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Robert Colangelo of Green Sense Farms, Innovating Agriculture in Northwest Indiana
Robert Colangelo of Green Sense Farms, Innovating Agriculture in Northwest Indiana
WRITTEN BY:Peter Krivas | January 10, 2018
Green Sense Farms is a regional farming business that is innovating the way we think of farming in Northwest Indiana and beyond. Started in Portage, Indiana, they made their first shipment to Whole Foods Midwest distribution center in March of 2014, at a time when it was -20 degrees outside. As you can imagine, this allows them to fill quite a profitable and eco-friendly niche in the agriculture market, as they are able to supply local grocery stores with fresh produce year-round.
Robert Colangelo, Founding Farmer, and CEO of Green Sense Farms is no stranger to the environmental world or agriculture, having worked previously for Argonne National Laboratory where he tested the effects of acid rain on different crops and a variety of other environmental businesses. Prior to vertical farming, Colangelo also was also involved in brownfield redevelopment, which takes contaminated properties and cleans them up, making the surrounding land more economically viable.
"I consider myself an environmental entrepreneur. [Vertical farming] is a new trend and everyone is talking about eating locally sourced foods that are pesticide free and I thought this was a great field to get into. I did the research and saw that the tech was robust and scalable and went about building our first farm in Portage, Indiana," said Colangelo.
The leafy greens they grow are harvested from stacking vertical towers that allow them to maximize their indoor space and take advantage of a greater yield. Green Sense has quite a high-tech facility, using automated computer controls to provide the plants with precise levels of lighting, nutrients, water, temperature, and humidity to ensure the plants grow to their maximum potential.
As to why Portage was chosen for their first location, its central positioning and welcoming community were the top reasons.
"When we first started, Whole Foods has their Midwest Distribution Center in Munster and we knew we wanted to be close to the customer. Our model is to stay around 20 minutes away from the customer, whether that is a distribution center, hospital, college campus or military base," said Colangelo.
Colangelo is originally from the Chicago suburbs but is happy to be living and operating out of Northwest Indiana.
"I'm happy to be a transplant and a Hoosier. I moved here when we first started our farm in Portage and found the business climate and community has been very welcoming. We're in expansion mode and we're doing a capital campaign to raise funds to build out our farm network and we've had tremendous amount of interest and support from the community and are very happy to be here at the crossroads of the country where 80% of the country is in a 24 hour drive," Colangelo explained.
Not only innovative, Green Sense Farms is also dedicated to being eco-friendly and is always working on new ways to increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize waste. Being so close to the businesses they serve reduces their ecological footprint by lessening the travel distance of their distribution, which also ensures a fresher product for the consumer. Green Sense designs, builds, and operates their farms in the USA and licenses their technology to third parties outside of the country. Building this network of locations around the country ensures that many communities around the nation have access to locally grown leafy greens.
"Our mantra is, 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,' and our vision is zero net energy use, to be less reliant on the grid, and have zero waste. We already recycle 99% of our nutrient water, and are hoping to bring that to zero waste," said Colangelo.
Some of the crops they produce include lettuces, herbs, micro greens, and baby greens with a variety of produce in each category. Though they are headquartered in Portage, they also have a facility in far-flung Shenzen, China and are constructing another in South Bend, Indiana with at least eight proposed locations in the US and Europe. Green Sense also presells their harvest before building a new facility to ensure a viable market, which is the case in their South Bend farm and their upcoming project in Las Vegas, Nevada where a local casino has already purchased the local harvest to come. The facility in South Bend is even partnering with Indiana University South Bend to create a course, The Art of Sustainability, which will educate students more on the process of farming and about the environmental impacts that go along for the ride and how to reduce those. The work they do will also be transformed into a mural that will be featured at the farms.
Green Sense Farms also has a nationally syndicated show called the Green Sense Radio Show which is recorded live from their farm and features entrepreneurs, innovators, and academics which is heard by millions across the country on radio and in podcast format.
As with any emerging businesses, there have been challenges along the way, but Colangelo has an adaptable outlook that has helped him succeed.
"This industry is a 'fast to fail, quick to pivot,' one so you have to recognize quickly when something doesn't work. I see farming stratifying in the upcoming years. If you look at cars, 25 years ago almost all cars ran on gas, now we have pure electric and hybrids. One hundred years ago, all farming was in a field, then we had greenhouses, and now I see vertical farms as a way of further stratifying that market," explained Colangelo.
To learn more you can visit Green Sense Farms Here
Valoya Launches a Line of LED Grow Lights for Greenhouses
Valoya Launches a Line of LED Grow Lights for Greenhouses
The BL-Series are sturdy yet lightweight LED bars optimized for greenhouse cultivation of a wide variety of plants. This new series combines the features of Valoya’s recently launched BX-Series, with the chainability feature. Up to 16 luminaires can be daisy chained together with a single mains input making the installation simpler and removing excessive cables. Additionally, the LED driver is built inside the luminaire further simplifying the handling of the luminaire.
With the light intensity of up to 2,1 µmol/W and a true wide spectrum, these luminaires can provide sufficient light for any plant cultivated in a greenhouse setting. The luminaire is robust and will not be affected by dust or by getting water sprayed on it in powerful jets (Ingress Protection rating – IP66; Impact rating – IK03).
The fixture is slim, compact and easy to handle. The BL120 model is 120 cm (4’) long and weighs only 3,2 kg (7.1 lb). A lightweight aluminum casing along with temperature and humidity stabilizing end-caps bring improvements in thermal dissipation, protecting the LED chips from heat caused decay resulting in a longer lifespan of the product (100% efficiency the first 35000 hours after which it drops only 10% for the next 15000 hours and continues operating further on).
The BL-Series is manufactured in Finland. Like all other Valoya’s products it has been designed with GMP compliant production facilities in mind.
All Valoya’s standard spectra can be fitted in the BL-Series as per customers’ requirements. The products are immediately available to order through any of Valoya’s resellers.
To learn more about the BL-Series, please download the brochure.
About Valoya Oy
Valoya is a provider of high end, energy efficient LED grow lights for use in crop science, vertical farming, and medicinal plants cultivation. Valoya LED grow lights have been developed using Valoya's proprietary LED technology and extensive plant photobiology research. Valoya's customer base includes numerous vertical farms, greenhouses and research institutions all over the world (including 8 out of 10 world’s largest agricultural companies).
Additional information:
Valoya Oy, Finland
Tel: +358 10 2350300
Email: sales@valoya.com
Web: www.valoya.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valoyafi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/valoya
Urban Farming Is The Future Of Agriculture
Urban Organics opened a new facility this past summer. It’s much larger than the organization’s other locations, and could provide more than 124,700 kilograms (about 275,000 pounds) of fresh fish and nearly 215,500 kilograms (more than 475,000 pounds) of produce to the nearby area each year.
January 16, 2018
Surplus and Scarcity
The planet is growing more food than ever, and yet millions of people continue to starve worldwide. People are hungry everywhere — in the country, in the suburbs. But increasingly, one of the front lines in the war against hunger is in cities. Asurban populations grow, more people find themselves in food deserts, areas with “[l]imited access to supermarkets, supercenters, grocery stores, or other sources of healthy and affordable food,” according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
New technologies are changing the equation, allowing people to grow food in places where it was previously difficult or impossible, and in quantities akin to traditional farms.
Farming at New Heights
Urban farms can be as simple as traditional small outdoor community gardens, or as complex as indoor vertical farms in which farmers think about growing space in three-dimensional terms. These complex, futuristic farms can be configured in a number of ways, but most of them contain rows of racks lined with plants rooted in soil, nutrient-enriched water, or simply air. Each tier is equipped with UV lighting to mimic the effects of the sun. Unlike the unpredictable weather of outdoor farming, growing indoors allows farmers to tailor conditions to maximize growth.
With the proper technology, farming can go anywhere. That’s what the new trend of urban farming shows — these farms go beyond simple community vegetable gardens to provide food to consumers in surrounding areas. All vertical farmers need is some space and access to electricity, no special facilities required. Farmers can buy everything they need to start and maintain their farms online as easily as shopping on Amazon.
In fact, because it’s so easy to access starting materials, officials don’t really know how many urban farms are running in the United States. A 2013 survey by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) received 315 responses from people operating facilities they describe as urban or suburban farms. However, federal grants for agriculture development show thousands of city-dwelling recipients, indicating that the number of urban farms is likely much higher.
“You have to look at these facilities in cubic feet as opposed to square feet. We can really put out a lot of produce from a facility like this,” Dave Haider, the president of Urban Organics, a company that operates urban farms based in St. Paul, Minnesota, told Futurism. Technology allows vertical farmers to control the environment in their farms, enabling them grow a lot more in the same amount of space, according to a 2014 study in the Journal of Agricultural Studies.
Image Credit: Urban Organics
Urban farms can grow more than just fruits and vegetables. Urban Organics grows three varieties of kale, two varieties of Swiss chard, Italian parsley, and cilantro, but uses the same water to raise Arctic char and Atlantic salmon — a closed-loop system often called aquaponics. Fish waste fertilizes the plants, which clean and filter the water before it goes back into the planters; excess drips into the fishtanks.
Urban Organics opened its first farm inside a former brewery complex in 2014. In the years since, it’s brought food where it’s needed most: to people in the food deserts of the Twin Cities. In 2014, The Guardian named the company one of the ten most innovative urban farming projects in the world.
“Trying to put a dent in the industry when it comes to food deserts is really one of the driving factors behind our first farm, which was actually located in a food desert,” Haider said. Urban Organics sells its produce to local retailers and provides locally-sourced fish to nearby restaurants. “That was sort of a sort of our approach — let’s try to grow produce and raise high-quality protein in an area that needs it most.” As more people move to cities, problems like food scarcity might get even worse.
The vertical farm is also environmentally-friendly. Aquaponics systems result in very little waste. Vertical farming allows growers to use their finite area more efficiently, so we collectively can better utilize established space instead of creating more arable land, leaving more ecosystems intact. Placing the farms close to vendors and consumers means that fresher produce can reach tables with less reliance on trucks, which contribute to pollution and global warming.
What’s the Harm in an Urban Farm?
As people all over the world move to cities, urban centers sprawl to accommodate them. Often, that means taking over former farmland to support more people. In New Jersey, cities like Camden and Trenton are becoming more populous as they convert into urban spaces.
Vertical farming can limit that sprawl. “Vertical farms can actually come into these areas to recolonize the city and to take spaces that have been removed from producing anything,” Paul P.G. Gauthier, a vertical farming expert at the Princeton Environmental Institute, told Futurism.
But setting up an urban farm is often not an easy task. Finding enough space for an affordable price can present a significant obstacle for potential farmers. Vertical farmers also need to know how to operate more technology, including systems that control elements such as soil contaminants and water availability, that nature takes care of on a traditional farm.
Image Credit: Getty Images
Now, companies are popping up to help urban farmers get their facilities up and running. One Brooklyn-based company, Agritecture Consulting, helps people and organizations that want to start their own vertical farms to conduct market research and economic analyses, and to design and engineer the farm plans. The company has successfully completed more than a dozen projects to date, creating farms around the world, including some in the cramped confines of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The benefits of urban farming practices extend beyond the tangible aspects of growing food in underserved areas — there’s also a fortunate side effect of cultivating community. That’s a big draw for organizations, including Urban Organics and Agritecture Consultants.
Growing Communities
Urban Organics opened a new facility this past summer. It’s much larger than the organization’s other locations, and could provide more than 124,700 kilograms (about 275,000 pounds) of fresh fish and nearly 215,500 kilograms (more than 475,000 pounds) of produce to the nearby area each year.
The former brewing complex in which the new farm is located is undergoing a revitalization, adding artists’ condos and even a food hall, according to a press release emailed to Futurism. Haider is excited about the potential of the new facility and the impact it will have on the developing neighborhood. “Not only are we creating some good-paying, quality jobs with some medical benefits, but these are jobs that just didn’t exist in the area prior to Urban Organics. And these are the things that excite us,” he said.
This winning formula of bringing food and jobs to these areas can help build underserved communities. “Once that’s done, we get to go out to identify the next markets and then do it all over again,” Haider said.
Empowering individuals to get into urban farming can build community, too. Henry Gordon-Smith, the co-founder and managing director of Agritecture, has a side project called Plus.farm, a do-it-yourself resource website for individuals and small groups looking to start urban farms of their own. It’s his passion project, his “labor of love,” he told Futurism. “This is my way of not-so-subtly democratizing some of the best practices. It’s a great way for people to create their own approaches, which is what I really want to see.” The site allows farmers to come up with their own hacks — better lights, better sensors, better growing techniques — and share them on the site’s forum. That’s how an ancient practice like farming continues to improve with modern tools.
Farms of the Future
As people continue to study and tweak urban farming practices, we will continue to learn more about how they can benefit the areas surrounding them and the greater global community. Data on how urban farms directly affect their local communities may compel lawmakers to support and invest more in urban farms.
Gordon-Smith has planned another side project to this effect: an entire building or neighborhood to test urban farming technologies while gathering data. Though the location has not yet been decided, Gordon-Smith has already received a $2 million commitment from Brooklyn borough president Eric L. Adams; he has also taken his proposal to the New York City Council. The proposal is waiting for consideration from the Committee on Land Use, and there is no indication of when it will be decided.
Vertical farming, and urban agriculture in general, could be a significant boon for areas with the resources to invest, feeding residents and bolstering the local economy. Still, it’s important to know that urban agriculture is not a singular solution to solve a massive problem like helping people access enough nutritious food. Gauthier, the Princeton urban farming expert, points out that there are a lot of important crops that simply cannot be grown indoors, at least not yet. “We’ll probably never grow soybeans, wheat, or maize indoors,” he said. “Vertical farming is not the solution for solving hunger across the world. It’s not the solution, but it is certainly part of the solution.”
Other efforts to combat world hunger grant people in poor nations more economic freedom by giving them lines of credit, or instituting basic income policies, like those being tested in Kenya. Education, social change, and female empowerment are all social initiatives that can help more people access the food they need to sustain themselves and their families.
Urban farms have the potential to change the world’s agricultural landscape. Granted, we’re probably not going to see a planet of supercities in which all farming is done in high-rise buildings. But urban farms can bring greater yields in smaller areas, increase access to healthy options in urban food deserts, and mitigate the environmental impact of feeding the world. That seems like enough of a reason to continue to develop and expand these transformative farming practices.
New Houses Built, Urban Farms Expanding As Bailey Green Project Pushes Ahead
Habitat for Humanity Buffalo has built five houses on Wende Street as part of the Bailey Green project. (Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News)
New Houses Built, Urban Farms Expanding As Bailey Green Project Pushes Ahead
By Mark Sommer | Published 7:06 a.m. January 15, 2018
The Bailey Green project on the East Side was started by a major business, guided by an internationally acclaimed plan and has had the involvement of the University at Buffalo, community organizations, businesses, entrepreneurs and politicians.
The idea was to create affordable housing, green space and recreation, healthy food and job opportunities in an economically impoverished and long-neglected area, where the spaces between homes are often pockmarked with open space from previous demolitions.
Despite some setbacks, the plan to impact a seven-block, 33-acre area, located between Bailey Avenue and Leslie Street, and Genesee and Scajaquada streets, is pushing ahead.
"I think we have good forward motion," said John Somers, owner of Harmac Medical Products, a maker of single-use medical devices at 2201 Bailey Ave., which is spearheading the public-private effort.
"But the project is not always on a straight line," Somers said. "Some of the partners have dropped out, and some have moved faster than others. That's the nature of the process."
Here's what's happening:
- Habitat for Humanity Buffalo has built five ranch-style homes on Wende Street, has two more nearing completion and will start six more houses on Kilhofer Street in April. The nonprofit expects to build or rehab additional houses in the neighborhood in 2019.
- Groundwork Market Garden is growing organic produce on Genesee Street and has purchased a 40,000-square-foot building next door to its 2.5 acres of farmland. The building will be initially for packing, cold storage and youth education.
- Urban Fruits & Veggies plans to break ground in April for the first of two hydroponic greenhouses at Zenner and East Ferry streets. More funds will need to be raised for a second greenhouse, community garden, fruit orchard and wellness center that includes yoga instruction and a small medical practice.
- A carpentry training center by artist and architect Dennis Maher, working with Albright-Knox Art Gallery's Innovation Lab, is expected to begin rehabbing a building in 2018 that was removed from the city's demolition list, with help from Harmac and a grant from Lovejoy Council Member Richard Fontana.
Two key projects from the original plan are no longer involved.
Heart of the City Neighborhoods Inc. planned to build eight four-unit affordable apartments on four streets, but could not obtain funding.
And Algonquin Sports for Kids backed out of plans to build two mini-pitches for soccer over concerns about cost, maintenance and liability.
"If things like this were easy, it would have been done as soon as we talked about them," said Allison DeHonney, owner of Urban Fruits and Veggies. "You need to have partners who will be able to overcome the challenges. This is a big project in a severely neglected neighborhood."
Civic-minded business
Harmac has been the catalyst for Bailey Green. The company has been located on Bailey, near East Ferry Street, for 37 years.
The company has maintained a nearby, once-derelict stretch of Bailey from Genesee to Scajaquada for eight years. The company bought 20 blighted parcels, demolished broken-down houses, converted more than 4 acres to green space and planted 150 trees. Harmac still pays for the trash pickup.
Harmac owns some of the land being used for Bailey Green. It is working with the city's Division of Real Estate to obtain other parcels for redevelopment.
"It's a great public-private partnership," said Brendan Mehaffy, who directs the city's Office of Strategic Planning.
The company had an economic incentive to clean up the surrounding area, since it wanted its surroundings to look more appealing to out-of-town job applicants. At one time, Somers said Harmac considered moving out of the city past Clarence. But when Harmac realized 25 percent of its employees lived within its ZIP code, the company decided to rejuvenate the area instead.
Somers said Howard Zemsky, the Buffalo developer and state development head, suggested the creation of a 10-year plan to guide the neighborhood's revitalization. The company reached out to the University at Buffalo Research Institute, which, under the direction of Hiroaki Hata, an associate professor of urban design, became involved in fall 2014.
Three architecture and urban planning student teams helped create the first phase of a Bailey Green master plan that went on to earn second place in the 2016 International Making Cities Livable Design Competition.
Hata and urban planner Ji Dai remain involved with the project.
Harmac has helped its partners with startup funding and other kinds of assistance, Somers said. The company also has facilitated minor home repairs working with the Urban League of Buffalo. Prime Time Energy offered reduced-cost weatherization to homeowners, and Doyle Alarm Systems, based in Rochester, donated alarm systems last year and in 2018 for the Habitat homes.
Buffalo Peacekeepers and Stop the Violence Coalition also are involved.
"I think it’s about safety and stability, and rejuvenating the community," Somers said. "It’s a grassroots effort and building relationships one person and one partnership at a time. It's probably taking longer than people expected, but I think we are making a positive impact."
John Somers, owner of Harmac Medical Products, walks down Wende Street near the company's Bailey Avenue plant in this file photo from Feb. 29, 2016. (Derek Gee/Buffalo News)
This year saw the third annual Bailey Green Day, with several dozen community members attending.
"We were a stop on the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo's bus tour of the city," Summers said, proud of the recognition.
The company's involvement outside the building is in league with what it does inside.
Educational programs, a scholarship, a fresh produce market in the summer and onsite mammogram testing are some of the extras Harmac makes available to its employees.
Urban Fruits & Veggies' DeHonney said Somers has been a big help and source of encouragement to her.
"I can't say enough about John," she said. "He is just so supportive, and he really wants this to come to fruition."
Urban Fruits & Veggies plans to begin work this spring on its first of two hydroponic greenhouses with Harmac's support and the support of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and First Niagara Foundation.
At Bailey Green, an oasis emerges in neighborhood around Harmac Medical Products
By Mark Sommer:Owners of second-generation manufacturer Harmac Medical Products, which has stayed in the city and employs local residents, have decided to invest in their neighborhood as well...
Housing variety questioned
Not everyone is happy with the direction Bailey Green is taking.
Stephanie Simeon, executive director of Heart of the City Neighborhoods, a nonprofit that builds affordable housing, believes the project is too focused on owner-occupancy rather than including multifamily housing.
Her plans for eight four-unit apartments on four streets had to be abandoned after the group couldn't obtain the necessary funding.
"The way we were going to do sustainable development was unheard of," Simeon said. "We were going to address the issues of food access, recreation and affordable housing in three different ways."
Simeon said homeowners in the immediate area were going to be helped with small repair grants. Those wanting to own their own homes would be aided by Habitat. Renters would have places to move into as well.
"It's great Habitat has built its homes, but not everybody can afford to own their own home," and diversity of housing stock adds to a neighborhood's stability, she said.
Momentum for the project, and community engagement, waned after Heidi Rosmer, the company's community advancement liaison, left in 2017, Simeon said.
"She was the linchpin. We had the direction, we had the map, but we lost the conductor who helped us navigate the plan," Simeon said. "This is now a shell of a plan, and the only one standing – and they’re standing with shaky legs – is Habitat."
Somers said he's still hoping that apartments will be part of the Bailey Green mix. He also said there have been and will continue to be efforts to involve neighbors.
This is one of the houses that Habitat for Humanity Buffalo has built on Wende Street as part of the Bailey Green project. (Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News)
Habitat expands role
Normally, Habitat for Humanity builds one new house for every three homes it works on. At Bailey Green, it's been all new builds.
Habitat has nearly completed seven houses with six more on the way. The potential is there to build 15 more, said Teresa Bianchi, the group's executive director.
Doing clusters of housing at a time, she said, helps create a closeness even before people have moved in. That's because each family is required to put in 500 hours of sweat equity. The first 250 hours are used to help others to build their home, and the second 250 is used to build theirs.
"If you're building together on one street, you're building community before you ever move into your house," Bianchi said. "That helps solidify the neighborhood."
A Harmac employee was able to become a homeowner through Habitat. Two people were hired by the medical devices manufacturer after moving into their new homes.
"Everyone thinks Habitat is about building houses, but we're really here to build communities," Bianchi said.
"That's what Bailey Green is. We'll stay committed to Bailey Green as long as there are houses for us to work on."
Explore urban farms like 5 Loaves, Groundwork Market
A farm in the city
Groundwork Market Garden wasn't initially part of Bailey Green when Mayda Pozantides and Anders Gunnersen began preparing their plot of land for organic vegetable production in 2016.
But their work in producing affordable and nutritious food – including more than 300 pounds of tomatoes weekly in a hoop house – within Bailey Green's boundaries ties in perfectly with the project's mission.
Groundwork Market also grows arugula, spinach, lettuce, kale, eggplant, squash, zucchini, turnips and radishes. The produce is sold to 10 restaurants, farmers markets and to 20 families through a small CSA program.
The small farm also is used as a teaching site, with children tending to a dozen raised gardens through a national organization for children.
"When I go to the quarterly Bailey Green meetings, I feel energized about the neighborhood and the initiative and the future of this area," Pozantides said. "There are more people getting involved at every meeting, and you can see the energy."
What The 2018 Farm Bill Means For Urban, Suburban And Rural America
Soybean crop on a family farm near Humboldt, Iowa, 2017. USDA/Preston Keres
What The 2018 Farm Bill Means For Urban, Suburban And Rural America
January 16, 2018
Author
Special Advisor, Colorado State University
Disclosure statement
Tom Vilsack served as Governor of Iowa from 1999-2007 and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2009-2017. He is president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC); a Strategic Advisor of Food & Water Initiatives at the National Western Center as part of the Colorado State University System team; and Global Chair for the International Board of Counselors on Food & Water Initiatives. He serves on the board of Feeding America, GenYouth and Working American Education Fund and the World Food Prize Foundation Board of Advisors.
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Colorado State University provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.
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Since the turn of the year, Congress and the Trump administration have been haggling over legislative priorities for 2018. Many issues are on the agenda, from health care to infrastructure, but there has been little mention of a key priority: The 2018 farm bill.
This comprehensive food and agriculture legislation is typically enacted every four or five years. When I became U.S. secretary of agriculture in January 2009, I learned quickly that the bill covers much more than farms and farmers. In fact, every farm bill also affects conservation, trade, nutrition, jobs and infrastructure, agricultural research, forestry and energy.
Drafting the farm bill challenges Congress to meet broad needs with limited resources. The new farm bill will be especially constrained by passage of the GOP tax plan, which sharply reduces taxes on the wealthy and large companies, and by concerns about the size of the federal budget deficit. Farm bill proponents will have to work even harder now than in the past to underscore the magnitude and impact of this legislation, and the ways in which it affects everyone living in the United States.
Nutrition programs, mainly SNAP, account for more than three-quarters of spending under the most recent farm bill.
Helping farmers compete
Of course, the farm bill helps farmers, ranchers, and producers. It provides credit for beginning farmers to get started. It protects against farm losses due to natural disasters through disaster assistance and crop insurance. It provides a cushion for the individual farmer if he or she suffers a poor yield or low prices, through a series of farm payment programs tied to specific commodities.
Agricultural trade is critically important to the bottom line for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and producers. More than 20 percent of all U.S. agricultural production is exported. Agricultural exports are projected to account for one-third of farm income in 2017.
The farm bill authorizes market access promotion and export credit guarantee programs that are key for promoting exports and generating farm income from exports. These programs provide resources to exporting businesses to aggressively market American agricultural products overseas and to enable exporters to price our products more competitively on the world market.
Then-Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks with Provincial Agriculture Deputy Julio Martinez during a visit to a local farmers market in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 13, 2015. USDA/Lydia Barraza.
Making healthy food available and affordable
All of these provide a stable and secure supply of food for the nation. Along with efficient supply chains, they also allow us to enjoy relatively inexpensive food. On average, Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food.
The farm bill is also a nutrition bill. It funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP), our country’s major program that helps low-income individuals and families afford a healthy diet. In 2016 SNAP served more than 44 million Americans.
Two issues are likely to arise during the farm bill discussion. First, there will be an effort to impose work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. Today, those individuals are required to be in school or working a minimum of 20 hours a week, or their benefits are limited to three months every 36 months.
Second, there will be efforts to limit what people can buy with SNAP benefits – for example, barring their use to purchase soda or other foods that are considered unhealthy. Implementing such restrictions might prove more difficult and costly than policymakers may expect.
Other nutrition provisions in the bill help senior citizens buy goods at farmers’ markets andmake fresh fruits and vegetables more readily available to millions of school children. It is easy to see why farm and nutrition advocates historically have worked together to support passage of the farm bill in an alliance that joins rural and urban interests.
Food insecurity means that access to adequate food for active, healthy living is limited by lack of money and other resources. Very low food security occurs when food intake for one or more household members is reduced and normal eating patterns are disrupted.
Boosting rural economic development
Only 15 percent of America’s population lives in rural areas, but as the bumper sticker reminds us, “No farms, no food.” The farm bill helps make it possible for people who want to farm to stay on the land by funding supporting jobs that provide a second income. It also provides resources to improve the quality of life in rural places.
Since 2009, programs authorized through the farm bill have helped over 1.2 million families obtain home loans; provided six million rural residents with access to improved broadband service; enabled 791,000 workers to find jobs; and improved drinking water systems that serve 19.5 million Americans.
The farm bill also supports our national system of land grant universities, which was proposed by President Lincoln and created by Congress in 1862. Lincoln envisioned a system of colleges and universities that would expand the knowledge base of rural America by improving agricultural productivity.
Through the farm bill, Congress provides grants for research at land grant universities in fields ranging from animal health to organic crop production and biotechnology. Lincoln would be pleased to know that these programs mirror his vision of increasing agricultural productivity through targeted research shared with farmers and ranchers.
Protecting natural resources and producing energy
Farmers, with the assistance of the farm bill, can improve soil quality and preserve habitat for wildlife. The farm bill funds voluntary conservation programs that currently are helping more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers conserve soil and improve air and water quality – actions that benefit all Americans.
For example, the Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to take environmentally sensitive land out of agricultural production and conserve it for other purposes, such as wetland habitat for birds. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program pay farmers to adopt conservation practices, such as conservation tilling and fencing livestock out of streams.
Producing renewable energy is an important tool for expanding economic opportunity in rural areas. USDA’s Renewable Energy for America Program authorizes investments in small- and large-scale projects including wind, solar, renewable biomass and anaerobic digesters, which farmers can use to produce biogas energy by breaking down manure and other organic wastes. Since 2009 the Renewable Energy for America Program has helped finance over 12,000 renewable energy projects.
Investing in food and farmers
In discussion of any legislation that affects so many different constituencies, a key challenge is to recognize that multiple interests are at stake and try to avoid pitting groups against one another unnecessarily. If differences become too divisive, the risk of not passing a farm bill grows.
Many programs in the farm bill are authorized only for specific periods of time. This means the ultimate consequence of not getting a bill passed could be that some policies would revert back to outdated “permanent” (nonexpiring) laws enacted more than 50 years ago. This would cause major disruptions to the nation’s food system and skyrocketing food costs.
Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the farm bill’s importance because they think it impacts only farmers. Over the next few months, debate and discussion about the farm bill will grow, and hopefully will lead to broader understanding of the bill’s importance. I hope this awareness will encourage Congress and the president to provide the level of investment that is needed to maximize the positive impacts that the farm bill can have for all Americans.
Sweden’s World Food Building Aims To Improve Food Security
Although Sweden’s has ample food relative to other countries, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna argues that the country still needs a strategy for food security.
Sweden’s World Food Building Aims To Improve Food Security
JANUARY 16, 2018
In Linköping, Sweden, Plantagon has designed the World Food Building, which will be equally shared between office spaces and an urban greenhouse.
CC: Plantagon
Although Sweden’s has ample food relative to other countries, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Executive Director Johan Kuylenstierna argues that the country still needs a strategy for food security. As a solution, the Swedish architecture firm, Plantagon, has proposed a design plan for a building called “World Food Building,” half of which will house a number of offices spanning 17 floors, while the rest will become an urban greenhouse.
The world’s population is slated to increase to nine billion by 2050. Even before that, with enough food produce to serve everyone, more than 800 million people have poor access to food – mainly in Africa and South Asia.
Work spaces in the World Food Building. CC: Plantagon
The World Food Building is being built in Linköping, a city in southern Sweden, which is home to 153,000 inhabitants. It’s the fifth largest city in Sweden and part of the expansive East Sweden Business Region. The World Food Building will stand 60 meters (196.8 feet) high and will grow food produce using hydroponic farming, a popular method that uses mineral nutrient solutions to feed the plants in water, without soil.
“Our goal is to produce the most food on the smallest footprint using the least amount of water and other resources and yet still maintain premium quality,” Plantagon states. “We minimize the use of transportation, land, energy, and water – using waste products in the process but leaving no waste behind.”
Designed to be entirely circular, the World Food Building will get its heat and fuel from a nearby waste incineration and bio-gas plant. The urban greenhouse will receive and use excess heat from the nearby power plant. The waste produced by the urban greenhouse will in turn be sent to the biogas plant for composting. The architecture firm uses symbiotic solutions to develop large industrial food-production systems. “These systems turn excess heat, biomass and even carbon dioxide emissions into assets for local food production,” Plantagon explains.
A vertical urban farm project in China was initiated in May of last year by Yang Qichang, Director of The Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture at The Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Services (CAAS), as a solution to his country’s food crisis. Mr. Yang believes that by using vertical urban farms, farmers can do away with the need for pesticides and use less chemical fertilizers, producing safer food.
Backed by a $8 million government grant, Yang runs a “plant factory” on the roof of the CAAS. The “plant factory” comprises rows of crops that stand 10 feet (3 meters) in height, growing tomatoes, lettuce, celery, and bok choy, among others. The researcher is yet to identify which parts of the visible-light spectrum are optimal for photosynthesis and plant growth while using as little energy as possible.
Urban Farms 'Critical' To Combat Hunger and Adapt To Climate Change
They may look small scale, but rooftop farms, vertical gardens, and allotments could prove crucial in fighting hunger in urban areas, researchers said Wednesday.
Urban Farms 'Critical' To Combat Hunger and Adapt To Climate Change
By Reuters | 11 January 2018
By Thin Lei Win
ROME, Jan 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - They may look small scale, but rooftop farms, vertical gardens and allotments could prove crucial in fighting hunger in urban areas, researchers said Wednesday.
Urban farms also increase vegetation cover - a key way to limit rising temperatures.
They reduce the "urban heat island effect", where cities are often several degrees warmer than nearby rural areas due to heat trapped by dark-coloured roads and buildings, researchers said.
Urban farms can lower the risk of flooding during heavy downpours and help to reain water in dry areas, according to a paper published in the journal Earth's Future.
In developing regions, "urban agriculture may be critical to survival or a necessary adaptation to changing climate", said the team of researchers, led by the Arizona State University and Google.
Urban farms could supply almost the entire recommended consumption of vegetables for city dwellers while cutting food waste and reducing emissions from the transportation of agricultural products.
The researchers analyzed multiple datasets in Google Earth Engine, an internet platform for processing geographical data, to derive global scale estimates.
Urban agriculture has the potential to save energy equivalent to the use of air conditioners in nearly 9 million United States households, and to produce up to 180 million tonnes of food, they found.
While this represents only about 10 percent of the global production of pulses, roots and vegetables, it provides "a partial solution", said Matei Georgescu, associate professor at Arizona State University and co-author of the paper.
The U.S., China, Brazil, India, Russia, Germany and Japan have the most potential benefit from urban farming. With more than 2 million hectares, the U.S. has more urban area available than any other country.
Georgescu said he hopes urban planners in Africa and Asia will see the potential of urban agriculture too.
According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world's population may live in cities by 2050, with new urban areas concentrated in Asia and Africa.
Georgescu also encouraged people to calculate this potential for their local areas themselves using the method provided in the paper.
"One simply has to include their own locally produced data, which might be better than the global data we had to use, and produce their own estimates," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
Urban farms have become popular in recent years as governments and residents look to promote healthy eating, tackle environmental challenges and transform industrial cities.
Pittsburgh is establishing the largest urban farm in the U.S., post office workers in Paris are growing vegetables and breeding chickens on a rooftop, while a warehouse in London is farming fish and greens. (Reporting By Thin Lei Win, Editing by Jared Ferrie; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-5257995/Urban-farms-critical-combat-hunger-adapt-climate-change.html#ixzz53tlbfemR
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U.S. Indoor Farming Startup Plenty Eyes Rollout In China, Japan
January 17, 2018 By Reuters
Shutterstock photo
By Dominique Patton
BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Ambitious U.S. indoor farming startup Plenty Inc is actively seeking urban sites for new farms in Chinese cities as part of a global drive to set up high-tech facilities growing organic vegetables in warehouses under banks of LED lights.
Matt Barnard, Chief Executive of the San Francisco-based firm which counts Amazon Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and Japanese tech player SoftBank Corp among its backers, told Reuters on Wednesday that China could potentially host at least 300 of Plenty's farms.
He didn't disclose financial or investment targets for the expansion of a firm which currently operates just one farm, in San Francisco, with another due to open in Seattle in first-half 2018. In July 2017 SoftBank's giant Vision Fund led investors in Plenty in a $200 million funding round.
"We see a massive opportunity to get people product that tastes better and also has health and safety that far surpasses anything on the market today," Barnard said.
Plenty's farming model means growing vegetables and herbs on vertical towers indoors, with hydroponic systems delivering nutrients to plants and LED lighting designed to stimulate rapid growth all-year round. The firm says its model means no soil or pesticides are required, as farm sites are entirely enclosed.
China is expected to contribute 25-50 percent of the firm's business in the future, Barnard said, without disclosing numerical targets.
He said the firm saw huge untapped demand amid concerns among Chinese consumers over food safety.
China has less than a third of the arable land per person compared with the United States, but in many places soil has been contaminated by heavy metals and pesticides, Barnard said.
Urban Farming Key in Fight Against Hunger and Climate Change
The urban farms sprouting up and across cities around the world aren't just feeding mouths—they are "critical to survival" and a "necessary adaptation" for developing regions and a changing climate, according to a new study.
Urban Farming Key in Fight Against Hunger and Climate Change
The urban farms sprouting up and across cities around the world aren't just feeding mouths—they are "critical to survival" and a "necessary adaptation" for developing regions and a changing climate, according to a new study.
Urban farms—which include plain ol' allotments, indoor vertical farms and rooftop gardens nestled amongst busy streets and skyscrapers—have become increasingly popular and important as the world's population grows and more and more people move to cities.
The United Nations predicts that by 2030, two-thirds of the world's population will be living in cities, with the urban population in developing countries doubling. That's a lot of mouths to feed.
The new paper, published in the journal Earth's Future and led by the Arizona State University and Google, finds that this expected urban population boom will benefit from urban farming in multiple ways.
As the Thomson Reuters Foundation explained from the study, "Urban farms could supply almost the entire recommended consumption of vegetables for city dwellers, while cutting food waste and reducing emissions from the transportation of agricultural products."
According to the study, urban agriculture can help solve a host of urban environmental problems, from increasing vegetation cover (thus contributing to a decrease in the urban heat island intensity), improving the livability of cities, and providing enhanced food security to more than half of Earth's population.
After analyzing multiple datasets in Google Earth Engine, the researchers calculated that the existing vegetation on urban farms around the world already provides some $33 billion annually in services from biocontrol, pollination, climate regulation and soil formation.
The future of urban agriculture has even more potential, the researchers found.
"We project potential annual food production of 100–180 million tonnes, energy savings ranging from 14 to 15 billion kilowatt-hours, nitrogen sequestration between 100,000 and 170,000 tonnes, and avoided stormwater runoff between 45 and 57 billion cubic meters annually," the authors wrote.
"In addition, we estimate that food production, nitrogen fixation, energy savings, pollination, climate regulation, soil formation and biological control of pests could be worth as much as $80–160 billion annually in a scenario of intense [urban agriculture] implementation."
Others have praised urban farming for its many benefits.
"Urban agriculture won't resolve all food production and distribution problems, but it could help take pressure off rural land while providing other advantages," wrote environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki.
He cited an example of how one patch of Detroit land, where 12 vacant houses were removed to grow food, "has supplied almost 200,000 kilograms of produce for 2,000 local families, provided volunteer experience to 8,000 residents and brought the area new investment and increased safety."
"Local and urban agriculture can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and recycle nutrient-rich food scraps, plant debris and other 'wastes,'" Suzuki continued. "Because maintaining lawns for little more than aesthetic value requires lots of water, energy for upkeep and often pesticides and fertilizers, converting them to food gardens makes sense."
Writer and former Vancouver city councillor Peter Ladner also wrote in The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities, "When urban agriculture flourishes, our children are healthier and smarter about what they eat, fewer people are hungry, more local jobs are created, local economies are stronger, our neighborhoods are greener and safer, and our communities are more inclusive."
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Welcome To The Agrihood: Golf Courses Out, Urban Farms In As upscale Developers Invite Buyers To Grow Fruit And Vegetables
Welcome To The Agrihood: Golf Courses Out, Urban Farms In As upscale Developers Invite Buyers To Grow Fruit And Vegetables
Developers from Suzhou, China, to Palm Springs, California are betting that giving homeowners the opportunity to practise healthy living by growing ‘clean food’ – on vines and in olive groves and garden plots – will be attractive
PUBLISHED: Thursday, 11 January,
When residents of prestigious apartment buildings and upscale communities tire of their sophisticated amenities (wine bars, concierges, Olympic-sized pools), they will turn to the simple pleasures of the land. That, at least, is the thinking of residential developers around the world – and one they are banking on.
Agrihoods – gardens where fruit and vegetables grow that are shared by a neighbourhood or community – are a nascent trend in global real estate development, but one that is on the rise. Partly, it’s an outgrowth of the trend in farm-to-table dining, partly a hunch that residents of a building or neighbourhood have an incipient desire to come together to tend urban gardens and share what they grow.
Hong Kong urban farmers find bliss in rooftop gardens
It’s already happening in Hong Kong’s backyard.
A new development for the active elderly, Yangcheng Lake Island Senior Housing, near Suzhou in Jiangsu province, will this year welcome its first residents and invite them to grow produce on plots of land for their own consumption or for use in the on-site restaurant kitchen.
“The fundamental idea is to incorporate clean food, clean air, healthy living – all the things that are important around the world,” says Jason Briscoe, managing partner of the Shanghai office of architectural firm Steinberg, which is building the 1.2 million square foot community.
"We wanted to create an environment that was more all-inclusive than a golf course implies"
BRAD SHUCKHART
According to Briscoe, this is one of the only residential projects he knows of in China that has an urban garden in addition to the regular amenities. The project, developed by China Life Investment Holding Company, will provide about 1,000 homes, ranging in size from 430 square feet to 2,000 square feet.
Briscoe anticipates that “a broad range of ages” may call the development home, but says it is targeted specifically at “active and highly mobile seniors”.
He says adult children are looking to buy units for their parents.
“The ways in which people will engage [with] the landscape will vary,” he says. “Some are focused on the ability to farm their own piece of land, to work the landscape and grow fruit and flowers, to control the quality of their produce. The goal is to encourage interaction between the residents, as well as the outside community.”
Hong Kong in 2050: Gardens fight gentrification, cocktails against condominiums
The agrihood idea is gaining traction in other parts of the world. Targeting a different demographic to that of the Suzhou development, Walden Monterey in California is a 250-hectare site on which 22 houses will be built for sale primarily to Silicon Valley millennials. Nothing is being developed; buyers will spend US$5 million for each plot of land, which will run to about 9 hectares (22 acres), on which to create their dream home.
People who have bought land there already, says a spokesman for the developer, favour a rustic lifestyle over golf courses and clubhouses. They can choose what to plant on their property – fruit or olive trees, or grape vines – and the produce they bear can be shared at farm-to-table dinners on site.
Agritopia, in Gilbert, in the US state of Arizona, has 4.5 hectares (11 acres) of certified organic farmland; Kukui’ula in Hawaii offers buyers of its multimillion-dollar homes the ability to access The Farm, where they can pick fruit and vegetables. At Playa de La Paz, a wealthy enclave on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, owners of its 23 residences are welcome to stop by the ranch of the developer and collect newly laid eggs (some from ostriches), harvest greens and even toss a line into the ocean for fish.
At Miralon, an upcoming development in Palm Springs, Southern California, 25 hectares (62 acres) of olive groves will be planted rather than building a golf course – a standard feature for which the city is known.
“It’s a twist on a typical agrihood,” says Brad Shuckhart, president of the California division of development firm Freehold Communities.
Miralon has contracted with the Temecula Olive Oil Company, which will tend the olive trees and harvest their fruit with the help of residents, who can help press the olives and be allocated some of the oil produced; the rest will be sold on-site and through farmers’ markets.
“We wanted to create an environment that was more all-inclusive than a golf course implies,” Shuckhart says. “The actual use of that open space is really only for golfers. The olive groves are open to all the residents, to take walks in, to enjoy the shade and the vistas, and then to harvest the fruit.”
The fundamental idea is to incorporate clean food, clean air, healthy living – all the things that are important around the world
JASON BRISCOE
The 1,150 Modernist-inspired homes will be move-in ready towards the end of 2018; also on the property are several planned garden plots that will be maintained by the homeowners’ association. Because many of the residents of Palm Springs do not live there full time, having access to the gardens is a way for homeowners to be involved with the property when they are there.
“The produce that is grown in the common beds will be distributed to residents, who will also be encouraged to plant their own fruit and vegetables,” Shuckhart says. “Everyone will be welcome.”
U.S. Indoor Farming Startup Plenty Eyes Rollout in China, Japan
JANUARY 17, 2018
U.S. Indoor Farming Startup Plenty Eyes Rollout in China, Japan
BEIJING (Reuters) - Ambitious U.S. indoor farming startup Plenty Inc is seeking urban sites for new farms in Chinese cities as part of a global drive to set up high-tech facilities growing organic vegetables in warehouses under banks of LED lights.
Matt Barnard, Chief Executive Officer of U.S.-based vertical farming start-up Plenty, poses for a picture in Beijing, China January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
Matt Barnard, chief executive of the San Francisco-based firm which counts Amazon Inc. (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos and Japanese tech player SoftBank Corp (9984.T) among its backers, told Reuters on Wednesday that China could potentially host at least 300 of Plenty’s farms.
Plenty is currently hiring in China and scouting for locations and distributors in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Barnard said in an interview in Beijing. The company has already hired a team in Japan and has “locked down” a few farm sites there, according to Barnard, also a co-founder.
He did not disclose financial or investment targets for the expansion of the firm which currently operates just one farm, in San Francisco, with another due to open in Seattle in the first-half of 2018.
“We see a massive opportunity to get people product that tastes better and also has health and safety that far surpasses anything on the market today,” Barnard said.
Plenty’s farming model means growing vegetables and herbs on vertical towers indoors, with hydroponic systems delivering nutrients to plants and LED lighting designed to stimulate rapid growth all-year round. Enclosed farms reduce pests and allow the firm to optimise growing conditions.
That could be a big draw in China, which has less than a third of the arable land per person compared with the United States, and in many places, soil contaminated by heavy metals and pesticides.
Matt Barnard, Chief Executive Officer of U.S.-based vertical farming start-up Plenty, poses for a picture in Beijing, China January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
A Plenty farm is designed to be 3 to 10 acres (1.2 to 4 hectares), and can produce between 150 and 350 times the output of a field farm, said Barnard.
Concerns among Chinese consumers over food safety are also a major opportunity. Chinese farms will be accompanied by ‘experience centres’ where people can taste the product and see how it is produced.
“It’s super important that people can trust it,” added Barnard, who expects the China market to contribute 25 to 50 percent of the firm’s business in the future.
The company is talking to restaurants, online grocers and some supermarkets to distribute the product, which will be priced higher than much of the produce available in Chinese markets.
Indoor farms can be located close to cities, cutting out the transport from field to supermarket that impacts the freshness of produce. That allows Plenty to grow varieties for their flavour and not for their ability to withstand transport.
One potential concern for Barnard is the cost of operating the lighting systems.
“China power prices are more expensive than in California,” he said, adding that as long as farms are located in places with the best rates farms can still be successful.
Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Christian Schmollinger
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Career Opportunities for LED Lighting Experts and Urban Agriculture Salespeople!
Career Opportunities for LED Lighting Experts and Urban Agriculture Salespeople!
New Market Manager: Horticultural LED Lighting
Mac & Fulton Talent Partners is looking for an ambitious sales and marketing manager to help launch an LED lighting brand in the horticultural marketplace. This is a well-established lighting company looking to put their resources behind the right sales team.
JOB OFFER:
Market Manager to spearhead the launch of a new brand of LED lights with horticultural applications. The position is located in Milwaukee, WI.
Responsibilities:
- Create overall sales and marketing plans for product lines
- Assess market segments and growth and act accordingly
- Advise senior management about the nuances of the agriculture industry
- Develop price points
- Create distribution channels
- Consistently meet sales goals
- Study industry competitors
- Remain up-to-speed on horticultural technology advancements
Qualifications:
- BA in Business or like subject—preferred
- Experience in horticultural lighting field—preferred
- Sales in horticulture/hydroponics industry—required
- Experience in modern agriculture—required
- Well versed in product development and new market entry—preferred
Please email kentg@mandfconsultants.com or contact me on my mobile 414-412-3729 for more details.
You can also check us out at www.mandfconsultants.com.
Mac & Fulton Talent Partners—A recruiting firm focused on modern gardening—is working with a number of LED lighting product manufacturers in the horticultural marketplace.
About Us
We consider Mac & Fulton Talent Partners the most knowledgeable and attentive recruiting agency in the hydroponics and horticultural markets.
The team at M&F Talent sees a very real societal value in the burgeoning Urban Indoor Farming movement and are most interested in networking with industry professionals.
If you would like to learn more about Mac & Fulton, or would simply like to strike up a synergistic dialogue, Please email kentg@mandfconsultants or contact me on my mobile 414-412-3729 for more details.
You can also check us out at www.mandfconsultants.com
Kent Gruetzmacher
Cultivating Farmers
Cultivating Farmers
The nation’s first USDA-recognized urban agricultural fellow program yields nine budding entrepreneurs who want to connect city residents with the power and profit that can rise from the ground | Photos by Jay Paul
January 8, 2018
Fellows Kamala Bhagat and Sonia Allen examine some scarlet queen turnips in Tricycle Gardens' hoop house at RVA Urban Farm in Manchester.
Alex Badecker, a VCU biology graduate who has worked for years in the food industry, has spent the past year planting and pruning on Tricycle Gardens’ 1-acre urban farm in Manchester — and that work has given him the confidence to attempt making a living off Creighton Farm, a 2-acre property that he purchased in eastern Henrico.
Alex Badecker
While a member of Tricycle Gardens’ inaugural class of urban agricultural fellows, Badecker has held open house days on his farm and has invited the public to help him form beds, plant cover crops and lay irrigation. On pick-your-own-produce days, he’s sold carrots, squash and eggplant.
“I want to bring people out and show them what you can do with 1 or 2 acres,” says Badecker, who completed the fellowship program in December.
A Dream Realized
Tricycle Gardens’ Executive Director Sally Schwitters developed the Urban Agricultural Fellowship because many of the nonprofit’s volunteers and interns did not have technical farming skills. With classroom sessions and fieldwork, the fellowship program is educating a new generation of urban farmers through the wisdom of an aging farming workforce.
The program has been a longtime dream of Schwitters. Financial support and participation by experts from Virginia Tech, The Rodale Institute, Bon Secours and the U.S. Department of Agriculture meant that a formal 41-week program could be developed. The fellowship also helped Tricycle double its staff and increase its production.
“Growing [food] is a magical process,” Schwitters says. “I love sharing our knowledge and sharing that feeling and opportunity. That is the root of my motivation. We don’t want to be a nonprofit that grows food for everyone; we want to grow farmers who localize food for everyone.”
“Healthy communities are always at stake, especially in the urban areas,” says Albert Walker, Bon Secours’ director of healthy communities. Based out of the Sara Garland Jones Center, where the fellows meet, he serves as a liaison with the program. “We need grocery stores in the city, yes. But putting farms in urban areas is one step closer toward healthier communities.”
Mark Davis
Because low-income urban communities are so detached from fresh produce for economic reasons or because of the perception that healthy food is for the rich, Mark Davis, another member of the Tricycle Fellows, views this as a public health problem, what he calls nutricide.
“The community is convinced that farmers are poor,” Davis says. “I want to show them that farming is very viable as a [job] option. But you must know what you are doing.
I want to show them the money they can make growing and selling food.” Land acquisition is the biggest hurdle, he adds. “But farming is about problem-solving.”
Classrooms, Inside and Out
Over the course of the yearlong program, for about 20 hours every week, Badecker and the eight other fellows had many hands-on, hands-on experiences.
A highlight of the program for Badecker was coming together as a group on Fridays to participate in workdays at Tricycle — planting garlic, weeding or making compost. On weekends, the group visited area farms and urban agriculture conferences. They experienced the retail aspect of agriculture, harvesting and selling produce at markets. Finally, they developed business plans for their planned endeavors, which are both for-profit and nonprofit.
Badecker says he has always been into food and an outdoor person, but those interests hadn’t clicked until his experience with Tricycle.
“You can still be a farmer and be successful,” Badecker says. “People don’t understand that there is a lot of math and a lot of science and a lot of engineering involved in agriculture. All farmers are always designing and making something to use on their farms. No two farmers are the same. I’ve enjoyed meeting all the fellows. We’re so different, with such different backgrounds, with different ideas of what we are going to do. I’ve loved bouncing around our ideas of what we want to do and problem-solving things on the farm.”
Ash Hobson Carr
Fellow Ash Hobson Carr started planting herbs in her backyard to counter the hours she spent sitting and editing photos as a professional photographer. She was drawn to the physical work of gardening. She plans to start a seed-saving and medicinal-herb business.
“One highlight has been to meet all the amazing women farmers in the classes and field trips with an average age of around 58,” Carr says. “They have been so generous with their knowledge. They were figuring out how to do organic farming before there were books and networking.”
Davis wants to develop a market farm made up of quarter- and half-acre vacant plots throughout the city sown by city residents. Davis says his project addresses a crucial problem — the disconnect between urban youth and farming. He’s also not new to urban agriculture. As a student at Howard University, Davis started a community garden on campus to teach people about the beauty of eating food grown by their own hands.
A Plan and a Journal a Must
The fellow program was designed to teach students how to go from seed to sale as they mastered growing techniques, harvesting practices and farm-food safety. The inaugural group had varied backgrounds, from social justice to cosmetology, and they ranged in age from their mid-20s to their mid-40s.
“Agriculture is very regional. It is climate- and-soil specific,” says Chris Lawrence, a Richmond-based cropland agronomist with the USDA who works with farmers across the state. He taught the fellows about soil science. “The class I taught them was refreshing because you do not often think of farmers coming from an alternative angle, but we have a lot in common.”
Tricycle Urban Farm Manager Amy Wilderman
During a recent Tuesday morning classroom session at the Bon Secours’ Sara Garland Jones Center, Tricycle’s Urban Farm Manager Amy Wilderman quizzed the group on the tenets of crop rotation, soil nutrients and plant parts. She led a discussion on the differences in plant families and what makes plants heavy versus light feeders. Sometimes, she told them, farmers should not rotate crops.
“When you are maximizing small spaces, you have to have a plan,” Wilderman says, holding up a farm chart. “The plan will probably change, but you have to have a plan to start with. I’ve learned in past years to plan for the entire year in winter.” She also tells the group to use a farm journal to write about which crops do not work and record how each crop does each season.
“Take stock,” Wilderman instructs the group. “Then you get to dream about what you want to grow next.”
Through homework assignments, required journaling and a final exam, the fellows, Wilderman says, will ultimately have a firm business plan that they can potentially present to a bank.
A $400,000 grant from the USDA and support from Bon Secours were enough to provide each participant a full scholarship, pay for a new hoop house at Tricycle and cover the cost of speakers who focused on technical points. The grant funding also covers the 2018 fellows, and Tricycle staff fundraising is focused on continuing the program well into the future, with a vision to share it with other cities.
Walker says that Bon Secours’ involvement with the fellowship program connects with its mission to serve the community, but it also got him thinking that it’s a logical move to put in a garden next to the Sarah Garland Jones Center, with a rain catchment system to make it sustainable, and maybe even plant fruit trees.
For fellow Alex Badecker, his participation has allowed him to develop a solid crop plan for when he starts planting in 2018.
“I’m more confident that I will start next spring on the right foot.”
The Rest of the Fellows
SONIA ALLEN
Background: Co-founder of An Access In Food Inc., a Richmond nonprofit that aims to serve economically disadvantaged people through nutrition education and food access
Project: Wayside green spaces, gardens for restaurants and a teaching farm in Maine
Takeaway: “We were taught to plant properly by specifications instead of a hodgepodge.”
NICOLE BRODER
Background: Created a mobile farm on a truck as a student at William & Mary
Project: Establish and maintain rooftop gardens in the city, where space is at a premium
Takeaway: “I think my knowledge, especially about soil science, will be valuable and will benefit me through the years. Now I have a network of experts I can call on if I have a question.”
DANA WRIGHT
Background: A graduate of VCUArts who has worked in restaurants focused on the farm-to-table concept
Project: Create green spaces for businesses and restaurants, as well as teaching gardens
Takeaway: “A highlight of the year for me has been being on the farm and having a full-year experience — winter spring, summer, fall.”
MANDY YARNELL
Background: A degree in international studies from VCU and a decade in the food industry, plus alpaca farm experience
Project: Her farm, Owl Creek Heirlooms and Oddities, or OCHO, will offer exotic varieties of plants and animals.
Takeaway: “With urban agriculture, anyone can do it. Even in containers you can plant what you need.”
KAMALA BHAGAT
Background: Natural hairstylist
Project: She plans to open a natural beauty parlor in the city, with a garden that will act as the source of her hair products.
Takeaway: “I want to show people how important nutrition is in hair care, not just for consumption. In hair care, your scalp is like soil. Your scalp needs moisture and light.”
KITTIE STOREY
Background: Has taught gardening to teens at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and now works at Little Green House Grocery. Was a Tricycle Gardens farm intern in 2012 and helped run the East End farmstand.
Project: Wants to use the knowledge she gained during the fellowship to implement agricultural education in public schools and community centers
The application period runs through Jan. 19. It’s for high school graduates who are interested in getting into agricultural work. Participants need to be prepared for physical labor and to be outside in variable weather. On Jan. 11, Tricycle is holding an open farm volunteer day for potential applicants from noon to 2 p.m., followed by an information session from 2:30 to 4 p.m. For more information, visit tricycleurbanag.org.
Urban Farm Flourishes in Former Akron Tire Plant
Urban Farm Flourishes in Former Akron Tire Plant
Vigeo Gardens is growing produce and success inside the BOUNCE, Akron's innovation hub at the former site of B.F. Goodrich tire plant.
Author: Amani Abraham
January 10, 2018
From farm to table, in the middle of the winter?
Vegetables and flowers are not something you’d expect to see growing anywhere in Northeast Ohio right now – let alone inside an old tire plant in Akron.
But that’s exactly what an Akron-based agricultural company is doing.
Jacob Craine, Vincent Peterson, and Mark Preston are the founders of Vigeo Gardens, which sits on the third floor of Akron's former B.F. Goodrich tire plant. The business can be easily spotted as it's custom-made blue and red LED lights transform its space into a magenta-like color.
"It allows us to grow a plant in a much quicker time than you would in traditional farming, as well as environmental improvements," Craine said. "We use about a tenth of the water a traditional farmer would use."
Vigeo specializes in growing hydroponic lettuce, hydroponic basil and microgreens. The produce is then sold to local restaurants in Akron, Cleveland and surrounding areas. The company recently landed a deal with Quicken Loans Arena to supply fresh produce to private chefs for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"People are getting more conscious about what they eat and what they put in their body."
The concept of the farm began in Craine's basement where teamed with Peterson to begin growing microgreens. Vigeo soon emerged after time spent inside of the Akron Global Business Accelerator, also home to BOUNCE, Akron's innovation hub.
"We want to re-purpose old buildings like this, start in the Rust Belt and hopefully go across the country."
Singapore A Potential Test-Bed to Develop Food, Agritech Solutions: Koh Poh Koon
Pointing to indoor farms as an example, he said that agencies had made provisions for companies to use private industrial land to kick-start operations as they needed space.
Singapore A Potential Test-Bed to Develop Food, Agritech Solutions: Koh Poh Koon
Dr Koh Poh Koon at the 3rd annual Indoor Agriculture Conference Asia. (Photo: Vanessa Lim)
16 Jan 2018
SINGAPORE: Singapore could potentially become a test-bed to develop exportable models for food and agriculture technology (agritech) solutions, according to Senior Minister of State for National Development and Trade & Industry Koh Poh Koon on Tuesday (Jan 16).
Speaking at the 3rd annual Indoor Agriculture Conference (Ag-Con) Asia, Dr Koh said Singapore's environment can help companies expand into global markets.
"We are a well-positioned and efficient logistics hub, our stringent food safety standards also generate consumer trust and allow companies exporting from Singapore to enjoy premium quality branding," said Dr Koh.
Dr Koh speaking to participants at the conference. (Photo: Vanessa Lim)
He added that the government is also currently studying the feasibility of co-locating various food-related industries in a cluster in future.
Beyond this, Dr. Koh highlighted that Singapore has also cultivated deep research and development expertise in fields such as biotech and precision engineering, which can help to speed up the development of the precision agriculture and agri-biotech sector.
"We already have players in these areas like Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, which has strong capabilities in plant sciences and farming systems," said Dr Koh, adding that Singapore's strong intellectual property framework protects research findings and innovations.
As new industries may face regulatory hurdles, Dr Koh added that government agencies will work closely with companies to overcome these challenges.
Pointing to indoor farms as an example, he said that agencies had made provisions for companies to use private industrial land to kick-start operations as they needed space. In addition, account managers were also introduced to facilitate interactions between the companies and other regulatory agencies.
Source: CNA/am
Urban Farms ‘Critical’ To Combat Hunger And Adapt To Climate Change
Urban Farms ‘Critical’ To Combat Hunger And Adapt To Climate Change
11 Jan 2018
Salad leaves herbs and leafy greens grow inside a warehouse run by GrowUp Urban Farms in Beckton, London, July 25, 2017 (Thomson Reuters Foundation / Lin Taylor)
By Thin Lei Win / Thomson Reuters Foundation
ROME: They may look small scale, but rooftop farms, vertical gardens and allotments could prove crucial in fighting hunger in urban areas, researchers said Wednesday.
Urban farms also increase vegetation cover - a key way to limit rising temperatures.
They reduce the “urban heat island effect”, where cities are often several degrees warmer than nearby rural areas due to heat trapped by dark-coloured roads and buildings, researchers said.
Urban farms can lower the risk of flooding during heavy downpours and help to reain water in dry areas, according to a paper published in the journal Earth’s Future.
In developing regions, “urban agriculture may be critical to survival or a necessary adaptation to changing climate”, said the team of researchers, led by the Arizona State University and Google.
Urban farms could supply almost the entire recommended consumption of vegetables for city dwellers, while cutting food waste and reducing emissions from the transportation of agricultural products.
The researchers analysed multiple datasets in Google Earth Engine, an internet platform for processing geographical data, to derive global scale estimates.
Urban agriculture has the potential to save energy equivalent to the use of air conditioners in nearly 9 million United States households, and to produce up to 180 million tonnes of food, they found.
While this represents only about 10 percent of the global production of pulses, roots and vegetables, it provides “a partial solution”, said Matei Georgescu, associate professor at Arizona State University and co-author of the paper.
The U.S., China, Brazil, India, Russia, Germany and Japan have the most potential benefit from urban farming. With more than 2 million hectares, the U.S. has more urban area available than any other country.
Georgescu said he hopes urban planners in Africa and Asia will see the potential of urban agriculture too.
According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world’s population may live in cities by 2050, with new urban areas concentrated in Asia and Africa.
Georgescu also encouraged people to calculate this potential for their local areas themselves using method provided in the paper.
“One simply has to include their own locally produced data, which might be better than the global data we had to use, and produce their own estimates,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
Urban farms have become popular in recent years as governments and residents look to promote healthy eating, tackle environmental challenges and transform industrial cities.
Pittsburgh is establishing the largest urban farm in the U.S., post office workers in Paris are growing vegetables and breeding chickens on a rooftop, while a warehouse in London is farming fish and greens
(Reporting By Thin Lei Win, Editing by Jared Ferrie)
Local Skills Showcased At Arab Innovation Academy
Local Skills Showcased At Arab Innovation Academy
16 Jan 2018 - 1:05
Dr Maher Hakim, Executive Director, QSTP, with other experts and officials during the Grand Pitching Session held at the end of Arab Innovation Academy. RIGHT: Sinan Al Obaidi, CEO of AG Automation, doing a presentation during the Grand Pitching Session of Arab Innovation Academy. PICs: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
By Fazeena Saleem / The Peninsula
Doha: The innovation skills of young entrepreneurs have been recently showcased at the first Arab Innovation Academy (AIA). The unique 10-day startup boot-camp was organised by Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) in collaboration with the European Innovation Academy (EIA).
The programme provided more than 100 talented students and young entrepreneurs from across the Arab world with an opportunity to work under the guidance of leading Silicon Valley mentors and establish a start-up.
Under the guidance of leading global tech startup mentors, teams whose members had never met before were challenged to take an idea to a viable startup after just two intensive weeks of working together.
“The young tech entrepreneurs who have participated in the first Arab Innovation Academy care about our region. They are passionate about, and committed to, helping solve the challenges it faces, and they are now global ambassadors both for Qatar and for the Arab world - building bridges among communities and cultures, through innovation,” said Dr. Maher Hakim, Executive Director of QSTP.
“What we have achieved through AIA is to help young people build their confidence, not only in their ability to do things other people cannot do but to demonstrate that they can make a positive contribution to our world,” he added.
In a Grand Pitching Session at the end of the AIA, held on Thursday at the QSTP, participants live-pitched the startup ideas they had developed from scratch during the programme to investors and experts from around the world. Ten teams presented innovative projects.
The winner was AG Automation, a startup that aims to use technology to transform indoor farming.
“Arab Innovation Academy has been a great experience for me. I was able to learn many things as an innovator and entrepreneur. It helped me to become a global citizen as well as an innovator and entrepreneur. It is a great opportunity and Qatar is doing a great job by giving us this opportunity,” Sinan Al Obaidi, CEO of AG Automation told The Peninsula. He is from Iraq and perusing his Ph.D in the United States under the sponsorship of Qatar Leadership Program.
Al Obaidi also said that AG Automation aims at shifting conventional farming to a complete industrial process.
Through the AIA, participating students from universities in Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, and Qatar had the opportunity to leverage an extensive global network of leading tech entrepreneurship experts, who introduced them to innovation tools and methods developed by leading universities and companies including University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; Google; Amadeus IT Group; and QSTP, part of Qatar Foundation Research and Development (QF R&D). During the Grand Pitching Session, a group of five students from different countries studying in Qatar and Lebanon presented their project ‘Carryon’ which uses the free space in travellers luggage to send packages worldwide.
The team included Pierre Wehbe and Hussein El Hajj from American University of Beirut; Ahmed Abdilmalik of Qatar University; Mohammad Jawad from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar and Hafis Bello from Hamad bin Khalifa University. “The Arab Innovation Academy gave us the right guidance on how to change an idea into an actual business. It was an mind-opening ten days for us; the whole programme was more practical than theoretical,” they said.
Philips Lighting Installs LED Project At Madestein UK, Which Supplies Fresh Lettuce To Major UK Retailers
Philips Lighting Installs LED Project At Madestein UK, Which Supplies Fresh Lettuce To Major UK Retailers
Philips Lighting today announced that Madestein UK, in Chichester, UK, which supplies fresh lettuce and herbs to the UK’s major food retailers, food service companies and wholesale markets, is installing Philips GreenPower LED toplighting to improve the quality of its crops. Madestein UK became convinced about the benefits of growing with LED grow lights after trialing Phillips GreenPower LED Toplights and visiting several growers in The Netherlands and Finland.
“It’s great to see how our network of growers are ambassadors across the entire globe,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Philips Lighting. “In this case, they were able to show how LEDs can help them speed up their crop cycles and grow more compact plants. That’s the real value of working with people who are passionate about their professions.”
Madestein UK was founded in 1982 and has introduced many innovations to the UK market, including curly leaf lettuce in the late 1980s and living mixed lettuce in 2001. They currently focus on producing glasshouse lettuce and growing fresh basil all year. In addition to conventional growing methods, Madestein UK employs sustainable growing methods such as an Deep Flow hydroponic system which makes efficient use of water and minimizes the chances of groundwater contamination.
The company has been investigating LED grow lights for a long period and carried out several LED trials at its site in Chichester from 2014 to 2017.
Jonathan Zwinkels at Madestein UK says, “We are seeing a strong demand for UK grown lettuce and herbs, so we’ve been exploring ways to raise our productivity. We were impressed with what we saw in our trials and confirmed those views with visits to growers in The Netherlands and Finland who are using LEDs to grow lettuce. Our aim is to use LED grow lights to improve quality, reduce the impact of adverse weather conditions, and improve the shelf life of our products.”
Peter Zwinkels and his grandchildren Noah and Grace.
The LEDs will be installed by Philips Lighting’s Horti LED partner Cambridge HOK.
Future Farm CEO Provides Update to Shareholders
Future Farm CEO Provides Update to Shareholders
NEWS PROVIDED BY Future Farm Technologies Inc.
VANCOUVER , British Columbia, January 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "Future Farm") (CSE: FFT) (CSE: FFT.CN) (OTCQB: FFRMF) is pleased to provide an update to its current and prospective Shareholders regarding the Company's activities over the past several months, and plans for development in the new year.
Future Farm has experienced a flurry of activity in the past several weeks and the market has responded positively to our continued efforts to create a diversified portfolio of cannabis investments for Future Farm's shareholders. We have successfully raised capital to support the various projects that we are developing throughout North America, including those in California, Maine, Florida, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico and beyond.
Future Farm shareholders have raised $1.4 Million through the voluntary conversion of both its $0.35 and $0.37 warrants from two offerings in 2017, and as most recently announced, the completion of a $4,000,000 private placement with Yorkville Advisors that enables the Company to close on the acquisition of a 10-acre operating greenhouse in Florida.
FLORIDA:
The Florida greenhouse business generated an estimated $2,800,000 USD in revenue and $400,000 USD in EBITDA for 2017. This acquisition represents a major milestone for the Company and positions it in the emerging Florida cannabis market, estimated by some to reach $1 billion in annual sales by 2020. The Company intends to continue operating the greenhouse as is while it applies for licensing as a cannabis cultivator with the State of Florida. The Company is also exploring the possibility of growing hemp on the remaining acreage of farmland to further strengthen its foothold in the hemp-based CBD market.
MAINE:
The Company has already secured more than 220-acres of farmland in Maine with an option for an additional 1,000-acres to grow and process hemp. Future Farm will bring its state-of-the-art, scalable alcohol extraction equipment and know-how to take full advantage of the fast-growing CBD oil market. The Company is also preparing to set up a hemp cloning operation, which will use vertical farming technology pioneered by the Company, to supply over 200,000 clones to the farm in 2018. The hemp clones will also be grown under the Company's Scorpion LED grow lights, which will save on electricity costs and further leverage its in-house technology.
CALIFORNIA:
Future Farm's subsidiary, FFM Consulting Services, LLC, continues to make and sell cannabis oil out of its California oil extraction facility and is currently in discussions with large distributors whom are requesting pricing on 2,500-kilos of cannabis oil per year. The extraction facility team is using a unique process of running organic grape seed oil in its alcohol extraction equipment, which is capable of large-scale production.
"We are pleased with our progress in California and are excited to be a part of the state's new recreational cannabis market," says Bill Gildea, Future Farm's CEO. "We look forward to the opportunities that California's recreational market will open up to us in 2018 and beyond."
California's recreational cannabis market is forecast to reach over $7 billion in the next few years.
RHODE ISLAND:
Another exciting opportunity is the anticipated closing of a 15,000-sq ft building in Providence, Rhode Island, which is scheduled for January 15, 2018. The building is located in an M-1 zone, meaning it is legally zoned for cannabis cultivation. The Company intends to lease the building to a local, Rhode Island entity that, once licensed by Rhode Island's Department of Business Regulations, will use the property to cultivate wholesale medical marijuana in order to supply Rhode Island's state-sanctioned dispensaries.
PUERTO RICO:
Future Farm is in the process of acquiring a controlling interest in five dispensaries in Puerto Rico via the formation of a joint venture with TCG Investments, LLC, owners of the Clinica Verde brand of medical cannabis dispensaries. Future Farm will purchase five pre-qualifications for medical dispensary licenses from Clinica Verde ("Licenses"). Subsequently, the Licenses will be contributed into a joint venture company that will operate under the Clinica Verde brand. Ownership in the dispensaries provides the potential of consistent cash flow while contributing to the expansion of the medical cannabis industry, which is a key driver for the future economic development of Puerto Rico.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES:
Furthering its investment in the cannabis movement, Future Farm has entered into a 50/50 Joint Venture with Rahan Meristem to breed and propagate elite clones of cannabis. The partnership will develop, own and utilize Rahan's proven and proprietary technology to mass-produce elite clones of cannabis and hemp plants, which will be sold for medical purposes. Future Farm and Rahan intend to create varieties of cannabis with higher levels of THC and CBD, using Rahan's proprietary technology of non-GMO, in-vitro mutagenesis. Rahan shall be responsible for providing the know-how and technology, as well as management and operation of the Project. Future Farm shall be responsible for providing financing and an indoor, air-conditioned laboratory building space located in the United States or in Canada.
OTCQX Uplist:
The Company announced its intentions to uplist from OTCQB to OTCQX last May, and has now begun the application process. To qualify for uplisting onto OTCQX International, companies must be listed on a Qualified Foreign Exchange, meet stringent financial and disclosure standards, and be sponsored by a professional third-party advisor. Uplisting to OTCQX has been part of the Company's corporate strategy for some time, as it will provide wider visibility amongst the investment community and therefore strengthen stockholder value.
PRODUCE FARMS:
Future Farm continues to collaborate with CBO Financial Inc. and Volunteers of America on the development of produce farms in Baltimore, MD and Mobile, AL. The projects will be designed, financed and constructed in tandem. By bundling the projects together, the parties expect to save on financing fees related to New Market Tax Credits, facility design and engineering, and equipment expenses, including HVAC and LED lighting.
The primary objectives of all three locations (two in MD and one in AL) remain the same - establish economical and environmentally friendly vertical farms; provide job training opportunities (specifically to the VOA's reentry program for ex-offenders in Baltimore, MD and to the mentally disadvantaged/formerly homeless community in Mobile, AL) as well as to the local communities of both; provide therapeutic programs, which will be expanded to the disabled population; support entrepreneurship development; and establish a model for replication at other reentry and social services facilities.
LED CANADA:
Future Farm's LED Canada division continues to make significant progress. The LED Canada Showroom build out is complete and fully operational allowing for cost savings from a vertically integrated warehouse and showroom. Demand is increasing for LED Canada's award-winning Scorpion grow light as more licensed growers complete testing. A licensed producer in the USA was able to secure a rebate from its public power supplier for its use of LED Canada Scorpion grow lights, paving the way for savings and large LED purchase orders. Peking University has been using LED Canada grow lights and has shown that they produce the highest yields versus other grow lights tested.
LED Canada is also in the final stages of providing a quote on its LEDs for the previously announced Mobile, AL farm and another farm in development in Massachusetts. Each vertical farm would require 9,000 8-foot LED lamps, which would represent a multi-million-dollar purchase order for each project.
HAMPTONS RESERVE:
Future Farm continues to develop Hamptons Reserve as its in-house brand of premium edibles.
AUGMENTED REALITY:
Finally, the Company is preparing to spin off its newly created augmented reality cannabis company in order to maximize shareholder value. Once spun off, Future Farm's shareholders will own shares in a new company traded on the CSE, with a singular focus on bringing augmented reality to the cannabis industry.
Future Farm has had a very productive year as far as developing its portfolio of cannabis related businesses. We are positioned to hit the ground running to provide economic value to our shareholders in 2018.
On behalf of the Board,
Future Farm Technologies Inc.
William Gildea, CEO & Chairman
About Future Farm
Future Farm Technologies Inc. is a Canadian company with projects throughout North America including California,Florida and Maryland. The Company's business model includes developing and acquiring technologies that will position it as a leader in the evolution of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) for the global production of various types of plants, with a focus on cannabis. Future Farm provides scalable, indoor CEA systems that utilize minimal land, water and energy regardless of climate, location or time of year and are customized to grow an abundance of crops close to consumers, therefore minimizing food miles and its impact to the environment. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generates yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land. The contained system provides many other benefits including 90% less water, fertilizer and land used, less travel costs, seed to sale security, scalability, consistency due to year-round production, cost control, product safety and purity by eliminating environmental variability. The Company also utilizes a leading cannabis oil extraction technology, which enables the Company to process 20lbs/hour of cannabis plant to yield approximately 908 grams/hour of oil.
The Company is also in the business of designing and distributing LED lighting solutions utilizing the COB and MCOB technology. The Company is focused on delivering cost efficient lighting to North America via advanced e-commerce sites the Company owns and operates. LEDCanada.com, which caters to B2B customers, is a supplier of the newest and highest demand LED solutions. The Company also owns and operates COBGrowlights.com, which caters to both large and small agriculture green houses and controlled cultivation centers.
The Company recently acquired the exclusive right to use a patented, augmented reality (AR) technology in the cannabis industry. As described in more detail above, the Company has decided to spin this asset off to its shareholders.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability ofcapital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.
For further information, contact
William Gildea
Director
+1-617-834-9467
SOURCE Future Farm Technologies Inc.
Vertical Farming Funding On The Rise in 2017 & Predictions for 2022
Vertical Farming Funding On The Rise in 2017 & Predictions for 2022
by Sierra Clark
Vertical farming is an industry with the enormous potential to change the way we eat. By saving resources and producing local food, vertical farming may alleviate many of the concerns facing traditional agriculture. However, to become a thriving, sustainable industry will require funding. This means venture capitalists, angel investors, crowd funders, and government must demonstrate enough interest to dedicate money to vertical farming ventures. Without proper funding, a future with vertical farming, and other indoor agriculture methods will not be possible.
Funding for vertical farming has grown
Luckily for the vertical farming industry, funding is on the rise. In 2017, two major methods of funding saw rapid growth. From 2016 to 2017, venture capital funding for vertical farming increased by 653% from 36 million to 271 million. Most of this funding was funneled to a few large companies with strong tech initiatives (read: Plenty). Additionally, crowdfunding for a variety of indoor agriculture initiatives, on sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, increased by 900% from 2.8 to 28 million.
Plenty raised $226 million
Plenty received the largest amount of funding for a vertical farming venture to date. In July 2017, their Series B of $200 million was led by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son with SoftBank Vision Fund and notable investment funds for Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Already Plenty has a vertical farm in South San Francisco and a testing facility in Wyoming. With recent funds, they plan to expand to a 100,000 square foot farm in Washington, twice the size of their San Francisco farm, and globally.
Multiple companies raised tens of millions this year
Other indoor agriculture companies have also seen major increases in funding. AeroFarms, an urban ag and clean tech company in New Jersey, has raised $142.9 million to date. In November 2017, they closed a $40 million Series D round to increase staff and expand globally. Bright Farms, a greenhouse company in New York, has raised $57.9 million to date. In September 2016 they completed a $30 million Series C round led by Catalyst Investors to expand nationally. Bowery, a vertical farm company in New York, has raised $31 million to date. In June 2017, their Series A of $20 million was led by General Catalyst.
Predictions
By 2022, the vertical farming industry will have developed and matured. We believe that the industry is here to stay. In growing numbers, people are demanding local food. Led by this major trend, we expect to see two major advances in the industry within the next five years.
Sources of funding will increase and diversify
Not all vertical farming or indoor agriculture companies are receiving millions in funding. In fact, funding is still a major issue for many vertical farmers. However, where leaders go the rest may follow. Since respected influencers like Schmidt and Bezos are betting on the industry, we can expect interest and funding opportunities to grow. Expect to see investment firms dedicate funds specifically for vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture. We see this already in firms like Equilibrium and Contain Inc.
While the government is typically slower to act than private companies, expect to see more grants and dedication to the sustainable farming space. Cities like Atlanta already have focused urban agriculture initiatives, such as the AgLanta Conference and Urban Food Forest.
Robots and automation will become more integrated in the industry
Labor is one of the largest operational costs (around 25%, following electricity at 26%) for a vertical farm. By reducing labor costs companies can reduce product cost and increase margins, ideally with the aim to provide local food to everyone. Certain countries, such as Holland and Japan have been using automation and robots in indoor agriculture practices for years. Holland is known for acres of fully automated greenhouses, while Japan has over 240 plant factories (comparably, the US has 50), many of which utilize robots instead of traditional labor. Both countries have mature indoor agriculture industries and likely serve as an example of what is to come in the United States. Already, Plenty has integrated robots into their system using small robots, called Schleppers, to transplant seedlings.
This year the indoor ag industry has received more funding than ever before. We expect that funding opportunities will continue to grow, as will technological advances in the space. For now, we must continue to innovate, discover, and raise the industry forward. The future of the world depends on it.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO FUND URBAN AND VERTICAL FARMING BUSINESSES DURING THE SMART FINANCE TOPIC AREA OF THE 2018 AGLANTA CONFERENCE ON MARCH 27 & 28 IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
urban agriculture, vertical farming, indoor agriculture, CEA, future, funding, investment, venture capital,automation