Governor Of West Flanders Visits Urban Crops

On Monday the governor of the Belgian province West Flanders, Carl Decaluwé, visited the headquarters of the agtech company Urban Crops in Beveren-Leie (Waregem). Urban Crops combines the farming knowledge on cultivation of the region that is situated in the heart of the Western European vegetable industry with the technical knowledge of some of the global leading machine building companies of this region to develop innovative agricultural plant growth solutions for its international portfolio of customers.

On Monday the management of Urban Crops welcomed the governor of the Belgian Province West Flanders, Carl Decaluwé, together with a delegation of the leadership of the city of Waregem for an extensive visit of the plant research labs, the pilot installation of its plant factory technology and the offices of the Urban Crops headquarters. The different technologies and techniques Urban Crops uses for its innovative solutions were explained and demonstrated during the visit. Urban Crops has international patent applications pending for several of these techniques. The diverse challenges Urban Crops faces as a young and ambitious company were also discussed in an open conversation with the provincial leadership.

“Having our roots in this knowledge-rich region is an enormous advantage compared to many companies that want to take up a role in the closed environment vertical farming industry by mainly pursuing their goals from a sole scientific point of view.”, says Maarten Vandecruys, founder and managing director of Urban Crops. “We are proud having created some kind of micro climate for all kinds of local companies and local educational institutions that want to invest further with us in innovation and knowledge in this newest level of farming.”

“Our province has a history of many international companies active in the agriculture, machine building and food industry and of which the knowledge centre has been situated in our province for years”, says governor Decaluwé. “It gives me great pleasure to see that Urban Crops uses all these local competencies to become a global leading player as a turnkey solution provider in their fast emerging international market of the closed environment indoor farming.”

Urban Crops was also pleased at the occasion of this visit to announce the plans for the extension of its research lab infrastructure in the following months with eight new units. This extension has to be realized by the summer of 2017 and will be built in two phases at the same site of the currentUrban Crops headquarters in Beveren-Leie (Belgium). The extra research lab capacity will be used for further optimizing the plant growth recipes and to test and validate additional (special) crops. The additional lab capacity will also be used to perform tests with own developed automation software and hardware components, such as its newest series of plant growth LED lights or its own developed robotics.

First Freight Farm Up And Running In Holland

Today's farmer only needs a smartphone:

First Freight Farm up and running in Holland

He did not go to horticultural college, doesn't have a green thumb and has no clue about produce marketing. Yet Dutchman Patrick Stoffer is about to harvest 1,000 heads of lettuce every week. He is the proud owner of the first Freight Farm in the Netherlands.

Stoffer is the first European that has bought the Leafy Green Machine from Dutch greenhouse supply company Horticoop. The container farm has been developed in the U.S. by Freight Farms and comprises of a shipping container (12.2 x 2.44 x 2.6m) that has 256 ZipGrow cultivation towers for the hydroponic cultivation of leafy greens and herbs. The vertical farms allows a total of 7,000m2 of production.

Stoffer is a proud owner of the idiot-proof farm. He is using an app that keeps him up-to-date on the conditions in the container and through the app he receives tips about what kind of actions to take during cultivation.

Freight Farms has about 150 of these containers installed in the U.S. and the popularity of the system is steadily growing. Kimbal Musk, brother of Paypal and Tesla founder Elon Musk, recently bought 20 to start his own vertical farm. In his blog,  he explains the importance of cultivating in urban locations and being in contact with the consumer.

Leafy Green Machine

Stoffers has no knowledge of the traditional fresh produce trade, and did not attend horticultural college. The youngster is studying Facility Management and uses his entrepreneurship with the Leafy Green Machine as part of his final thesis.

The container is installed near residential care centre Humanitas in the town of Deventer. “Part of the lettuce ends up in the salad bar at the home,” the young entrepreneur explains. “The idea is to also involve residents in the project, to show how the lettuce grows and what happens in the container. At a later time it will become a part of the community as a social project.”

Cost price
Stoffer finds other buyers in local restaurants. “Salad bars and food service companies are intersting parties.” says Stoffer. He needs such companies which see the added value of this, because the cost price of the Leafy Green Machine means he cannot compete with traditional greenhouse horticulture. “We can not compete with the lettuce you find in a Dutch supermarket. However, our product has a story to tell and comes fresher and healthier.”

Horticoop offers the Leafy Green Machinefor a few months now. Interest has already been expressed from countries such as Norway, Sweden and the UK. Freight Farms expects sales will increase in the US next year and also hopes to find a good market in Europe.  

Publication date: 11/16/2016
Author: Arlette Sijmonsma
Copyright: www.hortidaily.com

Vertical Farming Kit Recognised by Manufacturers' Association

Vertical Farming Kit Recognised by Manufacturers' Association

15 November 2016, by Gavin McEwan

Coventry-based hydroponics developer HydroGarden's vertical-farming system VydroFarm was among the winners in the Future of Manufacturing Regional Awards, presented by EEF, formerly the Engineering Employers Federation.

The firm will now go on to represent the Midlands in EEF's National Awards, the winners of which will be announced on 31 January 2017 in London.

HydroGarden says it intends to "maximise VydroFarm's significant growth and sales potential, especially via export".

In May the company was awarded £340,000 from the government's Agri-Tech Catalyst fund to develop the format.

Grow Local OC Conference Delves into the Future of Urban Food Systems in Orange County and Beyond

Grow Local OC Conference Delves into the Future of Urban Food Systems in Orange County and Beyond

November 15, 2016 | Robert Puro

On Nov. 10-11 hundreds of attendees from across Southern California and beyond showed up for the inaugural Grow Local OC Conference: The Future of Urban Food Systems held Nov. 10-11 in Orange County, CA at California State University, Fullerton to learn more about the community and economic development potential of fostering local food systems in cities.

The conference attendees were treated to lectures from the foremost urban farming experts, entrepreneurs, and community advocates in the sustainable and local food system space. Topics explored by the speakers and panelists included the role that food plays in bridging the rural urban divide, the potential for urban farming to generate community and economic capital, the challenges faced by entrepreneurs seeking funds for their local food and farming ventures, the potential for controlled environment agriculture in cities, and the power of community development initiatives to increase access to healthy, local food.

The conference provided ample opportunity for the local food champions, entrepreneurs, and advocates in Orange County to continue to strengthen their base of support to increase food access, improve health outcomes, and meet the demands of a thriving local food marketplace.

Seedstock Founder, Jason Reed kicked off day one of the conference proceedings by noting the huge community and economic development opportunity inherent in fostering and strengthening urban food systems in cities and counties across the country. He also outlined a future in which people would see food not only as nourishment, but also as medicine to fuel a healthier society.

Christina Hall, Executive Director of the OC Food Access Coalition echoed his sentiments. She also noted that while Orange County is perceived from depictions on television as a center of wealth in Southern California, there is a hidden demographic that lives in poverty and suffers from food insecurity. Hall noted that 50% of K-12 children in the county receive free, or reduced price lunches.

The conference’s keynote was delivered by Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Secretary Ross delved into the importance of agriculture and local food systems in cities. She spoke about innovative agricultural systems and noted that modern farming and passionate local farmers are taking us from “calories to survive” to “nutrition to thrive.” She also spoke of the vital and necessary role that food plays in bridging the rural urban divide. “Food is a connector like no other,” she said. She also highlighted the state’s commitment to help small urban farmers succeed and become a viable component of the food system.

Secretary Ross’s keynote was followed by a panel focused on ‘Connecting Stakeholders to Foster a Robust Local Food System’ in Orange County. The panel was moderated by Dwight Detter of Slow Money SoCal and featured panelists Kimi McAdam of Kaiser Permanente’s Nutrition Services department, Christina Hall of OC Food Access, Mark Lowry, Executive Director of OC Food Bank, and Farmer Glenn Tanaka of Tanaka Farms. The panel explored the connective tissues that align local stakeholders and enable them to foster a local food system predicated on impactful food policy, and shared community and economic development goals. McAdam underscored the importance to Kaiser Permanente of sourcing sustainable local food. McAdam noted the hospital group is looking for solutions to source more local food, and said that “we’ve always worked with big distributors, but do we have to?” Mark Lowry of the OC Food Bank noted that to really have an impact local farmers need to produce volume. Farmer Tanaka discussed the importance of agri-tourism and educational programs in helping to bolster the economic viability of his farm.

‘Community Development and Access to Healthy, Local Food’ panel featuring (from left to right) Rickey Smith of Urban Green, Jeremy Samson of Slow Food Orange County, Megan Penn of Orange Home Grown, Sonora Ortiz of the Downtown Santa Ana Farmers’ Market, and Tim Alderson of Solutions for Urban Agriculture. Photo credit: Robert Puro, Seedstock.

A panel on ‘Community Development and Access to Healthy, Local Food’ followed. The panel, which was moderated by Rickey Smith of Urban Green focused on the value of food system-related community development tools, from farmers’ markets and community and school gardens to larger scale community food initiatives to feed and provide food security to those in need. Featured panelists included Megan Penn of Orange Home Grown, Sonora Ortiz of the Downtown Santa Ana Farmers’ Market, Jeremy Samson of Slow Food Orange County and Cultivate Together, and Tim Alderson of Solutions for Urban Agriculture. The panelists examined the importance of organizing the community to build a stronger food system. “If you are interested in ag, you need to be an activist,” said Slow Food Orange County’s Jeremy Samson. In stressing the community impact of farmers’ markets, Megan Penn of Orange Home Grown noted that “the farmers market feels like church to me. It creates community and a sense of place.” On the value of community farming efforts, Tim Alderson of Solutions for Urban Agriculture noted that “community gardens are valuable when the community values them.”

A farm-to-fork networking lunch featuring aquaponically grown greens served up by sponsor Oceans & Earth Restaurant followed. The afternoon sessions, which followed, featured panels on the practicalities of urban farming, the potential for controlled environment farming in the city, finding funding for local food and farming endeavors, and a keynote address on the urban agriculture opportunity in California from Dr. Rachel Surls, Sustainable Food Systems Advisor for UC Cooperative Extension – Los Angeles County.

The urban farming panel was moderated by Dr. Surls and featured panelists Rishi Kumar of The Growing Home, Dr. Aaron Fox of Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Sara Johnson of California State University, Fullerton, and Anna Maria Desipris of The Ecology Center. The panelists delved into the practical details of urban farming from how one can start a farming project, and the importance of pollinators to obtaining community buy-in, success factors, and accessing land. Dr. Fox of Cal Poly Pomona instructed prospective entrepreneurs considering urban farming ventures to “figure out the why first,” and to know your market. On running a viable urban farm, Kumar exclaimed, “we bought a house on a 1/2 acre lot. The house rent pays for the farm. We have the land for free.”

A discussion of the economic potential of indoor agriculture in cities and how it is strengthening local food systems was moderated by Chris Higgins or Hort Americas and featured panelists Nate Storey of Bright Agrotech, Chef Adam Navidi of Future Foods Farms, Ed Horton of Urban Produce LLC, and Erik Cutter of Alegria Fresh. In acknowledgement of those that question the wisdom and need for indoor farming, Chris Higgins of Hort Americas asked, “why are we the only industry that turns its back on technology?” In response to a question about the food justice implications of indoor farming, Nate Storey of Bright Agrotech countered by that controlled environment agriculture is primarily a commercial opportunity. “It’s not set up to serve outliers,” he said.

The day concluded with a panel focused on finding funding for local food and farming endeavors, which was moderated by Robert Puro of Seedstock. The panel, which looked at funding opportunities available to new and existing farmers and food makers, as well as the obstacles that they face in obtaining this funding, featured panelists Colin and Karen Archipley of Archi’s Acres, Derek Lutz of American AgCredit, Leila Mozaffari of the Orange County Small Business Development Center, and Mary Abad of Slow Money SoCal. Karen Archipley of Archi’s Acres urged small farmers to check out USDA FSA micro loans to help them launch their ventures. Mary Abad of Slow Money SoCal implored entrepreneurs looking for funding to “treat money as one of your most important inputs, and to shop for the best quality.”

Attendees then ended the day over cocktails and flat breads at Oceans & Earth Restaurant in Yorba Linda.

The Grow Local OC – Future Farm Field Trip visited The Riverbed in Anaheim, an aquaponics community farm that uses minimal water to operate and produces over 2,000 pounds of food for underserved residents. Photo credit: Robert Puro, Seedstock.

Day two of the conference featured the “Future Farm Field Trip” on which a select group of attendees paid visits to urban and indoor agricultural operations to bear witness to the innovative local food endeavors that are stimulating community and economic development in Orange County. The field trip kicked off with a stop in Anaheim at The Riverbed, an aquaponics community farm that uses minimal water to operate and produces over 2,000 pounds of food for underserved residents. Then it was on to Alegria Fresh in Irvine where attendees ate lunch provided by sponsor Tender Greens, and learned from Erik Cutter about the importance and vitality of soil as well as how urban microfarms can supply communities with locally grown, fresh produce while reducing transportation and preserving natural resources. The tour then moved on to Irvine-based Urban Produce LLC, an indoor vertical farming operation that uses advanced hydroponic technologies in a controlled environment. The day, as well as the conference, concluded at Chef Adam Navidi’s Future Foods Farms, which produces all organically grown products in several 2,000-4,000 square-feet greenhouses, and is one of the largest aquaponic farms in the state.

Indoor Farming May Be The Future of Food Production

Indoor Farming May Be The Future of Food Production

• By Morgan Miller, morgan.miller@iowastatedaily.com
•  
• Updated Nov 14, 2016

Some people believe that as the world population increases, so does the need for a change in agriculture. 

Companies such as Indoor Farms of America and FodderWorks have been developing new technologies to allow people to be able to grow their own food and be able to provide feed for livestock throughout the year to better accommodate the increasing population. 

One of these concepts, indoor farming, is a new type of farming that can be self-contained and put into indoor spaces.

“We're not making anymore land but seem to be making more people, and that’s the problem,” said Justin Akers, co-owner and manager of FodderWorks, during a lecture at Iowa State on Monday. 

Indoor farming serves to benefit those living in urban environments who pay a lot of money for fresh produce. The use of indoor farming could be used in the basements of supermarkets in the future or even under the dining centers at Iowa State.

On each panel of the indoor farm Aeroponics Model 325, plants can be grown and easily transported to different locations. The FodderWorks model can be transported by trailer with stacks of wheat grass grown in a type of grow house installed in the trailers.

Both types of future farming also serve great economic benefits that can decrease the price that people actually pay for the food. Since both systems are easy to manage, fewer labor hours and resources can be used to produce the crops.

Most of the costs of the vegetables and fruits come from shipping costs, so decreasing the amount of transportation needed for the crops can also lower the pollution created by transporting and processing the crops.

“Depending on what indoor space you have, you can control the speed and growth of the crops,” Akers said.

The use of indoor farming and self-sustained fodder farming can be easily controlled to be able to grow during anytime of the year.

The main difference between a traditional farm and the indoor farm would be the seasonal changes. Because seasons won’t really matter for an indoor farm, they can grow crops that are not in season and supply grocery stores with a constant flow of fresh produce.  

Akers noted that this is just the beginning of a new generation of farming that we will be exposed to.

This could be a great addition to large institutions like Iowa State to decrease carbon footprints, reduce spending and supply students with the freshest produce, he said. 

OPCOM Farm Makes Indoor Gardening As Easy As Plant, Pick and Plate

Our gardening systems combine advanced lighting, water management, and horticulture know-how, making it easy and fun to grow produce that is even fresher than farm-to-table; we call it Farm-on-Table.

LOS ANGELES, CA (PRWEB) NOVEMBER 14, 2016

OPCOMLink USA announced today its OPCOM Farm indoor gardening systems, which enable anyone to easily grow their favorite vegetables, herbs, sprouts and fruits inside their homes, year-round.

The GrowBox and GrowWall models couple OPCOM’s soil-free, hydroponic growing technology with proprietary color LED lighting tuned for optimal plant growth. These next generation indoor gardens enable 25 percent faster growth cycles, and eliminate the challenges of weeding, pests and weather normally associated with outdoor gardening.

GrowBox, a tabletop system incorporating four multi-wavelength LED lamps, is able to grow up to 50 plants at a time. GrowWall offers a space-saving vertical design with advanced LED tubes that support up to 75 plants displayed on five different levels. Both models use approximately 90 percent less water than traditional outdoor gardening, offering an environmentally friendly way to grow.

“Our gardening systems combine advanced lighting, water management, and horticulture know-how, making it easy and fun to grow produce that is even fresher than farm-to-table; we call it Farm-on-Table,” said Rajeev Mishra, Vice President and General Manager of OPCOMLink USA. “Given the overall concerns around eating safe and healthy fruits and vegetables, OPCOM Farm offers customers convenient and affordable solutions to personally grow clean and fresh food the entire year.”

The GrowBox and GrowWall are priced at $499 and $599 respectively, and are available on http://www.OpcomFarm.com and Amazon, right in time for the holiday season.

“You don’t have to be a gardener to enjoy our products,” Mishra says. “We are finding a lot of interest among urban dwellers, conscious consumers looking for pesticide free and non-GMO produce, and parents wanting to nurture an interest in their kids for healthy eating. It’s also a great option for seniors and others who would like to garden without the physical toll.”

Given their impressive water conservation and zero carbon footprint, such systems are considered a highly sustainable way to grow.

“Hydroponics is the future of farming and food production,” Mishra maintains, “and OPCOM is committed to being at the forefront of this revolution.”

For more information and videos about OPCOM Farm indoor gardening products, visit http://www.OPCOMFarm.com.

About OPCOM

OPCOMLink USA Inc., based in Costa Mesa, Calif., is OPCOM’s regional sales and marketing headquarters for the Americas. The company was established in 2014 to introduce advanced imaging and lighting technologies in products that help people achieve smart, healthy, and simple lifestyles. OPCOM is a global technology pioneer of advanced imaging and lighting solutions, delivering breakthrough technologies and quality products to the world’s top brands for over 20 years.

Modular Farms Announces First Modular Farm Unit

Modular Farms Announces First Modular Farm Unit

Set for a 2017 release, the product is a portable container farm designed for harsh weather.

November 14, 2016
Press Release

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, CANADA - Modular Farms Inc., a Canadian start-up founded in 2015, announced the release of the first modular farm unit in press release. The portable container farm, which is designed to grow lettuces, leafy greens and herbs in the harshest and most remote environments, is available for showcase at their Brampton offices.

“Indoor agriculture is becoming a very important trend in the food market and Modular Farms is poised to be a leader in this field moving forward,” said Eric Amyot, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “We’ve designed a scalable, modular, portable and self-contained indoor farming system that literally gets delivered on a truck and plugged in to start growing, with yields twice as high as any other farming system we’ve seen to date.”

“We specifically designed the farm system to work in the north of Canada. The food security problems there are problems we think we can help solve,” said Amyot according to the release. “By doing so, we’ve created a product that can work virtually anywhere in the world.”

The Modular Farm allows farmers to add on new growing modules in the future, such as a water-capture module, a storage module, a vestibule, a micro-green module and a micro grid module.

“We want our farmers to know that they are capable of growing their business and adding modules in the future,” said Eric Bergeron, the company’s other co-founder and lead farmer. “The modules, which will be released in 2017, are specifically designed to allow farmers the flexibility to scale their business as needed.”

Modular Farms works with industry leading experts such as Intravision Light Systems of Norway and Canada, as well as Bright Agrotech from the U.S.

“The light system in our farm was specifically designed to maximize yields in the enclosed environment but also to work with the proven ZipGrow Tower growing system from Bright Agrotech,” said Amyot.

The farms, which retail for between $125,000 and $150,000 CDN are ready for production and the company has already landed 32 units to manufacture in the coming year.

GE Forges Ahead With World’s First Wind + Hydro + Storage Project

GE Forges Ahead With World’s First Wind + Hydro + Storage Project

November 14th, 2016 by Tina Casey 

Trump or no Trump, the global clean energy train has left the station. A case in point is a new wind, hydropower, and energy storage collaboration between US-based GE and Germany’s Max Bögl Wind AG. The project is on track to connect its four wind turbines to the grid next year, with the hydropower component coming online in 2018.

The project represents an innovative combo of two different forms of renewable energy with an energy storage bonus thrown in.

Wind turbines and real estate

GE dropped a bit of a clue regarding one aspect of the project a couple of years ago, when it introduced its “space frame” turbine tower.

The company invited me to take a sneak peek of its prototype in California on behalf of CleanTechnica, and one thing I learned is that GE was beginning to think of wind turbine towers in terms of their footprint.

Our guide on the tour pointed out that the hollow design of the turbine tower provides the potential for piggybacking other uses inside the frame. Here’s a view of the interior:

That’s a lot of useful space, right? The polyvinyl cladding allows daylight to filter through, so you could imagine indoor farming among many other options.

Wind power and energy storage

GE’s new project takes the piggyback idea to a whole new level.

The project is located at the Gaildorf wind farm. It includes four wind turbines with a combined capacity of 13.6 megawatts. The base of each turbine will double as a water storage reservoir, for a total of 1.6 million gallons (to be clear, these are not GE space frame towers — for obvious reasons, they are fully enclosed).

These storage units will interact with a nearby lake with a 9 million gallon capacity, and a 16 megawatt hydropower plant. In effect, the turbines will act as giant batteries and provide an opportunity for the hydroplant to operate economically:

During times of peak demand and high electricity prices, the hydro plant will be in production mode. During times of low electricity demand and lower prices, the hydro plant will be in pump mode, pumping and storing water–and hence energy–in the upper reservoir for later use.

Here’s a schematic representing how the storage will help ensure the reliable delivery of electricity from the system:

To ice the renewable energy cake, the added storage raises the height of each turbine tower by 40 meters.

The end result is a “record-breaking” height of 246.5 meters, making these turbines the tallest in the world.

GE will contribute its new 3.4-137 (3.4 megawatts, 137 meter rotor diameter) wind turbines to the project. That includes the company’s Digital Wind Farm platform with Predix* software to maximize efficiency.

For those of you new to the wind energy topic, stronger, more consistent winds are located at higher altitudes. So, the taller the wind turbine, the better.

When the wind is blowing strong, excess energy from the turbines will go directly to the grid. During lulls, the hydropower plant will draw additional water from the turbine towers as needed.

Onward And Upwards For Pumped Storage

Compared to other forms of energy storage, conventional pumped hydro has a limited opportunity for global application. Geography is the main limiting factor because two reservoirs are required, and one must be located higher up than the other.

The innovative approach offered by the GE – Bögl collaboration expands those opportunities to more sites, where an in-ground upper reservoir is otherwise unfeasible.

According to GE, Bögl is already anticipating that it will engage in one or two similar projects in Germany annually after the Gaildorf project goes online.

As for GE, the company’s GE Renewable Energy arm has been front and center in the clean energy revolution, especially in the area of wind turbine technology.

The company positioned its wind turbine business to take full advantage of the federal Production Tax Credit for wind, and now it has been expanding into the wind transmission sector.

GE recently got back into the high voltage converter business after a 20-year hiatus, just in time to hook up with the proposed 720-mile Plains & Eastern wind transmission line. The company will provide three converter stations for the project, which also has the support of the Energy Department.

Organic Farmers Fight USDA to Defend Their Turf

Organic Farmers Fight USDA to Defend Their Turf

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Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune

A worker at FarmedHere, an organic hydroponic “vertical farm” near Chicago, carried arugula that is ready to be packaged.

By Janelle Nanos Globe StaffNovember 13, 2016

Dave Chapman is not afraid of getting a little dirty. For the past 36 years, he’s dug his hands into the soil to plant, then pick, organic tomatoes from his fields and greenhouses in rural Vermont. His love of organics is rooted in a simple motto: “Feed the soil, not the plant.”

So when he heard that hydroponic growers were starting to obtain USDA certification that declared their crops organic, Chapman was incensed. What is organic, he wondered, without the marvel of microbes inherent in dirt?

“They try to pretend that they’re me,” he said. “They aren’t. It’s a lie.”

Now Chapman is digging in his heels against what he calls the invasive growth of organic hydroponics, grown by farmers who use extensive watering systems and chemical nutrients. He’s pushing the USDA to, as he puts it, “keep the soil in organic” and prevent hydroponic farmers from gaining a designation that’s become both on-trend and remarkably lucrative.

Like many other organic farmers, Chapman believes that only things grown in the earth — with its melange of bacteria, earthworms, and animal scat — are connected to the ecosystem. Hydroponic growers, by contrast, are engineering their way to harvest, he said, planting seeds in soil-less trays, then pumping in nutrients via extensive watering systems.

To Chapman, it’s the equivalent of a patient who is fed intravenously while on life support.

The USDA has designated a task force to tackle the issue of whether hydroponics deserve organic certification, and the agency reports that only about 30 farms internationally have been certified, none of which operate in Massachusetts.

But hydroponic growers are closely watching the debate and doing a bit of their own mud-slinging, countering that their systems are pesticide-free and more sustainable for the planet than conventional farming, and allow for crop production to happen anywhere, from an urban warehouse to an African desert.

“When we grow indoors, we control the environment completely,” said Justin Gallant, president of Boston Greens, a hydroponic greenhouse in West Kingston, R.I. While his farm is not certified, he is quick to note that it doesn’t use some of the chemicals that even organic farmers are allowed to use to control crops.

“We’re better than organic,” he argued.

That kind of thinking is anathema to farmers like Eliot Coleman, an author and organic advocate who runs Four Season farm in Brooksville, Maine. To the 77-year-old grower, organic is much more than a label. And he worries that “large hydroponic operations can make billions by just putting this word on their products.”

If this sounds like a bunch of pitchfork-wielding hippies pitting themselves against i-Phone-toting, hydroponic “crop specialists,” that’s not totally off. But organics are now a $43 billion industry and the label can command a premium for any farmer willing to do the work to meet the standards, which the USDA defines as “protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and using only approved substances.” Chapman’s Long Wind Farm now supplies Whole Foods, Shaw’s, and Wegmans with his organic produce, but he says he’s already being edged out on grocery store shelves by hydroponic growers encroaching on his turf.

The USDA’s task force has issued a preliminary advisory on the topic and will meet on Nov. 16 in St. Louis to review the issue further and hear public comments. Chapman sits on the task force, and late last month, he hosted the Rally in the Valley in Thetford, Vt., to rile up his base. The tractor parade and protest drew more than 300 supporters.

To these farmers, the very ethos of organics is at stake.

But there’s more to it than that. It’s the story of a movement that has far outgrown its own roots. In the ’70s and ’80s, before the USDA began to certify organics or customers were willing to pay more for them, New England farmers like Chapman and Coleman faced off against an industrial agricultural system that relied on fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals to produce food.

“The USDA saw the organic movement as undermining people’s trust in good old American agriculture,” Chapman said.

But the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 began to shift public perspective, and today that small green and white certified organic badge has become a signifier of purity in the eyes of many consumers. As written, the legislation allows for some hydroponic production, but in recent years, soil farmers have pushed back as they’ve watched the organic label crop up in places they never imagined.

They were wary when large industrial farms began to phase out harmful pesticides in the pursuit of USDA’s organic standards. They looked on quizzically as consumers began to seek out organic beauty products (“Shampoo? Come on, that’s not what organics is about,” Chapman said). But when industrial farmers (like California-based berry producer Driscoll’s) began to increasingly seek, and receive, organic certification for their hydroponic crops, Chapman and his colleagues were incredulous.

“There is nothing sustainable about plastic troughs and soluble fertilizers made in a factory,” said Coleman, the organic activist. “The idea that some soluble solution could be a substitute for all of the known and millions of unknown processes going on in the soil? That’s just utterly ridiculous.”

Farmers and the USDA have been vying over hydroponics for years, said Tim Griffin, an agriculture professor at Tufts University. And while organic farmers suggest that the nutrient content in hydroponically grown crops is less than in those grown in soil, he said, the research doesn’t show it.

“I’m not sure that the evidence base for that is very strong,” he said.

Founder Paul Sellew checked on some lettuce at Little Leaf Farms in Devens.

Organic hydroponic growers say because they can grow local food year round and much faster than traditional farmers, they can offer customers greater access to healthy produce. And they worry that the future of modern farming is at risk if restrictions are put in place.

“This is being led by very few people that have not considered the impact of a new generation of urban, largely minority farmers who are really excited about entering this industry,” said Megan Klein, president of FarmedHere, an organic hydroponic facility housed in an old box factory on the outskirts of Chicago. Inside the vertical farm, trays of basil and pea shoots stack up toward the 22-foot ceiling, all bathed in the pink glow of LED grow lights.

FarmedHere has been certified since 2012, and Klein believes hydroponic operations won’t encroach on the production of the 31,000 organic soil farms around the world. But losing an organic designation “would be devastating to us,” she said.

Other hydroponic growers are looking beyond organic, and say the locally grown label now carries the same weight, if not more, for their customers.

“I think local trumps organic,” said Paul Sellew, founder of Little Leaf Farms in Devens. His lettuces aren’t certified (“It would be nice,” he admitted), but they can be picked and placed on grocery store shelves in Greater Boston within hours. Among his selling points: “You know your farmer, it’s in the region, and you’re supporting your own economy.”

And in an era of climate change and drought, hydroponic growers say their methods are more sustainable. “By growing hydroponically, we conserve a lot more energy and we can control the water system a lot better than an average organic farmer,” said Gallant, president of Boston Greens.

Miles McEvoy, who leads the organic program for the USDA and will ultimately be responsible for enacting changes to the certification, has been watching as the fight plays out. For now, he’s saying little.

“I can see both sides on this particular issue,” he said. “Soil is the foundation of organic production, but also, organic embraces innovation.”

For Chapman, there is no room for nuance. He fears that as more large industrial organic operations begin using hydroponic methods, the original vision of what organics should be will be compromised.

In his own comment to the USDA, Chapman offered a prediction. “Every day hydroponic continues to infiltrate organic. Every day the organic label becomes less meaningful,” he warned. “Soon the hydroponic growers in organic will be too big to fail.”

Janelle Nanos can be reached at janelle.nanos@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @janellenanos.

State of Indoor Farming 2016

State of Indoor Farming 2016

The Landscape

Responses came from growers around the world, including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Slovakia, Taiwan, Bahrain, Dubai, Tunisia, Finland, Belgium, China, and Japan.

Indoor vertical farms and hydroponic greenhouses were the most prominent primary facility type of survey respondents. Small farms primarily consisted of indoor vertical farms while larger farms primarily consisted of hydroponic greenhouses.

Any crop can be grown indoors. The more common crops grown indoors are greens, microgreens and herbs, vine crops, cannabis, some fruits, and flowers or nursery crops. Survey respondents also reported growing tubers, mushrooms, insects, hops, algae, and commodity crops (corn and wheat).

Survey respondents are growing greens, microgreens, and cannabis in greenhouses, vertical farms, and container farms, while they are growing vine crops and flowers predominantly in greenhouses.

For the most part, indoor farmers believe that the products they’ve chosen to grow are the most profitable and they plan to continue growing those crops in the future. Cannabis and microgreens top the list of crops growers believe are most profitable to grow.

Though many growers agree that cannabis is the most profitable crop, most do not plan to grow it in the next five years.

When asked about annual production and revenue capacity, cannabis topped the list of highest revenue generating crops at about $112 per square foot or about $4,800,000 per acre. Greens were the next highest revenue generating crop at $64 per square foot or about $2,800,000 per acre. The lowest revenue generating crops reported were strawberries at about $22 per square foot or $1,000,000 per acre.

Production & Operations

One of the reasons indoor farming is gaining significant traction in the United States is the ability to produce more while using less resources. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (UDSA) July projection for the 2016 - 2017 growing year, corn prices range from $3.10 - $3.70 per bushel and farms are producing an average of 168 bushels per acre; conventional lettuce and tomatoes are between 23 and 25x more productive at about $12,000 and $13,000 per acre respectively. In comparison, on a revenue basis alone, indoor horticulture is about 4,000x more productive than conventional outdoor commodity farming; indoor cannabis is about 9,000x more productive.

The higher revenues realized by indoor farming are driven by three factors: (a) year round production capability, (b) higher yield, and (c) higher retail pricing.

Year Round Production

In a given year, assuming there are no weather-related incidents, outdoor conventional lettuce farmers will be able to harvest their entire farm 4–5 times. In comparison, indoor farmers will be able to harvest their entire farm an average of 18 times in a given year.

Yield

According to the USDA, the average yield for outdoor conventional lettuce production in 2015 was about 30,000 pounds per acre. Indoor greens growers reported growing an average of 340,000 pounds per acre annually. The 11x increase in yield over conventionally grown lettuce is partially due to faster growth times and additional crop turns. After removing the benefit from cyclical advantages, the increase due to indoor productivity alone is 2.8x.

Higher Retail Prices

According to the USDA, the average price per pound of conventionally grown head lettuce was $0.29 in 2015. In the same year, the price of leaf lettuce was $0.58, the price of romaine lettuce was $0.39, and the price of tomatoes for the fresh market was $0.46 per pound.

In comparison, indoor greens growers reported revenues of $6.00 per pound and indoor vine crops growers reported revenues of $1.13 per pound. Even compared to the highest priced conventional lettuce crops, indoor greens farmers are seeing 10x increases in pricing and indoor tomato growers are seeing 2.5x increases in pricing.

Organic Certification And Local Production

Half of survey respondents reported growing organically though only 8% of growers answered that they were certified as USDA Organic. When asked if growers who weren’t certified wanted to achieve the certification, 47% of growers indicated interest in the certification.

Operating Costs

When asked about their biggest challenges, growers reported managing operating costs as the most difficult - their highest priorities were both reducing and predicting/stabilizing operating costs.

Labor is one of the most costly components of indoor farming operations. Large farms reported employing an average of 24 full time and 12 part time employees. Small farms reported an average of two full time and two part time employees.

On average, data collection and analysis account for about 9% of a farm workforce’s weekly labor hours and 27% of respondents spend 20 or more hours per week on data collection and analysis.

Cannabis growers, whether small or large, spend the most time working with data (about 30 hours per week on average). Large cannabis growers also have the largest reported workforce, and growers of greens and microgreens/herbs have the smallest, comparatively.

Technology

A climate control system is one of the most critical pieces of technology for an indoor farm. This system comprises of sensors (typically recording light, temperature, humidity, CO2) and some level of control for HVAC and lighting equipment.

Of those surveyed, 54% of farms have climate controls systems and 74% of those systems are connected to the internet. There are a handful of leaders in the climate controls market, including Priva, Argus, Link4, Hortimax, and Hoogendoorn; 45% of respondents have one of these systems. Of respondents, 29% have a custom system, ranging from HVAC systems on timers to proprietary sensor and controls systems developed in partnership with universities.

On average, growers have an annual budget of $12 per square foot to invest in technology for both increasing plant yields and managing operations more efficiently. Growers have an annual budget of $15 per square foot to invest in technology to improve crop quality.

Topping a list of new technologies of interest to farmers, 39% of growers are interested in purchasing a farm management system in the next year; 28% of growers are interested in purchasing post-harvest automation systems, 28% are interested in purchasing LED lighting, and 27% are interested in purchasing climate control systems. The lowest priority item listed was organic nutrients. (Note that respondents could select more than one item.)

Farm management systems help growers cut down on the time spent collecting and analyzing data as well as the cost of hiring a growing consultant. Of the 38% of respondents who reported hiring a growing consultant, about half spend between $5,000 to $20,000 in a given year on such consulting.

With farm management systems, growers have access to data and insights into their operations, and they see the value in such analytics. Of those surveyed, 90% of growers believe they can increase crop yields with data analytics.

When asked to rank the operational processes on which data would have the largest impact, growers ranked crop quality and energy/climate control first. Impact is defined here as cutting costs and/or increasing yields.

Growers recognize the amount they could save with both hardware and software upgrades. Small vertical indoor farms report large savings expectations — on average, microgreen/herb farmers reported possible software savings of $71 per square foot. Larger farms show a range of $0.05 up to $7.00 in savings per square foot with software and hardware improvements. Cannabis growers estimate the largest benefit from technology improvements. As yield efficiency increases, so does the impact of technological improvements.

Market & Future

The vast majority of growers, 86% of survey respondents, are planning to expand their facilities in the next five years and they’re planning on growing significantly. The minimum planned expansion is 4.7x larger than current farm size.

Small farms have big plans — farms less than 1,500 square feet have a planned minimum expansion of 179x the sum of their current square footage. For large farms, the minimum planned expansion is 2.7x the sum of current square footage.

Based on current reported revenue and the expected expansion area, these farms will add to the market between $336 million and $610 million in revenue in the next five years. From all existing indoor farms then, this means a market expansion of between $3.7 billion and $6.8 billion during the same period.

Based on current reported revenue and expected expansion area, reporting cannabis growers will add between $102 million and $153 million in expansion revenue to the market in the next five years.

Hydroponics For The Home Are Elegant, Efficient

Hydroponics For The Home Are Elegant, Efficient

Friday

Posted Nov 11, 2016 at 2:00 AM

The International Space Station and your 500-square-foot studio have more in common than you might think: Both environments are a great place to experiment with hydroponics.

By Shayla Love |The Washington Post

The International Space Station and your 500-square-foot studio have more in common than you might think: Both environments are a great place to experiment with hydroponics.

Hydroponic systems grow plants not in soil but in water that is enriched with nutrients. The process is water-efficient and can be done easily in tight quarters.

Gene Giacomelli, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at the University of Arizona and director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, said that for those interested in commercial agriculture, incorporating hydroponics into large-scale production seems the way of the future.

But is it possible to create a hydroponic system at home?

Absolutely, Giacomelli said.

"If you understand the fundamentals, what the plants need, and you have some practical use of tools, it can be just a kiddie pool filled with water and a floating piece of Styrofoam board with holes cut in it," he said.

There are six kinds of hydroponic systems, the most basic of which is called a deep-water culture. This is what Giacomelli is referring to. It's essentially a container of nutrient-filled water, with plants floating on top of it. You'll need an air pump to introduce oxygen into the water, but it can be simply made with Ikea storage bins, a foam cooler, a bucket or any other container, as long as it sits in a place that gets a lot of light.

There are benefits to using hydroponics in small spaces, just as on the International Space Station.

"You don't have to haul around the heavy soil or artificial soil mixes, which are dirty," Giacomelli said. "You don't want these things floating around your apartment."

You can grow your plants year-round, increasing productivity by eight to 20 times as much as if you were subject to seasonal changes. Most important, Giacomelli said, all the water is recycled, so you'll use a lot less than when watering traditionally.

"Every drop that you put into the system, if you're careful, all of it is used to grow the plant," Giacomelli said. "In our hydroponic indoor closed systems, we might use, easily, only 10 percent of the water you would use outdoors."

It sounds appealing, especially for those in urban areas where gardening is not an option. But who wants a bunch of buckets or foam coolers in their apartment? Michael Zick Doherty, a permaculture designer from California, said that once you've got the basics down, it's easy to transform a hydroponic system into something that adds to your home decor.

He designs hydroponic systems by taking into account the surrounding environment, whatever it may be: architecture, cabinet color, kitchen tiles. He's a fan of using innovative materials: On a research residency in Singapore, he experimented with systems made of clay.

"I think hydroponics has gotten a pretty negative image because they aren't aesthetically pleasing a lot of the time," he said. "I think it's easy to take that next step. Even pipes: Something as simple as making a wood enclosure around them would totally change the feel of them. Find ways to obscure the more mechanical parts."

While living in New York in 2013, Doherty was part of a small team that designed a hydroponic kitchen island. It's a sleek piece of furniture with drawers that pull out to reveal trays of microgreens. The water reservoir is hidden at the bottom.

They also built a window system that uses the nutrient film technique, where the water is pumped up and trickles down over the roots of a plant. These systems cost more to create, but if they look nice, they can become a seamless part of a well-designed home or office.

Beautiful doesn't have to be expensive. Britta Riley is the founder of a social enterprise called Windowfarms, and its first designs used water bottles to create a similar window system. She started an open-source website, on hiatus for this summer, so designers all over the world could share their designs.

If you're interested in hydroponics but not ready to build your own system, there are plenty of ready-made ones to buy, Doherty said. Some are aquaponic systems, which put fish in the water to create the nutrients the plants need. Windowfarms has created a product to purchase, though the designs are available (at bit.ly/2b9kVhF) for those who want to take a DIY approach.

Online, there are hundreds of instruction sets and designs, varying from low- to high-end. Doherty created a Pinterest board (pinterest.com/neufuture/designer-horticulture) where a hydroponics novice can browse and get inspired.

You don't have to grow food plants in your system, though many people in the hydroponics community are part of a growing urban agriculture scene.

"The past 15 years, I've seen this tremendous movement to locally grown food and an interest to know where the food comes from," Giacomelli said. "They say, 'Hey, I'll grow it myself, and I feel more comfortable eating it knowing exactly how it's grown.' "

Riley emphasized that using hydroponics in your apartment does not mean you will stop going to the grocery store. It won't save you loads of money on food, but it will provide you with a small supplement to your diet and insight into the life cycle of a plant.

Doherty said that if it's your first time, take it easy. Try an herb, such as basil or mint.

"Mint is a weed, and it loves hydroponics," he said. "Just see how it works, and then once you've grown that mint and you're happy and you understand a little bit about the system, then start branching out, grow some basil, but just don't grow tomatoes."

He laughed and said that tomatoes, often a first inclination for new indoor gardeners, are one of the hardest plants to grow.

"Don't even think about it – just grow mint," he said. "Everyone loves it. You can make so many mojitos from all the mint you grow."

World's Largest Vertical Farm Grows Without Soil, Sunlight or Water in Newark

World's Largest Vertical Farm Grows Without Soil, Sunlight or Water in Newark

AeroFarms has put $30m into a green revolution that seeks to produce more crops in less space, but whether it’s economically viable is an open question

Malavika Vyawahare in Newark, New Jersey

Sunday 14 August 2016 13.00 BST Last modified on Friday 11 November 2016 11.38 GMT

An ambitious, almost fantastical, manifestation of agricultural technology is expected to come to fruition this fall. From the remains of an abandoned steel mill in Newark, New Jersey, the creators of AeroFarms are building what they say will be the largest vertical farm, producing two million pounds of leafy greens a year.

Whether it even qualifies as a “farm” is a matter of taste. The greens will be manufactured using a technology called aeroponics, a technique in which crops are grown in vertical stacks of plant beds, without soil, sunlight or water.

“I ate some of the arugula here,” said New Jersey governor Chris Christie after a recent visit to a smaller AeroFarms facility in the neighborhood. “It tastes fabulous. No dressing necessary.”

The farm, built in the economically depressed New Jersey city promises new jobs, millions of dollars in public-private investment, and an array of locally grown leafy greens for sale. The company has spent some $30m to bring to reality a new breed of “green agriculture” that seeks to produce more crops in less space while minimizing environmental damage, even if it means completely divorcing food production from the natural ecosystem.

AeroFarms and other companies developing similar controlled growing climates claim to be transforming agriculture. Proponents of vertical farming call it the “third green revolution”, analogizing the developments to Apple and Tesla. They tout the potential of such technology to address food shortages as the world population continues to grow.

AeroFarms touts their products as free of pesticides and fertilizer, an attribute that investors think will attract customers who buy organic produce. “We definitely see the need for healthy food in the local area and Newark in particular,” said Lata Reddy, vice-president for corporate social responsibility at Prudential Financial, one of the investors in the project. 

But, food that is not grown in soil may not be palatable to many, even those who are opting for organic substitutes. “If you take the soil out of the system, is it a legitimate organic system?” questioned Carolyn Dimitri, director of the food studies program at New York University. The US Department of Agriculture does not consider the question of organic certification for growing methods that do not use soil, according to AeroFarms’ website.

“Urban farming is trendy,” Dimitri said. It remains an open question, she said, whether it will be economically viable. Prudential Financial has invested “patient capital” in the venture, which is used to finance social impact projects that are unlikely to yield benefits right away. There are no aeroponics projects of this scale but AeroFarms has piloted the technology at Philip’s Academy charter school in Newark, where students are served greens grown at the school.

Seventy times the yield of traditional farms

Marc Oshima, the chief marketing officer at AeroFarms, yanked open a tiny grey door in a back alley in downtown Newark that leads into an old nightclub with vividly painted walls. In 2014, AeroFarms converted the space into a research and development facility. “Out there, in nature, we don’t have control over sunlight, rainfall,” Oshima said, “here, we are giving plants what they need to thrive.”

The moist sanitized air that envelops the R&D lab is missing one ingredient: the earthiness that permeates any agricultural operation.

At the repurposed sites, AeroFarms is pushing the limits of what David Rosenberg, the company’s CEO, calls “precision agriculture”. The scheme ditches the romanticized ideal of farming, acres and acres of open fields dotted with men and women toiling in the sun, getting their hands dirty, in favor of enclosed urban spaces where engineers, electricians and harvesters mill about, wearing protective clothing, masks, and gloves.

With its multicolored LED lights, computer screens lining the walls, and faithful preservation of club decor, AeroFarms’ research facility could easily pass off as a sci-fi themed club. It makes a befitting setting for a company that is promising to increase crop yields by as much as 70 times compared to traditional field farms, without using any pesticides or fertilizers.

The fine print is that the productivity is calculated using square footage occupied and not the vertical space utilized, making comparisons with ground floor-only traditional farms fraught. And critics point out that no traditional farm that size comes with a price tag of over $30m.

Much of the funding is coming from impact investing arms of big-ticket investors like Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial. AeroFarms has leveraged its social impact goals to attract investments, promising to create jobs in a languishing economy and supplying fresh local produce to the community in Newark.

For New Jersey, where unemployment rates have been persistently above the national average, the promise of new jobs and fresh investment has ensured buy-in from the state. Christie, visiting the smaller aeroponics facility in March lavished praise on the “public-private” partnership.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority provided nearly $9m in incentives, stretched over 10 years, which includes a $2.2m grant under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth program and $6.5m in tax credits.

AeroFarms currently employs close to 100 people, and is promising more jobs in the months to come as the company grows. Like other companies in this space, it is relying on productivity gains to offset high cost of expensive technology and emerge as a successful business.

But even growing success isn’t a sure thing, let alone profit margins.

‘More like a factory than a farm’

AeroFarms has grown over 250 types of leafy greens and sells more than 20 varieties of greens such as arugula, kale and spinach but hopes to expand their offering in the future. The scheme imposes height constraints; as of now, everything grown at vertical farms is a type of short-stemmed leafy green. And while controlled growing allows year-round production and protects these new-age farmers from the vagaries of nature, they still contend with the possibility of crops dying from human error or technological malfunction.

Rising from the middle of what used to be a dance floor is a gargantuan growing machine about 20-feet tall. The rectangular apparatus is a stack of growing beds, each about 20-feet long. It resembles a gigantic fridge missing its outer casing, but instead of being used to store greens, they are growing inside. Inhabiting patches on the seven-tier machine, are leafy greens of all ages: seedlings, shoots and fully grown plants. Freshly minted leaves fluttering gently in an artificially conditioned breeze.

Above each bed are columns of LED lights, bathing the plants in a sharp white glow. When plants photosynthesize they convert light of certain wavelengths into chemical energy, and store it for future use. This light does not necessarily have to come from the sun, Oshima explained.

Under the bright lights the plants appear to be embedded in crumpled soggy blankets. The use of growing mediums other than soil is not unique to aeroponics; planting seeds in cotton has been a popular idea for many a school science project. In recent years a related technology called hydroponics, that uses water as a medium to grow plants, has caught on. But Oshima is quick to distinguish aeroponics from hydroponics emphasizing that their technology is superior. And the key to the technology, is what happens under the microfleece membrane. If peeled it would reveal bare roots enveloped by nutrient-rich mist.

Farming in artificially created conditions is itself not an entirely novel idea. Similar techniques are used in extreme environments where growing food the traditional way is not possible, including the United States South Pole Station, where researchers live in a isolated hostile conditions for months at a stretch, and the International Space Station has its own space garden deploying a growing system called Veggie.

The rationale for using similar methods in places where land has for centuries been tilled to grow food emerged at the turn of the century in response to urbanization and population growth. The world’s population will bloat to 9.7 billion by 2050 and 70% of people will reside in urban areas, according to the World Health Organisation. Using large swathes of land for growing food will not be an option, supporters of vertical farming argue.

Dickson D Despommier, a microbiology professor and a top proponent of vertical farming, sees the agricultural technology not just as a response to food crisis but also as a means of returning land that was previously used for agriculture to its natural state.

“We are just academics, we just sit here and watch these ideas grow,” Despommier said on a podcast he hosts on urban farming, marveling at the scale of the new operation.

AeroFarms has built its sales pitch to investors around more pressing and concrete concerns like land and water shortages, meeting the demand for locally grown greens, and climate change. Growing and selling locally means emissions associated with transportation are reduced. What remains unclear is how the company accounts for emissions arising from the farm’s substantial energy needs.

Vertical farming cropping up around the world

In the last decade a few bold schemes have built on this seminal idea, with the first commercial vertical farm set up in Singapore in 2012. Japan boasts of its own semiconductor factory-turned-lettuce farm, an idea that gained some traction after the Fukushima reactor meltdown in 2011 exposed the susceptibility of arable land to long term contamination. In the UK Growing Underground has converted a second world war bomb shelter in London into a hydroponics farm.

In the US at least five new commercial vertical farming operations have emerged over the past five years that use a range of controlled growing technologies to allow year-round harvests of crops that typically have a short growing season in Michigan, and more efficient water use in California. At Ouroboros Farm in California, for example, hundreds of fish are fed organic feed, the waste produced by them is used to nourish seedlings and plants floating on raft beds above the fish tanks.

Some experts like Dimitri believe that such large urban farms are so far afield from traditional ones that “farm” may not be the word for them. “It is more like a factory than farm,” she said, “almost like broiler production, very controlled and regimented.”

Half of all US food produce is thrown away, new research suggests

“People want to be hopeful, they want a solution that works,” Dimitri said. “Some people think it is the way of the future. I think it is just another production technology, I don’t think it is going to turn agriculture on its head.”

New agricultural technologies like aeroponics are unlikely to make a dent in the global food crisis, for now. Countries which face the highest food insecurity don’t dabble in expensive new technology, and even if they do, the produce may not reach underserved populations. “It is a technology whose time has come for the rich,” Despommier argued, noting that “it is already popular in Japan, and countries in the Middle East that want to reduce dependence on food imports have also shown interest.”

Reddy was also measured in her assessment: “What we see here will not disrupt the entire farming industry but a particular niche.”

But proponents like Despommier see enterprises such as AeroFarms as a way forward. “There is no limit to what you can do,” he said, while acknowledging that one of the biggest challenges going forward will be growing other crops like rice and wheat, crops that could feed the world.

HATponics: How To Feed 20 Million People By 2020

HATponics: How to Feed 20 Million People by 2020

Posted by Amy Storey on Nov 4, 2016 9:06:10 AMFind me on:

At some point, you must stop talking and start doing.

HATponics is what happened when somebody took that realization to heart.

Ryan Cox, CEO and founder of HATponics (hydroponics, aquaponics, terraponics) realized the need for action in 2012.

He heard a lot of talking about solving global and domestic hunger problems, but not many people were taking action to solve the problem.

The people that were doing something were focusing on ineffective measures; movie stars and philanthropists spent millions on transporting food to the hungry, but troubles encountered en-route caused waste.

The food that did arrive at its destination was only a temporary solution. It’s used up, and then what? People are hungry again.  “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”

Ryan saw a problem with this mainstream solution. He decided to do something different. So he started a non-profit called Inner City Aquaponics to prototype a farm.

Then in 2013, he gathered a team of competent, like-minded people around him, and he started to execute on better ideas on a wider scale.

The goal of this organization, named HATponics, is to feed 20 million people with sustainable farm systems by the year 2020.

Driven by a strong vision, lots of hard work, and partnerships made with hundreds of schools on the east coast, HATponics started accomplishing their goal.

The company takes two approaches to feeding people. The first is by teaching students to grow food in their schools, and the second is partnering with schools to build sustainable farms internationally.

Their core tools to feeding people are:

• Aquaponic, hydroponic, and terraponic systems being used to feed and teach U.S. students
• The Global Challenges program.

How US Schools play a role in feeding people

A key trait of sustainability is creating solutions that function now and in the future. For HATponics, this means both building systems now and giving future farmers the tools to do the same.

To date, HATponics has partnered with over 1000 schools across the eastern coast of the US.

Schools with hydroponic or aquaponic systems give their students and parts of the community an opportunity to eat healthy produce and learn to grow it themselves.

Each school’s farm system is custom-made to fit the school's goals. Some schools focus on feeding students and the community, others on integrating the systems into lesson plans. Most schools use systems for both. 

Malcolm Bridge Elementary in Bogart, Georgia outfitted their first system this September. 

Less than two months ago, the HATponics crew built an aquaponics system for the 5th grade class taught by Merritt Arnold. The vertical aquaponic garden uses a zero-gravity fish tank and 16 ZipGrow Towers.

The system is still cycling (microbes are establishing over the course of a few months which will power nitrification), but he’s already using the system to work through the scientific process with his students.

Mr. Arnold hopes to eventually contribute fresh, nutritious produce to the school cafeteria and the community. 

The future is exciting for Malcom Bridge's farm. Dedication of teachers like Mr. Arnold combined with the support of HATponics allow schools to feed current and future students.

Many schools take this goal a step further by participating in the Global Challenges program.

Global Challenges: building beneficial partnerships

Through Global Challenges, schools have the opportunity to meet the specific needs of a community elsewhere in the world.

For instance, a village in Ethiopia may need an aquaponic system that they can use to grow food and fish, but they need it to be powered by solar panels.

HATponics would take this need, connect it with a school, and work with a class to design the system that the village needs. Then if possible they would take the class to Ethiopia to install the system.

Most recently, students designed a vertical axis wind turbine to power an aquaponics system in Swaziland, Africa.

In total, HATponics has guided three student challenges and fifteen global builds, and have reached many other countries with consulting, training, and design.

In just three  years, HATponics has accomplished a significant portion of their goal. They estimate that through their systems around the world 5 million people are being fed with fresh food.

Take action in your community.

One thing that everybody who has worked with HATponics stresses is that you don't have to know everything. Growing food is a learning curve, and the folks of HATponics are there to help people learn their systems. 

Ready to stop talking and start doing? Get connected with HATponics and make it happen!

Over One Million Grown!

Over One Million Grown!

Green Sense Farms has just announced that they have grown 1.4 million plants using their innovative vertical farming technology. 

Headquartered in Portage, IN, Green Sense Farms is the largest indoor vertical farm network.  These progressive farms grow leafy green vegetables (micro greens, baby greens, culinary herbs and lettuces) indoors in stacking hydroponic towers in a controlled environment year-round, without the use of pesticide, herbicides, and GMOs.

Using sustainable farming practices, Green Sense Farms can grow vegetables, using much less land, water and fertilizer than traditional field farms. They conserve resources, which is good for the environment and the bottom line. Green Sense Farms is working towards zero net energy use, and zero waste, recycling all water.

Green Sense Farms has launched an Equity Crowd Funding campaign.

To learn more about this investment opportunity, please visit StartEngine: https://www.startengine.com/startup/green-sense-farms-llc

Arctic Farming: Town Turns To Hydroponics For Fresh Greens

Arctic farming: Town Turns To Hydroponics For Fresh Greens

The landscape is virtually treeless around a coastal hub town above Alaska's Arctic Circle, where even summer temperatures are too cold for northern-growing forests to take root.

Amid these unforgiving conditions, a creative kind of farming is sprouting up in the largely Inupiat community of Kotzebue.

A subsidiary of a local Native corporation is using hydroponics technology to grow produce inside an insulated, 40-foot shipping container equipped with glowing magenta LED lights. Arctic Greens is harvesting kale, various lettuces, basil and other greens weekly from the soil-free system and selling them at the supermarket in the community of nearly 3,300.

"We're learning," Will Anderson, president of the Native Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corp., said of the business launched last spring. "We're not a farming culture."

The venture is first of its kind north of the Arctic Circle, according to the manufacturer of Kotzebue's pesticide-free system. The goal is to set up similar systems in partnerships with other rural communities far from Alaska's minimal road system—where steeply priced vegetables can be more than a week in transit and past their prime by the time they arrive at local stores.

There are other tools for extending the short growing season in a state with cold soil. One increasingly popular method involves high tunnels, tall hoop-shaped structures that cover crops.

But the season can last year-round with indoor hydroponics, which uses water and nutrients to grow vertically stacked plants rooted in a binding material such as rock wool.

Anchorage-based Vertical Harvest Hydroponics, which builds enclosed systems out of transformed shipping containers, partnered with Kikiktagruk. The 2-year-old company also sold the system to a farmer in the rural town of Dillingham.

"Our vision is that this can be a long-term solution to the food shortage problems in the north," said Ron Perpich, a company founder. "We're hoping that we can put systems anywhere that there's people."

But the operations have challenges, including steep price tags. Startup costs in Kotzebue were around $200,000, including the customized freight container and the price to fly it in a C-130 transport plane from Anchorage, 550 miles to the southeast.

The town also relies heavily on expensive diesel power, so operations could eat into profits.

In addition, moving tender produce from its moist, warm growing enclosure to a frigid environment can be challenging. And farming can be a largely foreign concept to Native communities with deeply imbedded traditions of hunting and gathering.

Still, the potential benefits outweigh the downsides, according to Johanna Herron, state market access and food safety manager.

Grown with the correct nutrient balance, hydroponics produce is considered just as safe as crops grown using other methods.

"It's not the only solution," Herron said. "Hydroponics is just a piece of it, but certainly an excellent thing for communities to look into."

Alaska Commercial Co., which has stores in nearly three dozen remote communities, is carrying Arctic Greens in the Kotzebue store. This week, the Dillingham AC store is beginning to sell produce grown in the local farm's hydroponics system. The chain will bring the Arctic Greens brand to more locations if expansion plans prove cost-effective, AC general manager Walter Pickett told The Associated Press.

"The produce is fantastic, at least what we've been seeing out of Kotzebue," he said. "The customers love it."

Lisa Adan is among the Kotzebue residents who regularly buy the produce. She said there are plans to start providing it at the local hospital's cafeteria, where she is an assistant manager.

Adan said the locally grown greens are superior to the produce that's transported north.

"It's so much better," she said. "It tastes like it just came out of your garden."

For now, the new business is operating as a prototype, especially as it enters the long, harsh winter season in Kotzebue, 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The town, the regional hub for northwest Alaska villages, is built on a 3-mile-long spit, and many there live a subsistence lifestyle. The community has a chronically high unemployment rate, with the school district, state and local hospital among its major employers.

For now, the biggest selling point of the hydroponics produce is freshness. Prices are parallel with greens brought up from the Lower 48.

But operators are trying to work out kinks and find ways to lower energy costs, possibly through such alternatives as wind power, according to Anderson.

"We want to be a benefit to the community," he said. "Not only do we want fresher produce, but affordable produce."

Nearly 400 miles to the northeast, the village corporation in the Inupiat community of Nuiqsut is considering acquiring one of the systems. Joe Nukapigak, president of the Kuukpik Corp., said he plans to travel to Kotzebue after Thanksgiving to see hydroponics in action.

Unlike diesel-powered Kotzebue, Nuiqsut is just miles from the Prudhoe Bay oil field and taps into far less costly natural gas.

Nukapigak envisions the oil industry as a possible customer if hydroponics takes hold in his village. He also likes the thought of same-day freshness as opposed to produce that's sometimes ruined by the time it arrives.

"If we have a local operation like that, it would not get spoiled as much," he said. "It would be made locally, and that would help."

 Explore further: Farm in a box: Shipping containers reused for fresh produce

Trendy Indoor Farms Will Allow You To Have Personal Produce

Trendy Indoor Farms Will Allow You To Have Personal Produce

Eve Turow Paul,  I write about Millennials and food culture.  

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Now, what if this simple houseplant could feed you too? Companies like Grove, SproutsIO, Aerogarden and Replantable are working to make your in-home edible garden a reality, with compact aquaponic, aeroponic and hydroponic systems that will seamlessly integrate into your living room, kitchen, or wherever your green-thumb strikes you.

With rising rates of “nature deficit disorder,” a raucous Millennial obsession with food, only 2% of Americans living on farms, and skyrocketing rates of stress, distraction, and anxiety, many entrepreneurs believe that in-home “farming” can alleviate many of modern society’s pain points . The goal is not necessarily to feed people exclusively from their countertops. The mission, instead, is far more philosophical. And a bit political.

“ I really believe that people need to have more of a connection to their food ,” states SproutsIO co-founder Jennifer Farah. Farah began her journey to in-home gardening via architecture, designing grow-walls and other mechanisms to bring nature into cities. Then, as a Masters candidate at MIT, Farah was able to observe the benefits of taking this concept down to a more personal level, as she watched young students interact with an early prototype of a SproutsIO growing system.

First and foremost, Farah believes that we, as a society, a better understanding of our food will ultimately lead to greater respect for produce and thus improve diets. But overall, Farah focuses more on the fun and creativity generated by putting seeds into the eater’s hands.

Grocery store produce sections are limited by the current supply chain: what produce can survive the travel time, the refrigeration, what’s worth the shipping and handling costs, what can be harvested in bulk, etcetera. Indoor growing systems allow consumers to explore thousands of varietals of tomatoes or lettuce or basil that simply aren’t available at the local supermarket.

And with Sprouts IO, users can even customize the environment of a plant to grow a product exactly as they want it. Think of it as personal produce. For example, if you like a more peppery arugula or a sweeter tomato, you can adjust the nutrient levels and misting of your SproutsIO system to cultivate ingredients with your desired characteristics. “These things are allowing us to get more nuanced flavors,” explains Farah. It’s for this reason that SproutsIO launched first with chefs. And it’s also part of what excites users: putting all the control and creativity into their own hands. It’s like building a recipe far before the measuring cups are taken out of the drawer. 

Both Grove and SproutsIO put the act of “farming” into a plug-and-play setting, utilizing the benefits of technology to connect people with something truly un-digital: plant growth and the act of harvest. Both Grove and SproutsIO are regulated by app, allowing users to monitor and assess their units even while away from home. It also relieves the user of many of the unknowns and uncontrollable elements of traditional farming.

“When the microwave came out people didn’t know why they needed it or what to do with it,” says Farah, “but soon people gravitated towards it.” Why, Farah ponders, shouldn’t growing produce become ubiquitous in our lives? “When we’re cooking for friends and family, why shouldn’t some of that produce be grown in your home? I do think it will become more a part of people’s everyday experiences.”

The transparency and interactive design of these in-home units also encourage education and conversation, notes Grove co-founder Jamie Byron. “It’s social. The entire family,” he says, or your group of friends or a classroom, “really come together around this experience. It’s a shared responsibility.”

As an undergraduate student at MIT, Byron was able to witness the communitarian, as well as health aspects, of in-home gardens. Back in 2013, Byron built an aquaponic system with a “Rube Goldberg Machine”-like contraption of PVC pipes, lights, and bins that balanced in the window of his fraternity house where he shared a bedroom with Grove co-founder Gabe Blanchet. The eye-sore experiment eventually flowered into a mass of peas, chard, tomatoes, kale and more.

Though Blanchet was at first skeptical of his roommate’s fish and greenery creation, the benefits of his little jungle were obvious. While the fraternity hallway smelled like beer and body odor, Byron and Blanchet’s room provided an oasis of oxygen-rich air and attractive foliage. The two found themselves grazing on their home garden daily, thus increasing their vegetable intake. Inspired by this makeshift garden, the roommates graduated and founded Grove to create a clean-cut product that has already found its way into some school and homes. Byron hopes that one day they can put their indoor gardens in prisons and hospitals to offer not just physical benefits, but the positive emotional experience as well.

“There’s this joy that people don’t talk about,” says Farah. “When you’re planning your vacation, there’s a joy in setting up that experience, and then the vacation is the culmination of that. Growing your own produce can provide a similar joy. When I can also incorporate produce I’ve grown to make a dinner, it’s even more special.” Both founders, independently, observed that the true benefit of their products is actually not what they had originally thought it would be, that growing produce at home has ramifications far beyond great tasting food. Ultimately, they hope these units will become touchstone items for creativity, connection to nature, and perhaps, an tool for taking a deep breath of fresh air and enjoying the roses…or wheatgrass…or whatever you have growing in your kitchen corner. 

 Usurping the common supply chain opens a whole new window of exploration for foodies and farm enthusiasts alike.

Local Farms Urged To ‘Embrace Technology’ To Increase Food Supply

‘S’pore can make a leap in food production levels, new innovation could be shared’BY

toheeming@mediacorp.com.sg

PUBLISHED: 4:00 AM, NOVEMBER 3, 2016

SINGAPORE — With increasing stress on global food supply brought on by growing demand and degrading conditions for producing food, farms — including those in Singapore — should take steps such as embracing technology to increase food supply, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.

Embracing technology could help Singapore farms “make a quantum leap in our food production levels”, and new technologies could be shared with other countries that are urbanised like Singapore, Mr Wong said, speaking at the 27th Commonwealth Agricultural Conference yesterday.

With Singapore’s agricultural sector playing an important role in the food system here, the Government will continue to ensure “sufficient agriculture land for farms that are able to harness technologies, leverage on innovation and maximise their productivity,” said Mr Wong, addressing an audience of about 250 farmers and regional government officials.

“The Government is also supporting these farms with funding for technology adoption and R&D. So while we may be small in size, we believe that we can be a useful ‘living lab’ for urban farming solutions and new technologies,” he added.

For example, in the area of vegetable farming, Singapore now produces about 10 per cent of local demand. “But we have farmers who are starting to try out new technologies and different ways of farming.

“One of them is Sky Greens, which is the world’s first commercial vertical vegetable farm. Its hydraulic water-driven vertical farming system enables it to be resource-efficient and produce up to five times more than traditional vegetable farms,” noted Mr Wong.

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) chief executive Tan Poh Hong, who also spoke at the conference, noted the growing support in promoting local produce.

Going forward, the farming sector could be “branded” differently to attract the next generation of young farmers.

“Someone in (the) computer (field) could decide to do fish farming, and use his knowledge to design a water-monitoring system that he can monitor from his iPhone,” she said.

Responding to questions from the audience on how Singapore deals with matters of limited land and short leases of 20 years, leaving farmers with little certainty, Ms Tan said that they are issues the authorities are still “mulling over”.

“We’ll be talking to the (Kranji Countryside Association), and to many of the farmers … (to discuss) what happens after 20 years.

“Our premise has always been if the land is meant for agriculture, and you use it for agriculture productively … it is likely you could get an extension on your own land, or on replacement land … We always premise on the fact productivity will be one of the key considerations in (ensuring) tenure of land,” she said.

Kranji Countryside Association president Kenny Eng was optimistic about the local agricultural community’s ability to innovate, but felt the Government needed to provide more certainty, such as with a ten-year masterplan, and keeping farmers in the loop.

Referring to the 62 farms in Lim Chu Kang which will have to make way for redevelopment plans, Mr Eng acknowledged the authorities had not been turning a “deaf ear” to their sentiments. For the 62 farms with leases due to expire next year, AVA has granted a reprieve by extending them to 2019.

New sites nearby would be opened for bidding, and in June, the AVA announced that all new agricultural land will be tendered on 20-year leases, instead of 10 years.

Mr Eng told reporters yesterday: “If we have a proper plan, then we won’t rush (things) as we know the next step is the right move and everyone will (follow) happily.

“But the frustration on the ground is that we are unsure, everyone is worried that we might (be told to shift again) … Careful thought has to be put into this industry.”

Agreeing, Ms Chelsea Wan, director of Jurong Frog Farm, said: “You can’t (just) tear down and rebuild agriculture. It takes time for people to build up an area, a reputation.”

Sky Greens founder Jack Ng felt there was no lack of government grants to draw on to boost the firm’s productivity, but there are too few specialists to guide farmers on issues such as disease management, for instance.

What's Indoor Farming All About?

What's indoor farming all about?

 

Chris Michael

Co-Founder and CMO at Bright Agrotech  

If you've found yourself asking this question in the past few months, you're not alone.

For a lot of folks, the idea of growing plants indoors on a [relatively] large scale is a little mind boggling.

And rightly so.

At first, it's hard to understand why anyone would want to give up the beautiful, life-giving sunshine and start a farm in a warehouse, shipping container, or even their garage saying things like....

Sure the technology is fascinating and all, but sunlight is free! How could indoor farms ever justify the additional lighting cost?

I'm going to stop you right there.

As all farmer's know, there's a cost to everything. Including sunlight.

That's because sunlight (assuming you actually have enough where you're trying to grow crops) comes with its own set of limitations.

For instance, relying on the sun means you need to grow outdoors or in a greenhouse, both of which also constrain you to specific sets of conditions, crops, and costs.

Growing outside without a greenhouse of any kind means you have to live in a location with the optimal temperature range and enough quality light to grow your crops effectively. And without a covering, you're subject to temperature fluctuations and/or weather events like hail or strong winds - all of which can damage crops due to shock.

Maybe that doesn't sound devastating enough to make you want to grow indoors, but you're probably not relying on the successful sale of these crops for your livelihood either. Remember today's small farmers are largely bootstrapping their operations their ability to not only grow but sell their food means staying in business or closing their doors. No farm subsidies here either.

Growing in a greenhouse also allows you to leverage "free" sunlight as well, but don't forget about the seasons! Depending on your location, you may actually have too much sunlight in the summer and not enough in the winter (you know, like most places in the northern hemisphere). That means you have to factor in the added costs of dealing with too much heat in your growing environment (e.g. fans, cooling walls or even HVAC systems that all suck up electricity at alarming rates).

And unless you're planning on closing up shop for the winter, you're going to need to think about how to give your plants the optimal amount of light when the sun angle is too low and your light quality/duration drops significantly.

All of this assumes you have the land (and zoning approval) needed to grow crops in your city or other urban/suburban environment.

You see, nothing - including the sun - is without tradeoffs. That's how life works. That's how farming works.

Indoor Farming Helps Control the [Climate] Chaos

Now I know what you're thinking...

"If growing outdoors or in a greenhouse cost money, then growing in a warehouse must be crazy expensive!"

Maybe, but you're really thinking about this the wrong way.

The cost of farming depends on a wide variety of factors from the growing technology you use to the cost of real estate/rent, to electricity prices and market demand, but these are factors all growers, regardless of technique have to think about.

That said, once you understand the tradeoff between the benefits of natural light vs. the benefits of increased control, it's pretty easy to see all the advantages growing indoors gives modern growers and subsequently the communities they serve.

The benefits mostly come in the form of optimizing the environment to stabilize temperatures, humidity levels, lighting quality and duration, and much more. Optimizing all of these variables allows tech-savvy indoor farmers to maintain better plant health, with faster, more consistent yields.

More control also means more flexibility in terms of where farmers grow food. Barring any type of natural disaster, indoor farms aren't nearly as susceptible to the climate constraints or variability that conventional farms are, giving them the ability to grow all year long.

Because of that, I believe we're rapidly approaching a reality where fresh crops can be grown and sold anywhere, regardless of climate or conventional food distribution capabilities.

And these are just the benefits we know about... Don't even get Dr. Storey started about the ones we haven't discovered yet.

"But, what's in it for me?"

Most people who read this may not have any current connection to farming or a farmer and may be wondering why this all matters.

Well for one, it matters because our food system is broken... and chances are, you eat food.

Broken not just in terms of the 1,500 miles from farm-to-plate, the depletion of precious soil nutrients, the rampant pesticide use, the massive factory farms owned by just a few food conglomerates exploiting low-wage labor, and don't forget about the chronic droughts in parts of the country that historically have grown most of our produce... but broken in terms of the transparency and accountability that existed when agriculture was relational.

For some, the idea of "shaking your farmer's hand" might sound a little overly romanticized. And, that's fine, but can't we have some middle ground? Wouldn't you feel better about the lettuce you buy if you knew who grew it and how it was grown at the very least?

It's like they took our most basic relational (i.e. human) elements of communication, trust and accountability. All we got in return was an empty "O" label.

But indoor farming is changing all that.

One small farmer at a time.

Thanks to the bold, yet generous modern farmers around the country like Localize Farm, more and more people are getting greater access to better food everywhere.

Soon we can all have the option of feeding our families fresh, healthy food regardless of whether you live in the light-deprived tundra or the water-starved desert. 

If you don't have one of these innovative farmers in your city yet, don't fret.

You will soon enough. 😉

[This article expands on a recent Instagram post I created on behalf of Bright Agrotech. If you want a glimpse inside some of the world's most innovative farms, you should totally be following us.]

Chris is the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief of Staff at Bright Agrotech. He believes strongly in the power of small farmers and small businesses to impact their communities in meaningful ways and loves playing a small role in their ability to be successful.

Embracing Technology Is Necessary To Nurture The Next Generation Of Farmers

Kareyst Lin | Nov. 3, 2016 

Emerging technology like robotics, sensors, closed-loop agriculture systems and the Internet-of-Things (IoT) make the agriculture sector interesting and exciting for the millennials.

The new generation can help to transform farming into a high-tech profession that requires skillsets like engineering, computing and data analytics, said Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance. He was speaking at the 27th Commonwealth Agriculture Conference on 2 November 2016.

Wong asserted that it is important for farmers to adopt technology because of its ability to help turn out more reliable and high-quality good products.

In a modern farm, there are sensors to monitor everything from temperature to humidity and illumination. Data is collected in real-time and information is analysed to work out the best regimes for future crops.

Developments in environmental control systems enable us to work out the best lighting, heat and humidity for optimal growth, Wong said.

This has resulted in the emergence of commercial-scale indoor farming, which protects crops from environmental impact. At the same time, it allows for vertical scaling, intensification and optimisation of agriculture land.

Even robots are being deployed on the ground to take over back-breaking work in the farms. These robots can identify weeds in fields of vegetables and zap the weeds individually. They can also recognise and pick fruits which are ripe for plucking.

These new advances will increase yield and reduce the resources required for crop production, Wong urged. 

Affinor Growers’ (RSSFF) Vertical Farming System Has Many Advantages

Affinor Growers’ (RSSFF) Vertical Farming System Has Many Advantages

Bolton Flautt  Follow | Wednesday, 02 November 2016 16:48 (EST)

Agriculture is one industry that will always be a major part of our global economy for obvious reasons of course… We all gotta eat. A growing world population is a concern that our demand will be greater than our supply. Affinor Growers (RSSFF) is a farming technology company, engaged in designing, patenting, and commercializing vertical farming technology for indoor controlled environment and outdoor greenhouse agriculture industry in North America. It produces strawberries and other crops, such as romaine lettuce and herbs using vertical farming technology. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is led by Chief Executive Officer, Interim President, and Chief Operating Officer Mr. Jarrett Malnarick.

Mr. Malnarick commenting on Affinor Growers’ purchase agreement with THC BioMed to install Affinor’s tower vertical farming system, "Affinor Growers looks to align itself in all agriculture sectors such as fresh produce, fruiting plants, and flowers. As a technology seller of vertical growing systems, this new relationship with THC BioMed allows us to continue business development within different sectors pertaining to plants and demonstrate the diversity of the technology in the vertical farming space. Affinor will now have several installations of the technology within commercial settings actively growing different crops."

Technological advancements have occurred in every industry except agriculture. However, new challenges in food security, dwindling natural resources and population growth have created agricultural problems that can only be solved through the use of technology. As a practice, traditional farming is not going to disappear, but it is crucial that alternative agricultural practices be devised to alleviate the pressure imposed by conventional farming methods.

As a solution, Affinor Growers offers patented agricultural technology and proprietary cultivation systems for vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture. Controlled Vertical Farming has a number of inherent advantages. Compared to conventional farms, it is significantly more efficient in terms of usage of space and reliance on water. Vertical farming also enables foods to be are grown in soils without the use of pesticides, nutrient rich and free from chemical contaminates. Because they can be implemented virtually anywhere, Controlled Vertical farming systems can serve communities where certain foods are not normally grown.

The fresh food organic produce is a $33.8 billion industry and is expected to nearly double by 2020. In continental North America, there are over 17,000 hectares of greenhouse farms. Affinor is the only company to offer patented vertical farming technology to both the indoor controlled environment and outdoor greenhouse industries. Affinor’s vertical farming technology will help farmers gain certain advantages by optimizing growing conditions, extending growing seasons year round and improving yields of production per square foot, as well as by improving quality through automated harvesting, handling and packaging systems.