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CEA Advisors Is Pleased To Announce That Hort Americas Will Be Working With Them As The Exclusive US Distributor For Growracks™
CEA Advisors Is Pleased To Announce That Hort Americas Will Be Working With Them As The Exclusive US Distributor For Growracks™
Growracks™ are a fully customizable vertical rack system built specifically for vertical farming. Units are available with 1 to 5 growing levels and include leak proof ABS trays. Lighting and or irrigation is also available and very easy to install.
I am very pleased to be working with Chris Higgins and the dedicated and knowledgeable team at Hort Americas”, said Glenn Behrman, President of CEA Advisors. “Their comprehensive catalog of LED lighting products and horticulture supplies makes Hort Americas the perfect partner. Not only for CEA Advisors but also for the growers they serve”.
Chris Higgins commented that “Growracks are appropriate for schools as a tool to teach young people about hydroponics, sustainability, and healthy eating. They’re also perfect for small-scale production, hobby growers or vertical farming research for industry and academia”.
For more information: chiggins@hortamericas.com or gb@cea-advisors.com
Growing Your Own In 30 Below - The Chef On An Arctic Self-Sufficiency Mission
Growing Your Own In 30 Below - The Chef On An Arctic Self-Sufficiency Mission
Polar Permaculture aims to produce enough food for the town and process all its organic and biological waste. It sounds ambitious, but the firm, which received support from a government-funded body that helps startups, broke even last year, just two years in.
03-12-18
LONGYEARBYEN, Norway - In one of the planet's most northerly settlements, in a tiny Arctic town of about 2,000 people, Benjamin Vidmar's domed greenhouse stands out like an alien structure in the snow-cloaked landscape.
This is where in summer the American chef grows tomatoes, onions, chilies and other vegetables, taking advantage of the season's 24 hours of daily sunlight.
During winter's four months of darkness, when temperatures can reach -30 Celsius, Vidmar tends to microgreens - the leaves and shoots of young salad plants - and dozens of quails in two rooms beneath his home.
He is the sole supplier of locally-grown food in the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen in the Svalbard archipelago. The North Pole is about 1,050 kilometers to the north; mainland Norway is about as far south.
Growing food in such conditions can be "mission impossible" but it is necessary, said Vidmar. He hopes to set an example for other remote towns in the region.
"We are so dependent on imports. Everything is by boat and plane," said Vidmar, who comes from Cleveland, Ohio, and who has lived here for nearly a decade.
That makes the town vulnerable, he said. In 2010, stores in Longyearbyen stood empty after an Icelandic volcano erupted, bringing air transport to a halt. And the cost of imported food and its quality "is often disappointing".
His company, Polar Permaculture, aims to produce enough food for the town and process all its organic and biological waste.
It sounds ambitious, but the firm, which received support from a government-funded body that helps startups, broke even last year, just two years in.
It was helped by the fact that he and his teenage son do not draw salaries, and Vidmar still cooks full-time at a school.
'CRAZY' TO TRY
Vidmar's produce now appears on many of Longyearbyen's menus, including at Huset restaurant where intricate, multi-course Nordic tasting menus are served in stately surroundings.
Alongside reindeer steak and tartare of bearded seal is a delicate dish of quail egg with dill, red onions, and anchovies on flatbread.
"We would not use quail eggs unless they were local so we designed a dish as soon as we got the opportunity to try them," said Filip Gemzell, Huset's head chef.
Vidmar first stepped foot in Svalbard in 2007 while working as a chef on a cruise ship. One of his first thoughts was, "How can people live here?", but he was also intrigued.
"The sad part (in America) is you work so hard and you still have to worry about money. Then you come here and you have all this nature. No distraction, no huge shopping centers, no billboards saying, 'buy, buy, buy'."
A year later, he moved to the island and started working at restaurants and bars in Longyearbyen, a coal mining town turned tourist-and-research attraction.
He decided to grow his own food after becoming frustrated with the absence of fresh produce and the fact that a lack of treatment sites meant organic waste was dumped into the sea.
People thought he was "crazy" trying to grow food in the Arctic.
Initially, he experimented with hydroponics - farming in water instead of soil - but that meant using fertilizer, which comes from the mainland. Eventually the city authorities gave him permission to bring in worms from Florida to do the job.
Now, whenever he or his son deliver a tray of microgreens to restaurants, they collect the previous tray and feed the soil to the worms, which break it down to produce natural fertilizer for bigger plants.
His next aim is to heat the greenhouse during winter using a biodigester - which generates energy from organic material - so he can use it all-year-round.
SUSTAINABILITY
Vidmar also helps fourth- and ninth-grade students at Longyearbyen school to learn farming and sustainability. That has led older students to query the island's supply chain, said teacher Lisa Dymbe Djonne.
"They question the transportation of food from the mainland to here and how expensive that is," she said.
"They're going to interview some of the leaders ... to figure out how much it costs for the island and if it is possible to grow our own food," she added.
"It's a question a lot of people up here have."
Eivind Uleberg, a scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research in Tromso in northern Norway, said that fitted a pattern of rising interest in locally produced food and sustainability in agriculture.
In a phone interview, Uleberg said that, although he was unaware of Vidmar's undertaking, efforts to produce food locally in Norway were positive.
A short growing season and low temperatures are the main barriers to producing food in such latitudes, he said, but higher temperatures caused by climate change could help.
"There is definitely the potential to produce more vegetables and berries," he said.
But there are also challenges, Uleberg added, including more rain in the autumn during harvest, and changing conditions in winter that could kill grasses crucial for animal feed.
For Vidmar, such obstacles and the unique conditions are the reason he is determined to produce "the freshest food possible".
"We're on a mission ... to make this town very sustainable. Because if we can do it here, then what's everybody else's excuse?" - Thomson Reuters Foundation
Can CEA Growers Be Offered Better Lighting and Control Systems?
The Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium is bringing together industries and researchers from different sectors in an open platform to integrate advanced energy-efficient LED lighting with improved environmental controls for more efficient and sustainable greenhouse production.
Can CEA Growers Be Offered Better Lighting and Control Systems?
GLASE consortium is connecting different segments of the controlled environment agriculture industry to create new opportunities for technology development and commercialization.
Technologies underlying horticultural lighting and control systems are rapidly evolving providing academics and private companies new tools with value-added applications in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) facilities. The improved capabilities offered by new integrated lighting systems are expanding the market opportunities for lighting, sensing and control companies.
The Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium is bringing together industries and researchers from different sectors in an open platform to integrate advanced energy-efficient LED lighting with improved environmental controls for more efficient and sustainable greenhouse production.
GLASE addresses the following industries:
- Basic manufacturing: Large manufacturing companies serving a broader market beyond horticultural applications interested in serving the CEA market.
- Lighting, sensing and controls: Product and service companies providing greenhouse growers with systems and controls used for crop production and greenhouse management operations.
- CEA producers: All controlled environmental agricultural production facilities, including greenhouses, indoor farms and urban agriculture.
- Retailers: Food and ornamental crop vendors buying directly or indirectly from CEA producers.
- Auxiliary companies: A broad range of service providers, trade associations, government and private agencies, working to support the other segments of the CEA supply chain.
- Policy and regulatory: Public and private agencies developing horticultural lighting standards and regulations and energy rebate programs.
Led by Cornell University, the Center for Lighting and Applications Systems (LESA) and Rutgers University, GLASE is working with its industry members to de-risk technology development and accelerate market adoption. Identifying existing technology gaps within and across different industry sectors, GLASE members from the basic manufacturing and lighting, sensing and controls segments are exploring commercial opportunities based on similar and complementary technology.
Guided by both the needs of CEA producers and GLASE researchers’ findings new technologies will be validated through multi-phase processes from scientific proof of concepts to implementation in commercial greenhouses. The integrated areas of research ranges from the development of high-efficiency dynamic LED systems and spectrum/irradiance optimization based on plant sensing and environmental conditions to integrated lighting, shade, carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature, and humidity control systems. Click here to find the GLASE detailed research program
For more information, please visit the GLASE website at www.glase.org or contact GLASE executive director Erico Mattos at em796@cornell.edu.
FIBONACCI Will Present Vertical Farming For ICO
FIBONACCI Will Present Vertical Farming For ICO
5 February 2018
FIBONACCI, the manufacturer of vertical farms for home and professional use, will present to the ICO its project of a world and decentralized platform The Fibonacci GS (Golden Section).
City farms FIBONACCI is a revolutionary agrotechnical solution for the growing of about 100 kinds of vegetables, herbs, and berries in urban zones: they might be placed in residential apartments, offices, restaurants, and any indoor space. Combining technologies of soil-free cultivation, drip-irrigation and LED-lighting, FIBONACCI appliances ensures crops’ growth regardless of climatic conditions and seasonality, yielding 6-12 harvests of natural salads and fruits during a year.
FIBONACCI will develop its production on the basis of blockchain technologies, building a global and unified ecosystem, thereby creating the new conception of growing and consumption of fresh agro products without impacts on plants during transportation and storage.
The fundamental difference between FIBONACCI farms and similar solutions:
- The self-learning SMART-system that automatically controls all growth and nutrition indicators of crops, with the ability to retrieve data from anywhere in the world. This allows to manage farms remotely and minimize staffing and maintenance.
- The unparalleled in the world 5-channel LED lighting, thanks to which it is possible to dose light delivery with different spectra throughout the whole growing cycle.
The decision of FIBONACCI to present its project for investment based on blockchain system is commented by Alexey Baranov, founder, and CEO of the company: “Vertical farming technologies wouldn't have much in common with traditional ideas about agriculture. For us, a participation in the ICO is not only an inclusion in a more progressive investment process but also a way to declare to the world community about the advantages of an innovative approach to growing plants."
As a part of the launch of the project, FIBONACCI together with its media partners will present a series of articles on the advantages of developing vertical farming on the ICO platform.
That STEEP Learning Curve In Controlled Environment Ag (And How To Avoid It!)
That STEEP Learning Curve In Controlled Environment Ag (And How To Avoid It!)
That STEEP learning curve in Controlled Environment Ag (and how to avoid it!)
- Published on January 10, 2018
Vice President at AMHYDRO / Hydroponic and Controlled Environment Agriculture Consultant
During the past several years, interest in Controlled Environment Ag (CEA) has virtually exploded. Current growers are expanding at a rapid pace and new entrants to the field abound. From greenhouse production to indoor vertical farming (IVF), we hear an unending list of stories of "new and innovative growing systems and techniques," all promising a countless array of benefits. Unfortunately, this isn't new.
Or maybe better yet, fortunately, this isn't new.
As we delve deeper into the industry, we see certain patterns emerge: Many growing operations - particularly newer ones - struggle. The failure rate can be high. Even when these businesses survive, many of them do not thrive. The all too common seduction by technological advancements tend to blind one to the realities of a CEA business. This is farming. Period. On a daily basis, we can observe throughout social media the claims of how technologies make farming easier - more productive - or more "hands off." While this might sound appealing, it takes one farther and farther away from a simple absolute in this business: Your goal is to produce a specific quantity of crop - abiding by specific quality standards - at a price point that provides a positive economic return. That's it - and the foundation to achieve this is rooted in sound horticultural practices.
Please pay attention to these words: QUANTITY, QUALITY, AND POSITIVE ECONOMIC RETURNS. That is all a properly run, successful CEA business is supposed to provide. When you can achieve these three goals, anything else you want your business to produce: "green jobs," local food to the community, lower carbon footprint, less "food miles," etc, can be achieved. (But not without reaching the "big 3" first!) Whether you can adjust your temperature from your iPhone, stack multiple growing systems on top of one another, or watch your plants grow on your "lettuce-cam" while sipping a latte at Starbucks is completely irrelevant. Horticultural production techniques can be exacting and complex.....and the failure to adhere to those can be devastating. This is all too common, especially as we become more reliant on certain technologies. All too often, we see systems and technologies that are touted as "solutions" to certain problems (real or otherwise), yet violate the very basics of proper growing parameters.
That said, there ARE tremendous tools that technology has provided to the grower. These tools come in the form of better growing systems, nutritional and environmental controls, and data collection. These hardware and software tools have given the grower unprecedented levels of control over the growing process, as well as understanding and management of countless points of information. This can help the grower produce better crops, lower costs, streamline their business practices, and manage regulatory issues such as labor management and food safety.
But, a tool is a tool. A skilled farmer can take a tractor and use it properly it to produce better crops with less inputs, while an inexperienced operator might crash through the barn, killing the livestock. Which grower do you want to be? (hopefully you don't want to be the farmer who eventually gains knowledge and experience by repeatedly killing the cows, running over the landscaping plantings and crashing through the fence!)
The successful management of the complex biological systems we see in CEA requires a significant level of experience. The acquisition of such experience can be very time consuming and mistakes can be very costly. So how does one leapfrog this steep CEA learning curve? (and it IS steep!) Failure can be a tremendous teacher........but a painful one as well. Do you have the time, money, and energy to go through this process alone? You don't have to! AmHydro has been directly involved in commercial hydroponic production for over 33 years.
The AmHydro Advantage program is a consulting program open to anyone, and is supported by a full staff of commercial growers. We offer a full line of consulting services from:
- Custom growing system design and manufacture
- Biological-pest control programs
- Crop production guidance - including best practices, varietal selection, and crop scheduling.
- Professional grower training-we train and source growers for leading hydroponic farms and offer custom training programs for managers/general workforce. We also host quarterly 2-day training seminars at various locations.
- Full scale project management and implementation. From start to finish, AmHydro can manage the design, construction, build-out, and operation of your project.
- Consulting for any type of growing system: NFT, raft, aeroponic, slab, gutter, container, etc from any manufacturer.
AmHydro is one of the few companies in the industry who are actual commercial growers themselves. We have seen nearly every growing issues that any grower will ever face. This experience has helped us to develop successful growing operations in 65 countries around the world. Over 200 commercial farms in the US alone utilize AmHydro systems and expertise. This experience is what has paved the way to over 2 million square feet of production space, producing between 16 million and 20 million pounds of fresh, sustainable food each and every year. We also proudly partner with the most experienced and successful companies in the industry, bringing you the best greenhouse, lighting, environmental control, and construction options available. We have all your bases covered.
Let's face it, experience matters, and you don't have to wait to acquire it yourself. You don't even need to use an AmHydro growing system (although it certainly helps!) All you need is a desire to improve your production and build your company to it's fullest potential. The AmHydro Advantage program is a step in the right direction. Based on your needs, we can work with you to develop a custom plan to improve your crops, fix production problems, train your workforce, build, or expand your business. Site visits, online, phone, or Skype consulting is available. Give us a call or send us an email. You'll be glad that you did. Please visit our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages to see photos of our countless successful growers across the globe. We hope that YOU will be next!
info@AmHydro.com
1-800-458-6543