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VIDEO: Vertical Farming: The Only Way Is Up
Just like we've grown accustomed to living in compartments stacked directly on top and beside each other so too are lettuce and herbs
by Jasmine Reimer
Trends - /March 2, 2020
Just like we've grown accustomed to living in compartments stacked directly on top and beside each other so too are lettuce and herbs.
Agriculture is going vertical. Why? Because it saves water, increases efficiency, and provides us with fresh, local produce.
Vertical farming is the practice of producing food on upright surfaces. Instead of farming in a field, vertical farming grows plants stacked in layers, in structures like shipping containers or warehouses.
If this seems like an insignificant shift, unlikely to produce much effect, consider this: by 2050 the world's population is expected to grow by another 2 billion people.
Feeding everyone will be challenging. Vertical farming could be a solution.
What is vertical farming?
Assembled layer by layer under candy-colored lights, vertical farming has become an increasingly popular way for food producers to reduce costs related to space and energy consumption while increasing growth rates and nutrient values.
Of the many companies that are testing out this innovative farming method, Urban Crops uses a conveyor-like system to hold baby plants under LED ultraviolet lights. Their system is automated and relies on technology to program lighting and growing conditions specific to each species. And because they don't heat up, the bulbs can be placed closer to the leaves to encourage optimal light absorption.
In addition to not having to maintain an entire plot of land, Urban Crops boasts that vertical farming yields more crops per square meter than traditional farming or greenhouses. It also grows plants faster and can be used year-round. In theory, vertical farming can be practiced anywhere, which means that water-restricted locations can still harvest produce. Vertical farming uses up to 95% less water than traditional methods.
As Urban Crops' Chief Executive Maartin Vandecruys points out:
“Basically… every day is a summer's day without a cloud in the sky."
CES 2020: LG are launching exciting new indoor gardening technology.
While vertical farming could be the future of large-scale agriculture, companies like Urban Crops are also hoping that non-farming folk like yourself will be interested in investing in DIY versions. Because, while it makes sense to grow salad greens and edible flowers, trying to grow other foods like wheat for bread isn't yet an option: “At 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, the amount of energy it would take to produce wheat would [translate to] something like $11 for a loaf of bread," states, Vandecruys. Nonetheless, vertical farming could mean big changes in the way you think about “local" produce.
Vertical farming helps reduce the amount of questions for the consumer including its provenance, growing conditions and harvest date.
Data is useless unless you put it to work
Around the world, data-driven technologies are being used to keep indoor farming afloat. Detailed, real-time data collected via artificial intelligence, location services and IoT technology is used to analyze and produce better feeding models and optimal configurations, i.e. the concentration and scheduling of light and ratio of nutrients. Most recent is IoT company n.thing's Planty Cube, launched at this year's CES 2020.
Leo Kim, n.thing's CEO, came up with the idea for Planty Cube after creating an IoT-enabled smart pot called “Planty Square."
Planty Cube is a smart hydroponic vertical farm that relies on data from farming logs, which are fed back into a database called the “Cube Cloud" and analyzed with AI to help farmers determine optimal growing conditions. As the user adds more Planty Cubes to the vertical farm, this real-time, cloud-based system makes it easier for the grower to manage the overall farm, even remotely.
But even prior to sowing seeds, technology can help vertical farmers and consumers alike.
Automation, tracking and AI technology also opens up the potential to locate farms in urban, industrial, and even domestic spaces that can produce crops all year round.
This has the possibility to truly change the way cities source food. Most urban supermarkets are supplied from distributors around the world. Local indoor farms could decrease reliance on imports and reduce carbon emissions from transportation.
In the future, I hope to see supermarkets filled with vertical farms of their own.
The ups and downs of growing up
The vertical farming industry is booming. However, there are realities to consider before growing on a professional scale:
What are you growing and for whom?
Before you invest, do some market research. Get a sense of who your customers will be and your price point. Basically, if you can't sell it, you shouldn't grow it.
What is your distribution plan?
How will you physically get your produce to your customers? Find out who your end customers are and keep your farm as close to them as possible. Being local is an integral component to your success but this may present further challenges such as high cost of land, poor soil quality, and resource restrictions.
Will your building meet your needs?
Remember, indoor farming requires substantial amounts of power: lighting, pumps, HVAC, automation equipment, fans, computers etc. Not all buildings are equipped with the type of electricity you require. And if you're serious about getting into the vertical farming industry, you need to plan for future expansions.
Fortunately, vertical farming is being supported by more than just salad-starved individuals like me; location services and tracking technology are helping farmers retain high yields and prepare for the future.
Tech-Driven Vertical Farming Company Kalera Announces New CIO, VP of Sales
Today, technology-driven vertical farming company Kalera announced that it has hired two new executives to fill the positions of CIO and VP of Sales. New Chief Information Officer Jeremy Johnston brings over 15 years of experience in a broad range of fields, including technology, manufacturing, and retail
The appointment of these executives coincides with Kalera’s recent expansion into new markets
ORLANDO, Fla., June 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) | Source: Kalera
Today, technology-driven vertical farming company Kalera announced that it has hired two new executives to fill the positions of CIO and VP of Sales. New Chief Information Officer Jeremy Johnston brings over 15 years of experience in a broad range of fields, including technology, manufacturing, and retail. The newly appointed VP of Sales Jeff Larsen brings with him 23 years of sales experience from a diverse set of industries with Fortune 100 companies.
With over 15 years of experience, Jeremy Johnston has spent his career leading information technology for the world’s largest companies including Deloitte, Amazon, and National Oilwell Varco. Most recently, Johnston worked in technology as the CTO of Qoreboard and PH6 Labs. He has also worked with global technology at Deloitte, where he managed several massive technology transformations in the oil & gas and healthcare verticals.
New Chief Information Officer Jeremy Johnston brings over 15 years of experience in a broad range of fields, including technology, manufacturing, and retail.
At Amazon, Johnston led the design and implementation of Amazon’s internal HRIS system responsible for the timekeeping and payroll for over 250,000 employees across nine countries. Johnston spent eight years at National Oilwell Varco early in his career where he oversaw custom application development, data warehousing, and ERP implementation for over 40,000 employees in 21 countries. Johnston will manage Kalera’s Information Technology policies, procedures, strategies, standards, and roadmap. At Kalera, being a data-driven company, advanced automation and data collection with IoT, Big Data Analytics and AI capabilities are essential.
“I am thrilled to be joining a company as forward-thinking and exciting as Kalera. I believe my global experience with diverse, complex companies will inform and accelerate Kalera’s rapid growth plans as we change the way produce is grown around the world,” said Jeremy Johnston, Kalera’s new Chief Information Officer.
Kalera has also named Jeff Larsen the Vice President of Sales. A multi-faceted and seasoned sales professional, Larsen has achieved many awards and accolades across a diverse range of industries. Larsen has over 20 years of experience in sales across various industries with Fortune 100 companies. Larsen has excelled at both regional and national levels in large scale distribution, business development, and account management.
The newly appointed VP of Sales Jeff Larsen brings with him 23 years of sales experience from a diverse set of industries with Fortune 100 companies.
“From foodservice and hospitality to grocery, I am excited to be supporting this groundbreaking business with my years of sales expertise,” noted Jeff Larsen, Kalera’s new Vice President of Sales. “People need safe, delicious and affordable produce now more than ever. Kalera is leading the charge in supplying the public with the freshest, most delicious lettuce on the market.”
"As Kalera continues to focus on our rapid national and international expansion, building a world-class executive team has been among our top priorities, and we are beyond excited to welcome Jeremy and Jeff to the Kalera family,” noted Kalera CEO Daniel Malechuk.
Kalera has experienced significant growth in recent months, with plans of its new growing facility in Atlanta being announced only months after the opening of its facility in Orlando. Its Orlando facility is currently the single largest indoor vertical farm in the Southeastern United States, and the Atlanta facility will be even larger. Kalera also made headlines after pivoting their business strategy amidst the COVID-19 crisis, shifting from a foodservice-focus to land their produce in the aisles of Publix. During this time, Kalera also organized giveaways for the Orlando community, giving away tens of thousands of heads of lettuce to provide access to fresh, local, produce to residents.
Central to Kalera’s business is good science. The company is planting non-GMO seed, and over the past several years has perfected plant and data science-driven methods to naturally optimize the factors that make plants thrive. Kalera manages these natural factors in a way that makes plants reach their maximum potential, resulting in the highest quality produce, grown locally with consistent high yields year-round.
By using a closed-loop irrigation system, Kalera’s plants grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming. While a head of lettuce grown in a field may use as much as 60 gallons of water, Kalera’s systems result in a healthier plant with less than five gallons.
The company utilizes cleanroom technology and processes to eliminate the use of chemicals and remove exposure to pathogens. With indoor facilities situated right where the demand is, Kalera is able to supply an abundance of produce locally, eliminating the need to travel long distances when shipping perishable products and ensuring the highest quality and freshness.
About Kalera
Kalera is a technology-driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and cleanroom standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistent high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact.
Elka Karl
Phone: 510-508-7328
Email: elka@dadascope.com
Aquaponics AI, A US-Based Aquaponic Technology Research Company, Just Unleashed Their Software Into The Wild
In addition to being the forerunner in Aquaponic technology, they also have invaluable libraries for fish, plants, and diseases, as well as calculators for managing your system
Aquaponics AI, a US-based aquaponic technology research company, just unleashed its software into the wild. It’s the system every aquaponic grower has been waiting for. It has traditionally been difficult to get started in Aquaponics because of the steep learning curve but they are making it easy to get started and maintain a system with features like a project template that gets your system running with recommended maintenance schedules by big players in Aquaponics.
They’re bringing innovative usage of artificial intelligence and big data to Aquaponics for the betterment of the global aquaponics community. Their vision is to unleash your Aquaponic growing powers. You’re the beneficiary of high-quality produce and revenue streams created from your system.
In addition to being the forerunner in Aquaponic technology, they also have invaluable libraries for fish, plants, and diseases, as well as calculators for managing your system.
“We’re about empowering people to be the best aquaponic growers possible. Tech is what gives people the tools to do awesome things.” - Jonathan Reyes, CEO, and Co-founder of Aquaponics AI
You can see the latest developments on their website https://aquaponics.ai alongside invaluable resources and calculators that are available for free.
Tags: Aquaponics, Dashboard, IoT, Sensors, Cloud
Autogrow Cracks The Yield Prediction Code With FarmRoad
After three years of research, development, lab and farm trials; Autogrow’s FarmRoad solution has set the global benchmark for crop yield prediction with an initial 90 percent accuracy rate
After three years of research, development, lab and farm trials; Autogrow’s FarmRoad solution has set the global benchmark for crop yield prediction with an initial 90 percent accuracy rate.
“Accurately predicting harvest time and yield is the holy grail of agriculture. It allows clarity of availability to the entire food chain from the grower to the marketer and on to the consumer. Getting 90 percent accuracy rate up to six weeks out in our first three farms has been exceptional,” says CEO Darryn Keiller.
“Under-production and over-production can financially impact a farm. Under supply brings both less revenue, potential financial penalties from purchasers e.g. supermarket chains and the need to buy off a competitor to meet contractual requirements. Over production creates a surplus, which is then sold on the open market, usually at a price less than market value. It’s an unpalatable and expensive roller coaster ride.”
“When you consider the numbers, the ROI (return on investment) of increasing yield prediction of tomatoes by 10 percent - from 80 to 90 percent - based on a 30ha grower producing 60kg/sqm could be up to USD $1.3million. Savings can also be made with regards to labor by automating manual forecasting and through increased efficiency of farming practices.”
FarmRoad’s Yield Prediction model has initially been created to service large scale greenhouse tomato producers combining the biophysical understanding of crop varieties, with crop and environmental data and proprietary A.I. based models and engines. The service is built and hosted on AWS cloud, and can be delivered to any enterprise farm operator, anywhere in the world.
“Not only do we have on average 90 percent accuracy but we are achieving that working with three different growers in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, using a mix of hydroponic substrate and soil and utilizing three different tomato cultivars - Marnax by Axia Seeds, Maxeza by Enza Zaden and Merlice by De Ruiter Seeds; showing the flexibility of our AI-based prediction,” says Mr. Keiller.
Accurate yield prediction is dependent on available data and variables include weather, pest and pathogen events and management practices. The industry baseline for large scale greenhouse production ranges from no prediction to 80 percent certainty up to two weeks in advance for the more experienced growers. FarmRoad is 90 percent accurate from one to six weeks in advance and anticipates achieving 95 percent accuracy within six months.
“Tomatoes are one of the most complex plants to apply yield prediction, but there is also a substantial amount of data available due to the crop registration techniques growers utilize. The key to prediction is the availability of data and we have been incredibly lucky to work with some fantastic growers with over 40+ years of experience who have shared their knowledge and data,” says Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Morgan.
“The first step is getting the data, but the biggest challenge has been turning the data into a form that works. When you look at environmental data, it is great for controlling systems but it’s not easy to go from the real-time data to a prediction of how plants are going to grow. When you also add in unexpected variables like a grower changing from loose pick to truss tomatoes half-way through the growing cycle, then your accuracy rate can decrease.”
With yield prediction achieved, Autogrow is currently developing crop registration and crop planning services.
“Yield Prediction by FarmRoad, is one of our many industry-leading services designed to enhance crop productivity and make farm operators more profitable. With their personalized yield model, growers can utilize their prediction and trends to materially improve farm profitability. The future is A.I. and digital farming, and we look forward to working with large scale growers who are looking to utilize their own data and gain a competitive and financial edge,” says Mr. Keiller.
For more information www.farmroad.io or email info@farmroad.io
MEDIA QUERIES
Kylie Horomia, Head of Communications
(e) Kylie.horomia@autogrow.com
(m) +6421 733 025
(w) www.autogrow.com www.farmroad.io www.cropsonmars.com
Sales queries – info@farmroad.io
About Autogrow
Autogrow leverages the power of technology, data science, and plant biology to provide indoor growers affordable, accessible, and easy-to-use innovation – 24/7, anywhere in the world.
Our hardware, software, and data solutions support growers and resellers in over 40 countries producing over 100 different crop types.
We are the experts in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and continue to stay ahead of a rapidly evolving landscape.
Autogrow, Level 1, Building 3, 61 Constellation Drive, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 0632, New Zealand