Would You Like To Host A Strategic HQ In Decentralized Agriculture And Food Supply Systems

We would appreciate a city location in Central Europe in order to facilitate our EU-labelled strategy.

Our vision is to strengthen community resiliency and reduce food insecurity on a global scale over time.

For questions and tentative interest please contact:

thomas.tapio@gmail.com

Strasbourg 27th February, 2021 🇫🇷🇪🇺

Creating A Connected, Community Centered Urban Farm Environment

“NYC streets are ripe with potential to start producing their own food,"  says Julian Lwin with Street Farm. Full and built up through the city might be, lack of space is no excuse for anyone, as Street farms’ vertical farm can be fit also in small public spaces. “We now can claim street space for sustainably grown urban greens the same way we claimed the streets for outdoor dining during COVID.”

COVID forced many countries to rethink their food system, as logistics suddenly got complicated. Also Julian became acutely aware of the need for new retail environments, finding a safer way to interact with food, and purchasing fresh produce. Via an automated dispensing think vending machines & dedicated StreetFarm app.

In this period he saw people taking their activities outside, exercising or even eating out on the streets whereas they would normally do this indoors. With that in mind, he found (conceived) Street Farm, intending to find a solution for growing fresh produce right there in the streets of NYC. “We will fabricate the farms right here in New York’s Brooklyn Navy Yard, to keep the transport emissions to an absolute minimum.” This model can be set up in any city metropolis around the globe where freshly grown produce is missing from the urban environment

Street Farm’s micro-vertical farm works with a hydroponic growth system and is designed to be reused again and again. The designs vary in size from 8’ wide x 8’ high x 12’ long to 16’ high to 32’ long. The smaller ones can be placed in gardens, allowing the larger-scale growing to be done in empty storefronts, city lots, etcetera. Julian dreams of the microfarms to be placed even in schools, libraries, and train stations to show people that food can be grown literally anywhere. 

Urban “element" vertical farm

Combining the latest technologies in the field of AI and robotics for monitoring the growth and yield, the New York streets will produce lots of fresh produce for the local population.  “With Street Farms we can transform New York from a food desert to a paradise of nutritious, healthy vegetables.” The plan is for the system to monitor the plant growth itself, but for the harvest to be done by employees, thus creating more jobs in the city. “We want these farms to create a connected, community-centered urban farm environment, connecting people to each other and to the food they eat.”

Julian finds it vitally important that people see tangible agriculture grown in public places, rather than hiding vertical farms in post-industrial spaces and rooftops. “Street Farms will connect the community with the products we eat. We aim for a paradigm shift in our relationship to the food we eat and our city landscape.”

Lead photo: The micro modular urban vertical farm satellite

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For more information:
Lwindesign
Julian Lwin, Founder 
julian@lwindesign.com 
www.lwindesign.com  

Publication date: Thu 25 Feb 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

In This Episode Joe and Nick Interview Glenn Behrman About His Career In The Vertical Farming Industry

Latest Episode

Introducing Vertical Farming To Mexico And Beyond

Karma Verde Fresh (KVF) is a vertical farm based in Monterrey, Nuevo León (northeastern Mexico), producing a variety of seedlings, leafy greens, strawberries, and beans, and manufacturing its own cultivation systems which can be installed in any urban environment to promote local agriculture.

First established in 2016 by Leo Lobato and Rafael Cuellar, Karma Verde Fresh sought to master vertical agriculture before developing its own system and initially purchased four vertical racks systems from a Dutch company. The company quickly realized that for vertical farming to be successful in Mexico and other developing countries, the technology needs to be both efficient and financially accessible so that any sized growers can participate in the development of their own urban, peri-urban or rural farms. 

(F.l.t.r.) Leo Lobato and Rafael Cuellar, co-founders of KVF

According to Tagino, the company’s communications and social media manager, high capital and operating costs are the main barriers to vertical farming.

Technique available to anyone
This has led the company to develop its own technology within Mexico and make it as accessible as possible, all with the goal of providing as many communities with nutritious produce. Today, KVF has increased its cultivation grow racks by more than 89% in the same footprint and their solar LED lights use 21% less energy.

“We know that there are super sophisticated farms across the world, with high automation. That is one way, but in order to impact communities that are left behind, are looking for job opportunities, vertical farming needs to be affordable,” says Tagino.

Once Karma Verde Fresh successfully developed its own cultivation system, the company developed a digital strategy to reach its potential and future customers through various social media platforms which include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Pushing R&D
Aside from its strong social media presence to attract young customers and entrepreneurs, Karma Verde Fresh also strongly emphasizes the importance for scientific research in the vertical farming industry, publishing their first scientific research report in Cyprus at an international sustainable agriculture conference in March in conjunction with Dr. Gilda Carrasco of the University of Talca. 

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KVF's salad mix 

“Back in 2018, we learned that vertical agriculture really needs the scientific research community to be on board because they can give us the best science for improving growing conditions. In 2019, we started our first laboratories at two UANL campuses (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León) and the UAAAN in Coahuila, and in 2021-2023, we’ll be installing cultivation systems at different universities across Mexico, Central America, and as far away as Chile,” says Leo.

By installing cultivation systems at numerous universities, Karma Verde Fresh hopes to attract youth to vertical farming and to develop businesses in the regions where the systems are being established. The company is also immersing itself in the academic world by collaborating on research projects and participating with NCERA-101, a research committee focused on exchanging information about technologies in controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

Expansion plans
Through these research collaborations, the company is creating models that it can replicate across Mexico. Thanks to the American Chamber Mexico, the company met Ken Moskal, now an angel investor and a new corporate structure will allow Karma Verde Fresh to transition out of its start-up phase. While the company hopes to attract investment fund managers, Leo also explained that Karma Verde Fresh is taking its time to grow organically, invest its own money and only bring in outside investments if needed.

Karma Verde Fresh plans to fund its growth mostly through sales of seedlings, produce to restaurants and selling the KVF systems through the national distribution network developed through Mexico’s Industrial Chamber CANACINTRA’s Ag Sector. 

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Above all else, Karma Verde Fresh is a social enterprise whose purpose, according to Tagino, “is to transform the lives of individuals and communities through the creation of accessible food options, that have positive economic and sustainable impacts on the environment.”

Their purpose garnered the attention of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA). The organization asked Karma Verde Fresh to join an alliance, which was signed in 2020 and will work to build cultivation systems in food banks in the country’s most food-insecure regions, as well as the first Vertical Agriculture Tech and Trainer Certification Program in Mexico City.

Sustainable systems
Another interesting initiative of Karma Verde Fresh is its solution called the Rolling Thunder Service. By developing 40-day forecasts over Mexico, the company will be able to better forecast severe meteorological events and begin producing seedlings in its racking systems ahead of such events. When severe storms damage agricultural crops, the company will be able to provide to healthy seedlings to help farmers recover quickly.

The company is guided by three core values: consciousness, innovation and collaboration. With respect to innovation, Tagino explained that it isn’t simply about buying innovation but about actually innovating in the countries seeking to build sustainable agricultural systems. That is ultimately why the company decided to develop its own vertical racks and LEDs. The company’s commitment to collaboration is evidenced by its numerous university partners and research projects.

“Not only are our processes enriched by the different perspectives and knowledge, but it generates a bigger impact among the communities and ecosystems where the collaborations occur,” says Tagino.

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For more information:
Karma Verde Fresh
Blvd. Díaz Ordaz #130,
Col. Santa María, Piso 10, Torre 3,
64650, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México
+52 (81) 8851-8261
Leo Lobato, Co-Founder
leo@karmaverdefresh.com
Tagino Lobato, Communication Manager
tagino@karmaverdefresh.com 
www.karmaverdefresh.com 

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Publication date: Thu 25 Feb 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

AppHarvest, Inc. Announces Full-Year 2020 Financial Results

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February 26, 2021

Urbanagnews

Company Introduces First Quarter 2021 Outlook and Updates Full-Year 2021 Forecast

MOREHEAD, Ky. — AppHarvest, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW) (“AppHarvest” or “the Company”), a leading AgTech company and Certified B Corp building and operating some of the country’s largest high-tech indoor farms to sustainably grow affordable, nutritious, chemical pesticide-free non-GMO fruits and vegetables at scale using up to 90 percent less water than traditional open-field agriculture and 100 percent recycled rainwater, announced today its financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2020.

Fiscal Year 2020 Highlights

• Net loss of $17.4 million, compared to $2.7 million in the prior year period in 2019

• Adjusted EBITDA loss of $15.7 million, compared to $2.6 million in the prior year period in 2019

AppHarvest was in a pre-revenue state in 2020 as the company scaled to prepare to become a publicly-traded company and as it ramped up to plant its first crop at its flagship facility, which began harvesting in January of 2021. In 2020, AppHarvest implemented its pioneering AgTech platform, which the company developed through international and advanced technology partnerships with the Dutch government, GE, Signify, Priva, Moleaer, Ecoation and others. Powered by these technologies, AppHarvest is able to drive higher crop yields. The Dutch government is a proven partner with the Netherlands being the No. 2 food exporter in the world because of its controlled environment farming expertise. AppHarvest is leveraging this model at a scale to effectively serve the U.S. market and introduce innovations such as a hybrid lighting array with traditional high-pressure sodium grow lights with LEDs that result in 40 percent reduced energy use. AppHarvest utilizes technology that continuously analyzes data from sophisticated digital monitoring systems composed of more than 300 sensors to analyze micro-climates to optimize growth with tomato plants reaching upwards of 40-feet tall and the first farm alone is expected to produce over 40 million pounds of tomatoes annually.

Business Combination

On January 29, 2021, AppHarvest and Novus Capital Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, completed their business combination to form AppHarvest, Inc. The common stock and warrants of AppHarvest, Inc. began trading on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbols “APPH” and “APPHW,” respectively, on Monday, February 1, 2021. Please see the press release dated February 1, 2021, on AppHarvest’s Investor Relations website for more details related to the business combination at https://investors.appharvest.com/news-and-events/news-releases.

Subsequent to the business combination, AppHarvest had 97,925,153 shares of common stock outstanding. The business combination provided the Company approximately $475.0 million of unrestricted cash, including $375.0 million in gross proceeds from the fully committed common stock PIPE. The transaction proceeds will be used to fund operations, including building additional high-tech controlled environment indoor farms, support growth and for other general corporate purposes, including to fund potential future investments and acquisitions.

First Quarter 2021 Outlook and Fiscal Year 2021 Forecast

The Company currently expects the following results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2021:

• Net revenue to be in the range of $2.1 million to $2.6 million

• Adjusted EBITDA loss to be in the range of $14 million to $16 million

The Company currently expects the following results for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2021:

• Net revenue to be in the range of $20 million to $25 million

• Adjusted EBITDA loss to be in the range of $43 million to $45 million

The Company noted that its expectations are based on information available at the time of this release, and are subject to changing conditions, many of which are outside the Company’s control.

“Our favorable crop yields and market pricing currently support a 2021 sales outlook that is better than we expected in December 2020,” said AppHarvest Founder & Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Webb. “In January 2021, we delivered our first harvest of tomatoes from our flagship 63-acre indoor farm and began shipping to select national grocery retailers. We remain focused on our mission to build a resilient domestic food system for the U.S. to support this outlook in our first year as a public company.”

In addition to better than anticipated crop yields and pricing, the Company has benefited from a temporary decline in market supply related to recent extreme winter weather conditions that prevented transport of produce through Texas from Mexico and that resulted in significant amounts of food waste. Part of AppHarvest’s mission is to create a climate-resilient domestic food system for the U.S. to prevent such supply chain disruptions.     

About AppHarvest

AppHarvest, a public benefit corporation, and Certified B Corp, is an applied technology company building some of the world’s largest indoor farms in Appalachia. The Company combines conventional agricultural techniques with cutting-edge technology and is addressing key issues including improving access for all to nutritious food, farming more sustainably, building a home-grown food supply, and increasing investment in Appalachia. The Company’s 63-acre Morehead, Kentucky facility is among the largest indoor farms in the U.S. For more information, visit https://www.appharvest.com/.

This Week On Green Sense Radio Show: FEEDING A RAPIDLY GROWING Global POPULATION!

To listen to the entire interview, visit https://www.greensensefarms.com/radio-show

The world’s population is predicted to reach 10 billion people in the next 30 years. How we feed them using less land and water has led to a lot of exciting developments in high-tech, indoor agriculture. Chris Higgins is co-owner of Hort Americas and founder of Urban Ag News. He shares his insight about controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and talks about the challenges and opportunities facing greenhouse and vertical farms during these uncertain times.

This week on Green Sense Radio Show:

FEEDING A RAPIDLY GROWING Global POPULATION!  

Vertical Farming Brings Tremendous Efficiency

20 February 2021

Mike Zelkind is CEO and co-founder of a vertical farming company, 80 Acres Farms, based in the United States. The company started five years ago and has made considerable strides in growing vegetables in an eco-friendly and automated indoor environment. Today 80 Acres Farms, along with technical sister company Infinite Acres, proves vertical farming is more than just a vision of the future. "It's all about controlling the micro-climate, and we can do that better than anyone else because of the patented climate technology developed by Infinite Acres." 

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Mike Zelkind had been active in the food industry for decades with deep experience working with traditional farms and supply chains before founding 80 Acres Farms with Tisha Livingston. "The current food supply chains are very good, food is available everywhere, but the quality is not always as it should be. Food travels way too many miles, and it's not always sustainably grown." When Zelkind and Livingston sought to change how people eat, they wanted to bring high-tech greenhouses to North America. They went on a quest around the world, starting with the Netherlands, studying greenhouses.

The "lightbulb" went on while visiting a greenhouse on the sunniest day in the middle of June. The white-washed greenhouse, blocking out the heat of the sunlight but still supplementing sunlight with artificial lights. "That's when we realized; greenhouses still have to add supplemental lighting, which requires capital and energy to run them, but heating and cooling those greenhouses isn't free, and you don't control the environment that well. You have no control over the microclimate, which means you can't control the plants' stress response and drive nutrition. We thought there has to be a better way."

In 2016, the vertical farming industry was starting to develop. 80 Acres built their first commercial farm and quickly realized that to scale the business into something meaningful, egoless collaboration was essential. They collaborated with companies such as Priva. "This resulted in an excellent relationship, which eventually led to the creation of Infinite Acres," says Zelkind. Priva, 80 Acres, and Ocado formed Infinite Acres in 2019 to scale vertical farming globally."

Next level of controlled environment

Zelkind would like to emphasize that he values all forms of agriculture and horticulture. "Let's be clear: I am very pro-farmer, in every way- the demand for fresh food for a rising population is crucial. Vertical Farms are expensive to build, but with much higher yields and drastically improved control to maximize nutrition, we can take farming to a whole new level. Farming is a tough job, and there are not that many top growers available worldwide. We thought we could do it differently and find a way to make it easier to get those good results consistently."

Six years ago, Zelkind knew the technology did not exist to scale vertical farming. "But the trends were moving in the right direction. Data science has become more prevalent and LED lights cheaper, automation was improving, sensors were improving, and crop science was advancing rapidly. With the right collaborative partners, 80 Acres Farms has built eight vertical farms since 2016. Their latest fully-automated farm is a culmination of their years of learning. "We wanted to grow significant commercial volumes with a broad range of produce– not just lettuce, but also tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, etc. We knew that once we could start growing these products in commercial volumes, it would become interesting for retailers. We want to offer a high-quality product at a reasonable price, not cheap, but at the right price. It is all about value." Zelkind concluded, "Serving the consumer is the core of 80 Acres Farms. Customers have spoken! They want; flavorful, clean, fresh, sustainably grown produce, with transparency– at a fair price."

Failure turned into success

It all sounds straightforward, but it isn't, says Zelkind. "To get where we are today, we had to keep going forward. At first, we designed and built all the technical installations, and we failed– but we kept testing and sharing knowledge with our partners. We were fortunate to have started with relatively small farms, making it possible to learn quickly. And over the years, failure turned into success." Zelkind continued, "We still have a long road ahead of us. If you compare this to a soccer match, we have only passed 15 minutes in the first half. On the other hand, two years ago, we weren't even on the field."

The food-growing process that takes place at 80 Acres Farms is not that different from traditional greenhouses, Zelkind says. "With vertical farming, it's all about controlling the micro-climate, and we can do that better than anyone else because of the patented climate technology developed by Infinite Acres." The consistent temperature, humidity, and airspeed customized for each crop. Advanced lighting controls allow 80 Acres Farms to deliver the exact spectrum and intensity of light for each crop and growing phase. 80 Acres Farms uses a proprietary interlaced network of vision and sensor technology to monitor all aspects of the growing environment to assure high quality and high yield growth. Intelligent fertigation systems infuse the right amount and type of nutrients at precisely the right time and free of harmful contaminants. "Through our Infinite Acres Collaboration, we are willing to sell those technologies and license those techniques because we want to bring that to the world. We can't scale up fast enough ourselves, so there is no reason to keep this knowledge from others."

Push the crops on command

After all, it's still crop science, Zelkind continues. "It's not just pure technology, but also about knowing how a plant grows, breathes, trans-evaporates, and uptakes nutrients. We believe that's where machine learning and data science come into play. With good technology, we can optimize CO2, root zone temperature, airflow, and all of these things to come up with the right recipe for every crop and grow at a very high level of efficiency. We can push those crops and stress those crops on command instead of randomly because of weather influences. We control the crops¬– so our plants grow differently. We can gain tremendous efficiency in our cultivation. We can use different techniques and recipes to make lettuce redder or to get more tomatoes on a tranche."

In a certain way, you could say 80 Acres Farms is reinventing horticulture. "We are getting the most out of the original genetics of the crops. Dutch greenhouses are the most efficient because the Netherlands has the right climate, and the temperature drops naturally. Dutch growers have learned how to grow the best crops possible within those natural environmental conditions. But the recipes are not necessarily the best for the plant's genetics; they are the best for optimizing those crops for those conditions.

80 Acres Farms doesn't have variable conditions. We can control how much the temperature has to drop. It's all about giving the crop what it needs. Can 80 Acres Farms' tomato taste completely different and sweeter? Absolutely! We can achieve that more easily and in a cheaper way. Once you have built the infrastructure, it doesn't cost anything to control that. Zelkind continues, "If you keep doing things the same way as you are doing today, vertical farming is way too expensive, but who says you have to do everything in the same way? We are doing it differently, and we are successful with that. For us, this is the future of horticulture."

Cambridge Engineers Unveil Digital Twin To Support The ‘Future of Farming’

Hydroponic farming challenges traditional methods in favour of soil-less, water-based farming processes. To ensure the ongoing operational success of farms such as these, Cambridge engineers have developed a virtual forecasting model to provide bespoke feedback to farmers.

The researchers show how a Digital Twin can faithfully represent the reality of an environment – in this case a unique hydroponic farm in London (Growing Underground) – through real-time data analytics and modelling, including the integration of a tailored temperature forecasting model to assist farmers’ decision-making. Their findings are published in the Cambridge University Press journal Data-Centric Engineering. 

With hydroponic farming – often termed the ‘future of farming’ – on the rise across the UK and globally, the researchers believe that Digital Twins are particularly suited to bespoke environments such as these, providing an opportunity to move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach, in favour of a virtual representation that can cater to a farm’s changing operational conditions. 

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Growing Underground is situated in repurposed WW2 air raid shelters that are 33 metres below the streets in Clapham, London. Crops are grown year-round in a pesticide-free environment controlled by LED lights, ventilation, dehumidifiers, and irrigation tanks. The farm grows 12 times more per unit area than traditional greenhouse farming in the UK but also consumes four times more energy per unit area. Therefore, finding ways to minimise the energy use while maximising crop growth and maintaining optimal growing conditions is key to the ongoing operational success of this farm and others like it. 

The researchers show how the development of a Digital Twin can be useful not only for informing farm operators in real time, but it can also help them to prepare for the future. Data creation, data analysis and data-centric modelling were all required to create the Digital Twin for Growing Underground. This involved an extensive monitoring system that combined wireless sensors with manual data records to track the observable environmental conditions in the underground farm; identifying the influencing variables on energy use and crop yield; and helping to forecast potential future operational scenarios, as well as providing feedback on the influence of recent events on the farm environment. 

The Digital Twin can also provide enhanced data to help assist farmers in the decision-making process, offering advice specific to the needs of the farm. For example, the researchers identified that the LED lights have the greatest influence on daily temperature fluctuations in the farm and so they created a bespoke temperature forecasting model that predicts extreme temperatures. This model can be integrated into the Digital Twin and it is easy to implement, making use of temperature and energy meter readings. It is also flexible to the addition of more data as it becomes available and provides feedback on operational changes that can reduce energy use and control the farm environment more effectively.

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Location of sensors in Growing Underground. A side view of a typical bench is indicated at the centre of the farm, showing how four LED lights span the length of each bench. The blue arrows indicate the air circulation throughout the farm. Credit: Melanie Jans-Singh 

Dr Ruchi Choudhary, Reader in Architectural Engineering, said: “As we move towards more innovative agricultural practices, such as hydroponic farming, there is a greater need for an intelligent Digital Twin over a simple monitoring system. The Digital Twin we have developed for the unique hydroponic farm, Growing Underground, can observe, process, and interpret farm data (i.e. energy, weather, live sensor data and manual records) that leads to tangible outcomes. This can include warnings (i.e. concerning temperature fluctuations that require changes to ventilation, heat, light); causal relationships (resource use efficiency, crop health); operational suggestions (using a forecasting model); and a prediction of future conditions." 

Melanie Jans-Singh, lead author and Ph.D. student, added: “In essence, our Digital Twin becomes the urban-integrated farm operator’s 24/7 smart ‘companion’, a living digital reference, providing bespoke feedback on the effectiveness of the measures taken in real-time. This is in addition to longer-term forecasting and informed decision-making, with control processes that are robust to human error. It is suited to mid to large scale processes, often seen in civil engineering, where sensor maintenance will also be an issue.”

Melanie Jans-Singh, Kathryn Leeming, Ruchi Choudhary, Mark Girolami. ‘Digital twin of an urban-integrated hydroponic farm.’ Data-Centric Engineering (2020). DOI: 10.1017/dce.2020.21 

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For more information:
University of Cambridge

www.eng.cam.ac.uk

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Infarm Heralds The Next Generation of Cloud-Enabled Farming

Infarm introduces its new high-capacity, cloud-connected Growing Centers - a major step in the company's efforts to accelerate the benefits to people and planet by building a scalable, sustainable and resilient global farming network

NEWS PROVIDED BY Infarm

Feb 23, 2021

Berlin, Germany -- February 23, 2021, Infarm, the world's fastest-growing urban farming company already available in 10 countries and 30 cities in thousands of stores, continued the rollout of its vision for a global interconnected, sustainable, and highly efficient farming ecosystem. 

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©Infarm

Infarm, the world’s fastest-growing urban farming company, has introduced its new high-capacity, automated, modular Growing Center - a local farm and distribution center in one, that can generate the crop-equivalent of up to 10,000 m2 of farmland, with up to 400 times higher efficient food production than soil-based agriculture. The cloud-connected, high-yield centers join Infarm’s expanding global network of self-learning farms that improve plant yield, taste, and nutritional value while reducing the use of natural resources. Credit: Infarm/diephotodesigner.de (PRNewsfoto/Infarm)

As part of its goal to drive innovation within the USD 3 trillion global fruit and vegetable market[1], Infarm today introduced its new high-capacity, automated, modular Growing Center - a local farm and distribution center in one, that can generate the crop-equivalent of up to 10,000 m2 of farmland, with up to 400 times higher efficient food production than soil-based agriculture.

The cloud-connected, high-yield growing centers join Infarm's expanding global network of self-learning farms that improve plant yield, taste, and nutritional value constantly, while further reducing the use of natural resources. With 50,000 m2  of farming facilities and hundreds of farms in store locations, Infarm is already providing fresh produce to 50% of the world's largest food retailers. The rapid deployment capability of the new high-yield Growing Centers will drive additional global growth and scalability to match the needs of retailers of any size in any location, with the goal of growing the network to 500,000 m2  by 2025.

A Growing Center is comprised of dozens of modular farming units, each standing between 10 and 18 meters high, occupying a 25 m2  ground footprint and requiring just six weeks to build, yielding the crop-equivalent of 10,000 m2  of farmland. This modular, data-driven, and distributed approach -- a combination of big data, IoT, and cloud analytics, in addition to rapid growth at a global scale -- sets Infarm apart from any other farming solution.

"Access to fresh, local, and sustainable food is a growing challenge, as people shift towards cities and climate change accelerates," explains Erez Galonska, co-founder and CEO of Infarm. "Today we're adding speed to scale with new technology that allows us to deploy a Growing Center to any city in the world in a fraction of the time, space and capital investment of most large-scale farming solutions today. Both the farms and the software that powers them were designed to make fresh food more accessible for everyone, everywhere." 

Many of the world's leading food retailers are already taking part in Infarm's farming network, including Empire Company Ltd (Safeway, Sobeys, ThriftyFoods), Whole Foods Markets, Marks & Spencer, Kroger, Kinokuniya, Aldi, Amazon, Auchan, Casino, E.Leclerc, Edeka, Intermarché, Irma, Kaufland, Metro, Migros, Selgros, Summit and in Germany, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland.

Growing a new food system for people and the planet

"The entire Infarm network is connected to a central farming brain that gathers more than 50,000 growth, color, and spectral data points through a plant's lifetime," explains Guy Galonska, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Infarm. "We've collected more than 300 billion data points throughout our farming network to date. These data enable us to perfect our growing recipes and improve yield, quality, and nutritional value while reducing the production price constantly." 

The large-scale Infarm Growing Centers integrate farming units that can each save up to 10,000,000 liters of water per year, compared to soil-based agriculture for similar crops, while contributing up to 40% energy savings over previous Infarm technologies.

By 2025 Infarm plans to establish 100 Growing Centers  - equivalent to 1.5 million m2  of farmland and producing 450,000,000 plants across its network, including expanding to new markets. This year, 15 Infarm Growing Centers are already planned/or under construction in major urban centers, including London, Paris, Copenhagen, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle and Tokyo.

Additional features of the new Infarm technology:

• An automated mechanical farming system that is cloud controlled;

• Environmental settings like CO2, temperature, light, pH and growth cycles can be set, monitored, analyzed online across all farms;

• Recirculates 20 liters of water condensation per hour and, saving more than up to 10,000,000 liters of water per year compared to soil-based agriculture for similar crops;

• Smart LED management supports energy efficiency offering contributes up to 40% energy savings & up to 25% savings on initial investment.

Infarm uses 95% less water, 90% less transport and zero chemical pesticide than soil-based agriculture with the majority of electricity use throughout the Infarm network coming  from renewable energy. To date, the Infarm network has saved more than 40,000,000 liters of water and 50,000 square meters of land. 

[1] Wyman, O. (2021). Disruption in fruit and vegetable distribution - Fruit Logistica Trend Report 2018 [Ebook] (p. 12). Berlin, Germany: Fruit Logistica, Messe Berlin GmbH. Retrieved from https://www.oliverwyman.com/content/dam/oliver-wyman/v2-de/publications/2018/Feb/Fruit_Logistica_Trend_Report_2018.pdf

About Infarm

Infarm was founded in Berlin in 2013 by Osnat Michaeli and the brothers Erez and Guy Galonska. Passionate to become self-sufficient and eat better, they were growing their own food, enjoying all the flavor and nutrients, without the chemical pesticides and transport kilometers. With the aim to share the goodness of own-grown produce with everyone, they developed a smart modular farming system, that allows distribution of farms throughout the urban environment, growing fresh produce in any available space and fulfilling any market demand. Today, with cutting edge R&D, patented technologies, and a leading multi-disciplinary team, Infarm is growing a worldwide farming network helping cities become self-sufficient in their food production, while significantly improving the safety, quality, and environmental footprint of our food.

With a multinational team of more than 800 people globally, Infarm has partnered with more than 30 major food retailers including Aldi Süd, Amazon Fresh, Auchan, Casino, E.Leclerc, Edeka, Empire Company Ltd (Safeway, Sobeys, ThriftyFoods), Farmdrop, Intermarché, Irma, Kaufland, Kinokuniya, Kroger, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Migros, Selfridges, Selgros, Summit and Whole Foods Market in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland,  deployed more than 1200 farms in stores and distribution centres, saved more than 40,000,000 liters of water and 50,000 square meters of land.

https://www.infarm.com/ 

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1442283/Infarm.jpg

SOURCE Infarm

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Whole Foods Market partners with Infarm to offer a more...

SCOTLAND: Elevate Your Meals With Microgreens Produced by Aberdeenshire’s Vertical Shoots Urban Farms

by Karla Sinclair

18/02/2021

Vertical Shoots Urban Farms produces an array of microgreens in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. © Supplied by Brindha Shayana

Turning your hobby into a business is not always the goal. But when Brindha Shayana and Sathya Vasudevan discovered their passions for vertical farming, they knew it was the only way forward.

Both qualified engineers working in the oil, gas, and service sector, Brindha and Sathya were eager to switch things up and start with a clean slate. This was to involve growing microgreens in their Westhill-based home.

And now, two years on, their produce can be seen in a line-up of local stores and is featured as part of dishes created by north-east restaurants, cafes, and bistros.

With that said, there’s no doubt that their business, Vertical Shoots Urban Farms, will continue to grow.

But what’s the process in growing microgreens, you may ask? Well, we caught up with the partners to find out all about the process, as well as what encouraged them to start their own business.

So, Sathya and Brindha, have you always wanted to start your own business?

Sathya: We were always keen to do something different but never had the idea of starting a business.

A few years ago while we were shopping in a supermarket, a question sprung into our mind asking, where does the food we eat come from? Since then, we started to look into the origin of every product we purchased and it amazed us how foods were produced in different countries and distributed around the world in such a massive scale.

Brindha: At the same time, we also felt how important it is to grow the essential food we eat closer to the end consumer. This triggered an interest to take up a hobby growing herbs.

The pair of us started to do loads of experiments and trials day in and day out. At one point, we started to share our produce with family and friends.

The more we thought about getting local produce out to people, we realised how challenging it is to produce any kind of food and distribute it to the community. This gave us the push to think ‘why not start a business and face these challenges to do our part in solving a global issue and contribute towards a sustainable future’. This sounded exciting and we kick-started our journey.

For those that don’t know, what do you offer?

S: Vertical Shoots are currently offering a wide range of micro salads. They come in different shapes, colour, and flavours. We supply them to restaurants, cafes, bistros, and stock micro salad boxes in shops for home consumers to use in salads, smoothies or alongside any dish.

B: For restaurants, cafes and bistros, we grow the varieties they request based on their need. Our lovely customers include Buchanan Bistro in Banchory, Inverurie’s Fennel Restaurant, Rothesay Rooms in Ballater, JK Fine Foods, Replenish in Stonehaven, and much more.

For home consumers, we offer variety boxes – spicy mix, rainbow mix and flavour punch – which will include a variety of greens with different flavour tones. These are available for direct home delivery.

That’s very interesting. Why did you choose microgreens?

S: Two years ago, we started to think of doing something related to farming and had to start with a clean slate (with no previous experience).

So, we started growing leafy greens as a hobby, gradually learning and experimenting each day. And after some research, we came across hydroponics – soilless farming with plant roots suspended in water filled with nutrients – and vertical farming, which enables the use of any urban space to grow a substantial amount of greens.

B: This sounded fantastic and we converted a small shed in our back garden into an indoor farm. Both of us were experimenting in this setup for a year.

With every seed germinating and shoots cropping up, this became a serious hobby with great interest and it kept progressing. Then we kick-started our journey with Vertical Shoots in March last year with our aim to utilize underused urban spaces in an effective way.

Am I right in saying that the pair of you wanted to offer products that redefined the way we eat salads?

S: Yes, exactly that. When we tried microgreens ourselves for the first time, we felt it was so different from the usual salad greens we eat. Microgreens bring in a nice flavour and their colour and texture just brighten up the plate. I am sure people who have tried microgreens would agree with what we think.

B: When we looked around in the supermarkets, we could not find any such product apart from micro salad cress in very few shops. So, this triggered an idea to start growing a range of micro salads and make it more available for the local community to try and experience the goodness of micro salads or microgreens.

What encouraged you guys to launch Vertical Shoots Urban Farms? Were there any obstacles?

S: There is so much going on in this world trying to move towards a sustainable future. Innovative ideas are being implemented to revolutionize every sector. Just looking around getting to know about the new happenings encouraged us to take a step trying to do something different and be a part of this change. This thought lead to the start of our journey with Vertical Shoots Urban Farms.

B: It was the beginning of the first lockdown when we started our journey. With the restrictions in place, it was difficult to approach other businesses and customers. Slowly we started to take baby steps which got us going.

We still have a long way to go, but we have started marching towards our vision.

You mentioned that it was difficult to approach other businesses and customers, understandably. So how have you gone about promoting the business?

S: This is a work in progress as we are fairly new. To get our name out, we are active on social media, like Instagram, sharing what we do. Also, we have visited many restaurants, cafes and bistros to spread our name. Some of the people we met were amazing and kind enough to spread a word about us.

Vertical Shoots also has a regular stall at the Westhill Farmer’s Market. With the Covid-19 restrictions, it is not easy to get a space in all the farmer’s market. Hopefully, things will change and we can attend many more.

B: We also stock our greens in local shops to make our products accessible to the people of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. This will help us to spread our name within the local community even more.

What’s the process involved in producing them? And how are they distributed?

S: All our greens are grown hydroponically. The pair of us sow the seeds to start with and germinate them in a dark room for the first few days. Then, we transfer them under lights for a number of days and continuously monitored.

Each variety prefers a certain growing condition. During the growing process, we maintain the ideal temperature, humidity, sufficient air circulation and nutrition to get the optimum growth. At the end of the growing stage, we harvest on the day of the delivery, box and deliver to our customers.

By growing the greens closer to the end consumer, the customers can take advantage of a longer shelf life and freshest greens on their plate.

Can you explain a bit more for our readers about vertical farming?

S: Vertical farming is a method of farming where the greens are produced vertically in racks in a controlled environment. By this approach, larger quantities of produce can be grown in a small space.

The produce is grown hydroponically (roots suspended in water) or by aeroponics (roots suspended in a mist). We use hydroponics to grow our greens. Since the greens are grown indoors, light is provided to the plants through LED with a certain spectrum of light mostly containing blue and red. Nutrients for the growth of plants are supplied through the water.

B: By this method of farming, there can be a great saving in water consumption compared to traditional methods. With the controlled environment in place, crops which are not possible to be grown locally can be grown; for example, basil which requires warmer temperature. Vertical farming methods can be used to grow leafy greens, few types of fruits and flowers.

Vertical Shoots Urban Farms’ new indoor farm, where they grow their fresh produce.

© Supplied by Brindha Shayana

Why do you think the demand for microgreens is constantly on the rise?

S: The need for healthy nutritious food is increasing day by day. A lot of people are also looking towards a vegan diet. Microgreens tick all the boxes required for a healthy living.

Greens harvested in its early stages of growth are nutrient-dense compared to a mature green – they also taste and look great. We could also consume leaves of some of the vegetable crops such as cabbage, broccoli, radish etc. so there are so many varieties of microgreens, which can be consumed as a salad. This makes eating salads more interesting.

B: Additionally, microgreens can be grown indoors all-year-round and are not season dependent. So, it can be grown closer to the end consumer reducing food miles which ticks the box on sustainability.

Growing microgreens can also be a hobby which would interest many. This way people can get their hands on growing and enjoy the greens grown by themselves in their own space which could be exciting and satisfying.

Other than microgreens, do you grow anything else?

B: Offering microgreens is just a start at Vertical Shoots Urban Farms. We are working our way towards offering baby greens, mature greens and edible flowers. Hopefully, we will increase our range of products in the near future.

Over the past two years, what have been the main highlights of running Vertical Shoots?

S: You learn something new each day and it is always a treat to see these beautiful greens grow up. New ideas, experiments and DIYs on the farm keeps us thinking all the time. It gives a sense of satisfaction that we are working on something which is essential for our day-to-day living and trying to find innovative ways to grow crops closer to the end consumer for a sustainable future. This keeps us motivated to do more each day.

B: Two years ago, our experiments just started on our study table. Slowly the experiments got bigger and encroached into our living space and now we have built our own fully functional indoor vertical farm. Starting from scratch, we now grow about 15 varieties of micro salads and there are many more to be added on to the list.

You’re both clearly very passionate about the business, which is amazing to see. What are your upcoming plans?

S: Microgreens are something new for many in the local community as we rarely see these in the supermarkets. We have noticed many customers who come over to our stall at the farmer’s market really chuffed to see these micro salads as they couldn’t find them locally. On the flip side, we do come across people who don’t have any idea on microgreens but are really excited to try them out!

B: As a local urban farmer, we would like to get these healthy greens into as many homes as possible and see people consuming them in their daily food.

In addition to serving cafes, restaurants and bistros, we aim to have our produce in many more outlets and do more direct home deliveries to make it accessible to the local community. As a business, we always look to keep adding more products to our offering.

Visit Vertical Shoots Urban Farms on Facebook or Instagram to find out more information.

Top Tips to Growing Your Own Microgreens

There are loads of materials available online to guide you on how to grow each variety of microgreens.

The best way to learn is to try it yourself, so below are some tips provided by Brindha Shayana and Sathya Vasudevan of Vertical Shoots Urban Farms to get you started.

1. Microgreens are grown in two steps: Step 1 – germinating the seeds and Step 2 – propagating the seedlings under light (sunlight or LEDs). It is as simple as that.

2. Start simple. Look around your kitchen cupboard to see if you have any seeds which you use for your daily cooking. Seeds like mustards, fennel, coriander, fenugreek and many others used in cooking can be used to grow as microgreens. Although bear in mind that sometimes older seeds may not germinate well. If you are buying seeds, then make sure you buy the right seeds for microgreens which are not chemically treated and are suitable for consumption.

3. To grow microgreens, you need a medium. You could use kitchen towels as a start. Soak about three layers of the paper towels in water and sprinkle the seeds on top. Spray some water and then cover with a lid to maintain humidity. Keep it in the dark for three-to-four days. Check once a day to keep them moist.

4. Once the seeds have germinated, remove the lid and place them on the window sill. In the winter time when it is dark most days you could use a study lamp with a daylight LED bulb for lighting. Water them once a day and not let the medium dry out. Keep them well ventilated and maintain a room temperature about 20C (for cool crops).

5. Once the microgreens are about two inches tall with the first set of leaves well developed, they are good to harvest. Cut the greens just over the medium and enjoy them in your dishes. Most of the microgreens are ready within 10-14 days.

6. Keep it simple when you grow microgreens for the first time. If you fail on the first trial don’t worry, it takes a few trials to get the trick of growing. Once you get to know about the basics you could start experimenting with different mediums and a variety of seeds.

7. Finally, if you need any help with growing your microgreens, we are happy to help. Just message us on Instagram – @verticalshoots

Agrify (AGFY) Enters Into Binding Letter of Intent For An Additional $3M Contract With Hannah Industries For Facility Build-Out And Installation of 179 Vertical Farming Units

February 19, 2021

Agrify Corporation (NasdaqCM: AGFY) (“Agrify” or the “Company”), a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, today announced it has entered into a binding letter of intent, which sets forth the principal terms of a contract currently being negotiated with Hannah Industries (“Hannah”), a leading Tier 2 producer and distributor of cannabis in Washington State, for the design and build-out of an approximately 30,000 square foot facility. The contract will include facility build-out services in total of $3 million and annual SaaS revenue of approximately $285,000. Such payments will be financed by Agrify, are to be made monthly over a two-year period commencing upon the first successful harvest, and will reflect an APR of 25%. The agreement for this design and build-out will be in addition to the previously purchased 179 Vertical Farming Units (“VFUs”) and is part of Agrify’s turnkey solution to its customers. The work is expected to be completed by early Q4 2021, subject to entry into a definitive agreement.

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“We are especially proud to be selected by Hannah Industries, a leading producer and distributor in the State of Washington. Their decision to upgrade from the traditional grow methodology to Agrify’s integrated vertical farming solution is the strongest testimony of our joint belief that Agrify’s solution will help Hannah Industries to produce the highest quality cannabis flowers consistently. We’re thrilled to have been chosen again by Hannah for the facility design, construction, and installation of our proprietary and advanced grow solutions,” said Raymond Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Agrify. “Agrify VFUs and Agrify Insights software should also help Hannah realize increased levels of automation, control, transparency, and repeatability. We expect this will be a great win for our team, and we look forward to working with Hannah to successfully implement it.”

“The current market is very competitive, and consumers have lots of options. One of the most important things to our business is being able to deliver a consistent, high-quality supply of cannabis to our retail partners,” said Jason Whitney, Chief Executive Officer of Hannah. “The Agrify grow system and software allow us to have an extremely high level of control over the grow, helping us meet our customers’ needs. In addition, the information Agrify Insights software provides will allow our team to make real-time decisions on supply chain management based on feedback from our customers. This evolution in the industry is one of the reasons we are extremely pleased to be implementing the Agrify solution for our cultivation facility.”

Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network

by Jennifer Marston

Image from: Little Leaf Farms

Massachusetts-based Little Leaf Farms has raised $90 million in a debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast. The round was led by Equilibrium Capital as well as founding investors Bill Helman and Pilot House Associates. Bank of America also participated.

Little Leaf Farms says the capital is “earmarked” to build new greenhouse sites along the East Coast, where its lettuce is currently available in about 2,500 stores. 

The company already operates one 10-acre greenhouse in Devins, Massachusetts. Its facility grows leafy greens using hydroponics and a mixture of sunlight supplemented by LED-powered grow lights. Rainwater captured from the facility’s roof provides most of the water used on the farm. 

According to a press release, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its retail sales to $38 million since 2019. And last year, the company bought180 acres of land in Pennsylvania on which to build an additional facility. Still another greenhouse, slated for North Carolina, will serve the Southeast region of the U.S. 

Little Leaf Farms joins the likes of Revol Greens, Gotham Greens, AppHarvest, and others in bringing local(ish) greens to a greater percentage of the population. These facilities generally pack and ship their greens on the day of or day after harvesting, and only supply retailers within a certain radius. Little Leaf Farms, for example, currently servers only parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. 

The list of regions the company serves will no doubt lengthen as the company builds up its greenhouse network in the coming months.

VIDEO: 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

by Terri Ciccone and Eater Video Feb 20, 2021

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.”

WEBINAR: Learning Transfer From The Cannabis Industry To The Vertical Farming Industry

MARCH 3, 2021

AT 16:00 Central European Time

ONLINE

Register

Critical Lessons: Learning Transfer from the Cannabis Industry to the Vertical Farming Industry

We are thrilled to organize a Webinar focusing on the technical aspects and experience of these experts:

Our speaker Emil Breza is Co-Founder, President, and CEO of AgricUltra™ Advancements Inc. Bringing together his interdisciplinary technical expertise and many years of product development and innovation he introduced to AgricUltra a PlantFirst™ design approach to create one of the industries most advanced Turn-Key Vertical solutions for Controlled Environment Agriculture applications.

Prior to founding AgricUltra, Emil had years of experience in Process Engineering, the Automotive Industry, Professional consulting, and the Military where he honed his ability to identify the root cause of problems and develop solutions that are outside the box.

Our speaker Buck Young is co-founder and Executive Director at CannTx Life Sciences Inc, a Canadian LP focused on leveraging innovation and science to produce exceptional cannabis products and provide solutions to the industry. He is also the CEO of Saed Technologies Ltd, which develops and licenses technologies related to plant propagation, a Board member of Mary Agrotechnologies, and sits on the management committee for a cannabis botanical drug strategic alliance with Devonian Health Group. He is passionate about translating research findings into commercial outcomes, advancing the adoption of precision agriculture, and understanding nature’s pharmacopeia.

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Emil Breza

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Buck Young

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Dr. Joel Cuello

Please register here, there is only a limited number of tickets available.

Register

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USA - LOS ANGELES: Indoor Urban Farm Planned For Century City

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By Brandon Anderegg

Feb 19, 2021

New York-based Planet to Plate Inc. wants to operate an urban farm within an industrial building in Milwaukee’s Century City business park.

The company’s plans consist of spending $150,000 to renovate a portion of the industrial building at 3945 N. 31st St. for an indoor growing operation, according to a permit recently filed with the city.

The industrial building is owned by an affiliate of Good City Brewing, which has offices and distribution operations in the space. Planet to Plate operations would be confined to an approximately 8,900-square-foot space within the building, said Christopher Corkery, Planet to Plate chief executive officer.

Planet to Plate aims to bring hyper-local fresh greens to the Milwaukee market, allowing food businesses to reinvest in “food deserts” and improve the socio-economic conditions of these areas,” according to a building code variance and commercial alterations permit filed with the city.

“Really the goal is to create supply chain resilience in food systems and create new jobs in food tech,” Corkery said, adding that because of the coronavirus pandemic, food security has never been more relevant.

Planet to Plate at Century City would be operational by this spring pending city approval, Corkery said.

Planet to Plate’s proposal at Century City could bring renewed momentum to the business park after Strauss Brands’ proposal for a $60 million facility became mired in controversy in 2019. Strauss Brands withdrew its proposal days after Ald. Khalif Rainey, whose district includes Century City, pulled his support for the project due to public pressure.

The Century City Business Park is located at the former site of the A.O. Smith and Tower Automotive manufacturing complex, which once employed thousands of workers. After Tower Automotive shut down the operation in 2006, the site was acquired by the city, which has spent years converting it into a business park.

While Spanish train maker Talgo Inc. and Good City Brewing have established operations in Century City, efforts to attract more companies to the area have been slow in-part because of location challenges including crime, facility security, employee safety, and its distance from the freeway.

Last year, Planet to Plate received special use permits from the city to operate an urban farm at the Cecilia Annex building and an adjacent vacant parking lot near the northwest corner of West Wells Street and North 27th Street on Milwaukee’s west side.

However, due to the scale of the project and coronavirus-related challenges, Planet to Plate has shifted its focus to the smaller Century City proposal, which Corkery said will be a more immediate response to local food systems disrupted by the pandemic.

“It’s something we (still) hope to do but obviously that’s a grander project and COVID certainly disrupted much of the business community,” Corkery said. “We hope to continue on (the Cecilia Annex building) project in the future.”

Brandon Anderegg

http://biztimes.com

Brandon covers startups, technology, banking, and finance. He previously worked as a general assignment and court reporter for The Freeman in Waukesha. Brandon graduated from UW-Milwaukee’s journalism, advertising and media studies program with an emphasis in journalism. He enjoys live music, playing guitar, and loves to hacky sack.

USA - MICHIGAN: Indoor Agriculture Receives $100,000 Grant From MDARD

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February 19, 2021

Ayanna Allen

NMU’s new indoor agriculture program recently received a $100,000 grant on Feb. 12 from Michigan’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to help offset the costs for a self-contained growing center.

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According to MDARD’s page, the grants are to help “promote the sustainability of land-based industries and support infrastructure that benefits rural communities”. 

MDARD received over 139 proposals, totaling over $11 million. The program only accepted 20 proposals, which totaled to roughly $1.7 million. This included NMU’s proposal for a self-contained growing center.

The indoor agriculture program is a new major brought to NMU which focuses on hands-on learning of indoor agriculture, sustainable farming practices, urban farming models, environmental infrastructure systems, helping solve the global food crisis, and more. 

Last fall was the first semester that the program took off.

“One of the biggest challenges of growing a program is finding space, and even though there is some available around campus, and in the Jacobetti Center in particular, it still costs a lot of money to retrofit that space and make it usable for the intended purpose.” Evan Lucas, assistant professor of technology and occupational sciences, said. “We targeted this grant specifically to help alleviate the cost impact of adding space for our labs.” 

Lucas went on by saying that the program submitted the idea of purchasing one to two shipping containers to enhance the curriculum. The shipping containers, depending on size and capability would be used to add growing space and diversity the type of growing space.

The program hopes that with the grant money they will be able to grow, and in turn create more space for students to work. Sarah Cormier, a junior in the indoor agriculture program, has exciting hopes for the grant money. 

“I’d hope it’d encourage others to look into the program and think about food production differently,” said Cormier. “We are limited in our labs with the number of seedlings we can tend to, but with more systems we would be able to monitor more plants simultaneously.” 

In turn, having more space means having room for more students. After quick shutdowns and pack-up times, last semester was hard for the program. However, Cormier felt that the experience this semester has been more straightforward. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the program had to cut back on the amount of students able to register. This left many students on waiting lists, unable to participate in the brand new program.

“We were unfortunately not able to open up more than we did without sacrificing the hands-on aspect of growing, which we weren’t really willing to do as that kind of defeats the main purpose,” Lucas stated.

However, Lucas was quick to say how integral Kim Smith Kolosa, another assistant professor of technology and occupational sciences, was to the program. 

“She has done an amazing job taking this program from literally non-existent to exceptional in no time, and we couldn’t ask for anything better at this time,” Lucas said.

TAGS: grant, indoor agriculture, news

Expansion Update: Introducing Vertical Harvest Philadelphia

We Are Thrilled To Announce The Third Farm

Location For Vertical Harvest — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

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The farm, scheduled to break ground later this year, will be part of the new Tioga District™ development — a federally qualified opportunity zone located in a food, health, and wellness desert in the upper north area of the city.

Stationed adjacent to the Temple University Health Sciences Campus and Temple University Hospital, the 70,000 square foot Vertical Harvest greenhouse will be part of the development’s Preventative Health Hub™ a 168,000-sq-foot, state-of-the-art national model for healthcare, health, and wellness with social impact.

Along with the farm already under development in Westbrook Maine, this Philadelphia greenhouse is part of our initiative to co-locate vertical farms with affordable housing in underserved communities across the nation. Specifically, this Philadelphia project will include an accompanying 50 affordable housing units for farmworkers.

Exciting New Development Partners

Our partners in the project are Greg Day, principal and manager of TDB, LLC based in Westbrook, Maine. and TPP Capital Holdings (TPP), a Philadelphia-based, Black-led social impact private equity fund manager and healthcare real estate development firm. TPP is on a mission to change the face of Black health by investing in and transforming blighted and underserved black neighborhoods into integrated and scalable wellness-centric districts over the next 10 years. TPP’s principals Anthony B. Miles and Clinton Bush are co-architects of the Tioga District Preventative Health Hub™.

Within a five-city square block area, the full Tioga District™ development will create 1,407 residential units for rent or sale, the preventative health hub, 172,870 square feet of commercial/office space, 107,000 square feet of retail space, and 92,392 square feet of pedestrian, streetscape and stormwater improvements.

The goal is to uplift Philadelphia’s distressed neighborhood of Tioga with an 85.5% black population, 45% high blood pressure rate, 43.3% obesity rate, 19.3% diabetes rate, 42% of people in poverty, $17,052 median household income, and an unemployment rate of 18%.

We are very proud that Vertical Harvest will be part of this incredible and forward-thinking development, says Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest CEO. “Partnering with the visionaries at TPP, we hope to help address systemic inequities and facilitate change in underserved neighborhoods. Vertical Harvest’s reimagined food systems and the jobs they create can help these communities be more nourishing, resilient, and sustainable.”

FEBRUARY 15, 2021/BY DAWN HAGIN

10 Ways To Grow The Indoor Farming Market

by Dr. Eric Stein

The number of indoor farming companies seems to grow almost daily, each claiming to be more innovative than the last. And yet, there is a lack of data pertaining to the profitability, yields, and sustainability of the indoor farming industry. The Center for Excellence for Indoor Agriculture (COE) was established for this very reason. The COE aims to accelerate the development of the indoor farming market by fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, conducting third-party research, and recognizing excellence in the indoor farming industry.

The Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture has identified ten strategic areas for accelerating the global transition to indoor farming: recognition of excellence, development of metrics, realistic investment expectations, job creation vs. automation, greenhouse vs. vertical farm models, crop diversity, sustainability, training, research into the business aspects of vertical farms, and the development of innovative economic ecosystems.

With respect to recognition, the COE has developed its “Best in Class” awards for growers and manufacturers to recognize excellence, encourage knowledge sharing and hold companies accountable.  

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Eric W. Stein, Ph.D.

“We really think that recognition of excellence is important to the industry, especially if it comes from an independent body. A lot of people make claims about being the best at everything and are promising things they can’t deliver. We really think that it’s important to separate those people from those who are really doing a good job in the industry. We also hope that it will motivate companies to continue to improve,” says Dr. Eric Stein, founder and executive director of the COE.

Eric also highlighted the ambiguities related to automation and job creation in indoor agriculture, which ultimately comes down to the company’s goals. With labor accounting for roughly 25-30% of an indoor farm’s total operating costs, automation can greatly increase profitability by reducing labor costs. However, social enterprises and triple-bottom-line companies may sooner focus on local job creation and use different targets for profitability in the context of their mission.

The cornerstone of the COE and its ten strategic areas is knowledge sharing, which many experts have cited as necessary for the industry’s continued growth.

“I think that one of the biggest needs in the industry is knowledge sharing. Everybody is approaching this from a proprietary perspective, which is typical of emerging industries. But if this industry is going to mature, we need to make sure that we have benchmarks. At the COE, we look at it from an industry level of analysis as opposed to an individual firm level of analysis.” 

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BrightBox-Venlo

While research and development currently focus mostly on production, the COE considers the entire system from the supply chain to the point of sale. According to Eric, the focus on plant production has effectively over-shadowed equally important factors such as the logistics of the supply chain, packaging, distribution, channels, and marketing.

“There has been a lot of focus on the growing process, which is very important, but in the end, to get products from a seed supplier to the company growing it to a supermarket, lots of things need to take place. It’s not just about having the best growing system. How you get it to consumers is equally important, if not more so.”

With the pandemic limiting face-to-face interactions within the industry, the COE has focused on building its member website, expanding social media channels, and building relationships with growers, manufacturers, and partners such as Indoor Ag-Con. Most recently, the organization has forged a relationship with Sage Publications, a major publisher of academic books, journals, and other scientific resources to feature research related to indoor farming and sustainability.

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For more information:
Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture (COE)
Eric W. Stein, Ph.D., Executive Director
eric@indooragcenter.org 
www.indooragcenter.org 

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Publication date: Mon 15 Feb 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

For Vertical Farms To Succeed, Sensors Must Take Center Stage

February 19, 2021

Vertical farming—the process of cultivating produce in stacked, indoor shelves, rather than side-by-side in fields—is a fast-growing industry (pardon the pun). Since it was conjured (or revived, depending who you ask) in a 1999 Columbia University lecture, the technology has grown into a global industry set to be worth $13.5 billion by 2030.

Companies like Plenty, Bowery Farms, and Infarm have innovated vertical farming with a dazzling array of modular, IoT-connected smart devices, which can improve plant “recipes” (the insider term for creating better, more nutritious food) and ramp efficiency alongside vast improvements on water and land usage.

Berlin’s Infarm, for example, claims to have saved over 10m gallons of water and 500,000 square feet of land across its 1,200 farming units, installed in supermarkets in restaurants).

But it is scale and efficiency that proves vertical farming’s bete noir. Leafy greens—low on energy demands and relatively high in price—constitute the lion’s share of output. High-energy food like cereals and potatoes, essential to human survival, remain firmly within the wheelhouse of traditional farms, which already occupy 40% of livable land on Earth, and one of our biggest environmental threats.

“What’s really needed, and that will come with time, is a humanitarian aspect to (vertical farming), which addresses food crises and starvation issues in, say, sub-Saharan Africa where farmers have to put up with horrible things like invasion of locusts,” says Dickson Despommier, the professor who popularized the medium 22 years ago. “Locusts would have a very difficult time invading a vertical farm.”

To feed the world, however, vertical farms need better lights. LED technology has already skyrocketed since its mainstream rollout in the 1960s. “Haitz’s Law” dictates that LED light increases by a factor of 20 and cost drops by a factor of ten every decade.

“The direction is clear: the prices have gone down, the efficiencies have gone up, and I see that continuing,” says Lars Aikala, CEO of Valoya, a leading supplier of LED lights to the vertical farming industry.

But things are getting more complex. Nowadays companies like Valoya can tinker with light spectra to increase growth rates in certain plants while reducing energy costs. “When we started in 2009 this field was pretty much untouched,” says Aikala.

Experts expect Haitz’s Law to tail off in the coming years, as technology becomes smaller, compacter and tougher to scale up. Rather, the next big leaps in LED technology will come via smart sensors, which will help lights replicate night and day, isolate spectra and better tailor themselves to plants’ preferred sunlight.

“If growers want to replicate seasons all year round they have to replicate and control all these parameters in a very narrow window, so plants can survive and grow in a healthy state all year round,” says Fei Jia, technical solutions manager at Heliospectra. “LED lighting allows this because of a high photon efficiency.

“Smart farming is the trend in lighting.”

An added bonus is that around 95% of an LED light is recyclable, helping vertical farmers persuade the public they’re not just a flash in the pan. When sensor technology can lower costs enough to produce carbs and other vital produce, their companies can finally claim to be solving a part of a food crisis that is leaving almost a billion people without adequate access to nutrition each year.

“We’re just at the starting point of (LED) technology, so the price will go down but conversion is going to go up to create more power with less energy,” says Infarm co-founder Erez Galonska. “Now we’re standing on 50-60%, and with the next generation of technology, we easily improve the LEDs. It’s already improved so we’re more energy-efficient already.”

FILED UNDER: CLEAN TECH, CONSUMER, FEATURES, SOFTWARE, STARTUPS, TOP STORY

These Stacked Shipping Containers Are Actually High-Tech Farms

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by KENYA FOY

FEB 2, 2020

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Credit: n.thing

For green thumb owners looking to take their plant parenting skills to the next level, allow us to introduce you to the Planty Cube, a smart vertical farming system developed by Seoul-based agricultural startup n.thing.

The hydroponic setup is based on “internet of things” technology and is comprised of a network of capsules that enables farmers to cultivate “high quality vegetables in a fully controlled environment, ensuring production over tens of times higher than ordinary farmland per unit area, CES explains. The higher crop yields are directly linked to Planty Cube’s ability to support year-round growing.

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Credit: n.thing

In pursuit of n.thing’s mission to turn everyone into a farmer, Planty Cube is off to a running start as the winner of CES 2020 Best of Innovation Awards. The intricate system resembles a shipping container but upon closer inspection is actually multiple shelves of planters, or pickcells, that house seeds.

Each pickcell is connected to the modular system, which is comprised of sensors that track each plant’s health and progress, adjusts humidity and temperatures in response to unexpected environmental changes, and also allows farmers to tend to their crops remotely via a smartphone. In the place of soil, the produce is grown via a nutrient that the system delivers to each plant. The system’s enclosed design prevents pests from infiltrating the crops. Not ready for an entire farm? Planty Cube has a solution for such an agricultural conundrum: It allows growers to choose how many units they start with, leaving them with the option of adding additional units as they see fit.

Credit: n.thing

A major perk of the Planty Cube system is that it can be set up in multiple environments, such as restaurants, hotels and apartments. Its sustainable build helps to decrease environmental impact, further eliminating even more of the obstacles presented by traditional farming methods.

Kenya Foy

CONTRIBUTOR

Kenya is a Dallas-based freelance entertainment and lifestyle writer who devotes most of her free time to traveling, gardening, playing piano, and reading way too many advice columns.