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PODCAST: Season 2 Episode 20 - Founder And Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, Marc Plinke
Ceres designs and builds advanced, energy-efficient greenhouses that grow year-round while saving energy and water
Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, Marc Plinke. Ceres designs and builds advanced, energy-efficient greenhouses that grow year-round while saving energy and water.
In this episode, Harry and Marc dissect Marc’s career trajectory, from his time at Synergistic Building Technologies to his current role with Ceres. Marc breaks down his passion for bringing about positive change in the world, the inspiring work he’s doing with Ceres, and the state of food in our society.
USA: NEW YORK - Green Amazon A Smart Vertical Farming Company Is Making The Change For Feeding Communities In Need
Green Amazon is a sustainable smart agriculture company based in Buffalo, New York. The company uses different patented pending technologies in its projects
Green Amazon is a sustainable smart agriculture company based in Buffalo, New York. The company uses different patented pending technologies in its’s projects. Normally when we think about farms on the side of a road, we might imagine acres of land, crops, and livestock roaming on expanses of grass. Green Amazon farms will be different.
The Farms will be built on the east side of Buffalo, New York. The company is paving the way for a new method of farming – The company will provide necessary food and nutrients to communities in need while also reducing the burden on the earth’s natural resources and accounting for its changing weather patterns.
Green Amazon was founded in Finger lakes, New York by Dr. Walid Nosir, the company moved to Buffalo, New York to be closer to the people and community it serves.
The company plans to build the farms where the people are and think about how to be most efficient in that delivery. Green Amazon is trying to cut the shipping cost and distributions, so our selling partners, their warehouses, and their distribution facilities are within just miles. The idea that we’re literally in their backyard, we can really be collaborating closely on understanding what their needs are and be able to grow really efficiently.
Green Amazon seeks to improve food security and work towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (2015) of “No Hunger”. In the coming decades, increasing pressure on the global food supply and associated supply chains will require industry overhaul. The research team at Green Amazon believes a focus on using modern technologies in the products and their development of non-chemical fertilization and inadequate disposal or reuse of agricultural will result in a decrease of the negative environmental impacts induced by wastes.
Green Amazon Growth system will be movable and vertical. The farm’s growing room is specially regulated to minimize contamination and provide a stable, consistent environment for crops to grow. People who enter the room must wear lab coats, eye protection, gloves, and hairnets and even wipe their shoes on a disinfecting mat. Air curtains also help prevent unwanted contaminants from floating into the space. The farm also waters its crops with an aeroponics system.
PODCAST: Building A Sustainable Future By Falling In Love With The Solution, Not The Science
In this episode, Harry and John discuss John’s previous work at Bayer and Monsanto, which led to innovations and diverse technologies for important global crops. John opens up about the passion he has for sustainability, the respect he has for farmers, and his family ranching operation in Montana
Join Harry Duran as he welcomes to the show President and CEO of Unfold, Dr. John Purcell. John has dedicated his life to helping farmers safely and sustainably grow food using less of the earth’s natural resources. In his new role as President and CEO of Unfold Bio, John is continuing this same mission to improve the food ecosystem with more sustainable, fresher, and better-tasting fruits and vegetables.
In this episode, Harry and John discuss John’s previous work at Bayer and Monsanto, which led to innovations and diverse technologies for important global crops. John opens up about the passion he has for sustainability, the respect he has for farmers, and his family ranching operation in Montana.
VERTICAL FARMING PODCAST
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UNITED KINGDOM: Bring On The Post-Brexit Vertical Farming Revolution
Vertical Farming, where you grow indoors and control the environment — the temperature, light, CO2 — has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Given the UK’s changing place in international supply chains, and the government’s desire to encourage British companies to lead in developing technologies, vertical farming is just the sort of industry we need
22 October 2020
Chris Davies chief executive of Harvest London
As the UK and the EU stretch out yet another week of “will they or won’t they?” over a trade deal, like a painfully unromantic episode of Neighbours (no jokes about Australian models, please), businesses are not only trying to plan for what happens in January but also questioning how much we should rely on goods moving seamlessly in and out of the country.
In relatively recent times, it was common to say that the internet and highly developed international supply chains had abolished distance. This was always an oversimplification — and at a time when the global business community is worried about trade wars and tariffs, it seems hopelessly idealistic. Borders are back and with them the possibility of big delays.
Waiting an extra few days for your electronics or new shoes to arrive from China may not seem like too much of an imposition, but not all sectors are affected equally. One area where time and distance matter more than most is food — as I have discovered since starting a vertical farming company in East London two years ago.
Vertical Farming, where you grow indoors and control the environment — the temperature, light, CO2 — has been expanding rapidly in recent years. This has been driven in large part by environmentally conscious consumers attracted by the fact that it uses much less water than traditional agriculture, and no pesticides. These are very good points, but another factor is becoming ever more important: proximity to your customer.
You’re probably aware that the UK imports a lot of the food it consumes. According to official statistics, just over half of the food we eat comes from our own farming and fishing industries, but this figure is much lower if you account for ingredients that are grown elsewhere and then processed in the UK. Should we care? After all, extensive consumer choice all year round is very popular.
UK supermarkets offer green beans from Kenya, cherry tomatoes from Spain, and pineapples from Costa Rica to customers because there is plenty of demand. Eating more seasonal British food is gaining popularity, but it seems unlikely our cosmopolitan tastes will vanish altogether.
That’s where vertical farming comes in. We like the variety of cuisines we can enjoy in London, particularly the little luxuries that have come to mean so much more as we’ve spent the last few months cooped up in our homes. The green curry takeaway that you look forward to all week wouldn’t taste as good without Thai basil, your Vietnamese Pho would lack something without fresh coriander.I mention herbs that originate from warmer climates in particular because, even though farmers do grow them in the UK, we tend to import them.
They are delicate, carry a lot of flavor in a small volume, and don’t grow very high. That makes them ideal for vertical farming — in our case in a converted industrial unit in East London, built with hardware from Yorkshire. Being able to put vertical farms close to city centers, near customers (which for us are restaurants), means the reduction in food miles can be massive: lower carbon footprint, and no customs forms to fill in or tariffs to pay.
Vertical farming doesn’t compete with traditional farming, which will continue to produce the overwhelming bulk of food grown in the UK. Just as new technology, and new ideas, greatly increased agricultural production starting in the eighteenth century, so vertical farming can use technology to expand how and where we can grow the food we want, more sustainably.
Given the UK’s changing place in international supply chains, and the government’s desire to encourage British companies to lead in developing technologies, vertical farming is just the sort of industry we need.
Lead photo: Vertical farming can use technology to expand how and where we can grow the food we want, more sustainably (via Getty Images)
Piero Lissoni Designs Conceptual New York Skyscraper To Be "Self-Sufficient Garden-City"
Italian architect Piero Lissoni's studio has designed a conceptual skyscraper in New York as a self-contained community and vertical urban farm that would provide an example of living in the post-Covid era
Eleanor Gibson | 14 August 2020
Italian architect Piero Lissoni's studio has designed a conceptual skyscraper in New York as a self-contained community and vertical urban farm that would provide an example of living in the post-COVID era.
Lissoni Casal Ribeiro, the architecture arm of Lissoni's studio, imagine Skylines to be a self-sufficient skyscraper by providing its own energy and resources as well as facilities for occupants to live, like school, sports facilities and a hospital.
The studio said the idea of self-sufficiency within a building has become even more important in light of the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
"Covid-19 has made us reflect on how weak we are in the face of a pandemic and has served as a warning after the whole planet essentially closed down for three months, teaching us that the infrastructures of the future must also be imagined to take account of life in the possible event of another lockdown," said Lissoni Casal Ribeiro.
"The year 2020 and the arrival of a global pandemic have indeed highlighted our weaknesses and shortcomings at a structural level, causing us to devise new ways of thinking the city and the infrastructures."
Designed for an imaginary urban plot in New York City measuring 80 by 130 metres, the scheme uses geothermal energy and photovoltaic panels for power and would use a rainwater recovery system and water use management for water.
A curtain of steel cables would form the tapered structure and would hold up hanging garden platforms that run around a glazed tower in the centre.
According to the studio, the idea is that over time these platforms would be covered with trees and shrubs to create a "vertical urban forest".
"The equilibrium between the external and internal spaces gives life to a sort of self-sufficient garden-city," it said.
"A system that produces, optimises and recycles energy, a perfect microclimate that filters the air, absorbs carbon dioxide, produces humidity, reuses rainwater to irrigate the greenery, in addition to providing protection from the sun’s rays and the noise of the city."
Within the glass tower, the living spaces would be arranged vertically, with public and cultural activities on the lower levels and the soilless vegetable gardens and sports facilities above this.
Next would be the hospital "which is also immersed in greenery and well-equipped to face any health emergency".
Above this, there would be schools and a university and spaces for offices and co-working, which the studio argued would be an important part of the programme post-Covid.
Residences, meanwhile, are placed on the top floors to take advantage of the views.
Lissoni Casal Ribeiro designed Skylines for the international architecture competition Skyhive 2020 Skyscraper Challenge and received an honorable mention.
Lissoni founded his interdisciplinary practice Lissoni Associati in 1986. In recent years, he has become better known for his product design and interiors, working with a host of leading brands like Cappellini, Flos, Kartell, and B&B Italia.
His other architecture projects include a proposal for a submerged circular aquarium, which won a speculative competition for a site on New York's East River, and a curved residential building that will be built in Vancouver's new Oakridge community.
Project credits:
Design team: Piero Lissoni and Joao Silva with Fulvio Capsoni
Read more: Architecture Conceptual architecture Skyscrapers News Conceptual skyscrapers Piero Lissoni New York skyscrapers Coronavirus
UAE, Israel Both Expect To Benefit From Agricultural Ties
The regional government in the capital, Abu Dhabi, announced in April that it was investing approximately $100 million in vertical farming
TARA KAVALER
08/23/2020
Emiratis will have access to Jewish state’s agritech while Israelis will gain financially
The United Arab Emirates, where less than 1% of the earth is arable, is set to reap major growth from its agricultural sector with the help of Israeli technology after the two countries normalize relations.
Israel, a world leader in agriculture under conditions with little water and high heat, will sell its expertise to farmers in the desert nation where the average temperature in August is 43°C (109°F) and the average annual temperature is 30°C (86°F). Israeli growers also plan to export food to the UAE, from where it may be re-exported to currently unreachable markets.
The UAE and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries have been trying to become more self-reliant in food, most of which they import. The UAE has already seen an explosion in agricultural growth, particularly in vertical farming and other next-generation planting techniques. It plans to start using hydroponics, soil-less crop cultivation, before the end of this year. The regional government in the capital, Abu Dhabi, announced in April that it was investing approximately $100 million in vertical farming.
“Any food production here requires a technological solution,” Nicholas Lodge, a UAE-based agricultural expert, told The Media Line.
“It doesn’t make sense to grow almost anything in terms of arable crops, except for higher-value crops like tomatoes that are grown in greenhouses, with the latest technology, like hydroponics, where minimal water is needed,” Lodge said.
Dr. Yaron Drori, an Israeli agronomist and co-owner of Etza Agriculture consultants, told The Media Line: “There are very sophisticated greenhouses all over the world, especially in northern Europe, but what is special about Israeli equipment is that we know how to deal with the excess of heat in the structures.”
“Most of the year in our greenhouses, we are trying to avoid overheating. This is the opposite of what you are trying to do in Europe, where you are trying to gain heat,” added Drori, whose company specializes in desert farming in southern Israel.
The greenhouses in Israel use shade nets that can be turned on automatically with a “smart” control system that monitors temperature, radiation, and humidity.
The system also activates cooling sprinklers, or a “curtain” of water, which brings outside air into the greenhouse to change the high temperatures and low humidity that make desert agriculture difficult.
The device also irrigates plants without wasting scarce resources. Saving water is one of the centerpieces of Israel’s “advanced innovation” in agritech, Drori said.
Associate Prof. Zvi Peleg of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem spoke to The Media Line about his work at the university’s Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture to reduce the amount of water plants need.
“We are working now on how to improve water-use efficiency, meaning the plants will produce more biomass by using less water.”
“We are trying to change the plant … so it will be more suitable for the climate,” Peleg said. “We are changing the root system to become deeper … to get to the water more easily and reduce the size of the root architecture so it will not take so much water from the soil because it’s a very limited resource.”
He also explained some of Israel’s latest agricultural technology.
“By using sensors to check the water status in the soil and the plant, you improve productivity because you irrigate whenever the plants need water, not whenever you feel they need water,” Peleg said.
“We are also using thermal imaging to see if a plant needs water or nutrients. There are a lot of techniques now related to drones and different kinds of cameras to detect the plant’s growth, as well as diseases and other problems the plant has,” Peleg said. There is “a lot of technology that can benefit many regions, including the UAE.”
Meanwhile, the UAE is doing high tech agricultural research of its own. Dr. Mohammed Abdul Mushen Salem Alyafei, an associate professor at The College of Food and Agriculture at United Arab Emirates University, said studies are being done in the Emirates on an “open-top chamber,” which encircles a plant to examine the impact of carbon dioxide levels and an “aeroponic control unit.” Aeroponic devices grow plants in the air in a moist environment.
Israel’s successful efforts to make its own desert bloom have resulted in exports of its desert produce.
Some “60% of Israel’s [agricultural] exports, which include tomatoes and watermelon, come from the Arava [in the southeast], which is very similar to the UAE, with bad soil and poor [quality] and limited amounts of water,” Shafrir Godel, an agricultural business expert, told The Media Line.
“Everything is against the farmer, and yet it is the major export region for Israeli produce [sent] to Europe and America,” said Godel, founder and managing director of Israel-based AgriQuality, an international consulting company.
Long-distance exporting is very expensive, but Israel has figured how to do it profitably; this know-how could help the UAE.
“The chain from the seed to the supermarket shelf abroad is something that Israelis do well and cost-effectively: starting with the variety [of crop] to plant, the methods and technical solutions for growing, sorting, picking, the plastic you are using to extend shelf-life, and getting them to the right companies that have a hold on the main markets.”
Israeli growers are also looking for new markets.
“Over the years, Israeli farmers have grown with a capacity that is way beyond Israelis’ ability to eat. We need other markets. It is a new market, and it could be a transit station to places that we normally would not sell to,” Godel said.
The UAE is one of the world’s top three re-export hubs.
Agricultural expert Lodge noted that “the UAE has built a reputation as a transport hub serving many countries.” “It’s quite interesting what you might be able to do with that mix of location, technology, and capital for certain crops.”
Both countries’ agricultural businesspeople are excited about the potential for the new alliance.
“The UAE has a history of looking at where it can forge partnerships, where it can make investments where there’s a mutual benefit,” Lodge said. “Israel is an acknowledged leader in arid farming and the application of technology to make farming possible. I’m sure it’s one of the areas that could and should benefit both parties.”
Etza Agriculture’s Drori said: “If you bring the practical and academic knowledge and all the technology that we have to the UAE, we can all benefit from it, both the Emirati and the Israeli companies.”
“Israel gets business, so it benefits financially. But beyond that, it would be fascinating to work there. It’s a new place, you learn and see new things,” he said. “It’s a new world for us.”
Lead photo: Dr. Effi Tripler, a soil and water scientist, stands next to a solar-powered sensor that helps a drip-irrigation system know when and how much to water a crop of sorghum at the Central and Northern Arava R&D facility on May 21, 2015, in Hatzeva, Israel. The soil and water R&D facility tests and produces various crops in the dry, harsh climate of the Arava, near the Jordanian border. (Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images)
The Technique Behind Watering Microgreens From The Bottom
When it comes to watering microgreens, there are various opinions saying it’s better to water from the bottom while others claim it’s best to water from the top
When it comes to watering microgreens, there are various opinions saying it’s better to water from the bottom while others claim it’s best to water from the top. When it comes to watering microgreens, the main goal is to avoid any chances of mold growth. In this article, we’re going to discuss watering microgreens from the bottom so that you can apply the technique to your own crops.
What Is The Point of Watering Microgreens From The Bottom?
Watering microgreens from the bottom is a technique adopted by farmers who sell microgreens to restaurants still in their seedling containers. This allows for microgreens to still grow upon and after delivery. When it comes to watering your microgreens from the bottom, remember to water your microgreens when the top of the soil feels dry. The size of your container can determine how many times a week you’ll need to water. For half-pint containers, you can expect to water your microgreens once a day, while full pint containers may need watering every other day.
How To Water Your Microgreens From The Bottom
Watering your microgreens from the bottom is a simple and easy process. We’ll break down the steps for you here:
Set Up A Pool of Water
It’s best to pour room-temperature filtered water into a bowl or a small tub until the water is half as deep as the microgreen container you have. Do not use cold water during this process since it can stunt the growth of the microgreens.
Put Your Microgreen Container In The Water
There should be holes at the bottom of your microgreen container, so when you place the container in the pool of water the soil will soak up the water. You should let the soil soak up the water for less than a minute or until the soil feels evenly moist. Once you can feel the moistened soil, remove the container from the water.
Empty Surplus Water
After removing the container from the water, you’ll want to place it somewhere where it can drain for a few minutes to remove any excess water. Remember tore fill water when needed especially if you’re working with more than four containers of microgreens. If you’re growing more than four types of microgreens, it’s best to use a large basin for this watering process since it will take less time rather than watering one container at a time.
Throw Out Leftover Water
At this point, you’ve successfully watered your microgreens from the bottom and you can toss out the pool of water. You may find leftover soil in this water, and if so, make sure you don’t allow it to go through the drain because it can cause clogging issues. Throw out the water outside or use a drain catcher to catch any soil remnants.
Watering microgreens from the bottom is another fantastic way to water and care for your plants. Our purpose at the Nick Greens Grow Team is to inform and educate our followers about the ease of growing your own food from home. Want to learn more about new and innovative farming methods? Subscribe to our blog and YouTube channel for weekly updates!
#growingmicrogreens #microgreens #microgreen #wateringmicrogreensfromthebottom #wateringmicrogreens
Madar Farms Receives Investment As Part of Abu Dhabi Investment Office's Drive To Accelerate The Growth of The Emirate's Ag-Tech Industry
The investment is part of ADIO’s AED 1 billion AgTech Incentive Programme to accelerate the growth of the emirate’s burgeoning AgTech ecosystem and promote innovation in desert agriculture that is locally relevant and globally exportable
Abu Dhabi, Monday 13 April 2020
UAE-based AgTech company, Madar Farms has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to support the operation of the world’s first commercial-scale indoor tomato farm using only LED lights and a new research facility to help in accelerating the AgTech industry in the UAE and the region.
The investment is part of ADIO’s AED 1 billion AgTech Incentive Programme to accelerate the growth of the emirate’s burgeoning AgTech ecosystem and promote innovation in desert agriculture that is locally relevant and globally exportable.
It will be used towards developing the world’s first commercial-scale indoor tomato farm that will use only LED lighting to grow. The facility is currently under construction at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) and set to open by the end of this year.
The facility will also see Madar Farms triple the quantity of its microgreens and grow a wider variety of products, increasing its operations in developing local food for local consumption.
The investment will also support a new Research and Development (R&D) facility that will enable Madar Farms to quantify production output measured against environmental inputs (water and electricity). Currently, Madar Farms has an established R&D facility at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.
Madar Farms is one of four AgTech innovators to receive investment from ADIO in the latest award of financial packages from its AgTech Incentive Programme, established under the Abu Dhabi Government’s Ghadan 21 accelerator program. ADIO will invest AED 367 million (USD 100 million) in total in four AgTech companies building facilities in Abu Dhabi as part of this round.
Since launching in 2017, Madar Farms has been leading a new agriculture revolution by using advanced methods to grow local high-quality fresh produce with cutting-edge farming technologies on its hydroponic-vertical systems.
As well as providing a holistic approach to sustainability, Madar Farms also works with the wider industry and education authorities to support the UAE government’s National Food Security Strategy 2051 that aims to solve the region’s food problems and provide enough nutritious food all-year-round.
Abdulaziz AlMulla, CEO and co-founder of Madar Farms, said: “It is a privilege to be recognized by ADIO for our efforts in tackling food and water security challenges in the UAE and the region and turning the Late Sheikh Zayed vision into reality. This shows that we are going in the right direction and with food sustainability becoming more important, we are more determined to build on this achievement.
“This investment will enable us to significantly scale up our operations in the UAE as well as put the skills and knowledge we have gained over the last three years into researching long-term, sustainable solutions for complex food security challenges in the region.
“As well as strengthening our position as a key player in the UAE’s AgTech industry, our ambition is to be leading a new agricultural revolution in different countries in the GCC region and this investment is a step forward to helping us achieve this.”
H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO, said: “We are proud to partner with Madar Farms to support the continued commercialization of its innovative AgTech solutions in Abu Dhabi. The investment will enable Madar Farms to scale up its capabilities and contribute to expanding the supply of sustainable, quality local food in the region. AgTech is a priority sector for the Abu Dhabi Government, and Madar Farms will be a key player in the growth of the ecosystem over the coming years.”
About Madar Farms
Madar Farms is a local company providing a holistic approach to sustainability to help tackle food and water security challenges in the region.
With offices in Dubai and a research and development center in Abu Dhabi, Madar Farms offers products and services that help drive responsible sourcing, environmental ownership, and social impact. This purpose-driven offering is underpinned by the application of innovative AgTech.
Madar Farms also operates the Sustainable Futures program, a hands-on, localized, easy-to-integrate sustainability curriculum that uses food to explore a wide range of topics across the sustainability agenda. This school program is designed to empower the next generation with the awareness, knowledge, skills, and behaviors to create a sustainable future for us all.
Keep up to date with the latest news and events from Madar Farms on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook
Indoor Farming Is One of The Decade's Hottest Trends, But Regulations Make Success Elusive
How to feed a hotter, more crowded planet is the question of the century. Indoor urban agriculture may be the answer
How to feed a hotter, more crowded planet is the question of the century. Indoor urban agriculture may be the answer.
Written By: Washington Post | Nov 20th, 2019
A worker harvest basil inside Gotham Greens facility in Hollis, N.Y. Salwan Georges / Washington Post
BALTIMORE — The next big thing is here, all girders and concrete pads, glass roofing and gravelly dirt. Viraj Puri, co-founder of one of the nation's largest indoor farm companies, walks through the construction site, and even without the luminous frills of thousands of butter lettuces, it's easy to see that the building going up where Bethlehem Steel once stood is something ambitious in the world of food.
The Sparrows Point steelworks in Baltimore, once the largest steel-producing facility in the world, was shuttered in 2012, leaving no trace of what once supported 30,000 families with Bethlehem Steel wages. Now the vacated land is dominated by a FedEx distribution center, an Amazon fulfillment center, an Under Armour warehouse.
And by the beginning of December, Puri's Gotham Greens farm will join them, part of a global craze for decentralized indoor food production.
A worker walks the construction site of Gotham Greens' new Baltimore facility. The farm's first stage will be 100,000 square feet, but there's space to go up to 400,000. Salwan Georges / Washington Post
Food and agriculture innovation have sucked up remarkable amounts of investor capital in recent years and could become a $700 billion market by 2030, according to a Union Bank of Switzerland report.
Millions are being invested globally in indoor urban farms because of their promise to produce more food with less impact, with two dozen large-scale projects launching in Dubai, Israel, the Netherlands and other countries.
Still, the next big thing may be stymied in the United States by high start-up costs, high urban rents and lack of a safety net in a food system that is highly dependent on subsidies and bailouts for a few commodity crops. (An American Farm Bureau Federation report last month found that almost 40% of conventional farm income in 2019 will be provided by trade bailouts, disaster insurance, the farm bill and insurance indemnities.)
And for indoor urban farms, especially those that rely solely on artificial light, there's another concern: lightbulbs.
In September, the Trump administration announced it would roll back Obama-era energy efficiency standards that would have effectively phased out the standard pear-shaped incandescent variety. The step is expected to slow the demand for LED bulbs, which last longer and use less electricity than many other types but are more expensive.
The rollback, slated to take effect in January, is being fought by 15 states and a coalition of environmental and consumer groups that claim the changes will speed climate change and raise consumers' energy bills.
For indoor urban agriculture, especially indoor vertical farms, the reversal represents a threat to an already narrow path to scalability and profitability, according to Irving Fain, chief executive of Bowery Farming. The indoor vertical farming company has raised $122.5 million from celebrity chefs Tom Colicchio, José Andrés and Carla Hall, Amazon worldwide consumer chief executive Jeff Wilke and Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.
"The Department of Energy recognized a lot of our energy was going to lights and that LEDs were a more efficient form of lighting, so they pushed from incandescent to LED in industrial spaces," Fain said in a phone interview. "Those were the trends that got us here, and we were hoping cost could drop another 50% with more innovation and more volume."
Some indoor farms stack plants vertically nearly to the ceiling in repurposed shipping containers or enormous warehouses, all of the plants' photosynthesis achieved via high-tech light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. Others, such as Gotham Greens, are vast, glass-topped greenhouses, pulling their plants' needs from the sun and giving a lightbulb assist in low-light times.
Gotham Greens is transforming Baltimore's Bethlehem Steel factory site into a 100,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse, the largest greenhouse the company has built. Salwan Georges / Washington Post
In addition to Gotham Greens, the Washington-Baltimore area will become home to an outpost of Bowery Farming in November. In the second half of 2020, a $100 million greenhouse tomato-and-cucumber project with the world's largest LED installation for a single building will debut in Morehead, Kentucky, funded in part by "Hillbilly Elegy" writer J.D. Vance. And around the same time, California-based Plenty, with investors such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will debut a southern California indoor vertical farm about the size of a soccer field. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
But the U.S. Department of Energy's proposed reversal of energy efficiency standards could hamper this emerging agricultural sector, according to Fain.
Indoor vertical farming became economically viable when LEDs became plentiful, cheap and efficient. Before that, indoor growing lights produced enormous amounts of heat - heat mapping was frequently how police identified illegal marijuana growing houses - and thus cooling costs and electricity bills were astronomical.
With the passage of energy legislation in 2007, the Department of Energy required that most general-service lightbulbs emit at a minimum efficiency of 45 lumens per watt by the beginning of 2020. Halogen and incandescent bulbs don't generally meet that efficiency standard. LEDs, which use a semiconductor to convert electricity into light, do.
Within just a few years, LEDs doubled in efficiency and prices fell 85%. Widespread adoption caused energy companies to throw money at research and development. Indoor urban farmers, especially those farming vertically, have built their profitability models on projections that LEDs will continue to get exponentially brighter and less expensive, will run cooler and will become more efficient.
Chris Granda, senior researcher/advocate at the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, says rolling back the efficiency standards will hamper the expansion of LEDs and their continued march toward greater efficiency.
"I think what the efficiency standards rollback will do is slow the rate of consumer uptake," Granda said. "There's a cohort of people who just don't like to try new things. The standards would have nudged them along into LEDs. Even if it delays the adoption of LEDs for five years, that's a huge loss of energy."
Efficient bulbs are not the only challenge to indoor urban agriculture, Fain says. To take a small indoor farm and make it a big one requires innovations in robotics and artificial intelligence. There, too, prices have come down substantially for sensors, processing and data storage. Altogether, these make indoor farming viable but not easy.
Fain talks about Bowery's operating system, "the brains and central nervous system of our farm, with a plant-monitoring system and proprietary deep-learning algorithms" that help predict what will happen to each crop. He says the operating system, one of the most expensive components of Bowery, runs everything at each farm, with real-time data to improve outcomes over a network of farms. The cost of that operating system has to be amortized over that network.
And because profitability is so elusive, some of the early promises of indoor agriculture are slow to be realized. Steep start-up costs mean farmers must grow crops that generate major cash: specialty items, such as flowers, or crops that have quick growth cycles, such as leafy greens. The five main indoor crops are leafy greens, microgreens, herbs, flowers and tomatoes, items that are a pull for those of high socioeconomic status but aren't go-to products for low-income people.
There's inherent elitism that is hard to avoid, even with school tours, food bank donations and other efforts toward democratizing access to good food.
Indoor urban farming is frequently touted as a mechanism for urban renewal and job creation in low-income neighborhoods. But farms kitted out with sensors and robots often require highly specialized and educated workers. They typically are not huge employers. Bethlehem Steel employed 30,000 at its peak; Gotham Greens' largest farm yet will have only about 60 full-time employees.
For Puri, Fain and others, the necessity to succeed with indoor urban agriculture is self-evident. More than 95% of head lettuce in the United States comes from two drought-prone states, California and Arizona, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traditional agriculture accounts for 80% of the country's water consumption, as high as 90% in many Western states.
Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO of Gotham Greens, in the company's facility in Hollis, N.Y. Gotham Greens builds and operates ecologically sustainable greenhouses in cities across America. Salwan Georges / Washington Post
In 2018 alone, three food-borne illness outbreaks on traditional romaine farms killed six people, hospitalized 128 and infected 300, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The safety challenges of outdoor farming are becoming more acute with climate change and unexpected shifts in pests and bird migrations.
After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, news stories reported that local Gotham Greens lettuces were some of the only leafy greens available in grocery stores in New Jersey and New York. Indoor farming gives cities "urban resiliency," something planners are increasingly concerned about.
Cities are where most of us live, says Sabine O'Hara, dean of the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia. The conversation now, she says, is how to shrink the food footprint of cities, how to make cities more sustainable and their food systems robust when disaster strikes.
By the end of the year, Gotham will operate 500,000 square feet of greenhouses across five states.
Gotham Greens' first indoor greenhouse farm debuted in 2011 in Brooklyn on the rooftop of an old bowling alley. The second was on the roof of a Whole Foods, also in Brooklyn, and the third was in Queens atop what once housed the Ideal Toy Co., which made the Betsy Wetsy doll after World War II and had its last big hit with the Rubik's Cube. Another, in Chicago, sits on the second floor of an eco-friendly cleaning products company.
The fifth farm, in Baltimore, will be Gotham Greens' biggest to date, and has raised $45 million in equity capital.
At Sparrows Point, Puri walks past what will be the packaging room, the break room and the computer control room. He lists off some stats. One indoor acre at Gotham is as productive as 40 acres of conventional soil. Gotham Greens' Baltimore farm will require 95% less water and 97% less land than a traditional dirt farm, and only about an eighth of the energy consumption of an indoor vertical farm.
Almost nothing will go to the landfill, the majority of its waste being compostable or recyclable. Gotham Greens lettuce can go from seed to full head in 35 days, about half the time it takes outdoors.
The farm's first stage is 100,000 square feet, but there's space to go up to 400,000. Puri talks about eliminating food waste, passing shelf life along to consumers, millennials' desire to know where their food is from. He says Gotham's first farm became profitable within the first year of operation.
"As the largest urban agriculture company in North America," Puri said, "we've demonstrated that urban greenhouse agriculture can be a viable agribusiness that addresses a real need in the commercial supply chain of fresh produce."
But with almost none of the agricultural subsidies and safety nets of traditional row crop agriculture, and with high operating costs and the trajectory of lightbulb research uncertain, some sectors of indoor urban agriculture may be on shaky ground.
This is article was written by Laura Reiley, a reporter for The Washington Post.
US: West Chicago - FOR SALE or RENT: Turn Key Vertical Hydroponic Indoor Urban Farm
The farm and its brand has been successful for over 4 years, the owner is moving on and has taken a managerial position with a large Indoor Vertical Farming company
This is an Indoor Urban Vertical Hydroponic Farm that was built and engineered in 2015
The farm and its brand has been successful for over 4 years, the owner is moving on and has taken a managerial position with a large Indoor Vertical Farming company.
This is an extremely functional hydroponic vertical farm. 1800 Sq ft with 18 foot ceilings.
This facility is able to produce 8 acres worth of food in just 4% of 1 acre (That’s 200x).
The present owner has grown 70+ varieties of microgreens, countless greens, herbs, and edible flowers, and small vining fruits.
The facility was built in collaboration with the DuPage County Public Health Department, and has been certified by the USDA and Third Party Certifiers like Primus, etc.
Everything in the space is food grade, and the facilities walls were built with the finest grade vapor/ particulate barriers inside the walls.
The lights are 60% fluorescent and 40% LED.
You will have access to all lights, but I would encourage you to invest in more LEDS.
This is a turn key facility ready to operate efficiently and at full capacity.
Greens / Herbs / Edible Flowers
33 shelves - 8’x3.5’
6 8’ NFT channels per shelf - 10 plant sites per channel
198 Total NFT Rails with 1,980 plant sites
1980 sites divided by 4 week grow > 495 grow sites/week X $2.5 = $1237/week
*NFT Channels are by Farmtek - size: 4”x2”x8’
Microgreens
27 shelves - 8’x 3.5’
8 Microgreen Specific NFT Channels - 2 10”x 20” trays per channel
432 Total spaces for 10”x 20” flats
432 flats X $13/4oz(very conservative) = $5616/week
*Cropking NFT channels specifically for 10 x 20 flats
Vining Fruits / Herbs
15 shelves - 8’x 3.5’
6 - 3.5’ NFT Channels per shelf - 3 sites per channel
90 - Total NFT Channels with 270 plant sites
Depending on what you grow $1000-3000/week
Also features:
Germination Chamber
Custom built to be an automated baker’s rack style setup to germinate microgreens, lettuces, and herbs in 10”x 20” flats. Capability of holding 144 10x20 trays. 4 sliding doors make it easy to open and close.
All materials are food grade safe and USDA/third party compliant.
Misters run on a very user friendly IPAD app that can be programmed down to the minute.
Separate Harvest Room
2 food grade tables and 3 food grade stainless steel shelves can hold your packaging and accompany 2-3 harvesters. There is a small walk in cooler in the room - 5’x5’x 6’ Tall.
There is also a small hand washing sink.
5 - Reservoirs
3 - 200 gal, 2 500 gallon
1 - 500 gal for microgreen system
1 - 500 gal for greens/herbs/edible flowers system
2 - 200 gal for vining fruits - grow / fruit cycles
1 - 200 gal for cleaning
The system is plumbed so that there are 5 water lines (one for each reservoir) that run parallel, and the cleaning water (generally bleach, etc) can be run through the system while the rest of the shelves are still running their proper water solutions.
For each reservoir there is a powerful pump that goes to the system, but also a seperate pump with separate water lines that go through a filter, then a water chiller, then through a dosing system, then back in the reservoir. So the water is constantly being purified and regulated for the system.
There are also Air pumps and lines for each reservoir.
*The current dosing systems are slowly but surely breaking down - I would strongly recommend purchasing new dosing systems for each reservoir you plan on operating.
3 - 48” x 48” Nurseries on one reservoir
Seeding Station with food grade shelves and stainless steel tables
3 - compartment sink
2 - 4’ x 4’ ventilation fans that sync up with 3 large evaporative cooling walls to ventilate and cool the space by 10-15 degrees F. This system is ran by an Autopilot Digital Environmental Controller.
354 Total Light fixtures capable of accepting 2 48” flourescent or LED bulbs
Plenty of Storage
Room to double the Greens/Herbs/Edible Flowers/Microgreens section
Employee Fridge and File cabinets (2 large, 1 small)
Rolling Stairs
Monthly Rent: $1250 - The space, Utilities (electric, water), Use of a scissor lift.
Sale Price: $115,000
Rental Price:
$3,200 Rent: All Equipment
$4,450 Total Monthly Rent
All information is from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice.
No representation is made as to the accuracy of any description.
All measurements, yields and square footages are approximate and all information should be confirmed by the customer.
Disclaimer of Warranty - The 2016 Freight Farms LGM hydroponic farming container is being sold “as is” and the Seller disclaims all warranties of quality, whether express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.