fresh. “LumiGrow has allowed us to grow food right here in Wisconsin in the middle of the winter.”
For more information:
LumiGrow
800-514-0487
info@lumigrow.com
www.lumigrow.com
Publication date: 5/29/2018
Western Dakota Tech Grads Seek Solution To Food Deserts
Western Dakota Tech Grads Seek Solution To Food Deserts
May 24, 2018 | By JOHN CONWAY
RAPID CITY, S.D.
Food deserts in Rapid City are nothing new, but they were back in the headlines last year when three full-service grocery stores announced they were closing their doors.
Now, a group of young engineers and entrepreneurs think they have found a cost-effective solution to the problem. And they're finding it right here in Rapid City.
The closure of Prairie Market and two Family Thrift grocery stores in October greatly expanded the food deserts of Rapid City. Food deserts are places where people do not have reasonably convenient access to full-service grocery stores that sell a variety of nutritious food options.
In the absence of full-service grocery stores, convenience stores - which are abundant in these areas – have become a primary food source for the local residents. Mary Corbine, food security manager with Feeding South Dakota, says this situation is far from ideal.
"Convenience stores just don't have access to all the nutrition that a person needs, and they tend to be more expensive," Corbine said. "So, therefore, they're utilizing [more of] people's resources."
And without that balanced nutrition, people in food deserts tend to have higher rates of preventable disease.
"If you are eating higher calorie foods, [processed foods] and higher sugary foods, you probably will have more obesity, more heart disease and also more diabetes due to increased weight," said Cindy Gates, a clinical dietitian at Regional Health Rapid City Hospital.
The problem caught the attention of electrical trades students at Western Dakota Technical Institute (WDT). They are using their skills to develop a new system to help provide healthy food options to the residents of food deserts all year.
"The great thing with our system is that we can set it down there within the communities,” said Nick Smith, a member of the WDT aquaponics team. “Therefore, we eliminate the transportation costs of getting food to them."
Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. An aquaponics system raises fish and uses the fish excrement to feed plants. An aquaponics system produces not just fresh fish, but also fresh fruits and vegetables more effectively than traditional agriculture. The system can grow produce anywhere in the world, year-round.
"The yield first would be much greater than a normal garden, like a community garden,” Smith said. “We can grow plants twice as fast and produce about three times as much as a normal garden."
Aquaponics isn't new, but it has required a lot of human labor to operate and maintain the filters and pumps and monitor things like water levels. The WDT aquaponics team is working to automate the system, requiring less human input.
"We pretty much train the computer to do [the work] for them,” Smith said. “The computer takes care of all that, and all they have to do is come in and harvest [the produce]."
The system, if successful, will also recycle its own water and bring year-round fresh food to not only food deserts, but actual deserts where water is scarce, reducing the cost of nutritious food options.
"The only water input we have is when we initially build it,” said Joseph Cattin, another member of the WDT aquaponics team. “After that, it should be totally off the grid and not need any other input."
The team also hopes to eventually develop a solar power source for the system, allowing it to be installed in areas without access to electricity, making the system entirely self-sustaining.
The team’s work on the aquaponics technology has won them a spot as a finalist in the National Science Foundation Community College Innovation Challenge. They will travel to Alexandria, Va. in June to present their project to industry and members of Congress.
Fulton, Indiana - Caston High School Students Build Aquaponics Lab
Fulton, Indiana - Caston High School Students Build Aquaponics Lab
- Ben Middelkamp Staff reporter
-
- May 11, 2018
Noah Rushinsky, 18, and Colton Welker, 19 demonstrate their senior project on aquaponics at Caston High School. The project involves raising plants and fish in a closed system where the water is fertilized by the fish and the nutrient-rich water is used to grow the plants. Fran Ruchalski | Pharos-Tribune
FULTON — Two Caston High School seniors have spent much of their final semester in school creating and cultivating a sustainable ecosystem to grow fish and food year-round.
Colton Welker, 19, and Noah Rushinsky, 18, assembled an aquaponics lab in the school's agriculture room earlier this year for their senior projects. Caston's FFA program received a $6,100 grant for the lab in 2017 from the Cass County Community Foundation. The Cass County 4-H Association also sponsored the grant.
Aquaponics combines aquaculture — the raising of fish — and hydroponics — cultivating plants in water. As the fish inside a water tank are fed, their waste creates nutrient-rich water that gets pumped through a filter and into the plant beds, supplying the crops with food. The plants, in turn, clean the water that gets sent back to the fish tank.
“It’s just a cycle that keeps repeating itself," Colton said, adding that the plants will grow faster with the constant nutrients from the temperature-controlled water during any season.
The lab is also equipped with lights above the plant beds that are attached to a wood frame.
Colton and Noah bought banana pepper and patio tomato plants and also bibb lettuce seeds from D&R Fruit Market in Logansport for the lab, and obtained 70-plus Tilapia fish from farmers in Plymouth. Half of the plants grow on lava rocks and the other are secured in Styrofoam.
Caston's agriculture teacher Nick Korniak said the lab lets students learn about sustainable agriculture. Scientists, he said, have predicted as the world's population continues to increase, land will become scarce for crop growth. Aquaponics is a viable alternative, he said.
“We need to look at ways to produce food that maybe doesn’t require the land area or the amount of rainfall that you would normally need," Korniak said.
The school purchased the pieces for the lab in February, Korniak said, and the students started building it in March. The water tank's heater broke a few weeks later, he said which set them back on the project. They were able to plant the crops about two weeks ago.
During those several weeks of setting up the lab, Colton said they learned much about how to configure the plumbing and filtration system so the water can flow to each section.
“It was an experience," Colton said. "We had some fun times and some frustrating times.”
Noah said when he and Colton graduate in a few weeks, they'll have to pass the baton to other students in the FFA program to tend to the plants and feed the fish each day. The school's agriculture program has more than 100 students, Korniak said, and 52 are FFA members.
“It’s really good for all of the core subjects because you have math, engineering, science, all of those things combined into one," Noah added.
Korniak said he wants to invite the high school's biology students to help care for and learn about the lab in the coming years. He also hopes the produce harvested from the lab could get served in the school's cafeteria and that they can hatch their own fish to repopulate the tank.
“As long as you can control the environment, you can grow," he said.
Reach Ben Middelkamp at ben.middelkamp@pharostribune.com or 574-732-5117.
House Farm Bill Doesn’t Even Mention Aquaponics
House Farm Bill Doesn’t Even Mention Aquaponics
By urbanagnews
May 14, 2018
The House Agriculture Committee recently passed its draft of the 2018 Farm Bill (H.R.2) to the House floor for consideration. The bill doesn’t even mention sustainable production methods like aquaponics, hydroponics, vertical growing or greenhouse growing.
The Farm Bill is passed only once every five years, and it allocates over $100 billion to ensure an adequate national supply of food and nutrition.
Aquaponics growers employ water-based, recirculating systems of fish and plants that can grow fresh produce from the rooftops of New York City to the deserts of New Mexico. In every state across the country, aquaponics growers are supplying markets and restaurants; growing for their own diet; teaching STEM education; and contributing to sustainability research.
Unfortunately, the current House Farm Bill ignores aquaponics and hydroponics. Instead, it continues excessive support for industrial mono-crop agriculture, characterized by: thousands of acres of one single crop; wasteful water usage; average crop travel distances over 1,000 miles; toxic nutrient runoff; and widespread use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and antibiotics.
At a time when our planet is dealing with rapid population growth, resource depletion, and environmental problems, why is our government ignoring the most sustainable growing methods?
In February 2018, The Aquaponics Association Farm Bill Coalition sent a message to Congress asking that aquaponics be treated on a level playing field with all other forms of agriculture. The letter included over 200 signatures from aquaponics growers.
There are small signs of progress. A Member of Congress has drafted an amendment to define aquaponics and specifically include it in a subset of Farm Bill programs. They have reached out to our Coalition, and we are in the process of collecting and providing feedback.
The progress to date is a small fraction of what’s necessary to create real change. Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or anything in between, the Farm Bill will be spending your tax dollars on agriculture. Let’s make sure aquaponics, hydroponics, and other forms of sustainable agriculture are included.
If you’d like to get involved, you can join the Aquaponics Association 2018 Farm Bill Coalition. We’ll be organizing another letter campaign in the upcoming weeks.
Please let us know about your experiences working with the USDA or other food policy-makers.
Stay tuned!
Brian Filipowich, Chairman
Aquaponics Association
info@aquaponicsassociation.org
EU Aquaponics Association Launched
EU Aquaponics Association Launched
The EU Aquaponics Association (EUAA) was created last April, during the final conference of the EU Aquaponics Hub in London.
The newly established association aims to promote aquaponics in the European Union as well as globally while boosting and encouraging aquaponic food quality based on science and good practices. Also, it intends to build an online platform to facilitate the exchange of information between aquaponists, aquaculturists and horticulturists to further support the development of aquaponics.
Finally, the association plans to target all levels of education to widespread aquaponics knowledge with the hope of encouraging young people to get involved in this farming system.
The website of the EUAA, with more information about the association and how to join, will be online soon.
Source: INAPRO
Publication date: 5/22/2018
Growing With Aquaponics At UConn
Growing With Aquaponics At UConn
May 3, 2018 - Elaina Hancock - UConn Communications
Kelly Pfeiffer ’18 (CLAS) examines aquaponic lettuce growing in a greenhouse at the Spring Valley Student Farm on April 27, 2018. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
Kelly Pfeiffer ’18 (CLAS) examines aquaponic lettuce growing in a greenhouse at the Spring Valley Student Farm on April 27, 2018. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
UConn’s Spring Valley Student Farm is now home to a newly up-and-running aquaponics facility, a welcome addition to the farm, which already grows and provides fresh produce to campus.
The year-round means of growing vegetables is a source of pride for graduating senior Kelly Pfeiffer ’18 (CLAS), a psychological sciences major who has helped shape an idea into reality.
Starting out as a hope, then transitioning into a grant proposal, the aquaculture plan for Spring Valley Student Farm is now finally coming to fruition, through the tenacity of the students who work at the farm.
Former undergraduates Carl Underwood ’16 (CAHNR, CLAS) and Gabriel DeRosa ’17 (CAHNR) originally hatched the concept and were awarded an IDEA Grant to get it started. When they graduated, Pfeiffer took on the project and has carried it to completion as the current aquaponics plant care specialist.
“My goal was to have the aquaponics system up and running with fish by the time I graduated, and this is now happening, all in time for the summer growing season,” says Pfeiffer, one of 11 students who live on the farm.
“We each have our niche project,” she adds. “The aquaponics system has been mine.”
How the system works
Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in water, however aquaponics combines the rearing of aquatic animals in a hydroponic environment. Nitrogen is a nutrient plants rely on for growth and nitrogenous wastes are a fact of life for any organisms, such as fish, that metabolize proteins. The resulting waste is excreted as nitrogen-based compounds, such as ammonia or urea.
In an aquaculture system, there must be a way to manage and remove excess nutrients from the aquatic environment, otherwise the water becomes toxic to the fish. These wastes, highly rich in nitrogen, are broken down by a community of bacteria, into forms of nitrogen that are easily used by plants. No longer simply a nuisance, the fish waste is now fertilizer.
Pfeiffer explains that aquaponics systems and traditional agriculture are similar, in that they both rely on monitoring of macro and micro nutrients to effectively grow healthy plants. So why grow in an aquaponics system?
“There’s a surprising statistic for this technology, that you can grow four heads of lettuce in an aquaponics setting for every one grown through traditional soil growing methods,” says Pfeiffer.
In other words, grow more in less space, using the closed loop and symbioses between plants, animals, and bacteria.
An aquaponics system enables farmers to grow more in less space, using the closed loop and symbioses between plants, animals, and bacteria. (John Bailey/UConn Illustration)
Koi fish will soon be added to the 450-gallon tank of the aquaponics set-up to supply the nitrogenous wastes, creating a symbiosis or closed loop between the animals, bacteria, and the plants, all reliant on one another.
Pfeiffer says striking the right balance can make aquaculture tricky, and will depend on trial and error as well as close, continuous monitoring of nutrient levels in the water.
The system flows from the fish tank, where water and solid fish waste are siphoned off into a filter, and then a large tray filled with porous shale that further filters the water and also creates a medium where the bacteria live.
The expanded shale bed is a two-way filter, filtering as the water levels rise and fall, as well as where the bacteria colonize.
It is also an area of the system where plants can be grown. Although not intentionally planted, a lone squash plant has volunteered and is demonstrating how fertile the planting area is.
“Somehow a seed got into the shale and we left it to see how it did,” says Pfeiffer, “and it’s doing great.”
Basil has since been planted in the bed, along with the squash plant.
From the shale bed, the filtered water then drains into deep-water culture beds, each around 12 inches deep. The beds are currently home to the system’s first crop – romaine lettuce. Through circles cut into blue sheets of Styrofoam insulation board, the lush lettuce plants emerge, their roots reaching into nutrient-rich water below.
Planting out a crop is a matter of starting the seeds in soil and then transplanting into floating plugs. Since lettuces take only a couple of months to go from seed to harvest, the system will be capable of providing a fair amount of produce throughout the year, Pfeiffer says. The produce will be supplied to Dining Services.
Growing Collaborations
Besides growing food, the system is also sprouting research projects. Julia Cartabiano, manager of the Spring Valley Student Farm, says there are several collaborations stemming from the aquaponics system in various disciplines across campus, including two professors in the School of Business who plan to use the greenhouses on the farm as a learning lab, and a computer science student in the School of Engineering who hopes to work with the farm as his senior design project.
Undergraduate researcher Tanzin Begam ’19 (CLAS), a third-year biology student with a minor in bioinformatics, recently presented a poster on her work studying the microbial community of the aquaponics system. As in any ecosystem, the right mix of bacterial species is vital for the health and success of an aquaponics system.
More specifically, Begam says she was looking at the succession of the bacterial community within the system after set-up and before plants or fish were introduced.
It has been a great learning experience, she says. “In the fall semester, I was working out the best DNA extraction methods, and this semester I was analyzing the data. I have been learning so much.”
Her advisor, facility scientist Kendra Maas, says they weren’t able to find published research looking into how microbial communities are established within an aquaponics system, so this research may be a first. They hope to continue their analysis when the Koi are introduced. Maas hopes to one day make these tests an open service to the expanding aquaponics agricultural community across the state.
“As aquaponics becomes more and more common in Connecticut, this could be a useful service for growers,” she says.
The Spring Valley Farm aquaponics system is another great example of how UConn’s agricultural roots are helping to grow research innovations in unexpected ways.
After graduation, Kelly Pfeiffer will start work as a marine science instructor at the Catalina Island Marine Institute in California. Tanzin Begam hopes to graduate in May 2019, and will continue her study of the aquaponics system’s bacterial community in the meantime.
The aquaponics system has been funded in part by an Academic Plan grant through the Office of the Provost, as well as generous support through the departments of Dining Services and Facilities.
What’s The Difference: Hydroponics Vs. Aquaponics Vs. Aeroponics
What’s The Difference: Hydroponics Vs. Aquaponics Vs. Aeroponics
- May 9, 2018
- By Heather
Three distinct systems – all vying for the top spot in the niche of alternative growing systems.
What differentiates these three systems from one another? What makes them work? These are the areas that we will be tackling today.
Hydroponics vs. aquaponics vs. aeroponics – which one is the superior system?
Hydroponics
What Is It?
The principle of hydroponics is the oldest among the three because the use of soil-less setups has been around since the age of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
A hydroponics system has two main parts: the grow beds and the reservoir.
The reservoir contains the nutrient solution or the water mixed with various nutrients that plants need in order to grow successfully in the media bed. The grow beds, on the other hand, contain the media and the ‘cups’ that will hold the plants in place.
To clarify, growth media will replace soil in a hydroponics setup. There are many kinds of growth media to choose from: coconut coir, perlite, organic-polymer composites, rockwool, etc.
Among the beginning enthusiasts market, the most popular is coconut coir because it’s 100% organic, expands tremendously with water and can accommodate plants easily – with spectacular results.
Perlite, on the other hand, is hailed as a near-perfect medium for growing plants but it is particularly light, which makes it problematic for flood and drain systems as it can easily float away along with the small current of the water in the grow bed.
Organic-polymer combos/composites like Perfect Starts are becoming increasingly popular because they’re easy to use and are not deformed when germinating plants are transferred from the growth trays to the main growing beds.
And finally, we have Rockwool. rockwool is a type of reusable media as it can be sanitized with steam washing after every growing season.
Rockwool is actually melted rock spun into slabs and other shapes/sizes for the purpose of growing plants.
The main point of contention with Rockwool is that it’s not very environmentally friendly and thus, it goes against the main principle of switching to a more environmentally friendly method of cultivating plants.
The type of media used in a hydroponic system is so important because it will dictate the efficiency in which plants will be able to absorb the nutrients from the solution.
One of the key problems with hydroponics is that roots sometimes succumb to low oxygen levels, which predisposes crops to premature death.
A solution that growers have found effective in dealing with poor aeration and oxygen zone issues is combining two kinds of media to get the best attributes of each one.
Our personal recommendation would be to combine 50% coconut coir with 50% perlite.
Perlite is amazing when it comes to absorbing and delivering moisture plus it also improves the overall aeration of the plant’s root area. Both are highly regarded in the hydroponics community and both are also widely available to growers everywhere.
Power Tip: Coconut coir can be made more effective with the addition of perlite.
Hydroponics Pros And Cons
The main advantage of hydroponics is it’s designed for long-term cultivation of almost any kind of crop.
Commercial hydroponic growers harvest hundreds of kilograms of crops easily using large rockwool slabs.
The system simply works and can be easily expanded if you want to make money off your hydroponics system.
The downside is that with the booming interest in hydroponics in recent years, the price of the chemical compounds needed to create a viable nutrient solution has been steadily rising due to the over-mining of these minerals.
Another problem with hydroponics is that it uses relatively more water because after a time the buildup of salts becomes too much for the system and water has to be replaced so as not to kill the plants.
Also, there is a need to check the electrical conductivity of the water every day to make sure that the pH of the water is just right. Fluctuations in the pH level of the water can damage plants and eventually cause a die-off.
Aquaponics
Aquaponics is a hybrid system that combines the best of aquaculture and hydroponics. System-wise, it looks like a hydroponic system, but instead of relying on a main reservoir that contains a nutrient solution, the source of nutrients will be a vat of live, swimming fish.
How does this work? When you feed fish, the fish will naturally excrete waste. The waste mixes with the water, increasing the ammonia levels.
Obviously, this waste has to be mediated and reduced, so as not to kill the fish. Normally, fish tanks are regulated by biological filters and other types of filters that neutralize ammonia and reduce the impact of feces on the fish.
In an aquaponics setup, water from the fish tank is recirculated throughout the system so that it passes through the grow beds, where crops are steadily being cultivated.
The plants absorb dissolved nutrients in the water and process ammonia, which is highly toxic to fish in increased levels.
Bacteria residing the in the roots of plants, as well as good bacteria from the gut of fish, work together to establish a balanced ecosystem where both fish and plants will survive.
After about half a year, the mini-ecosystem formed by an aquaponics setup will begin to show signs of high-level, self-regulation.
This will be the time when both fish and plants will begin to truly flourish. There will be great increases in both fish yield and plant yield, and the maintenance of the system will become even easier.
Power Tip: Be sure to check the roots of plants for signs of rot.
Aquaponics Pros And Cons
The best thing about aquaponics is you will be essentially hitting two birds with one stone – you will be raising fish and growing crops at the same time.
Fish waste, which is something that is regulated in aquaculture, will no longer be considered a problem because it becomes a sought-after source of nutrition for the plants.
Without fish waste, plants wouldn’t have nutrients.
The plants, on the other hand, will serve as a 24/7 ammonia control center for the fish tank, reducing the ammonia load and preventing toxicity in the water.
Fish are sensitive to ammonia and even a small increase in the ammonia content in the water can cause stress, shock, and disease.
Additionally, aquaponics growers now add red worms to the grow beds to increase the efficiency of waste breakdown and subsequently, the distribution of nutrients to plants.
Red worms are first grown on soil and upon adulthood, they are then soaked/washed and then transferred to the growth bed of an aquaponics setup.
The process of breaking down physical waste into smaller particles through the digestive action of red worms is – you got it right, composting!
Yes, it is amazing to imagine that you can actually compost organic material on a grow bed, on stuff that isn’t actually soil.
But there you have it – red worms do the job quite splendidly.
In addition to helping improve the nutrient levels of the water being fed to the plants, there is another big reason why red worms are now being regularly included in aquaponics systems: e. Coli.
E. coli is a common pathogen/bacteria found in fish feces. E. coli infections can bring down a full-grown, healthy adult and bring him to the hospital.
Imagine what a widespread e. Coli outbreak can do to a tank full of fish, with no other place to hide from the swimming bacteria.
E. coli colonizes fish feces, so these need to be broken down more quickly to prevent an e. Coli outbreak from taking over the system.
Red worms can do this perfectly because they need to eat fish feces to survive.
Is there a downside to an almost perfect system? One of the downsides of aquaponics culture is you have to be very specific with the design of the system so you won’t have to shut it down during the winter.
Obviously, you can’t move large equipment and vats indoors, unless you have a really big house (or garage) but all the same, it’s an issue since frozen water can easily kill fish and winter does the same to plants.
Another downside to the system is even if you only want to grow crops for consumption or sale, you still have to tend to your fish well enough so they don’t continually die off.
Fish care can be learned and if you are a natural hobbyist and if you don’t mind looking at another component in a system, then tending to your fish won’t be much of a problem.
Aeroponics
What is It?
Aeroponics is a variation of hydroponics, but instead of using a grow bed filled with media, the plants are instead suspended, with roots facing a sprinkler system connected to the main nutrient reservoir.
Depending on the plant and the design, aeroponics systems generally use little to no media at all.
Now, you may already be wondering – what is the point of all this?
Why not just use media like everyone else? Why do you have to install a sprinkler system that periodically sprays the roots of plants with the nutrient solution?
It all boils down to oxygen. Believe it or not, even if the roots of the plants are down there in the soil, these still need oxygenation in order to thrive.
One of the limitations of hydroponics is because the roots are also submerged in water and the media, there is often poor oxygenation, which hampers plant growth.
Aeroponics solves this problem by completely liberating the roots of the plants and allowing it to come into contact with pure air.
The results are astounding.
Crops grow two to three times their normal size and yields are simply amazing.
Root formations are also incredible. Normally, the taproot of plants only have a moderate amount of root hairs around them.
In plants grown using the aeroponics method, the roots flourish widely and the root hairs become really thick – a tangle of healthy root hairs just enjoying the exposure to oxygen.
Aeroponics Pros And Cons
As with any system, aeroponics has its own set of ups and downs. The main advantage of this system is crops grow incredibly quickly and the yields are high.
If you are after high yield and shorter growing periods, aeroponics is certainly something to think about, especially if you are already investing in equipment and space for this endeavor.
Aeroponics also uses the least amount of water over time and all excess water that isn’t used by the roots of the plants are simply drained back to the nutrient tank.
Power Tip: Always have backup power and an extra pump in an aeroponics setup.
The nutrient tank is checked daily, much like a conventional hydroponics system.
The pump and spray system is submerged in the water and through a simple timing mechanism, is able to deliver short mists of water to the roots of the plants.
And now for the downsides. Room air doesn’t store water, even if it’s really humid. Humidity is not enough to sustain the roots of plants at all.
Aeroponics is extremely dependent on the misting system. If something should happen to the misting system, then the plants can die easily as a result of dried up roots.
To avoid this, you have to plan ahead. The misting system needs to have backup power and you need to have a backup misting system too, in case the first one fails for some reason. This usually means having an identical pump waiting in store to replace the main once it breaks down.
The misting heads also need to be checked periodically for clogs. We recommend replacing these misting heads instead of just cleaning them to get optimum results.
Remember – your plants are at the mercy of the misting system. They’re not submerged in water and plants are like fish out of water when there’s periodic misting taking place.
Good Life Growing Wants To Bring Back North City, One Micro-Farm At A Time
FEATURED
Raising North St. Louis
Good Life Growing Wants To Bring Back North City, One Micro-Farm At A Time
By Tiffany Shawn
James Forbes, Micah Pfotenhauer, James Hillis and Jack Redden work in one of the hoop houses of Good Life Growing at the corner of Sarah and Evans avenues in the city's historic Ville neighborhood.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
According to the USDA, food deserts are parts of the country void of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.
The local business Good Life Growing is combatting urban decay and food insecurity by way of urban farming. Located northwest of Saint Louis University in the city of St. Louis, it is working to bring healthy food to local food deserts. Sitting on almost two acres, Good Life Growing is focused on methods of organic farming, like aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics.
"We convert vacant, neglected urban spaces into thriving, productive micro-farms,” said co-founder and CEO James Forbes.
Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants) that grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment rather than soil.
“I got my start in sustainable agriculture accidentally after graduating from Mizzou’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in ‘08, but I never planned to use the degree," Forbes said.
He was inspired to learn more haphazardly while watching an episode of "Doomsday Prepper" about surviving the apocalypse by using a solar panel and junk to make an aquaponics system. After his college days, Forbes and friends would practice building systems in one another’s backyards, and it was mind blowing.
“You can catch rainwater and raise fish and plants in any setting – rural or urban, indoors and outdoors, hot or cold," Forbes said.
City dwellers often have to live by way of convenience, lacking access or education to obtain healthy food.
"People load up on unhealthy food, which is why I think North St. Louis has such a higher rate of diabetes, liver failure, heart disease, obesity, asthma, etc.,” Forbes said. “It’s a compounding problem. Convenient food is not actually cheap. It adds up over the long run, and adds insane medical bills and prescriptions."
Poor health can lead people to self-medicate, which may lead to addiction, then fueling crime and narcotics trafficking.
“Because people living in food deserts lack access to food and dignifying work, it leads, from my observations, to the many social issues plaguing society today," Forbes said.
Good Life Growing aims to inspire, train, educate and incubate aspiring social enterprises to take up empty, blighted land that developers and investors ignore and turn them into thriving food-production organizations.
"I hope that people copy our urban farming model and spread it in every economically and resource-depressed part of the planet,” Forbes said. “Food injustice, to me, is one of the greatest tragedies that exist in the developed world, and I believe St. Louis is a microcosm.”
Forbes realizes it takes a village to improve the village.
His mentor, Ellis Bell, a 5th generation sharecropper from Mississippi, supported Forbes’ vision while he worked for him.
“He hired me on to his insurance brokerage and had me focused on agricultural insurance. I attended St. Louis Agriculture Club meetings with him,” Forbes said.
“From those meetings I got hooked up with the developers working on Farmworks, met a ton of great people and ultimately got access to our property in The Ville. I thought blending his concept of connecting youth to agriculture in an urban setting would be a good way to repurpose property and provide a skilled trade component. Lastly, he had me pursue expanding his non-profit organization that aimed at getting rural African-American youth exposed to agricultural studies so they can get access to the growing agriculture business sector.
He also relies on his aunt Ruth Smith, former president and CEO of Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St. Louis, for daily guidance, community engagement and empowerment, and Alderman Sam Moore helped navigate city politics. His partners Matt Stoyanov, Bobby Forbes, and James Hillis, constantly help him to improve operations, and Roy Roberson, Jack McGee, and Janette Kohl are North St. Louis residents who keep him informed.
"On one acre of land, a family can generate over $40,000 a year. One acre equals three vacant lots in the city,” Forbes said. “They just have to learn how to grow, wash, package, and sell. With urban agriculture, we can introduce a new system of self-sustainability, healthier food options, occupied land, rising property values, better housing and schools, legal enterprise – and more businesses will move in."
Forbes noted that urban farmers with small plots face obstacles getting into the for-profit sector of the agriculture industry.
"It’s been historically geared to wealthy, predominantly white, rural people. I tell kids in The Ville all the time that there is a $5.2 trillion pie in food retail/production, and 99 percent of that is coming from the top 10 percent of the wealthiest food producers. The bottom 90 percent don't even touch the industry because we all assume farmers are poor and work too hard,” he said.
“I hope to see 1,000 families get into micro-farming, unify under a local collaborative of brands, retake and then reinvest in their communities. I'd then hope that, with good health and money, North St. Louis and other blighted urban cores can begin the long journey of unraveling systemic oppression."
Aquaponics Enhances St. Kitts and Nevis Agricultural Sector
Aquaponics Enhances St. Kitts and Nevis Agricultural Sector
Recognizing that small developing countries like St. Kitts and Nevis face enormous challenges following the passage of category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) provided USD 37,000 to rehabilitate the sector and to enhance food security on the islands.
In doing so, both institutions were mindful of the fact that there was need to ensure greater resilience against climate change. They therefore collaborated with Garden Pool, a United States non-governmental organization (NGO), and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to construct an Aquaponics system.
“Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants) into one integrated system”, explained IICA’s National Specialist, Augustine Merchant.
Regarding this project, the Minister of Agriculture, Alexis Jeffers indicated that “IICA is doing the right things at the right time to ensure that they assist us in securing our future”.
The fish waste explained Merchant, provides an organic food source for the plants, and the plants naturally filter the water for the fish. The microbes nitrify bacteria, and this bacteria converts ammonia from the fish waste firstly into nitrite, and then into nitrates. Nitrate is a form of nitrogen that plants can uptake and use to grow.
“As climate change increases variability in weather patterns, large aquaponics systems have the potential to increase food security by changing the way food is produced.” In addition, he stated that in areas with climate challenges such as limited water resources, hurricanes, and flood, aquaponics can facilitate local food production and enhance food security.
The aquaponics system is located at the Government Experimental Station at Prospect Estate, Nevis, and will be used by IICA for demonstration and training.
Effects
The natural disasters devastated the agricultural sector of the Federation. Greenhouses, standing tree crops, vegetables, livestock feed, poultry, small ruminants, and irrigation pipes were lost or damaged by the unprecedented high winds and flood waters.
For a few weeks, there was a shortage of food on the island as some of the countries from which St. Kitts and Nevis import food were adversely affected by the hurricanes.
Both institutions recognize the challenge to increase productivity in the agricultural sector, enhance food and nutrition security and understand the implications of climate change.
For more information:
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
www.iica.int
Publication date: 5/2/2018
Europe’s Largest City Farm Built On Rooftop In Brussels
Europe’s Largest City Farm Built On Rooftop In Brussels
BIGH “Ferme Abattoir” in Anderlecht
The "Ferme Abattoir", the first city farm built by Building Integrated GreenHouses (BIGH), has opened on the roof of Foodmet, the new food hall of the Abattoir site in Anderlecht, Brussels. With around 2000 m2 of greenhouses for horticulture and aquaponics, and 2000 m2 open-field vegetable cultivation, they claim to be the largest city farm in Europe situated on the roof of a building.
Aquaponics
BIGH is based on an 'aquaponics' production model, which means that fish and plant breeding are linked by a biological filter that continuously purifies the water for the fish. The waste from the fish is converted into natural fertilizers for the plants. The water is used to irrigate the plants and is replenished daily. Aquaponics is the combination of hydroponics (cultivation without soil) and aquaculture or fish farming. It’s an example of circular economic principles in which waste and water from fish are used for the cultivation of crops.
Reusing CO2
In 2015 BIGH was established to optimize urban real estate and to make the city more productive by, for example, installing greenhouses on roofs. To this end, BIGH integrates the reuse of surplus C02 and energy emissions and using rainwater in the production process to better utilize the value and space of buildings, focusing on sustainable and circular urban agriculture. This will reduce the ecological footprint and improve nutrition, urban quality of life, employment, aesthetics, climate, and biodiversity.
Together with a number of economic and social partners, BIGH's entrepreneurs play an active role in the pursuit of a sustainable food model. For them, urban agriculture is a link between urban consumers and rural production, between experts and producers and other actors in the food sector.
Short chain
Since a few years, consumers demand products that are healthy, local and traceable. In that respect, aquaponics and urban agriculture can offer high-quality, tasty and healthy products according to the short-chain principle. Urban agriculture refers to agricultural activities in an urban environment, which are based on a more ecological, social, sustainable and circular food system. With this approach the city can provide for a part of its own needs and turns it into a non-polluting production centre.
Network of urban farms
BIGH wants to create a network of urban farms in major European cities for the benefit of the inhabitants of those cities. "These are innovative examples of a circular economy that are cost-effective, transparent, high-quality and ecologically and socially driven. Their shape and content are created in symbiosis with the urban environment."
For more information:
BIGH
www.bigh.farm
contact@bigh.tech
Research Complex To Boost Farm Sector
Research Complex To Boost Farm Sector
01 Apr 2018
Massoud Jarallah Al-Marri, Head of Agricultural Research Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
By Sanaullah Ataullah / The Peninsula
DOHA: The Ministry of Municipality and Environment has completed the design of a project to build a huge complex for agricultural research and guidance at Al Mazrouha, Umm Salal which will develop agricultural techniques helpful in increasing country’s local production to meet self-sufficiency goals.
The complex, spreading over an area of 270,000sqm, will have research facilities to increase the agricultural products, develop advanced techniques for aquaponic farming to produce freshwater fish and organic vegetables and new models of protected farms, said Massoud Jarallah Al-Marri, Head of the Agricultural Research Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
He said that the main beneficiary of this project will be small farmers who do not have access to latest technologies and instruments. “The tender for the project will be floated in the beginning of next year to begin the construction of the project,” Al-Marri told The Peninsula on the sidelines of a recent event.
He said that phase one project which will include main building, laboratories, and service facilities is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2021.
The complex will have a number of research facilities to develop new agricultural techniques for local farmers, he said, “Under the project, a separate building will be built for laboratories which will be equipped with research tools of international standards”.
Al-Marri said that a laboratory would be dedicated to conducting research to increase the agricultural products through vertical farming. He said that the complex would conduct advanced research on the development of aquaponic farming techniques that would enable farming of fish and plants together in one integrated system for local farmers.
A model of the research complex and agricultural guidance centre.
Aquaponic farming is a combination of aquaculture for fish farming and hydroponics that is soil-less farming of plants. The fish waste provides an organic food source for the plants, and the plants naturally filter the water for the fish.
Aquaponics helps reduce water consumption for fish farming and instead of discharging water, aquaponics uses the plants, naturally occurring bacteria in which they grow in to clean and purify the water, after which it is returned to the fish tank, said Al Marri. He said that the new techniques will be used to farm fresh water fish that are not available in Qatar due to lack of rivers.
“The increasing use of this technique will contribute to produce organics vegetables by using organic fertilizers and producing river fish to reduce the dependency of the country on import,” he added.
“The new complex will have a separate poultry farm section which will develop a model of poultry farm for small breeding farms which would be the prime target of the research centers,” said Al Marri.
He said that the section will offer best species of chicks for breeding, poultry feed and compositions to the targeted farmers and provide necessary guidance to increase their production.
“The research complex and agricultural guidance center will encourage small investors to join the agricultural business by providing them with advanced agricultural techniques that suit Qatari environment,” said Al Marri.
He said that the complex would also have a laboratory to develop the techniques of protected farms and greenhouses for small farmers.
The complex, Al Marri, said would be an integrated facility of Animal Research Center at Al Shahaniya to research develop best species of sheep, goat, cow and camels for breeding.
Aquaponics Farmer Kenkel ’18 Receives $1.6 Million Investment
Aquaponics Farmer Kenkel ’18 Receives $1.6 Million Investment
By Sarah Drumm
Orient Staff
February 9, 2018
LETTUCE BE YOUR FARMER Trevor Kenkel '18 took a year off to grow his aquaponics farm, which recently received a $1.6 million investment.
Aquaponic farming pioneer Trevor Kenkel ’18, founder, and chairman of Springworks Farm announced that he has received $1.6 million in capital to finance the expansion of his system in Lisbon, Maine.
Located about 30 minutes from Bowdoin’s campus, Springworks Farm uses aquaponics to grow organic lettuce. Fish housed in recirculating tanks produce waste that is used to fertilize plants above. As the growing plants consume the fertilizer, the water below is kept clean. The farm is the largest aquaponic system in New England, which puts it at around the third largest in the country, according to Kenkel.
Growing produce using this method uses about 90 percent less water than traditional farming methods. It also allows year-round farming in non-traditional growing climates.
This is the second round of funds that Kenkel’s company has received since its inception in 2014.
“In this round, we were able to connect with a network of angel investors from across the country, rather than going after more institutional forms of capital, which really brings a diverse set of insights into the business,” said Kenkel.
Angel investors are private individuals, as opposed to venture capital firms, who provide initial funding to fledging businesses.
“Especially as a young founder, having that type of experience invested in our team is really valuable,” said Kenkel.
This funding round sourced capital from approximately 20 investors, many who learned of Springworks through summer visits to Maine.
“A big part of it is, being in operation for about three years now, you meet people who are interested in what you’re doing along the way,” said Kenkel. “We were able to create and maintain those connections and from there find a network of people who are really passionate about what Springworks is doing.”
LETTUCE BE YOUR FARMER Two Springworks employees examine lettuce on the farm.
Courtesy of Trevor Kenkel
In junior high, Kenkel started a small organic garden in his hometown in Montana. Frustrated by Montana’s short growing season, Kenkel learned about aquaponic farming online and began to build his own system with money from a summer job.
He continued to expand his first system and began to create a business plan for the company. Though he was recruited to play football at Bowdoin, Kenkel instead pursued his interest in sustainable agriculture, buying land near campus in Lisbon to allow him to continue to build the company while at school.
He now sells his lettuce to 30 individual customers and a number of distributors who transport his produce across New England. For now, Kenkel only grows lettuce, a choice designed to maximize the efficiency of the operation. Although lettuce is a $3 billion industry in America, most of it is grown in the southwest.
“About 97 percent of America’s lettuce production is in Southern California and Arizona. That has typically a very negative impact, especially when you consider water stress in that area. This is a way to make the supply chain a lot more efficient,” explained Kenkel.
After taking last year off to focus on the business, he plans to graduate in 2019 and keep working on the company.
“The plan is to keep growing Springworks. The opportunities in our market are huge right now as system designs like this allow for localized production in an economical way all year, in places that typically can only have local product once out of the year,” said Kenkel.
“We are designing this system so that it’s scaleable and can really make a big impact.”
Aside from the commercial part of the business, Kenkel also works to educate others about aquaponic technology. He has installed a miniaturized version of his system, called a “Microfarm,” in about 60 schools.
As the company continues to bloom, Kenkel also must maintain his academics at Bowdoin as a biology major and economics minor, although it has not been an easy balance.
“It is definitely tough,” he said. “I guess it is for all Bowdoin students.”
He credited his advisor, Professor of Biology Barry Logan, for helping him to hone some specific aspects of the farm’s operation.
“I’ve had the opportunity alongside him to work on getting to the finer details of parts of the farm’s operation that otherwise I wouldn’t have the equipment to do—things like CO2 exchange and somewhat hidden aspects of the farm that really are the some of the underlying foundation for how our plants grow.”
Despite receiving a million-dollar investment, Kenkel remains humble about his success.
“It’s really like a little kid’s dream come true, you know. When I started working on systems in junior high, I don’t think I could have imagined systems this size.”
An Overview of Aquaponic Systems: Hydroponic Components
An Overview of Aquaponic Systems: Hydroponic Components
D. Allen Pattillo
Aquaponics is the union of hydroponics and aquaculture for a fast, efficient method of producing both plant and fish crops.
This publication discusses how an aquaponics system works, showcasing the model used at Iowa State University.
It provides information on construction and design, with photos used to clearly illustrate how the system works.
Pages / Length: 10
Publication Date: 03/2017 Download - Or Read it Here
Cal State University Long Beach, Club Builds A Soilless Aquaponics System
“Generating three centimeters of topsoil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue, all of the world’s topsoil could be gone within 60 years,” said a senior United Nations official, according to a Huffington Post article.
Cal State University Long Beach, Club Builds A Soilless Aquaponics System
Engineers for a Sustainable World advances with a new project to save water.
Jessica Jacobs, Staff Writer
March 21, 2018
Environmental Scientists are beginning to realize that 200,000 years of human existence is taking a toll on Earth’s outermost layer of soil.
“Generating three centimeters of topsoil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue, all of the world’s top soil could be gone within 60 years,” said a senior United Nations official, according to a Huffington Post article.
This reality prompted Cal State Long Beach’s Engineers for a Sustainable World to innovate a water-based system in October that uses aquaponics, a non-soil agricultural system run by fish — fish poop to be more precise.
H2Grow Project was launched to reduce the amount of water usage and soil loss. It has become apparent that the top layer of soil is damaged, which is where plants grow their roots and minerals thrive. Without topsoil, erosion and disasters like mudslides occur.
The system requires fish, bacteria and plants, and uses fish poop as a source of nutrition for plants to grow without soil. Fish excretions create bacteria that transform the ammonia in the water into nitrate for plants to absorb. Nitrates serve as nutrients for plants and are transferred through small pumps from the fish tank to the plants in the grow bed. This allows plants to grow without soil and uses only one-tenth of the water used to grow plants in the ground.
An aquaponics model was built because it does not require costly chemicals and pesticides to function, unlike an alternative hydroponics system. An aquaponics model eliminates the artificial chemical fertilizers that disrupt the pH scale by using fish waste as a natural fertilizer. It also uses objects between 12 to 18 millimeters, such as plastic buttons, to act as a medium that does not pollute the water or require deep cleaning.
Originally, the aquaponics team only planned to present their project for the Green Generation Mixer at Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden. However, word spread of the project and the engineering group found new a motivation to finish the model — funding.
The National Chapter of ESW provided a $500 grant to fund the electronic system and educational exhibit and the Science and Learning Center also donated extra fish tanks and other necessities, according to Catherine Pham, the lead researcher on the aquaponics project. In exchange, the team will display their project once it is completed.
Pham said that the grant-funded electronic resources used in the project are moisture sensors, temperature sensors and light spectrum sensors. These sensors are used for automation and sustainability.
“We would like to bring more attention to sustainable alternatives that can help alleviate our dependence on imported food,” Pham said. “Thus reducing the carbon footprint to hopefully inspire individuals that they can take action to live a more sustainable lifestyle.”
Although the project will progress, it will lose its research space in the Associated Engineering Student Body office at the end of the semester. The engineering group plans to relocate its workplace to either Engineering 3 or Engineering 111. According to Anesia Cantry, a senior majoring in civil engineering, many engineering organizations are losing their spaces because the school needs room for faculty offices.
“I feel like the world’s innovation is run by deadlines,” Pham said. “Nothing would get done if there were no deadlines, so this project is going to be done in March.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Engineers for a Sustainable World can contact Catherine Pham at ccatherinepham@gmail.com.
How 500 Fish Are Helping To Grow 40 Heads Of Lettuce
About a year ago, Theriault and three of his friends started Aquadie Cooperative in Kedgwick. It's an aquaponics business, twinning fish farming and hydroponics, with big dreams of community self-sufficiency.
How 500 Fish Are Helping To Grow 40 Heads Of Lettuce
Pairing fish farming with hydroponics, company looks to make food locally and sustainably
CBC News | Mar 11, 2018
Inuk Theriault and Guillaume Desjardins started their lettuce-growing and fish farming business out of their garages a year ago. (Kassandra Nadeau-Lamarche/RADIO CANADA)
Inuk Theriault's garage is not what you might expect.
Instead of cars or tools, he filled it with fish tanks. And out of those, he's growing lettuce.
About a year ago, Theriault and three of his friends started Aquadie Cooperative in Kedgwick. It's an aquaponics business, twinning fish farming and hydroponics, with big dreams of community self-sufficiency.
Theriault said hydroponics is being used more and more around the world to grow food because the technique helps food grow faster. So, Theriault and a few friends decided they would try it.
They use fish waste as fertilizer for their lettuce. (Kassandra Nadeau-Lamarche/RADIO CANADA)
"We were talking and looking on the Internet and we heard about this type of growing. We were trying new stuff and we decided to give it a go," he told Shift New Brunswick.
Their business is a co-op, allowing anyone to join and invest in the company. They've had help from experts on both parts of the business: the plants and the fish.
This is the first phase of the company's growth. They have three co-founders, each with their own home setups. Theriault has 500 rainbow trout and can produce 40 heads of lettuce every five or six weeks.
They're experimenting with different types of food and fish to see how they can improve the process. Right now, they're offering their lettuce free so people can try it and see their set-up. They have also brought mini set-ups to grocery stores to show off the project.
Theriault can grow 40 heads of lettuce in five or six weeks with the hydroponics and fish farming method of growing. (Kassandra Nadeau-Lamarche/RADIO CANADA)
"Some people call me and ask if the lettuce is going to taste like fish? And I can assure you, there's no taste of fish in the food," he said.
"It's the same thing as when you use manure of cows or horses to put in your garden on the earth, you don't taste the cow or the horse. It's being transformed by the roots of the plants and the roots just absorb what they need in the waste."
Right now, the business is a side project for the co-founders, who work on it in their spare time. They've had interest from people across the Maritimes in what they're doing and hope it expands throughout New Brunswick and beyond.
Aquadie Is A Large-Scale Aquaponics Project.
The Aquadie project will take place in four phases
Phase 1
The 3 bio-essays currently running at the houses of the founders are used to:
•Acquire knowledge
•Establish our recipes
•Produce promotional lettuce
•Encourage people to believe in it with us
Phase 2
Construction of a medium sized system that can produce 500 lettuces per week for the purpose of:
•Building up our clientele
•Promote
•Gain management and running experience
•Bringing us to Aquadie phase 3
Required 200 investor members for this step.
Phase 3
Construction of the real Aquadie of 10 tonnes of fish per year and 10,000 lettuce/vegetables per month. Aquadie will ride according to the specifications needed to maximize all the aspects involved in a project of this type.
Phase 4
Implementing 4 to 6 Aquadie in different communities in the province of New-Brunswick to support our New-Brunswick needs
The Coop Aquadie project, based on a 15,000-square-foot building on Highway 17 in New-Brunswick, consists of delivering fruits, vegetables and fish in large quantities. Beginning in July 2019, Aquadie's products will be readily available directly at Aquadie, in markets and grocery stores allowing customers to have many places to go to get and benefit from them.
With files from Shift New Brunswick
Balance Grille Hopes to Tip Scales in Brand's Favor With Downtown Toledo Aquaponics Farm
Balance Grille Hopes to Tip Scales in Brand's Favor With Downtown Toledo Aquaponics Farm
March 5, 2018 | by S.A. Whitehead
A simplified supply chain, lower food prices and vastly increased quality control: Those are just three benefits expected from a daring venture by the founders of Toledo-based Balance Pan-Asian Grille. Prakash Karamchandani and HoChan Jang are building an 8,600-square-foot aquaponics farm in the middle of downtown Toledo, Ohio, next to the chain's newest location opening this month on Summit Street.
Kale and rainbow swiss chard in the R&D facility's deep water channel setup being used at Toledo aquaponics farm, which is controlled environment agriculture, using no pesticides, allowing immediate consumption of produce.Photo by Jeff Kamp of Plur Films.
Aquaponics is an ultra-efficient system of farming that uses fish to cultivate plants, which, in turn, purify the water. And even though it's innovative and very "green," plunking down one of these farms in the middle of a Rust Belt city's downtown may not seem like the choice location for such an operation. But Karamchandani said, for Balance Grille, it's just about perfect.
"Our customers know not just where our ingredients are sourced, they can visit the facility and view the production happen," he said in an interview with QSRWeb, referring to the farm's location adjacent the brand's newest restaurant. "Our brand is gaining visibility in multiple channels, including grocery stores and our brand is differentiated."
The venture has taken about two years, a lot of creative thinking and cutting through miles of red tape with both the property owners and the city of Toledo, but if things work out as planned, the farm promises big payoffs.
"We will be able to offer local organic produce year-round in Ohio's climate," Karamchandani said. "We are connected deeper in our community with new relationships, including with children's science and learning museum, Imagination Station, which will be organizing educational tours for school children and adults."
It may sound like a lofty goal for the four-unit chain, but these restaurateurs like to embrace innovation. Last year, for example, they instituted a "managerless" form of restaurant operation, so this kind of project is right in line with the way these two University of Toledo graduates think.
Of course, QSRweb wanted to know more, so check out our recent interview with Karamchandani.
Q: Local sourcing is a huge demand now from restaurant brands and this certainly is right in line with that. Why was that important enough to your brand to go to the somewhat extreme lengths of operating your own aquaponics facility?
A: I realize "local" has been a buzzword in our industry for several years now, and it's almost becoming cliché. [But] going back to our roots, as restaurateurs, we want to nourish our neighbors/community. From a nutrition perspective, the faster we can get product from the field to the store, the better overall quality we offer to our customers.
From an economic perspective, we're keeping the dollars within our community. From a culinary perspective, we have a direct connection to producers allowing for some really unique opportunities compared to standard "big box" distributors.
Q: When and why did you decide to go for an aquaponics facility?
A: We decided to continue vertical integration in late 2015. We had an existing dry-stock warehouse and distribution servicing our three area restaurants. We added cold refrigerated storage and delivery capability and found we could help a few small producers with their local delivery route.
One of our producers specialized in microgreens and we connected with the aquaponics method of food production, the balanced relationship between fish and plants. Over approximately a year, we began to play with a couple of R&D prototype systems to try and grow a variety of ingredients outside of the microgreens we use on our menu.
Space in the farm was limited (an old warehouse, under 1,700 square feet), so we were unable to move beyond the testing phase. But, we were hooked. In 2017, we purchased the farming operation, formed an operating partnership, and began to develop plans for a production-level facility.
Q: Why downtown Toledo and where are you in the development process?
A: We located the new farm next to our flagship Downtown Toledo Ohio location opening Q1 2018. Its footprint is 8600 square feet, and located in the first-floor retail area of a historic parking garage in the heart of the commercial district. As of the end of February 2018, our space is in the demolition phase of construction while we complete permit approval with the City of Toledo.
Q: So how does this work and what will be grown there?
A: The grow facility will be comprised of the plant grow space, a small tank room/workshop, and an office. The plant grow space will be comprised of 15-by-36-foot rack systems, each three to four tiers tall, depending on ceiling height.
Each tier will house specific grow systems with LED grow-spectrum lighting. Racks will be specialized in the deep-water channel, dutch-bucket style, and thin-film channel type grow systems. We will be able to section off areas to adjust temperature and humidity, so racks can be grouped and specialized for a specific crop.
Our crops will include leafy greens, micro greens, living and harvest herbs and certain fruiting vegetables (primarily peppers and tomatoes), although we can theoretically produce nearly any crop that grows above ground. We will also have 4-by-600g tanks used to raise tilapia fish, which will be sold live for pond/lake stocking or algae control, not for consumption. In the future, we hope to add freshwater prawn/shrimp propagation to the system.
"Our customers know not just where our ingredients are sourced, they can visit the facility and view the production happen. ... We are connected deeper in our community with new relationships, including with children's science and learning museum, Imagination Station, which will be organizing educational tours for school children and adults."
Q: Operationally, how much will the farm cost to run and how is that being incorporated into your expenses and balance sheet?
A: We have modeled the operating overhead, labor, and debt service into our crop sales internally to our own restaurants, which account for 70 percent of the facility's initial production capacity. Fully burdened, we are conservatively anticipating a 10 percent reduction in ingredient cost from the restaurant's perspective. The remaining 30-plus percent of production capacity will primarily generate profit for the company.
Q: Why aquaponics as opposed to other types of agriculture?
A: Aquaponics, like hydroponics, allows for year-round growth and consistent crop harvest, perfect for restaurant supply purposes. [Likewise], hydroponics often uses chemical fertilizer and has a high water waste ratio. This combination's runoff would add to an existing algae problem in our area of Lake Erie, similar to the traditional field or hoop-house type agriculture.
Aquaponics is differentiated because it is inherently organic: Feed the fish, and allow the plants to act as the water's filter. On an ongoing basis, regarding water waste, we are only adding water to offset the system's natural evaporation, a few gallons per day.
Q: Where have you turned for expert input on this operation and making it work business-wise?
A: Our operating partner is obviously a great resource. But our area has a rich agricultural heritage, and we have community resources like the Center for Innovative Food Technology and Agricultural Incubator, less than 30 minutes away. We have also visited multiple commercial aquaponics facilities in the Midwest to learn from their experiences and acquire best practices.
Q: Are you aware of other restaurant brands globally using an aquaponics farm for sourcing?
A: As of this interview, we are unaware of any restaurant brands vertically integrated to the degree we are. Generally, we don't make it a practice to watch other restaurant brands. Our goal has always been to focus on our own cultural values. If we are missing out on a similar effort, we'd love to connect and share insights!
Q: Where do you see this going in the future and how will you measure for success?
A: If Balance Farms continues to be a successful part of our brand, we plan to add an aquaponics facility to each metro area we grow to. We will be watching basic financial and operational metrics, including profit margin, the effect on our restaurant's P&L and volume of product produced.
Our only advice (to others in the business) is to follow your passion where it leads you.
Topics: Back Office, Business Strategy and Profitability, Customer Service / Experience, Equipment & Supplies, Ethnic, Food Cost Management, Going Green, Health & Nutrition, International, Marketing / Branding / Promotion, Operations Management, Research & Development / Innovation, Seafood, Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Systems / Technology
Award-winning veteran print and broadcast journalist, Shelly Whitehead, has spent most of the last 30 years reporting for TV and newspapers, including the former Kentucky and Cincinnati Post and a number of network news affiliates nationally. She brings her cumulative experience as a multimedia storyteller and video producer to the web-based pages of Pizzamarketplace.com and QSRweb.com after a lifelong “love affair” with reporting the stories behind the businesses that make our world go ‘round. Ms. Whitehead is driven to find and share news of the many professional passions people take to work with them every day in the pizza and quick-service restaurant industry. She is particularly interested in the growing role of sustainable agriculture and nutrition in food service worldwide and is always ready to move on great story ideas and news tips.
Searching For Profits With Fish, Vegetables And A Greenhouse
Searching For Profits With Fish, Vegetables And A Greenhouse
- BARRY ADAMS badams@madison.com
-
- February 18, 2018 | 5 min to read
Mike Knight, co-founder of Clean Fresh Food near Paoli shows off some of the nearly full-grown lettuce grown in his greenhouse that is part of an aquaponics system located on a former dairy farm. The system, which holds 55,000 gallons of heated well water, uses the waste from tilapia, growing in an adjacent building, to fertilize the crops in the greenhouse. Knight, who founded and later sold Third Wave Research Group and now owns Customer Analytics, is working with his wife, Dagny, and a small staff to determine the best way to profitably grow leafy greens and microgreens year round.
STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Town of Primrose, Wisconsin — The farmland along Sun Valley Parkway east of Paoli is still fertile soil for corn, soybeans, alfalfa and other traditional crops.
But a 120-acre farm established in the 1800s along a rail line that is now the Badger State Trail is trying to make a year-round business out of lettuce, herbs and micro greens, thanks to a greenhouse, tanks of tilapia and the entrepreneurial drive of its owners and small staff.
Clean Fresh Foods is the creation of Mike and Dagny Knight, who are skipping the dirt. Instead, their aquaponics farm uses tanks and troughs of well water in an attempt to reach profitability, capitalize on the local food movement and provide fresh greens to restaurants, grocery stores and institutions, even when their Dane County property is smothered in February snow.
Jo-Ann O'Brien-Schorr, a former nurse who lives near Farm Fresh Foods in the town of Primrose, transfers young lettuce plants to a raft that will float in a trough of water fertilized by the waste of tilapia. The farm harvests about 12,000 head of lettuce a month, which is sold to grocery stores and restaurants.
STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
“I think we’re just on the edge of profitability,” said Dagny Knight, a former nurse. “If we can figure out this micro greens piece and get into the farmers market niche, that would be a good step in the right direction. We’re just so close to breaking through that profitability mark.”
Aquaponics is a combination of hydroponics and aquaculture in which fish waste from the aquaculture system is broken down by bacteria into dissolved nutrients that is then fed into a hydroponics system to grow vegetables or other plants. The nutrient removal improves water quality for the fish but also decreases overall water consumption by limiting the amount released as effluent, according to a 2017 report by D. Allen Porttillo, an extension and outreach fisheries specialist at Iowa State University.
Like hydroponics, aquaponics systems require less land and water than conventional crop production methods, increase growth rates and allow for year- round production.
Aquaponics is a combination of hydroponics and aquaculture in which fish waste from the aquaculture system is broken down by bacteria into dissolved nutrients that is then fed into a hydroponics system to grow vegetables or other plants. The nutrient removal improves water quality for the fish but also decreases overall water consumption by limiting the amount released as effluent.
STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
Aquaponics farms across Wisconsin
Aquaponics farms are dotted throughout the state. They include Lake Orchard Farm Aquaponics near Sheboygan, which harvests 1,100 heads of lettuce a week and also sells tilapia. Floating Gardens Aquaponics near the La Crosse County community of Mindoro opened in 2017 and sells lettuce, kale, basil, chive, lavender, cilantro and other greens to grocery stores and other retailers in western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.
In nearby Jackson County, Superior Fresh has one of the largest aquaponics systems in the world. The massive facility in Northfield, just south of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Highway 121, has a 1.3 million-gallon system, a 123,000-square-foot greenhouse designed to produce 1.8 million pounds of leafy greens annually and a 40,000-square-foot fish house that is home to thousands of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout.
Clean Fresh Food near Paoli isn't a fish farm but needs fish, like this tilapia, to grow vegetables in the adjacent greenhouse. The tilapia are raised in 1,200-gallon tanks, and the nutrient-rich water from the tanks is circulated into troughs where vegetables are grown year-round.
STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
The first commercial aquaponics farm in the state opened in 2009 near North Freedom in Sauk County.
Donna Meunier has a 9,000-square-foot greenhouse that is fed by 10 1,200-gallon tanks brimming with tilapia. Her KP Simply Fresh facility grows 15 to 20 varieties of lettuce for area nursing homes and hospitals and, over the past few years, she’s been experimenting with growing cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, kale and radishes.
She battles aphids from nearby alfalfa fields, has lost crops due to cold and early on had to replace her copper pipes leading from the well with PVC because copper is toxic to fish.
“We’ve expanded twice to meet the needs of what people are asking for,” said Meunier, who for years had run with her husband one of the largest amusement game companies in the state. “I know we will get to the point were we will make a consistent profit each month, but we’re just not there yet. This entire business is very expensive. I know of several people who have gone into it and are now out of it because it’s too much work.”
‘Entrepreneurial ADD’
The Knights are well aware of the challenges but are determined to find the right system and business model.
They purchased the farm in 2011 and a year later started construction on their $250,000 aquaponics operation, which includes a 7,200-square-foot greenhouse and 2,700-square-foot fish building. They began growing fish in four 50-gallon tanks in an old milk house in October 2012, harvested their first vegetables in summer 2013 and harvested their first fish around Thanksgiving of that year, Dagny Knight said.
Mike Knight holds the root and a grow-plug made of rock wool from a recently harvested lettuce plant that was grown on a floating raft.
STEVE APPS, STATE JOURNAL
The farm now produces about 12,000 head of lettuce a month. But other crops like mustard and carrot greens, basil and arugula are also being grown in the system that uses six troughs, each 8 feet wide, 100 feet long and about a foot deep, each with 100 floating Styrofoam mats.
The water in the 55,000-gallon system is fertilized naturally by the tilapia who swim in 12 1,200-gallon plastic tanks in a building adjacent to the greenhouse. The water, the vast majority of which is recycled through the system, comes from the well and is warmed with an outdoor furnace that in 2017 went through 40 cords of wood harvested from the farm.
“This is the result of entrepreneurial ADD,” Mike Knight said. “I didn’t grow up on a farm. I grew up on military bases. My whole thing is trying to make this sustainable on its own. If we can do this in this climate, growing these fresh green vegetables, what’s it mean to remote locations around the world and further northern climates?”
Knight, 62, who grew up in Utah and is a graduate of Utah State, has a drive for entrepreneurial ventures and has a deep business background. He is the former director of the Applied Population Lab at UW-Madison and in 1993 founded Third Wave Research Group, a company that provides insights from customers for other businesses, customer-based marketing strategies and behavior-based marketing services. He sold the company in 2010 and now heads Customer Analytics, a company with 365 employees that provides data-mining services for non-health care companies looking to expand their business.
Zak Buell plants arugula, a micro green that could help turn a better profit for Clean Fresh Food, an aquaponics farm in southwestern Dane County.
STEVE APPS STATE JOURNAL
Lettuce, micro greens sold in Madison
The lettuce and micro greens grown at Clean Fresh Foods are sold to the two Metcalfe’s Markets in Madison, restaurants at Memorial Union and the business school at UW-Madison and to the Downtown Madison restaurants Lucille and Merchant. The tilapia, prolific at fish counters and one of the most consumed foods in the world, are not part of the business plan and are periodically harvested and either composted or given away to family and friends every 12 to 18 months.
But the Knights, who have received guidance from UW-Stevens Point and Roth Fresh Farms in Boscobel, a company that uses tilapia to grow lettuce, micro greens, and edible flowers, may switch to bluegill. The beloved panfish would still provide the needed fertilizer but could be more marketable to Wisconsin restaurants known for their fish fries and customers with an appetite for the sweet-tasting fish.
Mike Knight explains his tank farm that hold hundreds of tilapia. The fish are given away to family and friends once they are mature since their is little profit in selling the fish. But Knight is considering switching to blue gill, which could be more desirable for area restuarants, grocery stores and fish markets.
STEVE APPS STATE JOURNAL
The Knights are also looking at ways to increase profits with the vegetables, which could mean focusing more on herbs and microgreens, which could bring in higher prices and generate more revenue. Each 2-foot-by-4-foot floating raft can grow about $45 worth of lettuce but about $56 worth of microgreens. They also want to grow food without government subsidies, are considering adding more troughs and would like to partner with a company to create a brand of herbs. They also want to explore dedicating some troughs to specific businesses that could customize their crops.
“I’m not sure what the exact model is, but I know it’s not just delivering lettuce to restaurants,” Mike Knight said. “At some point, we’re going to go back to more of a regional model. We’ve already done it with beer and whiskey. Just look at all the distillers and breweries. I think it’s the right trend.”