Webinar: Works To Overcome The Challenges of Food Production

Writtle University College is delighted to announce the next installment within its popular webinar series, produced in partnership with Liberty Produce.

‘Examining food production systems and identifying skills gaps’ takes place on February 24th.

It is the second of three virtual events, all focusing on major issues facing global food production systems and the transformations we can expect to see in the immediate future.

February’s webinar will be chaired by Agri-TechE’s Fiona Rust, with presentations from Dan Hewitt, Head of Agriculture and Sustainability from Kettle Foods UK, and Steven Winterbottom, Managing Director of Tozer Seeds.

Fiona Rust works as Agri-TechE’s Events and Young Innovators’ Forum Co-Ordinator. She promotes cooperation between farmers, researchers, and tech developers to accelerate innovation.

Fiona explained: “Collaboration and idea-sharing offers us a way forward as we are able to bring together people and organizations to help further develop our sector and find the answers to challenges that we are facing. From experience, we see how small conversations can lead to the big things.”

Benita Rajania, Product Director at Liberty Produce, said: “The aim of teaming up with WUC for this webinar series was to bring together stakeholders from across food production to start a conversation around the transformation of the industry. We are delighted to host Dan Hewitt of Kettle Chips and Steven Winterbottom of Tozer Seeds, both pioneering companies, as they share their thoughts on collaboration and the agricultural/horticultural revolution."

The webinar will investigate challenges faced by the industry and discuss strategies for training and recruiting skilled personnel. A Q&A session with the speakers will take place at the end of the presentations.

Sponsorship is provided by EIRA, a groundbreaking project that supports innovation in the East of England.

Visit Writtle University College’s website to book your place:

Register

The event will be free-of-charge, in line with WUC and Liberty Produce's ongoing commitment to education and knowledge-sharing.

About Liberty Produce

Liberty Produce is a farming technology company founded in 2018 to drive innovations that will enable us to meet our global crop requirements over the next century, without harming the planet. As experts in the development of technology (from advanced lighting systems to machine learning for integrated control systems) for the breadth of indoor agriculture (from glasshouses to Totally Controlled Environment Agriculture systems), Liberty delivers research and products that consistently push boundaries. Liberty Produce develops and builds systems that reduce operational costs with enhanced resource efficiency, improve yields and increase sustainability for greater food security through the growth of local produce year-round. ​www.liberty-produce.com

Media enquiries:

Claire Apthorp

media@liberty-produce.com

+44 (0) 7920403068
General enquiries: ​info@liberty-produce.com; +44 (0)20 7193 2933

About Writtle University College (WUC)

Writtle University College (WUC) has been at the forefront of the agrifood sector since 1893. In 2020, it was named the highest-rated university-sector institution in England for student satisfaction by the National Student Survey, also receiving 100% satisfaction for its horticulture course. Industry-focused programmes offer the skills, expert theory, and qualifications required to enter a fast-moving sector. WUC recently launched a degree in regenerative agriculture, which is the first of its kind in the UK. ​https://writtle.ac.uk/

Media enquiries:

Sara Cork: press@writtle.ac.uk

About EIRA

EIRA is a collaborative project between seven universities and colleges in the East of England. Driving economic growth in the region, EIRA connects businesses with academic expertise, consultancy, facilities, and funding opportunities. Led by the University of Essex, EIRA is also supported by the University of East Anglia and the University of Kent. Backed by £4.7 million of Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund, EIRA delivers activities across three themes: digital creative, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. EIRA has opportunities to work with businesses of all sizes through Innovation Vouchers, Research and Development Grants, i-Teams, Hothouse events, Start-up Microfinance and Innovation Internships.​eira.ac.uk

General enquiries:​ eira@essex.ac.uk

Twitter:​ @EIRA_eARC LinkedIn:

Training Artificial Intelligence To Track Greenhouses in Antarctica and Mars

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FEBRUARY 17, 2021

by Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

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Credit: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

Scientists from the Skoltech Center for Computational and Data-Intensive Science and Engineering (CDISE) and the Skoltech Digital Agriculture Laboratory and their collaborators from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that enables processing images from autonomous greenhouses, monitoring plant growth and automating the cultivation process. Their research was published in the journal IEEE Sensors.

Modern technology has long become a fixture in all spheres of human life on Earth. Reaching out to other planets is a new challenge for humankind. Since greenhouses are likely to be the only source of fresh food for Mars space crews and settlers, development of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-vision-based technologies for plant growth automation is perceived as a priority research target. A test site is already in place for developing and testing advanced life support systems: An autonomous plant cultivation module is operating at the Antarctic Neumayer Station III near the South Pole. Right now, scientists are focusing on creating an AI system that could collect information about all the plant growth factors and seedling health and control greenhouses in autonomous mode without human involvement.

"One cannot maintain continuous communication with Neumayer III, and training computer vision models onboard requires too many resources, so we had to find a way to send a stream of plant photographs to external servers for data processing and analysis," Skoltech Ph.D. student Sergey Nesteruk explains.

As a conclusion to their research, the Skoltech team processed a collection of images from remote automated systems using their new approach based on convolutional neural networks and outperforming popular codecs by over seven times in reducing the image size without apparent quality degradation. The researchers used the information from the reconstructed images to train a computer vision algorithm which, once trained, is capable of classifying 18 plant varieties according to species at different stages of development with an accuracy of 92%. This approach makes it possible to both visually monitor the system operation and continuously gather new ML model training data in order to enhance the models' functionality.

There are plans to deploy and test the new systems right on Neumayer III, which will mark an important step towards automation of plant growing modules, thus removing yet another roadblock on the way to Mars.

Lead photo: Plant cultivation module in Antarctica. Credit: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week

Bowery Farming uses technology to prioritize accessibility and sustainability in their produce growing operations

To some, the pristine growing conditions and perceived mechanical interference of a vertical farm can seem unnatural, but at Bowery Farming “interference” is actually not the goal at all. “We don’t really think about how people are involved in the growing process, but how to take people out of the growing process” says chief science officer Henry Sztul. “Our goal is actually to have as few people walking around our plants as possible.”

Bowery Farming is a network of vertical farms working to reengineer the growing process. Using a system of light and watering technology, Bowery is able to use 95 percent less water than a traditional outdoor farm, zero pesticides and chemicals, and grow food that tastes as good as anyone else’s. 

Bowery Farming uses vertical farm-specific seeds that are optimized for flavor instead of insect resistance and durability. Seeds are mechanically pressed into trays of soil, and sent out into growing positions, or racks within the building that have their own lighting and watering systems. Each tray gets its own QR code so that they can be monitored and assigned a customized plan for water and light until they’re ready to be harvested.

Irving Fain, Bowery Farming’s founder and CEO contemplates the prediction from the United Nations that 70 to 80 percent of the world’s population will be living in and around cities in the next 30 years. “Figuring out ‘how do you feed and how do you provide fresh food to urban environments both more efficiently as well as more sustainably?’ is a very important question today, and an even more important question in the years to come.”

USA - SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - Pure Green Farms Launches New Website

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February 15th, 2021

by Peggy Packer     

SOUTH BEND, IN - The internet has surely become one of the most powerful tools shoppers are using these days to stay up to date on all the new ingredients that could be making their way to their kitchens. On the heels of a recent announcement to expand its offerings, Pure Green Farms has announced the launch of a new website, just in time for the rollout of four new SKUs set to hit retailers this March.

Joe McGuire, Chief Executive Officer, Pure Green Farms“We’re excited to be getting closer to our products being in stores and look forward to the future of our growth,” said CEO Joe McGuire. “We’ve got an excellent production team and have worked hard to get ready for our official release date. The launch of the website is just one of the important steps in getting ready for next month.”

The new website highlights the advanced technology and growing practices used at Pure Green’s hydroponic indoor farm, as well as the products that will be available, according to a press release.

Just in time for the rollout of four new SKUs, Pure Green Farms has announced the launch of a new website

The announcement of the new website falls in line with Pure Green Farms’ recent expansion plan, as the company announced back in December that it would be entering the leafy greens sector. Optimizing its state-of-the-art technology, including automatic seeding, harvesting, and packing technology, the brand will make its debut in the sector with the launch of four lettuce varieties.

AndNowUKnow will continue to report on all the latest news in the fresh produce industry.

Pure Green Farms

VIDEO: A Visit To The ZipFarm - Join The Virtual Farm Tour

Recently, ZipGrow has opened its doors for a virtual farm tour to demonstrate 'how all things are put together'. The tour was kicked off at the germ chamber, then, after passing through the vestibule viewers are lead to the indoor farm. 

In ZipGrow's seedling station plants the crops are propagated until they are suitable for transplantation to the growth section. The plants are given 16-18 hours of light per day. The crops are penetrated through an up-down, siphon system that allows for three times watering a day. 

The Atom Doser is the 'brain of the farm' as it controls most growing parameters. It monitors, tracks and controls the hydroponic reservoir with customized recipes and irrigation settings. The 1000 sq. ft. farm allows for several crops to be grown, such as leafy greens. 

Have a look at the video below to 'join' the tour. 

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For more information:
ZipGrow
hello@zipgrow.com 
www.zipgrow.com 

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Publication date: Tue 16 Feb 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

February Indoor Ag Science Cafe - February 23rd Tuesday 11 AM Eastern Time - "Indoor Farming In Mexico: Current Status And Opportunities"

Karla Garcia

Microgreen FLN & HortAmericas

• Please sign up so that you will receive Zoom link info.

• Indoor Ag Science Cafe is an open discussion forum, planned and organized by OptimIA project team supported by USDA SCRI grants.

Sign Up Here

Cafe archive & QA forum

Our archived Indoor Ag Science Cafe page in OptimIA website now has a forum function!  Please click on presentations of your interest and ask your quick questions. Notifications come to us and we should be able to respond promptly. 

Submit Your General Questions

For 'Indoor Ag Sci Queries'!

Please submit your questions (anonymously if you wish) about sciences and technologies of indoor farming to this submission site.  Any questions are welcome! The site is always open for your questions. Selected questions will be discussed in our future Indoor Ag Science Queries series.

Indoor Ag Science Cafe is organized by the OptimIA project team funded by USDA SCRI grants program.
Previous café recordings are available in the OptimIA project website.
Please contact for more info: kubota.10@osu.edu

These 2 Companies Are Putting Big Money Into Hawaii’s Agricultural Future. Will Their Bets Pay Off?

A pair of companies backed by a billionaire and a pension fund are trying to revitalize fallow farmland in the state.

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By Brittany Lyte

02-15-21

On Lanai, where shreds of black plastic in the soil are the last vestiges of the island’s defunct pineapple fields, a sliver of long-abandoned farmland is getting an encore — and a reinvention.

In six high-tech greenhouses, a futuristic vision of food-growing is underway — one in which nutrient density and flavor are automated.

It doesn’t matter that the red dirt below the greenhouse is eroded or peppered with plastic that once served as Dole pineapple plantation’s weed control. In fact, the hydroponic tomatoes and leafy greens grown here by Sensei Ag don’t depend on soil at all. 

The ag-tech company founded by Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder who owns nearly all of Lanai’s acreage, and Dr. David Agus, a physician, and medical researcher, is pioneering tools to produce affordable food in places like Lanai that — despite its history as an agricultural plantation — lack traditional farming essentials like water and fertile soil.

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Sensei Farms Lanai, a two-acre indoor farming pilot project by Larry Ellison’s Sensei Ag, produced 35,000 pounds of produce in less than three months last year. Sensei Ag

In doing so, the company is redeploying a scrap of neglected farmland into active agriculture in an attempt to buck an unsettling trend: Hawaii imports more than 85% of its food.

Hawaii has tens of thousands of acres of fallow former sugar and pineapple plantation lands. There are many reasons why this land isn’t being used for farming — inadequate infrastructure, soil erosion, the sky-high price of agricultural real estate. All of these challenges and more make growing food on old plantation acreage unaffordable for most farming operations.

Putting more of this stagnant acreage into food production, however, is a worthwhile goal, experts say, because it could help the state wean itself off of a reliance on the cargo ships and planes that deliver food supplies to the islands. 

“When you bring up Hawaii to anyone anywhere on earth, what they think of is paradise on earth,” said Vincent Mina, president of the Maui Farmers Union United. “But what paradise do you know of that brings in 85% of its food?”

State Efforts Have Fallen Short

Re-fashioning former sugar and pineapple plantations into viable food farms is what the Hawaii Agribusiness Development Corp. was designed to do. 

However, a scathing state audit in January said that the 25-year-old state agency has so far failed its mission because “the economic void created when plantations ceased production remains mostly unfilled.”

Larry Jefts, one of the state’s largest produce producers, recently expanded his farm footprint with access to ADC lands in Central Oahu that had lain fallow since Del Monte stopped pineapple production nearly two decades ago. 

The problem, according to Jefts, is not that the ADC is inert. It’s the state’s poor land use policy that has allowed some farmland to be developed, as well as society’s lack of commitment to local agriculture.

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The Agribusiness Development Corp. has failed in its mission to reinvent Hawaii’s agricultural sector, two recent reports say. Office of the Auditor

“The problem is there’s no will here,” Jefts said. “Good farm ground is coming out to go into solar energy farms because the people who own it can make more money in solar. If they charged that much money to the farmers, the farmers would fail and imported foods would take over.” 

Yet while Jefts is farming on a portion of the 1,200-acre Whitmore Project — land left vacant by Del Monte in 2004 and then acquired by the ADC for local agriculture in 2012 — hundreds of acres attached to the project remain fallow almost 10 years later.

That’s in part due to the time-intensive, bureaucratic process of securing money, permits, and contracts to build and repair the infrastructure required to make more of the acreage farmable, said Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, a champion of the project.

It’s one thing to acquire the land, he said. But it’s another challenge entirely to ready it for farmers who need water, roads, electricity for refrigeration, and food safety-compliant facilities in order to make their businesses financially viable.

“With our state, there’s so many good intentions but just no money to put through to implementation,” said Kirsten Oleson, associate professor of ecological economics at the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

“If we’re serious about doubling production of food that is grown and eaten here, it would take some time to rethink policy and some pretty large and potentially risky investment that the state’s coffers don’t have.”

While state efforts flounder, a pair of new agriculture companies backed by a billionaire and a pension fund are stepping in with lofty goals to revitalize fallow farmland with diversified agriculture operations that aim to help Hawaii wean itself off of imported foods.

A Billionaire’s Bid To Boost Food Security

On Lanai, Sensei Ag is sidestepping many of the traditional high-yield farming requirements: lots of land, lots of water, lots of hard manual labor.

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Founded by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, left, and medical researcher David Agus, Sensei Ag’s goal is to grow food that is more sustainable and nourishing than if it were farmed traditionally.

Sensei Ag

Although the company’s two-acre greenhouse farm is just a scrap of the 20,000 farmed acres that earned Lanai the moniker of the world’s largest pineapple plantation, yields from hydroponics can be far greater than those from conventional soil farming.

Sensei Ag CEO Sonia Lo projects the company will harvest 500,000 pounds of food for statewide consumption in 2021, including Swiss chard, basil, tomatoes, cucumber and eggplant.

“What we’re doing is we’re competing against the likes of Organic Girl that’s coming in from California or Earthbound Farms,” Lo said. “It’s pretty straightforward given that our stuff is a day old or two days old by the time it gets on a shelf as opposed to two weeks or three weeks old.”

Hydroponic growing is capital-intensive, however. Sensei Ag’s approach benefits from the fact that it’s bankrolled by Ellison, one of the richest people in the world.

Lo declined to reveal the amount of financial investment it took for the Lanai pilot project to achieve its inaugural harvest last October, but she acknowledged the role of Ellison’s wealth.

Yet while the cost to build a state-of-the-art greenhouse is out-of-reach for most farmers, indoor farming offers growers a chance to capture significant long-term financial savings since producing food this way requires significantly less land and water than traditional outdoor farming. 

According to Lo, Sensei Farms Lanai requires about 10% of the amount of water it would take to produce a similar harvest in the dirt.

With this in mind, Sensei Ag’s mission includes efforts to make greenhouse farming more accessible. The company is aggregating risk assessment data in hopes that it will encourage banks to finance indoor growing mechanisms such as greenhouses and vertical farms. The company is also writing a playbook for people who want to build a successful indoor farm business, Lo said.

The rise of this kind of high-tech, high-yield farming could be a key to making Hawaii-farmed foods more competitive, according to Jesse Cooke, vice president of investments and analytics at the Ulupono Initiative.

“Using a hydroponic system, you could guarantee that every week you would have the same amount of quantity and the same quality (of produce) — and that’s what you need to sell to a large grocer,” Cooke said. “A lot of outdoor operations can’t guarantee that because they’re at the whim of nature itself.”

Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, agrees that indoor farming could be a game-changer — if Hawaii farmers can figure out how to raise enough capital to build the infrastructure without sabotaging future profits.

“We can grow a lot of things here in Hawaii as far as food products,” Miyamoto said. “What we struggle with is doing it competitively — that’s why we import so much.”

Hawaii can’t rely on billionaires to make the upfront investment in high-tech indoor farming, Oleson said. Rather, the state needs to follow in the footsteps of other countries that enacted public policies to encourage this kind of agriculture.

In places like Israel and the Netherlands, high-tech greenhouses are important food production tools, Oleson said. 

Beyond policy and economics, Oleson said there are aesthetic and cultural considerations associated with scaling up indoor farming in the islands.

“You’re not looking across rolling green landscapes, you’re looking at lands with big infrastructure on it so there’s sometimes social pushback,” Oleson said. “I’m not a Native Hawaiian, but I would be very curious to know the response of the local community to that kind of agriculture because it’s very divorced from the earth.” 

Will Mahi Pono’s ‘Serious Amount Of Money’ Pay Off?

On Maui, a partnership between a California farm management company and a Canadian pension fund is producing food on fallow land resulting from the 2016 closure of the state’s last sugar grower.

Since Mahi Pono bought 41,000 acres of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co.’s former sugar cane fields in 2019, the company has begun growing some of Hawaii’s top food imports — potatoes and onions — in hopes of winning over some of that market share. 

Mahi Pono’s mission to produce foods that Hawaii imports heavily and that are agriculturally possible to grow here is a smart one, according to Oleson. But she said it could be difficult for the company to compete with the price point for potatoes and onions imported from the mainland. 

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In 2016, Hawaii’s last remaining sugar grower shut down an operation that had run for 146 years. Now the 40,000 acres are owned by Mahi Pono, the marriage of a California farm management company and a Canadian pension fund. The company is growing produce with plans to reduce the state’s reliance on imports. Courtesy: Mahi Pono

It might also prove hard to convince consumers to pay more for locally grown potatoes and onions as opposed to more perishable produce.

“Potatoes and onions can sit on a boat and the quality doesn’t decline quite as fast, but all of us know what happens when you buy a box of spinach from Costco and if you don’t eat it that night it turns to slime,” Oleson said. “So the concern is growing foods locally where the freshness really matters.”

But Mahi Pono is growing more than just root vegetables. The company planted over a half million avocado and breadfruit trees, as well as rows of trees to shelter crops from the wind. The company plans to plant its 1 millionth tree by the end of June, according to community relations director Tiare Lawrence.

The company is also growing produce ranging from tangelos and finger limes to broccoli and eggplants, and it’s leasing affordable land and water to small farmers for an annual fee of $150 per acre. 

Ultimately, Mahi Pono’s staple crops will be citrus, papaya, macadamia nuts, and coffee, Lawrence said.

And while the company is exporting papayas to Canada, and eventually plans to export coffee, macadamia nuts, and citrus to markets outside the state, the majority of the food produced by Mahi Pono will feed Hawaii’s people, Lawrence said.

“I personally think these lands can be brought into production,” Lawrence said. “We’ve seen it across Hawaii where farmers have been able to take former sugar and pineapple lands and turn it into a thriving farm and I refuse to entertain doomsday scenarios.”

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Mahi Pono is growing red, yellow, and white potatoes with the goal of stealing away some of the Hawaii market share from mainland-grown potatoes. Courtesy: Mahi Pono

But the farm enterprise faces many challenges. 

With an average wind speed of 30 miles per hour in the Central Maui plains, there are erosion issues, as well as crop damage from pests, deer, and pigs. 

“We really can’t plant a field unless we fence it in, so that adds to our costs,” Lawrence said. 

There’s also the problem of the former plantation’s aging, outdated infrastructure.

“Mahi Pono has spent a serious amount of money in updating the irrigation systems and making repairs to wells,” Lawrence said.

If Mahi Pono can surmount these challenges and find success, Cooke of Ulupono said the operation will be an example to follow.

“If they can get it up and running, that could be one of the hugest transformations that Hawaii has seen, especially going towards local food for local consumption,” Cooke said. “The worry is that it doesn’t work and somehow the land gets zoned residential and a housing development goes up.”

“Hawaii Grown” is funded in part by grants from the Ulupono Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Marisla Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation, and the Frost Family Foundation. 

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Brittany Lyte

Brittany Lyte is a reporter for Civil Beat. You can reach her by email at blyte@civilbeat.org or follow on Twitter at @blyte

Use the RSS feed to subscribe to Brittany Lyte's posts today

Why I Moved From California To Kansas To Grow Leafy Greens In All Seasons

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By Brad Fourby

January 9, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Brad Fourby runs Leafy Green Farms LLC, a hydroponic shipping container farm in Pittsburg.

Google Maps says the distance between Sacramento, California, and Pittsburg, Kansas, is 1,842 miles.

This year has been tough, with COVID shutdowns, a heart attack, bypass surgery, and the loss of a loved one. All of this slowed me down but did not stop me from leaving California and starting a year-round container farm that will provide Pittsburg with fresh leafy vegetables like lettuces, basils, and arugula.

Good nutrition starts with what is on your plate. Knowing where your food comes from and how it was grown is becoming more important to everyone.

While living in downtown Sacramento, I started Innovative Farms. I would build and help consult with others interested in aquaponics, growing fish and plants together in small places. Small towns have to wait and pay higher prices for food that has been grown and transported from California, China, Argentina, and other countries. The produce is picked early so that it may ripen in transit on ships or trucks while being treated with chemicals along the way.

Through this work, I met longtime Pittsburg residents Rob and Sara Morris, owners of Energy Group Consultants. They told me that Pittsburg and Crawford County were considered a food desert — like much of the Midwest, grocers in Crawford County import their food, while producers export what they grow, such as corn and soybeans.

I would visit the city a few times a year and got to know some of the people and businesses. I loved the vibe of the place.

Rob and Sara and I discussed increasing the farm-to-table opportunities in Pittsburg. We talked about container farming, using repurposed shipping containers that have been outfitted with computer-controlled vertical hydroponics. This highly efficient method requires no pesticides or herbicides to grow vegetables that can be harvested weekly regardless of the climate.

My previous experience with aquaponics reminded me of Freight Farms, a Boston farm manufacturer with a great track record of successful farms worldwide. Their farm design was expandable, and vegetables could grow in any weather condition.

I came up with the outline of a business plan. With three farms, my goal was to begin year-round harvests this winter in Pittsburg and support the farm-to-table lifestyle.

I began making phone calls to the city. Compared to the regulation and tax heavy California, Kansas felt welcoming to new business. I heard the term “agri-tourism,” and the idea of new agricultural developments directly helping the area was exciting for many people I spoke with.

The city planners loved the idea of a new business that supported other existing businesses like restaurants, grocers, and the farmers market community, many of them hurt by the COVID shutdowns.

Working with Pittsburg State University’s Small Business Development Center, I created a final business plan. Equity Bank signed on to assist with the Small Business Administration loan process.

So far it has been a real team effort. We really picked up steam after a call with Mike Green, Equity Bank’s small business banker. Turns out he grew up on a farm and instantly recognized the value the business would be to the entire area. We talked about how freshly picked non-chemically treated vegetables actually taste. The difference is night and day.

After that call I knew for sure Pittsburg would be the home of Leafy Green Farms.

The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative then stepped in and awarded the business $15,000 to assist with operating and equipment expenses. This kind of support was a real boost for everyone. KHFI and our farm goals are very much aligned.

It turned out that everyone agreed: Every Kansan should have access to healthy, affordable food.

The idea of more fresh food being produced in Pittsburg was something Live Well Crawford County director Brad Stroud told me he has been very supportive of. Joining their network has been a very positive experience.

We hope that by adding farms that are unique to the area that grows specialty crops, more people will visit the city and frequent some of the supporting businesses. We will take input from chefs and the community palate, and restaurants in the area will be able to offer menu items that their counterparts in large cities have no chance of offering. Our list of available herbs, roots, and vegetables is long and our variety is huge, with Firecracker Leaf Lettuce, Sylvesta Butterhead, and even Wasabi Arugula.

Sacramento County has around 1.5 million people, Crawford County 38,000. Many of my California friends and family are watching my move with great anticipation. When someone asks “Why Kansas?” my answer has remained the same since the beginning: Kansas is open for business.

Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

Lead photo: A Freight Farms container on its way to a destination. (Submitted by Leafy Green Farms to Kansas Reflector)

A New White House Signals New Opportunities For AgTech Startups. Are We Up For The Challenge?

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February 9, 2021

Editor’s note: Ponsi Trivisvavet is CEO at Inari, a seed genetics startup based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The views expressed in this guest article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of AFN.

Much has been analyzed and debated as the new administration enters the White House, but President Joe Biden has made a number of appointments that clearly illustrate his commitment to addressing climate change and the critical role science will play.

He has elevated the role of Science Advisor to a cabinet-level position. It will be filled by mathematician, geneticist, MIT professor, and founding director of the Broad Institute, Eric Lander.

Biden has also created a new White House Office of Climate Policy. And one of his very first acts as president was signing executive orders to enable the US to rejoin the international Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation.

It’s also clear that agriculture will play a major role, with Biden saying, “we see farmers making American agriculture first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions and gaining new sources of income in the process.”

Invest with Impact. Click here.

Secretary of Agriculture nominee Tom Vilsack, who looks set to return to the post he held during the Obama administration, has indicated that he will quickly ramp up programs to combat climate change.

Simply put, “expect administrative actions aplenty from a variety of USDA [US Department of Agriculture] agencies to combat climate change,” he said.

The time is right

The need couldn’t be more pressing, or more clear. 2020 was one of the hottest years on record, tied with 2016 .Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus service, noted it is “no surprise that the last decade was the warmest on record, and is yet another reminder of the urgency of ambitious emissions reductions to prevent adverse climate impacts in the future.”

Research reported by ScienceNews projects global farmland will need to grow 3.4 million square kilometers – approximately the size of India – by 2050 to meet the needs of a growing population. But, as the article notes, an overhaul of the global food system could drastically reduce the need for land while still feeding the world’s ever-expanding population.

The need to address climate change is nothing new, but the new White House is signaling new opportunities for agriculture to lead the way with science and technology.

Agriculture has an impressive history: the technology of recent times has allowed food producers to keep pace with the spectacular growth in the population, with approximately 6 billion more mouths to feed in the last 60 years alone. But agriculture currently requires more resources than can be replaced. This is clearly not sustainable.

A radical new approach is needed, and startups have the agility to bring new technology to market at the pace which is required. So, are we up to the challenge?

Leading with technology

The problem to date isn’t a lack of desire to address these pressing environmental issues. Simply put, existing practices and technology cannot sustainably feed a world of 8 billion people.

There is a great deal of focus being put on soil, which is critical; but let’s not forget the seed. Everything we grow begins with a seed – it holds all of the potential and determines the resources needed to grow.

The seed technology on the market today is primarily focused on pest and weed management. This was critical in meeting the demands of the recent past and will certainly continue to be relevant as we move forward.

However, in our efforts to address these issues, we inadvertently reduced the diversity in major crops – one of nature’s best survival tools – by selecting for traits that best met the needs of the day.

So, how can we bring back biodiversity without sacrificing productivity or growing crops that require more resources?

By designing better seeds.

At Inari, our SEEDesign platform aims to take on this challenge with the ambitious goal of satisfying demand while enriching the environment. Through predictive design and advanced multiplex gene editing, we are developing seeds that generate a positive impact on the planet. This technology is capable of addressing any crop in any geography.

Advanced multiplex gene editing opens the door to new possibilities with seed because it can address very complex genetic challenges.

President Biden and the future of regenerative agriculture in the US – read more here

To make a significant impact on yield or dramatically improve a plant’s use of water, you have to make multiple changes within a single plant. Basic gene knockout is often too blunt of an editing tool to properly address all of the changes required. While you might need to knock out a gene in one part of the code, another might require only a slight adjustment; whereas another might need to be replaced altogether, all within the same seed.

These types of edits aren’t simple, but are possible with the right technology. By understanding the full potential of seed, we can unlock new possibilities and better address the specific needs of growers based on their land, creating more diversity in the seeds being planted.

It’s not that others have decided not to tackle these complex issues within a seed – it’s simply that the technology didn’t exist. As startups, this is where our agility comes into play. When you are small, it’s easier to be nimble and quickly pivot.

Value creation across the system

Despite historical advances, the people who grow our food have not always received their fair share of the value created by new technology. While Vilsack recently spoke of creating a “whole new suite of revenue streams” for farm income, it’s equally important to ensure value creation with new technology being brought to market.

Part of the struggle in the past is that regulatory hurdles associated with genetic modification of seeds added significant time and cost. This made it nearly impossible for anyone but the large industry players to compete. The added time and costs also played a role in driving competitive intellectual property and exclusivity strategies, which only contributed to further to cost.

Conversely, the regulatory environment for gene-editing technology in the US will enable a clear and efficient path to get the technologies in the hands of growers. This will also help to democratize the technology and let players of all sizes compete in the development of new solutions.

In order to ensure value creation across the food system, we’re going to have to work with the new White House to ensure clear paths to market. This will encourage competition at every level and bring more viable solutions to growers.

In sharing value creation with farmers, we not only protect their income, but allow their communities to benefit as well.

Making agriculture the climate hero

With clear signals from the Biden administration, now is the time for startups to show our leadership with truly innovative solutions.

Many of us have dedicated our work to finding more sustainable solutions for agriculture. We have been asking for the opportunity to show how agriculture can mitigate climate change and we’ve seen a number of organizations roll-out ‘net zero’ commitments. This is a great start.

I challenge my fellow agtech leaders – especially those in the startup space – to work towards a shared goal of positively impacting the environment with the technology we bring forward. We know our organizations are best suited to move at the speed which is required to meet the challenges ahead. Let’s work in cooperation to address the needs of our industry and the planet.

So, are we up for the challenge?

I believe we are.

WIA Summit Europe Agenda Announced

International Women’s Day marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. Take your place at the virtual Women in Agribusiness Summit Europe where we celebrate women’s expertise in the Ag industry and find solutions to tipping the scales toward parity.

Sessions And Interactive Workshops Include:

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Farming Goes Indoors

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By JOY LEE

06 Feb 2021

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Beyond profits: Lim, seen here briefing an investor, says the company is also looking at creating new high-valued jobs and generate income for local communities.

THE pandemic has shone a light on many of the gaps that exist in the country’s economy. And one of these is the need for better food security, an issue that resonated with Gerard Lim long before Covid-19.

Many years ago, he started noticing that most of the vegetables sold in local supermarkets and grocers were not necessarily the best of quality as top-grade vegetables grown here were mainly exported. That means locals were consuming lower grade vegetables.

Additionally, a lot of the vegetables that can be grown in Malaysia were, in fact, imported.

Lim wasn’t a farmer but he knew that technology could help boost quality production for local consumption and improve the local supply chain for vegetables.

“My exposure and experience with farming started about five years ago when I introduced smart farming solutions using sensors, the Internet of Things, and Big Data to various farmers. But I found that many farmers in Malaysia were smallholders who could not afford the technology.

“I knew that if I wanted to move the needle, I had to adopt the technology and build large commercial scale, industrial-grade farms to achieve better economies of scale.

“What was compelling to me was that I was not alone in wanting better quality food and vegetables. There was a ready and strong demand from friends and contacts who wanted the same good quality, clean and fresh vegetables, ” he points out.

Lim has vast experience with tech startups and had previously served in the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

When he left the regulatory body last year, the time seemed right to embark on a venture that would focus on scaling up smart farming. And with the Covid-19 pandemic ongoing, it became even more evident that there was a need to grow food and vegetables closer to where they are consumed.

He founded Agroz Group Sdn Bhd, an agritech and indoor vertical farming company, to simplify the distribution supply chain of vegetables while reducing the long- and mid-haul transport of vegetables from far away farms. This is done by establishing indoor vertical farms to grow vegetables in local neighbourhoods instead.

Lim is targeting to build 100,000 sq ft of indoor vertical farms in Malaysia this year to make Agroz the largest indoor vertical farm operator in Malaysia.

While it should seem like a no-brainer to support a move into the agriculture industry at a time like this, Lim notes that it is not all straightforward. A lot of stakeholders do not understand that smart farming is different from traditional farms.

“Malaysia does not have policies to support the use of advanced technologies for smart farming, urban farming and indoor vertical farming. So, existing special grants, incentives and loans are provided for the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides for traditional farming but there are no grants, incentives and loans for the use of technology in smart farming, ” he says.

This makes it a challenge for the company to access ongoing assistance for the agriculture industry.

The lack of policy support and guidelines also make it difficult for them to get funding from financial institutions. Lim says most banks in Malaysia were not particularly supportive of indoor vertical farming as they do not understand these new modern, high-tech forms of farming.

Agroz is currently seeking to raise RM100mil through the issuance of redeemable convertible preference shares to fund its expansion.

Lim says the company has drawn interest from several investors, both local and foreign, and they are in the midst of evaluating some of these offers. He is, however, open to any other interest.

To sweeten the deal for potential investors, Lim is looking at exit plans in five years’ time, either through an initial public offering or via a trade sale to a special purpose acquisition company.

At the moment, Agroz has a small farm in Seri Kembangan, Selangor. It is in the midst of building a 3,000 sq ft farm in Sg Buloh and upgrading a commercial-scale indoor vertical farm in Shah Alam to 90,000 sq ft.

Lim believes Agroz’s indoor vertical farms will complement traditional farming.

“Customers who demand for higher quality will prefer to buy their vegetables from sources like Agroz, which delivers clean, fresh and quality vegetables from farms that you can see and are located within your neighbourhood.

“At the same time, we need to recognise that the market is huge with Malaysia importing over RM5bil worth of vegetables in 2019 alone. And this number is increasing.

“So it will take an entire industry of indoor vertical farmers to grow clean and fresh vegetables in farms within the city before we even make a dent in the traditional agriculture space. Taking even a 10% share, which is only RM500mil, of the multi-billion ringgit market would take some time, ” he says.

However, its efforts, and perhaps that of many other budding agritech companies that have popped up in recent times, are moving in the right direction.

Lim points out that Malaysia ranks 28th on the 2019 Global Food Security (GFS) Index, according to the Economist Group. Singapore, on the other hand, which hardly produces its own food, has topped the index two years in a row, in 2018 and 2019.

A myriad of advanced technologies to ensure that the methods and approach of growing food is repeatable, scalable and traceable to feed a growing population is key to achieving better sufficiency to meet domestic demands.

“We also aim to create hundreds of new high-valued jobs and generate income in our local communities heading into this post-Covid-19 era, ” Lim says.

In some countries, green jobs have been mulled over as a potential area to generate jobs to help with economic recovery. This could also be a space that policymakers could explore further.

Currently, Agroz’s produce is sold directly to consumers through a subscription programme and also supplied to neighbourhood grocers, eateries, restaurants and the hospitality industry.

The company is already growing 200kg of produce per month and will soon have the capacity to grow 1 tonne per day from the various farms already committed.

Once its 100,000 sq ft of indoor vertical farms is achieved, it is expected to produce 3 tonnes of vegetables every day.

Agroz has a current order book of RM5mil to license its technology including supply of its indoor vertical farm systems to warehouses and land asset owners as well as through supply of vegetable products to consumers and businesses. Lim says its got more orders in the pipeline.

TAGS / KEYWORDS:SME , Startup , Indoor Farming , Agroz ,

TOPIC: Corporate News SME

How Vertical Farming Is Taking Off

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By George Nott

5 February 2021

Food supply chains are under more scrutiny than ever in the era of coronavirus and Brexit. The vertical farming movement offers solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing agriculture today

This feature is the first in a two-part series on the future of farming 

Michiel Peters has been fielding some frantic calls in recent weeks. “People are saying, ‘You have to come now! We’re sorry we didn’t call you a year earlier!’” the CEO of vertical farming company PlantLab reports.

It seems vertical farming has reached a tipping point. For a long time, any consideration of the method soon ended with unit economics. But the price of produce has been rapidly falling – to the point that it’s now beginning to compete with traditional farms. And the unique advantages of vertical farming are suddenly coming into sharp relief for manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. So much so that the sector is preparing for a huge boom in interest and investment.

Indeed, demand is so heightened that Peters and his peers are having to turn potential customers away. Could now be vertical farming’s big moment?

“It’s not really a question of ‘if’ anymore. It’s going to happen,” Peters says. “And it’s already happening. It’s a matter of scaling up now.”

The benefits lie in the vertical farming method. Produce is grown indoors under LED lights, with a plant’s roots typically suspended in nutrient-rich water or mist. Temperature, humidity and light is carefully regulated within the sealed environment, and more plants can be packed into a space, on racks that can be seven storeys high.

While yield per square metre, low water consumption and lack of soil or pesticides have long been touted as the method’s main selling points, another one is becoming increasingly important: a guaranteed, year-round supply situated right where it is needed.

“On a small island or in remote locations, vertical farms can have a tremendous impact on food supply, especially in Covid times,” says Peters. “The food chain is typically very long and sensitive. When things break down, people realise their security of supply is not always a given.”

“It’s not really a question of ‘if’ any more. It’s going to happen. It’s a matter of scaling up now”

That’s not to say vertical farming businesses have been immune from the effects of the pandemic. The construction of Amsterdam-based PlantLab’s second overseas site in the Bahamas is being thwarted by current travel restrictions, for example. But Covid, and the disruption it has wreaked on global supply chains, is ultimately helping the sector make its case.

“There’s huge interest from island economies, hot economies and countries that have a higher propensity to import and have less arable land,” says Jamie Burrows, CEO of London-based Vertical Future. “From Iceland to Singapore, they all have very similar requirements.”

Plus, the pandemic isn’t the only threat to imports, Burrows adds. “If you import a lot of food, climate change is going to impact the countries that are producing that food for you. Even now, there have been pretty significant inflections in price on shelves and availability because of small fluctuations in temperature during the key growing seasons,” he explains.

And there is yet another factor that is throwing vertical farming into the spotlight in the UK, specifically: Brexit. That’s not just down to the immediate effect of imports disruption. The local produce sector remains riddled with uncertainty over access to the many seasonal workers that used to come from the EU, with a potential labour crisis looming.

Indoor farms, which are typically highly automated, require far fewer people to run. Furthermore, with constant harvesting, a small and constant rather than large and seasonal workforce is needed.

The yield and potential of vertical farming

The market opportunity for vertical farms is huge. Barclays Research analysts estimate the size of the global fruit & vegetable market is roughly $1.2tn (£800bn), and calculate that the addressable produce market for vertical farms is closer to $700bn (£513bn), leading to an approximately $50bn (£36.7bn) market opportunity. Plus, vertical farming boasts some environmental benefits, as produce requires less water and space to grow

Jones Food Company’s Scunthorpe vertical farm is a prime example. It has 26 tennis courts of growing space, operating 365 days a year – with a staff of six.

“Imagine if you have next to no labour in a farm that big. One of your largest costs is one you can really attack,” says James Lloyd-Jones, JFC CEO, and founder.

As a bonus, businesses such as JFC can boast lower carbon emissions than outdoor farms. While energy-intensive – to make up for the lack of natural sunlight – sector argues overall carbon savings are made when indoor farms are positioned close to where produce is needed, drastically reducing food miles.

Furthermore, Peters says, “if you make the chain radically short, you don’t need to waste so much of the harvest. You can avoid it altogether.”

This element could be particularly important to retailers with ambitious carbon commitments. “Retailers are being asked more questions than they’d probably like about carbon. You can’t just fudge it any more,” says Lloyd-Jones.

It’s not all plain sailing, though. There are some major hurdles for the sector to overcome – chiefly,  the huge capex needed to build an indoor farm. Because of this, many vertical farming companies, whose main interest is in providing the technology for the farms to function, are becoming farm operators and even consumer brands.

PlantLab launched its first US production site – or ‘Plant Paradise’ – in December, within a former battery factory near Indianapolis city centre.

Having spent some time “working in relative silence” on the technology, PlantLab is now a site developer and operator. Local partners distribute and brand the end product into local supermarkets. As patent holder for its indoor farming tech in 74 countries, it is also in talks with major players about licensing the IP. But, adds Peters: “We’ve started this company to change the world, not just sit behind a desk and talk about licenses.”

It helps that PlantLab can point to the success of its own farms. Because building farms yourself is necessary to prove the technology and economics, says Lloyd-Jones. “There’s a lot of vertical farming companies that are tech companies, but they don’t grow anything so the person buying is the guinea pig,” he says.

For his part, he’s looking to refine the JFC concept further before embarking on a licensing model. The company already has plenty of expertise. Ocado-backed JFC is Europe’s largest vertical high-care farming operation, its 5,000 sq m facility stacking up 12 metres high with more than 17 layers of produce. But it will go one step further with its two new sites in the Midlands and the south west, due to open by the end of this year.

They will be more technologically advanced – “it’s like we built the first iPhone in Scunthorpe. We’ve jumped to making the iPhone 8,” Lloyd-Jones says – and will provide enough produce to meet 25% of UK demand for herbs.

The end goal is to develop a “cookie cutter” vertical farm that can be quickly and cheaply built wherever needed. “Once we’re happy with that we’ll look at a licensing model where we build these facilities all round the world. But anyone building them will know they’ve been stressed, used and run at 100%,” he says.

The model for vertical farming firms then is likely to be akin to Ocado and Ocado Retail, where the latter proves the case for the former’s technology, which rivals then adopt.

So similar, in fact, that Ocado itself is looking to get involved. In February last year, it  formed Infinite Acres – a joint venture with Netherlands-based automation tech provider Priva Holding BV and US-based 80 Acres Farms, a vertical farm operator and brand. Customers have two options. They can either partner with Infinite Acres to build their own farm, or they can have 80 Acres run a farm on their behalf using that same technology.

If companies get it right, the licensing model can be lucrative. See Vertical Future for proof. It has two farms in London, with three more being built, but the output of the farms is only a small part of the business. “We retain them to keep our finger on the pulse and customer trends and it validates what we’re doing,” says Burrows. “Ninety-five per cent or more of our revenue now is from technology sales and software.”

Funding flurry

That potential has prompted a flurry of investment in the sector, kicked off in 2017 by Japanese media giant SoftBank, Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt and outgoing Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ funding of San Francisco vertical farming startup Plenty. Plenty has now raised more than $200m in venture funding.

With it has come a lot of hype. “There is a lot of hot air in vertical farming,” Burrows says. “People can make crazy claims – one company said it could grow a head of lettuce in five days, which is ridiculous. And there is a lot of smoke and mirrors and low-grade companies trying to jump on the bandwagon.

“The risk is farms will fail and make the sector look bad,” he adds. “The impact for the good companies is investors will look at the sector and say it seems risky.”

Nevertheless, the pile-on is ultimately a positive thing, says Peters. “It’s maybe a matter of culture. In the US things tend to be more hyped and people tend to promise the world – then figure out after they have the money, they still need to do all the R&D,” he explains. “But it all helps to underline it’s really happening, and makes it acceptable and credible to consumers.”

Just how big vertical farming can get remains to be seen. Barclays estimates a $50bn (£36.7bn) market opportunity. As a total share of fresh produce output, it’s “going to be a single digit for years” says Burrows. “But as a standalone sector the growth rates are very high and will continue to be.”

Indeed, although it is currently focused on a small range of herbs and leafy greens, ultimately “you can grow anything” says Lloyd-Jones. While staples like rice and wheat might not be viable now, that will soon change. Competitive prices will doubtless be added to vertical farming’s multitude of advantages.

“We don’t want to get stuck in just being a premium, niche product that will only be affordable by a small part of the market,” says Peters. “We want to change the world.” Suddenly, that aim seems within reach.

Five firms leading the global vertical farming movement

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InFarm

Vertical farms don’t have to be on a grand scale. In fact, they can fit in a chiller cabinet. InFarm places production right in the supermarket aisles at clients including Whole Foods Market and M&S.

“Modern agricultural production is built on a supply chain that is vulnerable to ecological and supply shocks. The global pandemic highlighted this. Retailers are having difficulties importing fresh produce, highlighting the need to develop a local and sustainable supply chain,” says Daniel Kats, VP of corporate sales.

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Source: LettUs Grow

LettUs Grow

Bristol start-up LettUs Grow specialises in aeroponic farms that fit within a shipping container. Customers can purchase the full “business in a box”, which includes the grow beds and control system.

“Unlike a traditional farm, you’re not limited by location or climate. Your container farm needs no fertile land to operate and with its advanced climate control system, every day is a perfect summer’s day with ideal growing conditions,” LettUs Grow says. The company has raised a total £3.4m.

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Source: PlantLab

PlantLab

This Dutch indoor farming firm launched its Indianapolis site in December. The 54,000 sq ft farm, developed in partnership with the Englewood Community Development Corporation, will provide an annual supply of close to 45,000 kg of fresh herbs and lettuce to local supermarkets and foodservice companies.

The fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and herbs grown in the ‘Plant Paradise’ are being marketed under the brand name Uplift, with the tagline ‘good food on purpose’.

Source: CropOne

CropOne

The world’s largest vertical farm is being built in Dubai, a joint venture between US firm Crop One and Emirates Flight Catering.

The $40m, 130,000 sq ft controlled environment facility will produce 6,000 pounds of high-quality, herbicide and pesticide-free leafy greens, harvested daily.

“We secure our own supply chain of high-quality and locally-sourced fresh vegetables, while significantly reducing our environmental footprint,” said Saeed Mohammed, EFC CEO.

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Source: AeroFarms

AeroFarms

US firm AeroFarms last year announced it was building a 90,000 sq ft vertical farm in Abu Dhabi, which will be the world’s largest indoor agriculture research centre. The facility will house research centres for plant reproduction, seed breeding, machine learning and vision as well as robotics.

The company has grown more than 800 varieties of crops and is eyeing opportunity beyond food production in other industries like pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical and nutraceutical.

The Grocer

Lead photo: Source: AeroFarms

Topics: Farming Fruit & Veg Supply chain Sustainability & environment Technology

USA - ALASKA: Big Grants & New Ideas

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Customized Vertical Farming

VH Hydroponics has modular growing systems, cabinets, and shipping containers for scalable vertical farming to meet the needs of anyone - individuals, organizations, communities, hotels, and schools - who want fresh, healthy choices and food security.

Multiple Delicious Options

Micro-Grant Scoping Pre-Application

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Due February 15th

$1.8 million dollars in Mico-Grants for Food Security are available in 2021.

Full details at the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Agriculture

The first step is to submit the Pre-Scoping Application by the February 15th deadline.

“Autonomy Will Not Happen Until We Start Sharing Data”

In an emerging industry with companies eager to prove their technologies’ worth, Sensei Ag remains form-factor agnostic, meaning that the agtech company remains unbiased towards different farm hardware solutions – focusing more on software and plant biology.

Sensei Ag is a market-changing agtech company that develops agile growing solutions through a highly iterative approach to farming, focused on improving the nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables while also reducing production costs. The company combines plant science, computer vision, machine learning, automation and artificial intelligence into its growing systems.

According to Sensei Ag CEO Sonia Lo, remaining form factor agnostic is key to the company’s mission of providing hyper-nutritious food to as large a consumer base as possible, which it achieves through both vertical farms and greenhouses.

Image from: Sensei Ag

“We believe that the most robust data comes from operating farms of multiple types. So, not just vertical farms, but also low-tech and high-tech greenhouses. And with vertical farms, we are looking at a number of form factors. Our end goal is to be  a grower’s resource and know more about growing at scale with different form factors than anyone else.”

The company is also a strong advocate for open data in the vertical farming industry, which is currently lacking, as evidenced by the siloed development of multiple systems and products, some of which cannot be easily integrated into third-party systems.

“There are lots of data flows and increasingly inexpensive farm management systems. The question, then, is the organization of data into intelligence. Intelligence facilitates autonomy, and as we manage data flows, more farms can become autonomous. But I don’t think autonomy will happen until we start sharing data. For example, we saw an automation supplier with a great robot.

The problem was the robot only works in their ecosystem, so you have to buy the whole farming solution in order for the one robot to work. Ideally, that robot would be plug and play and be able to work in greenhouses and vertical farms,” says Sonia.

Image from: Sensei Ag

According to Sonia, open data in the vertical farming industry may currently be restricted by the dominance of venture financing, which has its own return mandates to fulfill and sometimes wants a “winner takes it all” mentality for the ventures it chooses to back. While such financing has allowed the vertical farming industry to emerge, it may ultimately hinder the industry’s scalability and information sharing.

“There is definitely a capital model in Silicon Valley and in venture capital world in general which is not focused on profitability but is focused on technological achievement and market penetration. We saw this in solar and in the renewables industry when multiple venture capital funds invested in solar assets. Then, the bottom fell out because government subsidies fell away in certain jurisdictions.

I hope that agricultural infrastructure currently financed by venture capital will not necessarily follow the same pathway as solar, but will instead find a public-private partnership model. At some point, these farms need to demonstrate a profit for the debt capital markets to allow scale to occur.”

Image from: Sensei Ag

By embracing open data and transparency, Sonia explains that the vertical farming industry can further mature and iterate with technology to continue lowering costs. By continuously collecting and sharing data from different farm forms, the vertical farming industry would have better insights into the true costs which, according to Sonia, “helps drive scale because it enables the finance community to understand how the farms can be risk assessed and financed.”

Looking ahead, Sensei Ag hopes to form partnerships around the world to bring its innovative, data-driven growing systems across the globe. Taking the Middle East, China and Japan as examples, Sonia explained that the goal would be to choose strategic partners in each region whose local knowledge and business prowess would allow Sensei Ag to iterate its technologies appropriately and serve local markets, bringing cost-competitive farming techniques and nutritious, local produce around the world.

Advice For New Vertical Farmers: Grower Spotlight on Andrew Worrall

Last week we spoke about running a farm at LettUs Grow. What excites you about vertical farming? 

It’s the future of the industry. Also, the amount of salad that these farms can produce for their local community. We want to be able to eat salad all year round and we import to make that happen. However, just a small farm can easily provide for its local community, very efficiently and all year round. The sustainability element is also exciting: with our salad there’s no food miles, it’s very minimalistic. You could use an electric van or bike to distribute this crop if you wanted to. It’s a step forward in terms of what we need to do to take care of our planet. 

What do you think are the biggest downsides to vertical farming?

It’s still a new technology and it can be expensive. The biggest roadblock facing the industry is that we need more people and companies to collaborate together to make sure we can build these farms at a sensible rate, so we can provide farms to anyone. We want to be able to provide farms to people, communities and countries that don’t have a lot of money, so that they can provide affordable fresh produce to local people. 

How has vertical farming impacted your life?

Massively!  I wanted to find my passion, a job that I loved - that was very important to me. It’s satisfying to be in a position now where I’m very happy to be doing what I do and I look forward to going into work. I was happy to make the move from London to Bristol. I would have moved even further if it meant being able to continue working within this industry.

Image from: LettUs Grow

How do you see vertical farming playing a part in the future? 

When indoor farming first came about, it had a reputation of being competition for outdoor farming, which just isn’t the case. There’s so much we can’t grow that outdoor farming can provide, such as cereal crops. I’m glad we’re at a stage where indoor and outdoor farms can start to work together to optimise both methods. With these new relationships, there should be a good increase in the amount of indoor farms you’ll be seeing. What LettUs Grow offers with DROP & GROW™ is an exciting project because that’s a 40ft shipping container which can be placed pretty much anywhere. It’s not that big - it could go in a car park or behind a restaurant, but actually provide quite a lot of salad to that area. 

How much of our food should be grown this way? 

Good question. If you had asked me a while back I would have just said salad, but now I’ve changed my mind. Indoor farming can have a massive impact on propagation, especially aeroponics, because of how we aerate and nourish our roots. We could start lettuce for greenhouse projects and we can also propagate tomatoes, strawberries and tree whips. Propagating trees in this way could potentially be hugely beneficial and it’s something we want to do more of. 

We can also quickly grow large amounts of microgreens, baby leafs, herbs and we can grow fruiting crops like strawberries. We are slowly chipping away and it’s really exciting. I’m waiting to see if I can ever say I’ve grown or propagated every crop that can be grown in these farms! 

What do you think are the biggest benefits of vertical farming? 

How fast these crops can grow! The turnover can be as short as 5 days from seed, depending on the crop. Also how clean it can be - I’m very dedicated to making sure these farms are built to ensure they are easy to be maintained and clean. The most exciting part is the crop growth rate though - it’s incredible how fast our crop grows from seed to plate. In a very well maintained growing calendar, which Ostara® is great for supporting, you can optimise your beds so that the day you harvest can also be the day you germinate onto that same bed. Your farms can be forever providing salad at very fast rates. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

What was the biggest change you encountered during your years indoor farming?

Moving from being a production grower to an R&D grower. It has been a great change! As a production grower I knew what I needed to know about growing the plant safely and getting it onto a plate so it was good for the consumer. Now I’m fully optimising, learning and understanding the plants completely, so that I can help the grower that I used to be. We spend a lot of time on crop recipes to make sure that whoever we sell our farms to can start up very quickly and they won’t have to spend months developing their crops. If they have the customers and clients behind them, they can buy DROP & GROW and start producing salad as soon as it's been commissioned. 

What was the biggest change you encountered in the industry?

More and more people are speaking about what’s going on in the industry and getting involved. I get so many messages on LinkedIn with people who want to get into this career. It’s exciting to see that indoor growing is a career people can access now. When I was developing my skills I didn’t know I would end up in indoor farming. There are more opportunities than ever before. For example, our Crop Technician is doing a placement here for 2 years. The aim is that they can gain the skill sets and knowledge they need to then go off and do the same practice in any farm they want. 

What advice do you have for people who are looking to start a career in growing? 

Reach out to companies who are already out there. You could start off part-time or as an assistant. If you are patient and dedicated then it’s a journey I promise you won’t regret. It takes a lot of work, but the outcome is amazing - you’ll be learning so much about this new technology. You’ll also build great relationships: there are so many amazing people in this industry who are so interesting, with different backgrounds, who are willing to share their knowledge. You can always learn more and other people are a great source of that. 

What about for those looking to start a vertical farming business?

Do your homework.  There are people out there who you can reach out to and it’s very easy to get information. It’s very easy to get excited about the idea and jump straight into it, because it is exciting and can be very rewarding, but it’s really important to do it step by step. Know how to scale properly, learning the differences between a small and larger farm. Understand how many people you’ll need and the logistics. I’d also advise people to get some practical work experience before you buy. You want to start the company knowing the tricks of the trade. 

Image from: LettUs Grow

LettUs Grow Blog: www.lettusgrow.com/blog/advice-for-vertical-farmers

US - NEW MEXICO: ‘Farm in a Box’ Coming To Grants

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BY KEVIN ROBINSON-AVILA /

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fresh, locally produced vegetables will soon sprout from hydroponic beds in an enclosed, converted shipping container parked at New Mexico State University’s branch campus in Grants.

The 40-foot “Farm in a Box” will provide hands-on education and workforce training for local students and others interested in studying the emerging science of “indoor agriculture” as a new, potentially sustainable, enterprise that could offer fresh economic development opportunities and job creation in an area hard hit by the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

NMSU, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, and the National Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are collaborating on the project.

It’s one of several initiatives under development with local, state, and federal backing to diversify economic activity in Cibola, McKinley, and San Juan counties, where coal-fired power plants and associated mining have provided a financial mainstay for workers and communities for decades.

Both Cibola and McKinley counties are reeling from last year’s shutdown of the coal-fired Escalante Generating Station near Grants, plus the closure of Marathon Petroleum’s oil refinery in Gallup, which together eliminated hundreds of stable, high-paying jobs in those northwestern communities.

Unemployment hit 10.8% in Cibola County in December and 10.2% in McKinley County, according to the state Department of Workforce Solutions. That compares to an 8.2% average statewide unemployment rate.

To ease the impact of Escalante’s closure and assist in transitioning local communities, Tri-State provided $5 million in grants in January to four local economic development organizations. It is also now sponsoring the Farm in a Box initiative, providing $250,000 to set up and equip the high-tech container unit that houses the indoor agricultural operation, with forthcoming grants for NMSU faculty and student assistants to work on the project.

“We realize that closing such coal facilities as the Escalante plant that have traditionally employed significant workforces creates very difficult challenges for local communities to replace those jobs,” Tri-State spokesman Mark Stutz said. “Our goal is to find opportunities in support of economic development with new technologies when we can.”

Tri-State permanently closed the 253-megawatt Escalante power plant in Pruitt last summer as part of the association’s long-term plan to completely withdraw from coal generation over the next decade. It laid off about two-thirds of the plant’s 107 employees, Stutz said.

TriState also plans to close a much larger, 1.3-gigawatt coal facility in Craig, a municipality in Moffat County, Colorado, where the company sponsored another Farm in a Box project that EPRI set up last November.

“We don’t want to just walk away from these communities that we’ve been a part of for decades,” Stutz said.

High tech

EPRI has set up similar Farm in a Box projects in 13 states, said its principal technical leader Frank Sharp, project manager for the institute’s indoor agriculture-and-lighting research efforts.

It’s part of an emerging concept of indoor farming for urban areas and isolated rural communities where food could be grown year-round right where it’s consumed. It could lead to huge energy and water savings through efficient, high-tech growing processes, contributing to carbon reduction by using electricity rather than fossil fuels in agricultural operations and by eliminating long-haul transport of produce to market.

For economically stressed communities such as Cibola and McKinley counties, it could be scaled beyond shipping containers to retrofit under-used or abandoned buildings and to construct new facilities, such as greenhouses, on empty plots, Sharp said.

“It all translates into community impact, job creation, and beneficial use of electricity,” Sharp told the Journal. “Vacated buildings with the infrastructure already in place can be retrofitted, with opportunities to also build new facilities.”

Electric Power Research Institute principal technical leader Frank Sharp, left, with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association CEO Duane Highley, inside the Farm in a Box agricultural container that was set up in Moffat County, Colo., last November. (Courtesy of Tri-State Generation and Transmission)

Research needed

Research is still needed to maximize efficiency and production, measure benefits, make contained farming systems profitable, and train the workforce. That’s where NMSU comes in, said Jay Lillywhite, agricultural economics professor and co-director of NMSU’s center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems.

NMSU faculty and students will study the entire container system, which includes vertical, hanging plastic enclosures to grow crops connected to a closed-loop plumbing system to recycle all water. Researchers will monitor all energy and water use, plant productivity, the impact of red and blue LED lighting spectrums on plant growth, and the economics of the whole operation, Lillywhite said.

“We’ll record everything and transmit all the data wirelessly to EPRI,” Lillywhite said. “It needs to be profitable. Indoor agriculture has had mixed reviews in terms of profitability, so we’ll look at a model that makes sense for New Mexico and the Southwest.”

Other applications

Opportunities extend into many disciplines beyond agriculture, including electrical engineering focused on energy efficiency and renewable generation as alternative systems, such as solar panels, are added to indoor operations, said Rolando A. Flores, dean of NMSU’s College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences.

“The project has excellent potential to address social, environmental, and economic facets of sustainability, and become a resource-efficiency model for urban agriculture, provided that renewable energy can be incorporated from the beginning,” he said.

State Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Grants, said indoor agriculture can offer significant opportunities alongside other initiatives to diversify the local economy.

Lundstrom sponsored legislation last year that now allows counties with coal plants that are closing to set up special economic districts with bonding and taxing authorities to invest in infrastructure, business recruitment, and retention to create jobs and promote economic development.

That led to the launch in December of the McKinley County Electric Generating Facility Economic District, which is focused on converting the Escalante site in Pruitt into a new industrial zone to recruit more businesses to the area.

“Value-added agriculture is one of the opportunities we can work to develop there with help from the partners on this project,” Lundstrom said. “It can have a significant impact as we work to recruit new, sustainable industry to the local community.”

Columbia Vertical Farm Uses Technology To Cut Plastic Pollution And Boost Sustainability

BY LAURRYN SALEM

Vertical Roots is the largest hydroponic container farm in the country. They grow and package lettuce varieties and have recently implemented a packaging process that reduces plastic with a resealable film. TRACY GLANTZ TGLANTZ@THESTATE.COM

With the use of agricultural technology, Vertical Roots farm in West Columbia created a packaging system for its leafy greens that cut down the company’s plastic usage by 30% and extends the shelf life of the lettuce.

In 2015, high school friends Andrew Hare and Matt Daniels created the idea for Vertical Roots, now the largest hydroponic container farm in the country. Hare is the general manager of the company and Daniels acts as the chief horticulturist.

The first Vertical Roots opened in Charleston and expanded with its second farm site in West Columbia in 2019. Vertical Roots parent company, AmplifiedAg, manufactures the container farms and farm technology of which Vertical Roots operates.

The farms are part of a growing industry called controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) that uses technology to ramp up nutrient-rich food production year around.

Hydroponics helps the farm uses 98% less water than traditional farming, according to Hare. Their technology creates an indoor environment to grow lettuce on the East Coast. Most lettuce in the U.S. comes from California and Arizona, where temperatures do not fluctuate much throughout the year, travelling 2,000 miles from farm to table. Vertical Roots offers a solution for local lettuce.

“Our mission is to revolutionize the way communities grow, distribute and consume food,” said Hare. As populations grow, Hare said the ability to produce enough food is a global concern.

VERTICAL ROOTS AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION

As a company committed to sustainability, Vertical Roots had to address its plastic usage and the consumer demand for environmentally friendly products.

“I think everyone can agree that the amount of plastic that’s consumed and used globally is a bit of a problem,” said Hare.

If Vertical Roots were to completely opt-out of using plastics, as much as 40% of the lettuce would be damaged in transportation to the retailers, Hare said. So the company decided to still use plastic containers in order to cut out food waste, but it changed the amount and type of plastic used.

By replacing the conventional “clamshell” plastic lids that you see on a container of lettuce at the grocery store, Vertical Roots cut down more than 30% of plastic usage by creating a resealable film lid. The new packaging comes at no extra cost to the customer and will be cheaper in the long-run for Vertical Roots, according to Hare.

The farm also uses recycled plastic that can also be recycled again after use. Tiny perforations in the film lid of the packaging allow air to leave the lettuce container and extends the product’s freshness, making Vertical Roots lettuce last around 14 days on the shelf.

“We tested respiration and condensation with each lettuce variety, and ultimately found that we could extend the freshness and shelf life of our salad mixes even more,” said Hare.

Vertical Roots, at the S.C. Farmer’s Market, is the largest hydroponic container farm in the country. They grow and package lettuce varieties. Tracy Glantz TGLANTZ@THESTATE.COM

GROWTH IN THE AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

In the first three quarters of 2020, a record $754 million of venture capital was invested in the vertical farming industry, according to PitchBook data. This was a 34% increase from the entire previous year, Bloomberg reported in a January article.

A 2019 report from Global Market Insights showed that the vertical farming market size, or the number of potential customers or unit sales, surpassed $3 billion in 2018 and said it, “will exhibit a massive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 27% from 2019 to 2026.”

In vertical farms, crops are harvested on several vertical layers indoors, where farmers can grow year-round by controlling light, temperature, water and other factors, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Vertical agriculture is also seen as a growing industry because it “could help increase food production and expand agricultural operations as the world’s population is projected to exceed 9 billion by 2050,” according to the USDA.

However, some are skeptical about the future of vertical farming for several reasons. The farms use LED light bulbs to grow crops, which require a lot of energy and money to operate.

Also, the farms mostly produce greens, which are low in calories because they take less water and light. The new farming technology is marketed as a way to combat world hunger, but in poorer countries, low-calorie greens are not as beneficial, according to Bloomberg.

THE FUTURE OF VERTICAL ROOTS

Despite a tough year due to COVID-19, Vertical Roots will open two more indoor, container farms in Georgia and Florida in 2021.

The company lost revenue from foodservice customers like restaurants, schools and universities during the pandemic, said Hare.

Those food service customers accounted for about half of Vertical Roots’ business, Hare said. Grocery store business stayed steady and even grew during the pandemic. As schools and restaurants are slowly reopening, Vertical Roots is gaining business back.

The West Columbia farm location produces about $1.5 million pounds of produce per year, said Hare. Vertical Roots lettuce is in 1,200 different grocery stores in 11 states, including Lowes Foods stores, Publix, Harris Teeter and Whole Foods Market chains.

Hare said the company is constantly working on sustainable initiatives, including figuring out a way to reduce light energy consumption by 20-25%, thinking about compostable packaging systems and finding ways to use less water at the farms.

In the future, Vertical Roots hopes to offer a larger variety of produce. The team is experimenting with growing foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs and mushrooms to see if they could be viable products.

Play VideoDuration 1:25This tunnel farm could be the future of agriculture

At 25,000 square feet, the world's first indoor vertical farm is also one of the largest farms. Located 120 miles south of Seoul, South Korea, fruits and vegetables grow without soil, bathed in light from pink LEDs. BY META VIERS

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Vertical Roots, at the S.C. Farmer’s Market, is the largest hydroponic container farm in the country. They grow and package lettuce varieties. TRACY GLANTZ TGLANTZ@THESTATE.COM

Lumileds Addresses Industry Growth With LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture

Broad spectrum white LEDs are widely available

San Jose, CA – February 2, 2021 – Lumileds today announced immediate high quantity availability of its LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture LEDs. Based on the company’s leading 3030 LED portfolio and characterized for horticulture, the new options offer high PPF/W, broad-spectrum white light that enables grow lights that are productive and economical.

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“In horticulture applications growers are looking for time tested, top performance and reliability, the LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture delivers the photons that enable consistent and high growth output with the highest of efficiencies,” said Mei Yi, Product Manager.

The new LEDs are engineered for robust sulfur protection – critical for long and stable lifetime in warm and humid environments – and are specified for horticulture at 65mA and Tj= 25°C with CCTs from 2200K to 6500K and CRI of 70, 80 or 90. When matched with LUXEON Deep Red and Far Red options a complete horticulture illumination solution is at hand.

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LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Horticulture is available in manufacturing quantities today. It offers a 0.1V forward voltage bin, quadrant color bin inside 3SDCM, and a maximum drive current of 480mA. Detailed product information can be found at https://lumileds.com/3030Horticulture.

About Lumileds

For automotive, mobile, IoT, and illumination companies that require innovative lighting solutions, Lumileds is a global leader employing more than 7,000 team members operating in over 30 countries. Lumileds partners with its customers to push the boundaries of light.

To learn more about our portfolio of lighting solutions, visit lumileds.com.

For further information, please contact:

Steve Landau, Director Marketing Communications

Steve.Landau@lumileds.com

+1 408 710 4090

Emerging Needs In Vertical Farming And Cannabis Cultivation

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15 January 2021

Jacco Strating

Yves Bélanger of Montel Inc. believes that COVID-19 has only increased the need to grow locally and inside cities. He speaks about why the development of vertical farming will continue considerably in the coming years.

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The development of vertical farming will continue considerably in the coming years, according to Montel Inc.. With the company’s Vertical Farming Systems Montel expects a very high volume of new projects in both food and cannabis. “COVID-19 has only increased the need to grow locally and inside cities”, says Yves Bélanger, VP Sales Vertical Farming Market International. 

Established in 1924, Montel pioneered high-density mobile storage systems providing cost-efficient storage solutions using less space and established a global network of authorized Montel distributors. Montel's achievements include some of the most prestigious projects in North America and around the world. “Prior to becoming North America's leading manufacturer of mobile systems, we had acquired nearly 40 years' experience in the electrical industry, including extensive involvement in the construction of generating stations and power grids for major world-leading hydroelectricity plants. This explains our expertise and the exceptional quality of our electrical mobile systems”, says Bélanger.

Inventive ways to feed the world

Before the crisis, it was already accepted as a general consensus that we are facing a complex challenge: we will need inventive ways to feed to growing population but the potential and land availability for cultivation has almost reached its maximum capacity. Also rising before the crisis was the global trend of growing locally due to a variety of factors or needs: in regions in which climate is a challenge, in remote areas, where there is water or soil rarity, aiming at lowering the carbon footprint, increasing product short shelf life, cutting down on transportation, etc. “In the long term, we feel that the current crisis will accelerate tremendously and definitely crystallize the need to grow locally and/or inside cities and the need to grow in a controlled cleanroom environment which will result in a higher demand for our product and a growth in our sector”, says Bélanger. “With its mobile carriages, the Greenrak Integrated Vertical Indoor Farming Solution is the ideal response to the current situation allowing both to increase yield while reducing the required surface by eliminating space wasting.

Customers increasingly have groceries delivered directly to their homes seems to be also an underlying trend rising from this crisis and in the long term, this may also play a role in creating a higher demand for our high-density cold storage solutions.”

Montel’s Greenrak and Grow&Roll systems were developed specifically for growing applications. Greenrak mobile system is lightweight, rust-resistant, and simple in design which allows for easy installation, use, and maintenance. Grow&Roll mobile system is the heavy-duty version of Greenrak and can withstand a weight of 3630 kg. Growrak was engineered to free up space between frames at each level providing plenty of clearance for better airflow, ventilation system ducts, lighting fixtures, and enough spacing for oversize trays to pass through between frames. 

High yield hydroponic vertical farms

“Given the fact that Montel's Vertical Farming systems have been implemented in numerous indoor high yield hydroponic vertical farms that utilize cleanroom technologies and automation as well as many medical or recreational cannabis facilities around the world, we feel our expertise will benefit this growing sector. We are expecting a very high volume of projects that will require Integrated Vertical Farming Solutions. Our experience and knowledge allows us to rapidly assist the emerging needs in vertical farming and medical or recreational cannabis cultivation. By extension, we also foresee an increasing demand in the Cannabis Dispensaries market for our Light-duty drawer cabinet. We also expect a possible higher demand for our High-Density Cold Storage Solutions for the grocery delivery market and Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) market.”

Tags: Vegetables, Medicinal cannabis

New Technology For Pesticide-Free Crops Launched

Terra Vera has launched solutions to replace conventional pesticides and increase product safety and consumer confidence within the agriculture industry. Using patented technologies compliant with EPA regulations, Terra Vera offers producers a safe, effective, and sustainable approach to rid crops of contaminants while preserving the quality and yield of their products. 

"Our mission is to improve the quality, consistency, and yield for any grower interested in more sustainable agricultural practices," said Terra Vera CEO and Co-Founder Carlos Perea, who previously founded MIOX Corporation, a technology company with a proven track record of treating drinking water in over 30 countries.

"Our systems typically pay for themselves in a matter of months by replacing expensive, and often toxic, chemical treatments and by increasing yields. Safe and sustainable practices like Terra Vera also help business leaders create consumer confidence and build brand value."

Unwanted pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi can cause significant crop loss. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FOA) estimates that each year 20 to 40 percent of global crop production is lost or wasted due to plant diseases, animal pests, and weeds. Today, approximately 5.6 billion pounds of pesticides are used worldwide each year to preserve and protect against crop loss. Most available solutions to control and eliminate pathogens on crops are toxic substances that pose a significant contamination risk to the surrounding soil, water, non-target plants, and animals.

Terra Vera’s proven platform technology, which is modeled after the U.S. military’s approach to treating drinking water to EPA standards, is a safe and compliant alternative that is non-toxic for people and the environment. The technology mimics humans’ natural biological process for fighting infections by converting organic, inert compounds into an antimicrobial solution that is safe on live tissue, yet effective at inactivating pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Terra Vera introduced its offerings in 2020, working with select clients in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Florida, and has now expanded its capacities to serve the agricultural industry across the United States. Its systems are scalable for both large and small agricultural operations in a variety of grow methods: outdoor, indoor, and greenhouse. In addition, Terra Vera’s experienced team works closely with clients to ensure their agricultural solutions are compliant with federal and state-specific regulations.

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For more information:
Terra Vera
info@terravera.com  
terravera.com

22 Jan 2021