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Green Life Farms Breaks Ground On Second Hydroponic Greenhouse
The hydroponic technology allows Green Life Farms to grow leafy greens in oxygenated water – without soil – then harvest and package them in a controlled environment, reducing the risk of contamination and preserving flavor and freshness
04.05.2021
By Emily Park
LAKE CITY, FLA. - Green Life Farms announced on April 1 that the company is building a second hydroponic greenhouse in Lake City, Fla.
The hydroponic technology allows Green Life Farms to grow leafy greens in oxygenated water – without soil – then harvest and package them in a controlled environment, reducing the risk of contamination and preserving flavor and freshness.
Following the success of its flagship hydroponic greenhouse in Lake Worth, Fla., and significant customer demand for its products, the new greenhouse will be 400,000 square feet and is expected to begin commercial operations in early 2022.
“Following our very successful launch in South Florida, we are proud to announce this new facility to serve North Central Florida - the Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Tallahassee regions,” said Forrest Sawlaw, chief operating officer of Green Life Farms. “In light of ongoing food safety concerns across the country, now more than ever customers are looking for locally grown, clean produce. Our innovative hydroponic technology will deliver the cleanest and freshest leafy greens, all free from GMOs, pesticides and contaminants.”
Green Life Farms will incorporate specialized ozone water management technology to filter, sanitize and store rainwater for use in the growing process, and will rely on Florida sunshine – meaning the facility will use significantly fewer natural resources.
The new greenhouse will be able to produce 18 harvests each year and use 90% less water than conventional farming. At full maturity, the greens are gently moved using a floating conveyor system to be harvested, cooled, and packaged to reach customers within a few days of harvest, instead of the 8 to 10 days it may take conventionally farmed produce to reach customers in the region.
Green Life Farms’ products include Baby Arugula, Baby Kale, Baby Romaine, Farmer’s Blend, and Butterhead Lettuce, and are currently sold at more than 120 grocery store locations throughout South Florida.
Vertical Farming Startup Oishii Raises $50m In Series A Funding
“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone.”
By Sian Yates
03/11/2021
Oishii, a vertical farming startup based in New Jersey, has raised $50 million during a Series A funding round led by Sparx Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II.
The funds will enable Oishii to open vertical strawberry farms in new markets, expand its flagship farm outside of Manhattan, and accelerate its investment in R&D.
“Our mission is to change the way we grow food. We set out to deliver exceptionally delicious and sustainable produce,” said Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga. “We started with the strawberry – a fruit that routinely tops the dirty dozen of most pesticide-riddled crops – as it has long been considered the ‘holy grail’ of vertical farming.”
“We aim to be the largest strawberry producer in the world, and this capital allows us to bring the best-tasting, healthiest berry to everyone. From there, we’ll quickly expand into new fruits and produce,” he added.
Oishii is already known for its innovative farming techniques that have enabled the company to “perfect the strawberry,” while its proprietary and first-of-its-kind pollination method is conducted naturally with bees.
The company’s vertical farms feature zero pesticides and produce ripe fruit all year round, using less water and land than traditional agricultural methods.
“Oishii is the farm of the future,” said Sparx Group president and Group CEO Shuhei Abe. “The cultivation and pollination techniques the company has developed set them well apart from the industry, positioning Oishii to quickly revolutionise agriculture as we know it.”
The company has raised a total of $55 million since its founding in 2016.
Bowery Farming Lettuce Now In 275 Acme, Safeway Stores
The company now serves almost 800 grocery stores and major e-commerce platforms after this partnership with Albertsons Cos. Inc.
By AMY SOWDER
03/23/2021
New York City-based vertical grower Bowery Farming has placed its products in 275 Safeway and Acme stores in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
The company now serves almost 800 grocery stores and major e-commerce platforms after this partnership with Albertsons Cos. Inc., which oversees the Acme and Safeway banners, according to a news release.
“Whether our customers shop with us in store or through our websites and apps, they expect to find fresh and sustainable produce for delicious meals at home,” Ricardo Dimarzio, produce sales manager of Albertsons’ Mid-Atlantic division, said in the release. “We’re proud to offer Bowery Farming’s innovative and sustainable produce to help meet customer demand for high-quality local indoor-grown greens and herbs.”
*700% growth is only for brick-and-mortar store sales
Bowery builds high-tech indoor farms close to the cities it serves. BoweryOS, its proprietary operating system, uses sensors, vision systems, machine learning and automation to monitor and control the variables in crop growth.
Every new farm the company builds benefits from the collective knowledge of the operating system, improving the entire network of farms.
Bowery’s greens and herbs grow in completely controlled environments year-round, independent of weather and seasonality.
“We’re proud to partner with Albertsons Cos. to bring millions of shoppers our local, wildly delicious protected produce and meet unprecedented demand for our growing category, which we believe is the next frontier of agriculture,” Katie Seawell, Bowery’s chief commercial officer, said in the release.
Five of Bowery’s most popular stock-keeping units are now available in 164 Acme stores (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland) and 111 Safeway stores (Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.).
The initial five products are baby butter lettuce, crispy leaf, spring blend, kale blend and basil.
Bowery has seen nearly 700% growth in sales since January 2020 with brick-and-mortar grocery retailers, and more than quadrupled its sales with e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, according to the release.
To sustain this growth and meet demand for its produce, Bowery is building its largest and most technologically advanced farm yet in Bethlehem, Pa., which will further automate the growing process from seed to store and expand its reach throughout the East Coast.
The company also has two commercial farms in Kearny, N.J., and Nottingham, Md.
AUSTRALIA: VIDEO - Shipping Container Farms: Check Out This Craze In Modified Containers
Greenhouses, hydroponics, and mushroom farms – converted shipping containers can produce protein and vegetables for all your needs
Greenhouses, hydroponics, and mushroom farms – converted shipping containers can produce protein and vegetables for all your needs. Even if you’re not an environmentalist, there are business opportunities to be had in delivering extremely fresh food to people in urban environments like Brisbane. Given the changing climate and topsoil loss we are facing, shipping container farms could well be an answer to these issues.
Over the years in the Gateway Gazette, we have published a number of stories that look at producing food in converted shipping containers. Reflecting on what we have published and looking at the detail of what can be done, let’s consider the possibilities that come with shipping container farms.
Open Top Container Greenhouse
One of the most cost-effective ways of using a shipping container as a food-producing unit is by attaching a glass top to an open-top shipping container.
In this video, Urban Farm Units looked at the concept of a greenhouse-container. An open-top 20-foot container would have a greenhouse attached to the top with shelving units directly under the glass. This allows photosynthesis to take place in the normal way.
Seedlings can be started in the lower part of the unit, which is warmed by the light and heat from the outside.
One step down from slapping a greenhouse on top of an open-top container would be to use a flat rack container and to have the greenhouse on the base (Gateway Containers can supply both open-top and flat rack containers).
The concept is an improvement on the one in the video, as long as you keep the greenhouse within the dimensions of a 20ft standard or high-cube container, it would be possible to lift and move the container farm from place to place.
This might be useful where you have an agreement with property developers or a council to use vacant plots of land in a city for agriculture. When the site is ready to be developed you can stick it all on a truck and move it to the next plot.
The concept of a shipping container greenhouse is:
Cheap to buy
Mobile
And often won’t need planning permission for a permanent site
Could this be something you’d consider? Contact us at Gateway Containers to discuss your needs!
Mushie Container Farm!
Image source: King Oyster Mushrooms Facebook
In 2019 we reported how Belgrave, Vic-based John Ford has developed a shipping container mushroom farm. This could produce protein for people as an alternative to meat or for anyone who loves the taste of freshly cut shrooms.
Mushrooms of any kind don’t store well and are best eaten as soon as possible after cutting. This is why having a mushroom farm close to restaurants could be a money-spinner.
This requires no modification from a basic shipping container, you could even install the racking inside the container yourself.
In their lifecycle, mushroom mycelium live out of sight of the world until they are stressed and get the impression that they are facing death. When stressed they flower to produce spores – those flowers are the mushrooms that many of us love to eat.
A shipping container is perfect to take advantage of such a lifecycle. Logs or other media are infected with the mycelium and left to rot for a certain time. By altering the environmental conditions, so you deliberately stress the fungi and they flower.
In our article, we reported how John Ford is producing mushroom species that are famed for their delicate taste but don’t travel well at all – shiitake and oyster mushrooms. As a sideline to his main income as a marine biologist restoring seagrass habitats near Belgrave, he produces freshly cut shrooms for local people and restaurants.
For you as an entrepreneur, mushroom growing would require buying a used shipping container and setting it up as a mushroom farm. If you are planning an urban mushroom container farm, you can take advantage of the fact that you can treat the container as a mobile unit and not as a permanent base. Shipping containers are also pretty inexpensive to buy and convert.
Hydroponics – The Rolls Royce of Shipping Container Farms
Image source: ABC
The hydroponics concept is highly developed for the use of fresh food and can be set up for high density vegetable farming in shipping containers. This requires a fair bit more modification than the two systems we describe above.
Unlike the Urban Farm Units company, several companies have managed to survive over the years selling their hydroponic container farm businesses to entrepreneurs and restaurants around the world.
Modular Farms is a company we featured in our blog originally based in Canada, but who recently set up shop over here in Australia. According to their website, they “design and manufacture container farm systems that can be used to grow food in most locations on earth.”
These systems strive to get around some of the issues we face here. Cities like Brisbane get far too much water sometimes and then face droughts for years on end. The Australian Food Services News reported, “With a focus on sustainability, Modular Farms’s hydroponic, closed-loop system uses 95% less water than a typical outdoor farm.”
Topsoil erosion is a problem, especially in prolonged droughts when it gets blown away as dust. Hydroponics use media like rock wool and even used mattresses to house the plants’ root systems and feed them nutrients via a watering system.
With our ever more extreme climate, food often has to be imported into cities from hundreds or thousands of miles away. A hydroponic container farm can enable you to grow many vegs very close to markets and restaurants.
This has been observed by global homewares retail giant IKEA, which in 2019 announced it was piloting growing vegetables in its stores for use at its restaurants. We reported, “While selling hydroponic indoor growing equipment to customers, IKEA is feeding its staff with lettuce and other vegetables grown in a container outside its Malmö and Helsingborg stores.”
Image source: ABC
There are a few downsides to hydroponics. Firstly, while some types of plants are happy enough growing in hydroponics – the simpler ones producing leaves and flowers (like broccoli!) – others aren’t so happy, such as cassava, wheat, and potatoes.
The next big issue is that for a high-intensity farm, not unlike factory farming chickens, you need to be ultra-clean in your production as the arrival of a destructive disease or fungus could wipe you out very quickly.
Container Fish Farm Too?
In theory, it is possible to run a fish farm connected to the hydroponics container farm, with you largely feeding the fish and collecting their feces and other waste to feed the plants. The plants would clean the fishes’ water and make it habitable for them as reed beds do in nature. This a concept that is in development but hasn’t caught on commercially yet.
How Can Gateway Containers Help?
We can provide and convert an insulated container for you to get started with and advise you how to best make further additions without compromising the overall structure.
If any or all of these ideas have caught your interest – or you just know about these concepts and need a shipping container to make it possible – then get in touch with us today to discuss your needs!
Posted on February 22, 2021
By Mark FinneganOtherShipping ContainerModified Shipping ContainersLeave a comment
US: NORTH CAROLINA: CraftGrown Farms Offers Fresh Microgreens, Lettuce And Herbs
All of the growing is done inside, allowing CraftGrown Farms to produce year-round and the ability to expand its growing capacity
BY JESSICA MAURER
March 10, 2021
CraftGrown Farms involves a hydroponic farm on Castle Street. (Photo courtesy of CraftGrown Farms)
Randall Rhyne’s career has included teaching high school biology and earth science as well as serving in the Army Reserve, with deployments to Iraq and Syria.
After visiting Wilmington last year, he fell in love with the city and decided to relocate from Virginia.
While serving overseas, Rhyne and his unit often had little to no access to fresh food, relying on MREs or snacks like Pop-Tarts. He often longed for fresh produce.
One spring when he was in the Syrian desert, he saw trucks hauling locally grown produce and found himself thinking that if the locals were able to grow their own food in the middle of a civil war, in a desert, there was no reason why he couldn’t do this at home. As soon as he returned to Virginia, Rhyne got to work.
Now, having secured a Castle Street storefront and growing space across from Luna Café on Castle Street last fall, Rhyne has created CraftGrown Farms, an indoor, hydroponic farm selling nutrient-dense microgreens, hydroponic lettuce, and herbs to local restaurants and the public.
All of the growing is done inside, allowing CraftGrown Farms to produce year-round and the ability to expand its growing capacity.
Rhyne said the response so far has been remarkable; in fact, he’s already outgrown his initial vertical grow system.
“It’s a great problem to have,” Rhyne said.
He said new customers are usually so excited about what they’ve tried that they want to take home more than they need.
“I’m an old school believer in the quality of the sale and even though these items have a good shelf life, I try to discourage people from buying too much at once,” Rhyne said.
CraftGrown Farms only harvests what it sells, so the produce is picked right in front of the customer, providing maximum flavor and freshness.
There are currently about a dozen microgreen blends available, as well as leafy greens such as kale, arugula, and tatsoi. The microgreens will keep in a vegetable crisper for two weeks, and all of the lettuce is sold with the root ball intact to preserve flavor and freshness.
“These are not your everyday lettuces,” Rhyne said.
CraftGrown Farms is located at 603 Castle St. and is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Have a tip for Restaurant Roundup? Email us at: restaurant@wilmingtonbiz.com.
Aquaponics AI Releases New Video Series ‘People of Aquaponics’ Connecting With The Movers and Shakers of The Aquaponic and Aquaculture Industry.
The People of Aquaponics series is highlighting the movers and shakers in the industry
Aquaponics AI is a social-impact aquaponic technology company powering the heroes of next-gen aquaponic food production. Their recently released video series, People of Aquaponics, aims to validate the rapidly growing aquaponic community by connecting with awesome people, doing amazing things globally with aquaponics and aquaculture.
“I’m personally inspired by the aquaponic community. You are a unique group of people with an underlying vibe for social impact and caring for people and the planet. Of course, aquaponics is an impactful avenue, but the people behind all of this, that’s who I’m excited to connect with and share with the community through this series “said Daniel Robards, co-founder, and CBDO.
The People of Aquaponics series is highlighting such movers and shakers in the industry. Some interviews so far include a professor who was trialing aquaponics 40 years ago, a researcher discussing her work with microorganisms and bacterial communities, as well as a business training persons with disabilities within their, grow space; that happens to be hosted in a brewery.
Jump in and watch the series on Aquaponics AI’s Youtube page!
About Aquaponics AI
Aquaponics AI is the leading provider of cloud-based aquaponics software. A data and intelligence-driven approach to growing with Aquaponics enable small and large farms to simplify data, understand their system and become better growers. With Aquaponics AI, growers can leverage key data insights to increase overall success and impact. For more information visit aquaponics.ai or email connect@aquaponics.ai.
Towards Greater Profitability And Scale In CEA And Vertical Farming
The virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit on June 24-25 will gather the world’s leading farm operators, retailers, food companies, investors, seed companies, and technology providers to meet, network, and cultivate new commercial partnerships
The virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit on June 24-25 will gather the world’s leading farm operators, retailers, food companies, investors, seed companies, and technology providers to meet, network, and cultivate new commercial partnerships.
350+ attendees from the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia will participate in live-stream sessions, join roundtable discussion groups and connect directly through 1-1 video meetings and group chats.
By sharing best practices from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem.
2021 Key Themes
· Hands-Free Cultivation: Latest developments in robotics, automation and AI
· New Crops: Mapping a pathway to mass production
· Retail Insights: Understanding the drivers behind consumer demand
· Seed Optimization: Breeding a competitive advantage
· Financial Models: The investment models scaling the industry
· Advanced Growing Environments: Blurring lines between lighting and genetics
· Profitability at Scale: The technology driving down OPEX
· Food Systems: Bringing food into urban planning
· Direct to Consumer Business Models: Scaling beyond a city
· Energy Efficiency: Driving down the costs of optimum operations
All participants can schedule video 1-1 meetings with potential partners and clients throughout the summit, and for an extended period before and after the sessions.
By sharing best practices from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem.
Summit website: https://indooragtechnyc.com/
Registration:
One Summit Pass: Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit (June 24-25, 2021)
Super Early Bird Price: $195
Register before April 2
Early Bird Price: $295
Register before May 7
Standard Price: $395
Two Summit Pass: Indoor AgTech (June 24-25, 2021) and Future Food-Tech Alternative Proteins (June 22-23, 2021)
Super Early Bird Price: $445
Register before April 2
Early Bird Price: $595
Register before May 7
Standard Price: $695
https://indooragtechnyc.com/register/
PODCAST: Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show speaker, futurist, and Chief Sustainability Officer at SweGreen, Sepehr Mousavi
Season 2 Episode 26
Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show speaker, futurist, and Chief Sustainability Officer at SweGreen, Sepehr Mousavi. Sepehr is a sustainability strategist, innovation catalyst, and a passionate futurist with an international and multicultural background. His organization, SweGreen, is the number one AgTech company in Sweden and is revolutionizing the vertical farming industry by providing futuristic, smart, and circular solutions for controlled-environment growing systems.
In this episode, Harry and Sepehr discuss Sepehr’s unique background and vertical farming origin story. They delve deep into the concepts of symbiosis, smart real estate solutions, and the importance of Research and Development. Finally, Sepehr speaks to the importance of educating the world on vertical farming and what excites him the most about the future of SweGreen and the AgTech industry.
VERTICAL FARMING PODCAST
Listen & Subscribe
Little Leaf Farms Raises $90M to Grow Its Greenhouse Network
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.
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.
How This Vertical Farm Grows 80,000 Pounds of Produce per Week
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”
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.”
Forget Politics, Danny Ayalon Wants to Effect Change on The Ground
Having transitioned from politics to agriculture, Danny Ayalon shares how vertical farming, which provides fresh fruits and vegetables all year round, and lab-grown meat can rehabilitate the environment and dramatically reduce household expenditures
Having transitioned from politics to agriculture, Danny Ayalon shares how vertical farming, which provides fresh fruits and vegetables all year round, and lab-grown meat can rehabilitate the environment and dramatically reduce household expenditures.
Image from: Yehoshua Yosef
The coronavirus pandemic has drawn attention to humankind's carbon footprint. More than ever before we ask ourselves, how can we become more sustainable? Can we prevent pollution? How can we minimize waste? What about lowering emission levels? Will there be enough food for everyone in the future?
Danny Ayalon, a former ambassador and foreign policy adviser to three prime ministers-turned entrepreneur, believes that the answer to many of the world's problems lies in modern agriculture.
Having transitioned from politics to agriculture, he works with Future Crops, an Amsterdam-based company focused on vertical farming – the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers that often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth – and MeaTech, a company that creates lab-grown meat.
"Ever since the coronavirus came into our lives, we realized that man is not in charge of the universe," Ayalon told Israel Hayom.
"Our control over the forces of nature, of Earth, of our future is more limited than we had thought. And when we are no longer in charge of the world, only three things guarantee our lives here: food, water, and energy security. Food, water, and energy are three resources that can be depleted and therefore literally cast a cloud on our world.
"Experts have come to a conclusion that one of the most important fields to focus on is agriculture, and indeed we are currently witnessing the most significant agricultural revolution ever since the first agricultural revolution that took place about 10,00 years ago."
Q: Back then, in the first agricultural revolution, there was a need for a lot of land.
"But today we have technology. The name of the game is to reach maximum output with minimum input in the smallest space possible. This is the holy grail of the new revolution. And that is how technology enters the picture. To grow fruits, vegetables and spices today requires lots of space. The technology we developed at Future Crops allows us to minimize the space, increase production and redefine the food supply chain."
Q: How exactly?
"We have a nine-story hangar in Amsterdam to grow crops like coriander, basil, dill, and parsley. It has LED lights, and each plant gets exactly the amount of light it needs. We are the plant psychologists, [we] listen to all its needs and do everything to make sure the plant grows in the most optimal way.
Image from: Future Crops
"If it lacks something, it immediately receives water. Everything is done without a human's touch. We use algorithms and big data in collaboration with world-class researchers from the Weizmann Institute. It is essentially the application of vertical farming, growing various crops in vertically stacked layers, in enclosed structures, on soil platforms.
"For example, if it takes a month to grow lettuce in an open field, in a vertical farm, it takes two weeks, half that time. There's also a significant reduction in water consumption, and no pesticides or sprays are used at all. Also, the produce is available in all seasons; it does not depend on the temperature. Whoever likes mangos and strawberries, for example, will be able to enjoy them all year round."
Q: So if produce is grown faster and within a smaller space, is it going to cost less?
"The prices might be a bit higher today because this technology and the various infrastructures require an economic return of the initial investment in them. With time, the process will become more efficient, and the investments will be repaid, so in the end, the prices that the consumer will need to pay will be lower than today.
"Let me give you a simple example. Do you know how much a kilogram [2.2 pounds] of basil costs in Europe today? €90 ($108). In Israel, the price is €20 ($24). In the [United Arab] Emirates, where almost everything connected to food is imported – the prices go accordingly as well. Once you have more innovative vertical farms, consumers will pay much less."
Q: Should we expect vertical farm skyscrapers to pop up all over?
"I'm not sure that we will need skyscrapers, as with time the facilities will become smaller. Imagine that in every supermarket there will be a vertical produce stand with all the vegetables and spices, and later also fruits which you pick on the spot, without the need to move the produce from place to place. That is why vertical farming is also called urban farming, meaning there is no need for fields; you can grow [produce] on the rooftop. No resource limits you."
Q: What about the taste?
"Ours is a fresher and tastier product. I ought to give credit to the Weizmann Institute here. The challenge for them wasn't the quality of the vitamins but the taste, and they managed to achieve a great taste. In the Netherlands, Future Crops already sells parsley, and it tastes outstanding."
Q: Regular parsley lasts for about two weeks in the fridge. What about Future Crops parsley?
"Our parsley has a two-month shelf life, and it does not oxidize within a week or two."
Q: If every country will be self-reliant in terms of agriculture, do you think it will affect relations between countries?
"Economies will become self-sufficient eventually, which will ensure security with far fewer conflicts. There is less and less water in the Middle East, which might someday lead to tensions. We hope technology will reduce the tensions between countries, and territory will be less critical. Our world faces crucial challenges. Food and water security have the potential to either divide or bring us together and ensure our long-term existence.
"By the way, in every developed Western country, like the United States, Australia, and also in Europe, issues of food security, climate, and greenhouse emissions are on the top of the political agenda. We are not talking about it [in Israel,] as security and foreign affairs take the central stage, but Israel does have a lot to offer here."
Q: Do we have the potential to become the Silicon Valley of advanced agriculture?
"Israel takes tremendous pride in its actions that help save the world. Will we become the Silicon Valley of agriculture? There is no doubt about it. We can already see foreign investors who come here to look for opportunities, including my business partner Lior Maimon, co-founder and CEO of Silver Road Capital, and Steven Levin, one of the leaders of the US food industry. Silver Road Capital is a holdings and financial advisory firm with a broad portfolio of high-tech companies, as well as agricultural and food technologies, and represents international companies and funds in investments in Israel and the world.
"Future Crops's goal is to raise 35 million shekels on the Israeli stock exchange to invest in enlarging the existing facilities and [set up] other production lines and facilities in Europe and other continents. We cooperate with the Albert Heijn supermarket chain [in the Netherlands] and a leading food chain in France."
Q: Vertical farming is estimated at $3 billion. Google and Amazon have invested hundreds of millions in the field as well. What is their goal?
"A simple answer would be profit. A longer answer is that they [large corporations] understand that food has the highest demand. People cannot live without food and water, and Google and Amazon understand that potential."
Q: US President Joe Biden took office with the largest team of climate experts ever. That ought to give the field momentum.
"Green energy and vertical farming will get a considerable boost. Climate change and green energy are well-rooted in the Democratic Party's ideology.
"It is also possible that large companies entered the agriculture fields precisely because of the Biden administration; they are worried about their future. They are afraid of a certain dismantling, so focusing on secondary fields is part of a security scenario for them."
Q: Biden also wants to address greenhouse emissions, which are the result of the food production industry, mainly meat. Are Amazon and Google's food counterparts - McDonald's and Burger King - looking for meat substitutes?
"Firstly, cultured [lab-grown] meat does not require grazing land, cows do not need to be fed, and so much land can instead be turned into forests that support the environment. This is an optimistic industry that leaves us with a better world.
"As for the meat alternatives market, there are two major companies in the US that produce plant-based protein, Beyond Meat, and Impossible Foods.
"Impossible's burgers are already at Burger King, McDonald's has partnered up with Beyond Meat, and last November, it announced that it would create its own plant-based burger.
"The problem is that pea protein [used in plant-based burgers,] does not have all the amino acids that animal protein contains. Also, they need to add additives to supplement for taste and smell.
"At MeaTech, where I'm a director, we are on our way to producing animal meat, cultured meat, real stakes: we take a cow's own stem cell from which meat can be produced in almost unlimited quantities. We also use 3D digital printing technology. And we also created a thin layer of meat, carpaccio. Needless to say, no cow was harmed in the process."
Image from: MeaTech
Q: Why do you use 3D printers?
"Because there is no need for a human being's involvement. It is relevant now during the coronavirus pandemic when the food supply chain is disrupted. With such printers, your production can continue without delays, whenever you want.
Also, it is theoretically possible to provide food for space flights. Astronauts who go out into space will not have to take food with them; rather, they will be able to produce it on the spot.
"People understand that crises like the coronavirus can disrupt the supply chain and are looking for alternatives. A 3D printer allows restaurants, supermarkets, and butcher shops to have meat without relying on the supply chain."
Q: The death rate from obesity is higher than the death rate from hunger. How will cultured meat affect these statistics?
"It is possible to create meat with much less fat and more protein in each portion and add various nutrients in the future to strengthen the immune system and prevent disease. This, of course, requires a lot of research and approvals. Just like there's talk about customized medicine, so it will be possible to produce food that suits a person's genetic structure and body in the most optimal way."
Q: Will the cost of this meat also be optimal?
"They will cost more in the beginning compared to regular meat because there are initial costs that have to be repaid. When it becomes a mass production, prices will drop over time."
Q: With your vast experience in politics, what do you think of Israeli politics these days? Do you ever consider a political comeback?
"No election campaign goes by without someone making me an offer [to return to politics] but I'm not interested. Unfortunately, the Israeli government, and all governments in the Western world, have not been able to run their countries properly in recent years.
"For example, more of the government's national taks are transitioning to the private market or the third sector. We see that associations [are the ones] who take care of the needy, establish settlements in the Negev and in the Galilee, bring immigrants to Israel and provide Israelis with information. All these things should be done by the government.
"The Israeli government lacks vision, ideologies, every matter is personal and is charged with negative sentiments. If I do return one day, it will only happen after we change the government system which will take its power from small [political] parties.
"In my opinion, we need to transition to a regional choice, by district. This will result in higher quality politicians. How so? Because whoever wants to be elected will need to run and convince the people who live in his area and district, and they are the ones who know his activities best. Also, closed primaries should be avoided because they make all kinds of deals possible. That needs to change."
“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
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.
Warehouse Becoming Vertical Farms — And They’re Feeding New Jersey
New Jersey's vertical farms are transforming agriculture by helping farmers meet growing food demand. New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher said that while conventional farming in outdoor fields remains critical, vertical farming has its advantages because of its efficiency and resistance to pests and thus less need for chemicals
Image from: New Jersey 101.5
New Jersey's vertical farms are transforming agriculture by helping farmers meet growing food demand.
New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher said that while conventional farming in outdoor fields remains critical, vertical farming has its advantages because of its efficiency and resistance to pests and thus less need for chemicals.
Vertical farming is the process of growing food vertically in stacked layers indoors under artificial light and temperature, mainly in buildings. These plants receive the same nutrients and all the elements needed to grow plants for food.
Vertical farms are also versatile. Plants may be growing in containers, in old warehouses, in shipping containers, in abandoned buildings.
"That's one of the great advantages — that we can put agriculture in the midst of many landscapes that have lost their vitality," said Fisher.
ResearchandMarkets.com says the U.S. vertical farming market is projected to reach values of around $3 billion by the year 2024.
The one drawback is that its operational and labor costs make it expensive to get up and running.
Image from: AeroFarms
In the past decade, however, vertical farming has become more popular, creating significant crop yields all over the state.
AeroFarms in Newark is the world's largest indoor vertical farm. The farm converted a 75-year-old 70,000-square-foot steel mill into a vertical farming operation. AeroFarms' key products include Dream Greens, its retail brand of baby and micro-greens, available year-round in several ShopRite supermarkets.
Kula Urban Farm in Asbury Park opened in 2014. Vacant lots are transformed into urban farms and there's a hydroponic greenhouse on site. That produce is sold to local restaurants.
Beyond Organic Growers in Freehold uses no pesticides and all seeds and nutrients are organic. There's a minimum of 12,000 plants growing on 144 vertical towers. On its website, it says the greenhouse utilizes a new growing technique called aeroponics, which involves vertical towers where the plant roots hang in the air while a nutrient solution is delivered with a fine mist. It also boasts that by using this method, plants can grow with less land and water while yielding up to 30% more three times faster than traditional soil farming.
Vertical farms in New Jersey help feed local communities. Many are in urban areas and are a form of urban farming.
Fisher predicts that vertical farms will be operational in stores and supermarkets around the state.
"It's continued to expand. There's going to be many, many ways and almost any area in the state has the opportunity to have a vertical farm," Fisher said.
Is AppHarvest the Future of Farming?
In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.
Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are red-hot right now, with investors clamoring to get into promising young companies.
In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.
Nick Sciple: One last company I wanted to talk about, Lou, and this is one I think it's -- you pay attention to, but not one I'm super excited to run in and buy. It was a company called AppHarvest. It's coming public via a [SPAC] this year. This vertical farming space. We talked about Gladstone Land buying traditional farmland. AppHarvest is taking a very different approach, trying to lean into some of the ESG-type movements.
Lou Whiteman: Yeah. Let's look at this. It probably wouldn't surprise you that the U.S. is the biggest global farm exporter as we said, but it might surprise you that the Netherlands, the tiny little country, is No. 2. The way they do that is tech: Greenhouse farm structure. AppHarvest has taken that model and brought it to the U.S. They have, I believe, three farms in Appalachia. The pitches can produce 30x the yields using 90% less water. Right now, it's mostly tomatoes and it is early-stage. I don't own this stock either. I love this idea. There's some reasons that I'm not buying in right now that we can get into. But this is fascinating to me. We talked about making the world a better place. This is the company that we need to be successful to make the world a better place. The warning on it is that it is a SPAC. So it's not public yet. Right now, I believe N-O-V-S. That deal should close soon. [Editor's note: The deal has since closed.] I'm not the only one excited about it. I tend not to like to buy IPOs and new companies anyway. I think the caution around buying into the excitement applies here. There is a Martha Stewart video on their website talking up the company, which I love Martha Stewart, but that's a hype level that makes me want to just watch and see what they produce. This is just three little farms in Appalachia right now and a great idea. This was all over my watchlist. I would imagine I would love to hold it at some point, but just be careful because this is, as we saw SPACs last year in other areas, people are very excited about this.
Sciple: Yeah. I think, like we've said, for a lot of these companies, the prospects are great. I think when you look at the reduced water usage, better, environmentally friendly, all those sorts of things. I like that they are in Appalachia. As someone who is from the South, I like it when more rural areas get some people actually investing money there. But again, there's a lot of execution between now and really getting to a place where this is the future of farming and they're going to reach scale and all those sorts of things. But this is a company I'm definitely going to have my radar on and pay attention to as they continue to report earnings. Because you can tell yourself a story about how this type of vertical farming, indoor farming disrupts this traditional model, can be more efficient, cleaner, etc. Something to continue paying attention to as we have more information, because this company, like you said, Lou, isn't all the way public yet. We still got to have this SPAC deal finalized and then we get all our fun SEC filings and quarterly calls and all those sorts of things. Once we have that, I will be very much looking forward to seeing what the company has to say.
Whiteman: Right. Just to finish up along too, the interesting thing here is that it is a proven concept because it has worked elsewhere. The downside of that is that it needed to work there. Netherlands just doesn't have -- and this is an expensive proposition to get started, to get going. There's potential there, but in a country blessed with almost seemingly unlimited farmland for now, for long term it makes sense. But in the short term, it could be a hard thing to really get up and running. I think you're right, just one to watch.
Advice For New Vertical Farmers: Grower Spotlight on Andrew Worrall
Andrew is LettUs Grow’s Farm Manager, he manages two of our sites across Bristol and has brought a wealth of knowledge into the company through his previous experience in indoor farming roles across the UK including at Grow Up, Raynor Foods & RootLabs. In this three part interview, we explore what it’s been like to move from animal husbandry to indoor farming, the lessons he’s learned along the way, what it’s like working at LettUs Grow and his advice for those new to indoor growing.
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
AVF FREE PUBLIC WEBINARS: AVF Annual General Meeting Day
AVF members will convene at the annual general meeting on the 29th of January 2021 at 5 p.m. CET to review 2020 and plan for the new year
AVF members will convene at the annual general meeting on the 29th of January 2021 at 5 p.m. CET to review 2020 and plan for the new year. All members are required to register for this session:
Register For The Meeting (Only for Members)
On the same day, we plan to provide a platform for our members to present their innovations and introduce their companies to a wider audience in the format of roundtable talks and short presentations.
AVF members have time until the 25th of January to either send us a short recording (10-15 minutes) introducing your company’s vision or express their interest in presenting live for the second webinar.
Send Us Your Recordings (Only for Members)
Please bear in mind that if you wish to attend all sessions you need to register for them separately.
Webinars are free and open to the public
There are only a limited number of seats available
Webinar 1
AVF Roundtable: Vertical Farming Startups’ Challenges, Solutions & Opportunities in the Time of COVID-19
Friday, 29 January 2021, 11-12:30 CET
Featuring YASAI, Organifarms, and Urban Greens
Register for Webinar 1
Webinar 2:
AVF Focus on Leading Vertical Farming Innovations
Friday, 29 January 2021, 14-17 CET
Interested members: AgricUltra, IFCO Systems, VeggiTech, Seoul Semiconductor, iFarm, Innovation Agri-Tech Group, Urban Crop Solutions, CDVTA, and maybe your company!
Register for Webinar 2
Contact us for more information: re@vertical-farming.net
Which Type Of Hydroponic System Is Better?
So why do I answer, “it all depends”?
Hint: They are all just irrigation systems.
One of the questions that I get most frequently is, “Which hydroponic system is the best?”
I am fairly sure that my standard answer of, “it all depends” annoys most of the people I am speaking to. From suppliers to growers and from researchers to hobbyists there is always a desire to know and understand which system is the best.
So why do I answer, “it all depends”?
Whether we are talking about nutrient film technique (NFT), deep water culture (DWC), drip irrigation systems, aeroponics systems, ebb and flow systems, or any other system we should agree that these are all just variations of irrigation systems.
Buffer capacity means security. Buffer capacity means you can leave for a day without fear of losing the crop.
Next let’s talk about the systems suppliers and their sales representatives. Suppliers of hydroponic systems will all tell you why theirs is better, but the conversation should really revolve around what factors cause their systems to fail. Every system has a weakness. Your crop, your budget, your facility and your geographic location will likely quickly highlight these weaknesses.
A large variety of hydroponic systems all at once – Big Tex Urban Farms
So, how do you determine what system is best for you?
Here are the things you should know, think about and research thoroughly before you invest.
What crop are you going to grow? If you are planning to grow tomatoes, it’s very unlikely that you will want to invest in a nft system or a dwc system. The needs of your crop will help direct you into the right direction. Likewise, a closed loop drip irrigation system is unlikely to be the answer for lettuce production.
Know your budget. Your budget will play a major role in this decision making process. Do not only think about the upfront costs of the system. Make sure to include the operational and labor costs associated with running the system 7 days a week 365 days per year.
Know your environment. Each crop type will respond to these 9 environmental variables (see diagram) in different ways. As a grower your ability to manage these variables will be a primary indicator of your ability to achieve your target yields. The irrigation systems primary function is to help you control the 4 variables surrounding the root zone (see diagram 0.0 to understand the variables.) Your geographic location and crop will determine which of these variables are most important.
Truly understand the design. In the recent Urban Ag News article, “Important Tips For Designing A Hydroponic Production Facility” I discussed the importance of buffer capacity. Buffer capacity in your irrigation system plays some very important roles. First, it will help you manage your nutrients. Second, it will help your crop deal with variations in temperature. Third and most importantly, it will be a primary indicator of how much time you can spend away from your farm.
Figure out your maintenance and spare parts plan. Irrigation systems break. Irrigation systems get clogged. Irrigation systems need to be serviced and fixed. Make sure you understand everything from how to access the most vulnerable and weak parts of the system to how long it will take you to get replacement parts and what parts you should plan to carry in case of an emergency. Think about redundancy!
Labor is KEY! Consider every aspect of labor. From the education requirements of running the labor, to the amount of labor needed to operate and maintain the system to the importance of labor needed to check on the system on a regular basis.
Budget • Scale • Access
Which brings me back to where we started. Which hydroponic system is the best? It truly all depends. All we know for sure is that if a supplier tells you, “you can grow every crop in our system”, be concerned. It might be true, but I can almost guarantee you that you cannot grow every crop profitably in their system. If a supplier struggles to help you clearly understand and answer the questions posed in this article, look for a new supplier. There are plenty that will.
Finally, focus on building a professional network with experience in the commercial hydroponics industries. Ask lots of questions and understand the full benefits and limitations of any system you choose.
Final hint: Aquaponics growers use one of these systems as well.
International Webinar On Urban Farming - Soilless Cultivation
27th January 2021, between 9 am to 1 pm IST
organised by the
Department of Botany, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA
in collaboration with
Universitas Bengkulu, Indonesia
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia
Industrial Technology Institute (CISIR), Sri Lanka
With the support of
CropG1 ,dFarms USA, Hydrilla, SAM Agro Biotech, SRC Malaysia, Sujay Biotech, Veggitech UAE and Urban Kisaan
on 27th January 2021, between 9 am to 1 pm IST.
Speakers are
1. A perspective of Hydroponics by Mr Vijay Bhaskar Noti, dFarm Inc., USA
2. Sustainable Farming with Multiloop Aquaponics by Mrs Mamatha, Hydrilla
3. Aeroponics: A versatile research tool in modern Agriculture by Dr Jagadeesh, SAM Agro Biotech
4. Diversity in Hydroponics by Prof. G. Sudarsanam, Sri Venkateswara University
5. Application of ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI In Hydroponics and Aeroponics by Dr M. Lakshmi Prasad, Sujay Biotech
6. Hydroponics Scope and Opportunities by Bhaskar Rao, VeggiTech, UAE
7. Plant Health in Soilless Cultivation: Management of Deficiencies, Diseases and Pests By Dr Purushottam Dewang, CropG1
8. Hydroponic Urban Farming in Malaysia under MITRA by Chandrasekar, Sai Ram Capital, Malaysia
9. Entrepreneurship in Urban Farming by Dr P. Sairam, Urban Kisaan
Please fill Free Registration form and submit using the following link
https://forms.gle/52WaVECrqpEFQh4w8
*eCertificates & webinar link will be provided to the registered participants only
*Organisers are not responsible for network failures
For more information please contact
Prof.G.Sudarsanam
Convener of the Webinar
Head, Department of Botany
Sri Venkateswara University
Tirupati -517503
E-mail: sudarsanamg@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +91-9989053632
US: Public Oral Argument In Hydroponically-Grown Organic Food Lawsuit
CFS filed a petition requesting USDA to prohibit organic certification of hydroponic operations that do not work with or build soil in 2019
Source: Vertical Farming Daily
On Thursday, January 21st, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California will hear arguments in Center for Food Safety's (CFS) ongoing lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) "soil-less" loophole that permits the labeling of hydroponically-grown foods as USDA Certified Organic, even though the Organic statute and regulations clearly mandate all organic crop producers foster soil fertility in order to obtain organic certification.
WHAT: Oral Argument in Center for Food Safety's Lawsuit Challenging the Labeling of Hydroponically-Grown Foods as Organic
WHEN: Thursday, January 21, 2021, at 1:30 PM PST
(Note: the Court's afternoon session starts at 1:30 PM and is currently listed as the first of the two cases scheduled for hearing that afternoon, but the Court can hear the cases in any order it wishes).
WHERE: District Judge Richard Seeborg's Virtual Courtroom via Zoom.
CFS filed a petition requesting USDA to prohibit organic certification of hydroponic operations that do not work with or build soil in 2019. After USDA denied the petition, CFS, along with a coalition of organic farms and stakeholders, filed a lawsuit challenging USDA's decision to allow hydroponic operations to continue to be certified organic in March 2020. The lawsuit claims that hydroponic operations violate organic standards for failing to build healthy soils, and asks the Court to stop USDA from allowing hydroponically-produced crops to be sold under the USDA Organic label.
Hydroponic operations, or "hydroponics," describes methods of growing crops using water-based nutrient solutions without any soil. CFS's lawsuit cites the federal Organic Foods Production Act, which requires farms to build soil fertility in order to be certified organic. Hydroponics cannot comply with federal organic standards because hydroponic crops are not grown in soil. Allowing hydroponics to be certified organic is another attempt to weaken the integrity of the Organic label, and has resulted in market confusion and inconsistent organic certifications.
Thursday's hearing on summary judgment will be the only time the Court will hear oral arguments on whether hydroponic operations that do not work with soil meet the mandatory requirements to be sold under the USDA Organic label, and whether USDA violated the federal Organic Foods Production Act when it decided to exempt hydroponic operations from the Organic Label's soil-building requirements.
The plaintiff coalition in the lawsuit includes some of the longest-standing organic farms in the United States, including Swanton Berry Farm, Full Belly Farm, Durst Organic Growers, Terra Firma Farm, Jacobs Farm del Cabo, and Long Wind Farm, in addition to organic stakeholder organizations, such as organic certifier OneCert and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
Publication date: Wed 20 Jan 2021
VIDEO: What's The Difference? Aeroponics Vs. Hydroponics
With a large portion of the world’s farmland shrinking, and food shortages affecting countries all over the world, newer farming methods like aeroponics and hydroponics allow crops to be grown where traditional farming cannot
Nate Klingler | January 11, 2021
With a large portion of the world’s farmland shrinking, and food shortages affecting countries all over the world, newer farming methods like aeroponics and hydroponics allow crops to be grown where traditional farming cannot. As these alternative farming systems increase in popularity, more misconceptions arise about the design, environmental impact, and the overall health of the plants grown using aeroponics and hydroponics.
This list will compare and contrast the differences between the two methods, and show how aeroponic and hydroponic farming technology can be used to grow some of the tastiest, healthiest, and greatest greens on the planet!
Aero Vs Hydro
Many people often confuse aeroponic farming with hydroponics, another form of farming that has gained plenty of popularity over recent years. While both methods are similar in that they don’t require soil, the way nutrients are delivered to plants is much different. In hydroponics, plants may be suspended in water full-time or fed by an intermittent flow of water. Aeroponic plants are never placed into water, instead being given nutrients from a mist that’s sprayed onto their roots.
This key difference is what gives each method their unique name. The term ‘Aeroponics’ stems from the Greek word aero, meaning air, and ponos, meaning work. Hydroponics, on the other hand, uses the Greek term hydro, meaning water, and is translated to the term ‘‘working water’!
The Method
Another major distinction between Aeroponics and Hydroponics lies in the design and methodology of the farming setup.
Aeroponic farms are completely controlled and enclosed environments, with crops growing suspended in air. The plants are contained in a humid atmosphere where frequent misting delivers a nutrient-rich solution right to the roots, keeping the crop from drying out. Because the entire process is enclosed, the mist is able to remain around the plants for longer, helping them grow much quicker than in a traditional outdoor farm.
Hydroponic farming also utilizes nutrient-rich water, but the process of delivering these nutrients is different. Instead of spraying the solution onto the roots, the plants are either grown in containers of nutrient solution, or the solution is circulated past the roots.
Plant Growth and Health
As far as the overall health of the plant goes, aeroponics takes a slight advantage. These crops grow in a completely sealed and protected environment, meaning there is a very small chance that the roots will be exposed to foreign objects and bacteria. Hydroponic plants on the other hand, are at a much greater risk of bacterial exposure, due to the high humidity levels in their growing environment.
Another important aspect that contributes to a plant’s health is the aeration or the amount of oxygen the plant receives while growing. During aeroponic growing the plant’s roots are completely suspended for the entire growing process, allowing them to take in air at a much greater rate. In hydroponics, the roots are submerged and do not receive nearly as much oxygen, contributing to a generally smaller plant and crop yield.
The Environmental Impact
Both aeroponics and hydroponics are regarded to be less harsh on the earth than traditional ‘geoponic’ farming, with neither requiring the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. However, there are some differences in the number of resources used between both systems. Hydroponics requires much larger quantities of water to operate, as well as four times the amount of nutrients needed to grow a plant using the aeroponics method.
Because of this, aeroponics has been developed to compete with the problems that arise from climate change, diminishing farmland, and the building of large housing and urban centers. It uses 98% less land than traditional farming methods, 95% less water, and is 100% controlled, allowing for crops to be grown year-round using fewer resources.
Living Greens Farm & The Future of Aeroponics
Living Greens Farms started with a simple goal to build a sustainable, next-generation farm, and has now expanded into the largest vertical-plane, indoor aeroponic farm in the world! Follow our journey as we look to expand into other areas of the country, where we can make a difference in communities that have little access to fresh produce. Changing the world for the better starts with one person, one bite, and one Living Greens salad at a time.