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Join me as I head right outside of CS 55 to discover just how big the world’s biggest tree really is - four times taller than our school! I’m meeting General Sequoia who has some words of wisdom, Sam the Squirrel who comes bearing gifts, and I’ll even be doing math! Addition, multiplication, compare, contrast - this episode has it all!

Explore the forest with Mr. Ritz, General Sequoia, and Sam the Squirrel to learn about producers, consumers, and decomposers! Calculate the width and height of the biggest tree on Earth.

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Agrify Announces First Total Turn-Key Solution Customer Partnership

Up to 1,200 of Agrify’s Vertical Farming Units to be installed at 50,000 square foot facility with up to $280 million expected in the next 10 years

May 12, 2021

Source: Agrify

BURLINGTON, Mass., May 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agrify Corporation (NasdaqCM:AGFY) (“Agrify” or the “Company”), a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement with its first Agrify Total Turn-Key Solution (“Agrify TTK Solution”) customer, Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc. (“B&M”). B&M is currently a tier-four licensed cultivator in Bellingham, MA and through its parent company, Bud & Mary’s, LLC, the company is a fully integrated operator in the cannabis space with one dispensary license and a home delivery license in the state of Massachusetts.

Agrify will be working with B&M on a phased approach for the build-out of B&M’s 50,000 square foot facility. The initial construction phase is expected to include installation of 774 Vertical Farming Units (“VFUs”) in a double-stacked configuration to help B&M maximize canopy space. This initial phase is expected to be completed by Q1, 2022, with up to an additional 426 VFUs installed in subsequent phases, which would bring the total up to 1,200 VFUs. Agrify will provide senior financing of up to $13.5 million for construction, which will be repaid within 24 months following the commencement of the first commercial production at the facility.

Under the terms of the agreement, Agrify will also receive fixed SaaS revenue derived from B&M’s use of the Agrify Insights cultivation software as well as additional production-based fees for up to 10 years. Assuming the completion of the maximum 1,200 VFUs being installed at full capacity, Agrify anticipates that it could generate over $28 million per annum in revenue through this partnership.

“I am thrilled to announce that we have secured our first Agrify TTK Solution partnership,” said Raymond Chang, CEO of Agrify. “This solution was developed to enable customers to access the initial capital required to quickly establish modern cultivation facilities that are outfitted with our VFUs and controlled by our Agrify Insights software, which should lead to substantial gains in yield, quality, and consistency at a significantly lower cost of production for them. In turn, we have the potential to develop deeper long-term customer relationships earlier in a company’s lifecycle, create significant IRR for our investment, and increase our total addressable market to drive long-term value creation for both our customers and our shareholders. We look forward to beginning our partnership with B&M and working together over the next 10 years to ensure they have the ability to capitalize on all the benefits our technology has to offer. We expect to announce several more of these long-term customer engagements in 2021 as we have already identified 2-3 additional TTK opportunities.”

“The team at Agrify has developed an unparalleled end-to-end solution that should allow us to get to market faster with industry-leading technology while producing the consistently high-quality products consumers are looking for,” said David Morgan, CEO of B&M. “The ongoing support, extensive training, and knowledge base available throughout the life of our relationship combined with the data and insights available through the software platform made this the clear choice for our company. We sincerely look forward to working with the entire team at Agrify to help us establish ourselves in the growing Massachusetts market.”

About Agrify (NasdaqCM:AGFY)

We are a developer of premium grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace. We use data, science, and technology to empower our customers to be more efficient, more productive, and more intelligent about how they run their businesses. Our highly advanced and proprietary hardware and software solutions have been designed to help our customers achieve the highest quality, consistency, and yield, all at the lowest possible cost. For more information, please visit our website at www.agrify.com.

About Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc.

Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc., through its parent company Bud & Mary’s, LLC, is a vertically integrated cannabis company in Massachusetts focused on the adult-use market. The company is at the forefront of the new era of cannabis, having assembled industry experts in cultivation, processing, packaging, and sales. Bud & Mary’s is poised to bring a unique vision to life: A locally crafted, fully vertical operation utilizing a library of proprietary strains to deliver a superior experience to discerning cannabis consumers.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, concerning Agrify and other matters. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our customer relationship with B&M, project timelines, and ability to deliver solutions and services. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events as well as the terms and conditions that were mutually agreed upon in the underlying definitive agreement between Agrify and Bud & Mary’s Cultivation, Inc. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, including those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC, which can be obtained on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and filings with the SEC.

Company Contacts:

Agrify
Niv Krikov
Chief Financial Officer
niv.krikov@agrify.com
(617) 896-5240

Rob Kelly
Investor Relations
ir@agrify.com
(416) 992-4539

This Indoor Garden Will Feed You Greens Year-Round

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John Biggs

May 11, 2021

Click & Grow 25 is the latest project by former orchestra conductor Mattias Lepp who felt that the idea of indoor gardens—essentially, a farmer’s market in a box—would be just the tool for staving off future food shortages. His company, founded in 2009, raised $11 million in 2018 to develop new materials and hardware technologies for indoor gardens. Now, he and the Click & Grow team are taking the tools they used to build large-scale gardens and bringing them into the home.

Lepp calls his tech “hyper-local farming,” and he claims that what he and his team created is entirely unique.

“We’re the only ones in both vertical farming and smaller indoor growing device segment who have figured out how to provide the future of sustainable food while being profitable and having a global reach,” he said. “Compared to big vertical farms we’ve looked at what’s the real problem of vitamin-rich foods like leafy greens—it’s the overly long supply chains that produce waste, nutritional degradation, and transport emissions. The greens from vertical farms still go through the traditional food supply chain, albeit they’re fresher, cleaner, and come from a more local urban farm, they sit in stores, get moved around and half go to waste in a dark corner of a fridge. Unlike vertical farms, we’ve taken a step out of the traditional supply chain and figured out the only sustainable solution, both in terms of nature and business, and that is growing food at the place of consumption.”

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Photo: Click & Grow

The Click & Grow 25, which is currently available through Kickstarter, costs $399 for early birds and consists of a frame, containers, and lights. The plants grow out of coffee-pod-like earth nuggets and the whole system is designed for minimal interaction. The Smart Soil pods contain calibrated dirt and nutrients and the system waters the plants automatically.

Lepp’s goal was to make the system as small and simple as possible.

“In 2018 we looked at the numbers and figured out that a family of 4 could feasibly grow a fifth of their food plate in expendable living space, on just 80 square feet of wall at home, for example,” he said. “The idea went through different experiments and prototypes through the years, mainly focusing on how to integrate a garden of this size into even a small New York City apartment and into anyone’s busy lifestyle with its ease of use.”

The team plans to ship in February 2022, and there are a number of permutations of the garden product, which you can stack them against a wall for maximum usage of space. An app will tell you when you add water and when your greens are ready to nosh.

The product is already fully funded to the tune of more than $227,000 and counting, and it looks like just the thing for folks who might need to feed a hungry family or just a hungry rabbit.

John Biggs

John Biggs is a writer from Ohio who lives in Brooklyn. He likes books, watches, and his dog. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo. Signal: +16468270591 Telegram: @johnbiggs

Lead photo: Photo: Click & Grow

Where All Grow Corn, This Farm Grows Lettuce

by Shubham

About 5 years ago in 2016 when I landed in Iowa, I couldn't fathom the magnitude of corn farms that I saw here stretching in all the directions, as they disappeared into the horizon. It took me a few months to normalize and make peace with Iowa, the heart of the corn belt. So a week ago, when I came across a local farmer growing lettuce, I knew this was something different.

Visiting an indoor farm has been at the top of my bucket list ever since I claimed the title of being an indoor farming armchair expert. Writing a few blogs, and reading countless articles about the topic acting as my credentials. As all the big guns of the indoor farming industry are either on the west coast in San Francisco, or are spread throughout the east coast. A few of them are scattered through the Midwest, but none of them near me. So when an opportunity came knocking on my door, here in southwest Iowa, I couldn't let it pass.

The farm that I got to visit was True Food Farms, an 8600 sq. ft hydroponic farm based in Stanton, Iowa. It is run by Darren Barkman who originally hails from Canada and grew up on a farm in Manitoba. Darren, who has been farming indoors for the last 20 years was gracious enough to spend an hour of his time giving me a tour of his farm.

How did you decide to grow lettuce in Iowa? I moved with my family to the Stanton area about 5 years ago and was in the indoor farming business in Tennessee before that. The different varieties of lettuce we grew there are more popular in the urban areas. Around this region, however, Iceberg and Romaine are the only two popular varieties, so the market has tremendous potential for the other varieties that we grow. Also, the traditional lettuce is typically grown in the warm climate of the Salinas Valley in California. Once harvested, these lettuce heads travel 1500 miles on a truck taking anywhere between 5 and 10 days to reach the store shelves in Iowa.

True Food Farms is changing that with hydroponically grown lettuce that hits the local grocery shelves within 24 hours of harvesting. Also, we are bringing several different varieties of lettuce like Butterhead, French Crisp, Frisee among others. It will help the locals experience True Food that is clean, healthy, and safe to eat and is grown year-round locally. It doesn't get any better than this.

How would you grow through the winter months?

A hydroponic greenhouse crop doesn't need soil to grow and needs 95% less water than a traditional farm. Being in Iowa that has a gloomy winter for about 6 months, where the sun doesn't show up most of the time between November and March. But a plant needs light to grow, so we have installed LED lights for the winter. These lights emit a spectrum of light that is needed for plant growth. They are controlled by an automated dimming system that reacts to the intensity of the light outside the farm. Also, based on the recipe for the lettuce it will adjust the light emitted to create the perfect growing conditions all throughout winter.

What about the harsh cold of the winters?

When the temperatures drop below a certain number, the heating system kicks in. The floor is heated by hot water running through the pipes spread throughout the floor. It is a highly controlled environment and nothing is left to the unpredictable outside climate giving the ability to grow fresh lettuce even through the cold winters.

What is your biggest cost for the farm?

Until a few years ago, the seeds for growing lettuce indoors were the same as those used for growing outdoors. But nowadays the seeds are bred to suit the indoor farms. Although they are not super expensive, but for the volume of seeds we go through in a year, it can add up.

However, the capital needed to set up the greenhouse is the highest piece of the cost pie. In order to control the environment inside, we had to install all the automated systems, the lights, heating, all these consume electricity, making the power bill it's the biggest number.

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What happens when the power goes out?

Since it is a highly automated system that needs a lot of power, we have backup generators that are capable of supporting the farm to run the systems. If the generators fail to switch on in the middle of a winter blackout, we have about an hour before losing the produce.

What is your biggest challenge on the farm?

We are still in the initial stages of setting up the farm but getting it up and running smoothly is the current big challenge. An indoor farm faces the challenge of bugs and diseases, you cannot keep the bugs out but only delay them from coming in. Using helpful insects like ladybugs that fight and eat away the harmful bugs is a healthy option for pest control.

In order to control the diseases, experience is needed to control and monitor the nutrient and pH levels of the water circulated to the crop. Since the whole farm is supplied by the same nutrient solution, any significant change can affect the whole crop.

You will always have problems, you need to keep on top of them. If you let a problem grow, only then it becomes a big problem.

Where do you plan to sell your produce?

Although we are not operating at full capacity, we sell our current production under our brand True Food Farms itself. We are currently supplying our delicious leafy greens to the southwest Iowa region at Hy-Vee stores at Redoak, Clarinda, Shenandoah, and Omaha. We are in talks with Fareway waiting on their corporate approval.

What is next for True Food Farms?

Focus for now is on this farm, to get it up and running at full capacity. We will be hiring more people to help with the harvesting and packaging of the produce. In order to reach more stores, we plan on expanding and adding more farms in the area.

After watching all the videos about indoor farms on the internet, being able to tour a hydroponic farm in person has just increased my curiosity about the indoor farming industry. I was able to get a high-level understanding of operating and setting up a hydroponic farm. Darren has promised to let me bug him again in a few months when the farm is fully operational and I will be back with an update to this post.

Shubham | May 9, 2021

Tags: featured | Categories: AgTech | URL: https://wp.me/p3uM6F-12p

USA - ILLINOIS - Tasty, Fresh And Sustainable

Glenview Man's Hydroponic Farm

Uses Technology To Grow Garden Variety Produce

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5/12/2021

By Dave Oberhelman
doberhelman@dailyherald.com

This is not your grandfather's farm.

It's not Aviad Sheinfeld's grandfather's farm, either -- but Wiseacre Farm is a bridge between childhood days spent on grandparents Yechezkel and Hadassah Gluzman's farm in an Israeli moshav and Sheinfeld's modern training.

That combination has resulted in some of the best greens his customers have ever tasted, grown indoors by futuristic, sustainable methods.

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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

"I don't know if it was a goal. I never thought about becoming a farmer. I was always good with computers, so working with computers was kind of the assumed path," said Sheinfeld, 49, of Glenview.

"I think my childhood experiences on the farm really gave me more of an ingrained appreciation for what it takes to grow food. The thing I remember most is the apple orchards and the peaches my grandparents grew, but they also grew roses and sheep, so also animals."

There are no animals, roses, or peaches at Wiseacre Farm, a rectangular, 320-square-foot container farm inside a warehouse Sheinfeld rents in an industrial area at 1975 N. Lake Terrace, Glenview.

Wiseacre's specialty, available by 10-week subscriptions through www.wiseacre.farm, is leafy greens. A recent delivery included six heads of lettuce of differing varieties. Another package will offer the lettuce plus herbs and other greens -- things like parsley, chives, Thai basil, red-veined sorrel, curly kale with chard.

Sheinfeld sometimes delivers his produce the day it's harvested. Reviews are strong.

"Most of our customers have remarked that they had no idea that lettuce, basil -- fill in the blank, whatever produce -- tastes that way," said Sheinfeld's daughter, Yael, who is finishing her last semester at Northeastern University in Boston, but also handling Wiseacre marketing and communications.

"I think it's hard to understand just how much the taste disappears with travel, with chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides, with just time, honestly, and sitting on a grocery store shelf," she said.

Growing crops indoors in Wiseacre Farm's controlled hydroponic environment eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides. Serving customers within about a 10-mile radius also lends a neighborly appeal.

"It's not just buying your food from anonymous company X," Aviad said.

His father, Sam, also works on the farm. Yael -- and occasionally Aviad and Kari Sheinfeld's two teenage boys, Rahm and Lev -- are fourth-generation farmhands.

Finalizing financing and incorporation in 2018, in November 2019 Sheinfeld received his container farm from Freight Farms of Boston. He said there's a couple hundred of these repurposed shipping container farms worldwide. When he needs advice he reaches farmers in Alaska, Minnesota, Tennessee, even Tasmania.

The interior includes vertical panels about 10 feet tall in which the plants soak up rays of LED lights embedded into opposing panels. The plant panels can be removed and placed horizontally when the plants are ready for harvesting.

The media is not soil but water, to which nutrients are added automatically, manually controlled by computer. Hydroponic methods are 98% more water-efficient than traditional farming, Yael said. Through recycling irrigation water and capturing the water transpired by the plants, on average the farm uses less than 5 gallons of water a day. On very humid days, the farm will capture more water than it uses.

Nutrients, drip irrigation, temperature, humidity, lighting -- all are computer-controlled.

"As farming goes, it's kind of posh," Aviad Sheinfeld said.

"The thing about this farm is it's very technically advanced, so it kind of marries my initial interest in agriculture and my insatiable appetite for technological gadgets all into one big toy," he said.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and added DePaul University master's degrees in network communications and information security and in computational finance.

First working as a software engineer with Motorola, he veered into stay-at-home dad mode after he and Kari, an attorney, started having children. The couple sent their kids to the Science & Arts Academy in Des Plaines, where Aviad served three years as board chairman. During that time, the academy explored hydroponics as part of the curriculum.

"That's kind of where I caught the bug, so to speak," he said.

No bugs at Wiseacre Farm. There is lots of energy consumption.

"We have lights that are powered by electricity and we use a lot of technology, so that is one resource that we use a lot of," Yael Sheinfeld said.

And still ...

"What's wonderful is, due to our partnership with Arcadia (Power, a renewable energy company out of Washington, D.C.) all of the electricity that we consume now is 100 percent offset with wind-generated, renewable energy. So it sort of allows us to keep that focus, knowing that's the main resource we still need to use, but doing that in a more sustainable way," she said.

For lettuce, from seed to harvest it takes only 8 weeks for the container farm to grow the equivalent of 2 acres of traditional farmland, Aviad said. He plans on about six annual growing cycles.

His first crop came through last March, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially targeting restaurants for his produce, he shifted to a farm-to-table model. Customers also can now pick up goods at the farm itself on Saturdays, though preordering is a must. All packages and purchasing options are available at www.wiseacre.farm.

In its short time, Wiseacre Farm has gained acclaim beyond consumer taste buds. It won Silver for innovation in the Glenview Natural Resources Department's 2020 Environmental Sustainability Awards, and on March 28 the farm was featured in a segment of the History channel's "Modern Marvels" series highlighting "The Future of Food."

After a year, Aviad Sheinfeld said the process has become "a little less magical," but he still gets a kick out of it. Imagine what Hadassah and Yechezkel Gluzman might think.

"You put seed in a plug, and even a few days later when it pops out, I'm amazed," Aviad said.

"I do understand it, but I still don't believe how amazing it is that a plant grows out of this little, tiny seed and a few weeks later you have a head of lettuce or arugula."

Lead Photo: Wiseacre Farm owner Aviad Sheinfeld looks over some of the plants grown at his hydroponic farm in Glenview. Brian Hill | Staff Photographer

Global Investment In Agri-Food-Tech Surged To $ 22.3 Billion

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5 May 2021

Finistere Ventures report reveals $ 5 billion invested in Agtech and $ 17.3 billion invested in Foodtech in 2020. Finistere Ventures expects 2021 to dwarf 2020 numbers as capital continues to flood into agtech.

According to Finistere Ventures’ 2020 AgriFood Tech Investment Review, a report developed in collaboration with PitchBook Data, total global investment in agrifood tech companies in 2020 surged to $ 22.3 billion – $ 5B in ag-tech and $ 17.3B in food-tech – continuing to grow at 50% CAGR (2010-2020); Finistere expects 2021 to exceed this record year based on early investment data.

Fear of missing out

“While 2020 presented some interesting and, at times, surprising outcomes for the agrifood sector, we saw fear turn into fear of missing out (FOMO) with favorable results for startups, particularly those in later stage situations with meaningful revenue and strong growth stories,” said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures.

According to Kukutai, low interest rates and a soaring equity market have provided a backdrop unseen in the relatively short history of the sector. “Investors attracted to the potential disruption of massive total addressable markets fueled increases in investment across all stages and segments,” he said.

Race for innovation access is heating up

Based on the report, the race for innovation access is heating up and creating a new level for agrifood investing. A renewed focus on climate change and carbon offsets is gaining momentum, and rising ESG interest is spilling over into venture-backed companies across agrifood.

Involvement from new or non-traditional players – family offices, large pension and sovereign wealth groups, late-stage PE – swelled and the role of CVCs across the space continued to grow. 2020 saw 8054 unique investors participate across over 9000 transactions in the agri-food space.

Key ag-tech findings include:

• Due to the industry’s successful adaptation in the midst of the pandemic, investment into ag-tech continued to expand at a staggering pace through the end of 2020, with the $ 5B total capital invested comprising almost one-third of the $ 15.9B raised across ag-tech sectors since 2010

• Late-stage deals and mega-rounds proliferated as investors rallied to support existing portfolio companies and the composition of investors continued to diversify, fueling sustained growth with the median for late-stage deals reaching record heights at $ 67.6M

• CVCs considerably increased activity in the ag-tech arena in 2020, participating in 107 funding rounds

• Biotech kept its stronghold as the top ag-tech investment area, attracting $ 1.3B in 2020, and starting off 2021 strong with $ 268.2M secured in the first quarter.

• Interest in indoor ag spiked, driven by supply chain and sustainability factors, as well as growing consumer preference for local, fresh produce with superior taste and quality –reaching $ 1.3B in funding for 2020, more than doubling YoY from $ 601M raised in 2019

• Due in large part to pandemic pressures, animal tech investment exploded in 2020 reaching $ 847.8M after lackluster interest over recent years

• Subsectors including digital technologies, precision agriculture, plant sciences, ag marketplace, and fintech also broke investment records in 2020 as stakeholders made their commitment to help growers manage climate change and overcome mounting sustainability pressures clear.

Investments and profits booming

According to Finister Ventures investments and profits are booming. “We expect 2021 to dwarf 2020 numbers as capital continues to flood into the technology categories with absolutely massive disruption potential like indoor ag, supply chain technologies, animal health, novel ingredients and alternative proteins,” said Kukutai.

Substantial consolidation and rise of distinct market leaders

“Valuations, deal totals and market sizes will continue to climb thanks to low interest rates, free-flowing capital, and trillions of dollars of pent-up consumer spending power. However, as the market inevitably right sizes and new categories of innovation emerge to meet these monumental shifts, we also expect substantial consolidation and the rise of distinct market leaders.”

• Finistere-Ventures-2020-AgriFood-Tech-Investment-Review

Hugo Claver

Web editor for Future Farming

Raleigh Shipping Container Farm Using Hy­dro­ponic Tech­nology

BY KYLEIGH PANETTA RALEIGH

MAY 10, 2021

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Summer is one of the busiest and most profitable times for farmers across the state but what if they could grow produce year-round?

Nanue’s Farm in Raleigh is using some advanced technology to do just that.

What You Need To Know

• Nanue's Farm is located in downtown Raleigh and uses hydroponic technology
  

• The "container farm" is about 320-square feet and can hold 5,000 heads of lettuce
  

• The technology is being used in dozens of countries and may help eliminate "food deserts"

Nanue’s Farm is on S. West Street, what some may say is a pretty strange place for a farm.

“This is in downtown Raleigh. You can see the great skyline we have here,” said Trevor Spear, the owner of Nanue’s Farm. “I walk to work when I can. I don’t have to drive.”

Spear admits that a seemingly empty parking lot with a shipping container is not what most people expect to see when they arrive at a farm.

“It’s funny because people don’t understand what it is. They think it’s just a shipping container and people are storing stuff inside it,” said Spear.

Nanue’s probably looks more like a science experiment than a farm.

“It’s 65 degrees, 60% humidity. Co2 runs at night, so we’re like 2,000 parts of Co2 in there. It’s optimal growing conditions for lettuce and that’s how we do it in seven weeks’ time,” said Spear.

Spear specializes in leafy, crunchy greens. Something else you can hear inside the farm, from time to time, is classical music.

“We play classical music at night and I think it makes a difference. They like it. Sometimes we play a little Van Halen but usually Bach or Beethoven,” said Spear who knows that a little TLC goes a long way and said every lettuce has a name.

It’s not your typical lettuce but Spear is also not your typical farmer. He named the farm after his grandmother, Lydie Cox.

"When I was a kid I would go have summers at Nanue’s house and she had a huge garden, an acre size garden. I would go up and down the rows with her as a kid. That’s where I probably got the bug because once it bites you, you live with the sting," said Spear.

Nanue’s Farm is getting a second container in June and hopefully a third by the end of the year. They currently offer home delivery to a few areas and are looking into creating a farm stand. The majority of the produce is sold to local restaurants in the area.

"When chefs come and tour the farm, they open the door and they’re like, 'Wow.' We can hold 5,000 heads of lettuce. We harvest 60 cases a week, so when they walk in and see that much lettuce growing and looking as good as it does, it’s a take-back," said Spear.

If you’re interested in trying some of their lettuce, you can also find a Nanue’s salad at Hummingbird, a restaurant in Raleigh.

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The technology that Nanue’s Farm uses was created by Boston-based company, Freight Farms. Each container has thousands of LED grow lights, temperature controls and uses between five and ten gallons of water each day.

The containers also have cameras and connect to Wi-Fi so it can be monitored from an app or website. Freight Farms said the goal is to replicate an ideal farming environment so that more people have access to fresh produce.

“In the U.S., food moves 500 to 1,000 miles, predominantly from California. If you can move the farm then you can put a farm in a food desert and then you can grow the food and the hyperlocal food and the high nutritional values of that food. Either food deserts or even urban areas,” said James Woolard, the chief marketing officer for Freight Farms. “You might not think it’s a food desert but it is from a socio-economic point of view and an access point of view.”

Red Lobster CEO Kim Lopdrup Named Chairman of The Board For Kalera

Kim Lopdrup Provides Industry Expertise As Kalera Prepares For International Expansion And US listing of Its Shares

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May 12, 2021

Source: Kalera

ORLANDO, Fla., May 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalera (Euronext Growth Oslo ticker KAL, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the fastest-growing and largest vertical farming companies in the world and a leader in plant science for producing high-quality produce in controlled environments, today announced that Kim Lopdrup is appointed as new Chairman of Kalera as the company moves towards a US listing. Kim joined Kalera’s Board last year and remains CEO of Red Lobster.

This announcement comes on the heels of the news of Kalera’s appointment of Sonny Perdue, former US Secretary of Agriculture, and Maria Sastre to the Board of Directors. Current Chairman, Bjorge Gretland, will continue as a board member in the company. Bjorge became Chairman of the company in 2013 when the company only had a handful of employees. Now, the company has become one of the fastest-growing and largest vertical farming companies in the world with truly pan-US coverage.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Kim, a proven titan in the food and restaurant industry, become Chairman of our Board,” said Bjorge Gretland, current Kalera Chairman. “His knowledge and expertise span from securing the highest quality, traceable and sustainable seafood for his vast network of restaurants to leading companies through global expansion. These are skills that are invaluable to Kalera at this time. As Kalera moves towards a US listing of its stock, Kim is extremely well suited to take on the Chairman role.”  

Kim Lopdrup has been the Chief Executive Officer of Red Lobster, the world’s largest seafood restaurant company, since 2014. Under his leadership, Red Lobster has greatly improved its food, service, and technology. All of Red Lobster’s seafood is now traceable, sustainable, and responsibly sourced. It has dramatically grown its off-premise sales by adding delivery and Rapid Red Curbside Pick-Up. Red Lobster was recently recognized by Forbes on its 2021 list of America’s Best Large Employers and by Newsweek on its 2021 list of America’s Best Loyalty Programs. Kim was previously President of Specialty Restaurant Group and New Business for Darden Restaurants, where he was responsible for The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s, Seasons 52, Yard House, and Bahama Breeze as well as Darden’s international division, consumer packaged goods, and M&A. He has also previously served as Chief Operating Officer, North America, for Burger King Corporation and as CEO of the International Division for Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.    

“Kalera has a world-class management team and a disruptive technology that allows them to produce the highest-quality produce I have ever tasted in a way that is remarkably clean, sustainable and efficient. It is easy to see why customers get so excited once they try Kalera’s products or tour one of Kalera’s farms,” said Kim Lopdrup. “I am passionate about great food, food safety, nutrition, sustainability, innovation and international growth. Kalera is positioned to excel in all of these areas. I look forward to working with Daniel Malechuk, Kalera’s outstanding CEO, to make the most of these exciting opportunities.”

Kim serves on the boards of Wawa, Inc. (since 2006); Red Lobster (since 2014); Bob Evans Restaurants (since 2017), and Kalera (since 2020). He previously served on the boards of Rubio’s Restaurants (including during its IPO), 31 Ice Cream (a Japanese public company), and Hiram Walker & Sons, Ltd. (a Canadian company). He also served on the board of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida for 12 years, being named Board Member of the Year in 2011 and receiving National Service to Youth awards in 2010 and 2015. He is currently co-chair of Project Opioid. Orlando Business Journal named Kim a “CEO of the Year” in 2016. He holds a BBA from The College of William & Mary and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he won the Uhlmann Prize for best agribusiness research in 1984.

The appointment of Kim Lopdrup as Chairman of Kalera’s Board of Directors will be presented for approval by Kalera’s shareholders at a general meeting.

For further information:

Bjørge Gretland, Chairman
Email: bgretland@kalera.com

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.

To learn more visit www.Kalera.com.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

CleanGreens Boosts Its Growth With Two New Contracts

97% - Water-waste reduction with CleanGreens’ aeroponic solutions, vs. traditional cultivation.

30x - Productivity increase with CleanGreens’ aeroponic solutions, vs. traditional cultivation.

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With new projects in France and Kuwait, the Swiss company is consolidating its international expansion

Molondin, Switzerland – May 11, 2021. CleanGreens Solutions SA (CleanGreens) has signed two new international contracts to share its innovative technology that enables plants to grow without soil. The Swiss company’s approach convinced prestigious clients in France and Kuwait.

It allows salads and aromatic herbs to grow with 97% less water, while im- proving productivity by a factor of 30, thanks to a high-performing aeroponic system that is unique in the world and totally free of pesticides. “These two new projects represent a key step in the growth of CleanGreens,” says CEO Serge Gander. “They will boost the company’s turnover to more than CHF 4 million and will allow us to increase our workforce by 30%.”

Reinforced cooperation

The first contract was signed with a longstanding partner: French food-processing company LSDH, whose subsidiary Les Crudettes is a leader in the production of bagged salads. “It’s a great pleasure for us to pursue and intensify the aeroponic technology developed by CleanGreens, a trusted partner for more than five years,” says Emmanuel Vasseneix, CEO of the LSDH group. This family-owned company boasts some 2,000 employees and annual sales of € 900 million. After the inauguration of its first commercial greenhouse in France in 2019, Les Crudettes is now expressing its confidence in CleanGreens’ expertise by adding an 8,000m2 installation dedicated entirely to aromatic herbs.

30 - Number of truckloads eliminated with new CleanGreens greenhouse in France.

17 - Number of cargo flights eliminated with new CleanGreens greenhouse in Kuwait.

The new greenhouse is also part of a circular economy approach, as it will be powered by energy recovered from a nearby LSDH production site. Producing 150 tonnes of aromatic herbs year-round, it will allow the development of a reliable local subsidiary, reducing imports by 30 truckloads a year. The facility will be operational by mid-2022.

International expansion

The second project is a 7,000m2 greenhouse for a new client in Kuwait, a milestone in the company’s growth beyond Europe. This installation will produce 70 tonnes of aromatic herbs and 210 tonnes of salad a year, thereby avoiding 17 cargo flights and the CO they would emit. The client, The Green Life Company decided to partner with CleanGreens to respond to the Gulf’s need for fresh produce. “CleanGreens’ aeroponic technology is perfectly suited to the needs of Kuwait,” says Adel Al Shamali, a discreet but influential entrepreneur known throughout the Gulf region, and president and co-founder of The Green Life Company. “The shortage of leafed vegetables and aromatic herbs, our strong dependency on imports (up to 70%) for these products, our severe climatic conditions, and our limited water resources are all factors that make this project highly promising.”

By impacting the global supply chain, the Covid-19 pandemic heightened Kuwait’s concerns about food security, creating a major issue for the government. The water and energy savings of the CleanGreens solution will mark a further step toward food self-sufficiency. Operational in 2022, the project falls within the framework of a broader partnership for CleanGreens in the region.

These new contracts represent two pillars in CleanGreens’ strategy for growth and international expansion. Other projects are under discussion in several countries within and beyond Europe. The contracts also confirm the interest among both the public and the food-processing industry for aeroponics, which ensures outstanding productivity as well as the elimination of pesticides, currently a topic of heated debate in Europe.

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About CleanGreens

CleanGreens is a Swiss food-technology company that provides farmers and the farm industry with innovative mobile aeroponic solutions (plants are grown without soil and their roots are sprayed with nutrient fog) for the cultivation of fresh vegetables respectful of the environment and rich in nutritional value. Certified as a B Corporation (for balancing purpose and profit) and awarded the Solar Impulse Label (for positive impact on the environment and economic viability), CleanGreens’ patented technology significantly reduces water consumption and the risk of bacterial contamination, while offering maximum productivity per square metre, thereby minimizing environmental impact. The company’s irrigation systems and mechanized spacing produce salads, cabbages, and aromatic plants all year-round, providing consumers with healthy and responsible products.

Further information:

Céline Calais info@cleangreens.ch

www.cleangreens.ch

+41 21 545 99 25

“Nine Out of Ten Businesses Have No Clear Goal”

Reinier Donkersloot is the founder of vertical farming consultancy Consult2Grow and co-owner of a vertical farm in Dubai. Vertical farming is playing an increasingly important role in food production worldwide. On a vertical farm, fruit and vegetables grow above one another in several layers, in a confined space. This cultivation method shows great promise for being the most efficient way to grow local, healthy food in over-populated urban areas.
Reinier gives a glimpse behind the scenes in the creation of a vertical farm in a special city like Dubai.

What are the lesser-known facts about vertical farming?

“Many people are talking about vertical farming nowadays. This is great, but fortunately, there’s also plenty of discussion about indoor farming in general. After all, indoor farming doesn’t always have to be vertical. You can also cultivate in a single layer in a totally controlled environment, shut off from outdoor conditions. Technology is a means to an end, and should never be the goal. For example, sometimes I advise to go for an indoor farm or a vertical farm, but sometimes it works perfectly well to cultivate in a greenhouse.”

At what point did you think things had to change?

“In October 2013, I went on a trade mission to Japan with a number of Dutch businesses, on behalf of Philips (my employer at the time). I told them about vertical farming and got the response: “What are you doing? That’ll never catch on.” All the more reason for me to persevere. In the following years, more businesses became active in this area, including Grodan. That turned out very well for the development of this new industry. I never regretted my decision to fully focus on vertical farming, especially when you see the challenges the world is facing in the food sector as we approach 2050. Innovative crop cultivation is a real solution. Take Dubai, for example, which is extremely vulnerable to droughts.”

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What’s the secret behind your vertical farm in Dubai?

“That we’ve embarked on the project with a stable, local partner. There are quite a few businesses that think, ‘There’s plenty of money in Dubai, which is easily hooked with a quick contract.’ It’s true there’s plenty of money and that people enjoy spending in this city, but the locals don’t want to lose face. That’s the crux of it. So we opted to co-invest in the farm, which inspired confidence in our local partner.”

Where do you get your inspiration for vertical farming?

“Actually, from the Italian Luca Travaglini, from Milan. He belongs to the third generation of a big Italian family business that dries salami. It may sound a bit strange, but he saw a big overlap with growing lettuce. And he’s right, although not everyone was immediately enthusiastic. His passion eventually got everybody on board, resulting in the imminent launch of the biggest vertical farm in Europe, Planet Farms. Together with Luca, we’ve proven that it’s interesting to learn from other industries. Being open to different solutions can add enormous value to new developments in food production. We shouldn’t ignore that fact. I’m very proud indeed to have been able to supervise this project in its initial phase.”

What kick do you get from vertical farming?

“Recently, we started receiving the results from research over the past two months, which focused on the growth of a baby leaf. That’s the first phase of a plant, in which the growth is quite slow, making it a slightly more expensive crop. We tried to understand the little plant as much as possible, so we could find the limits for optimization. And we succeeded. The results we achieved were almost 40 percent better than predicted. So we surpassed everyone’s expectations. It was fantastic! That’s what we do it for.”

What’s the first thing you need to do when you want to start with vertical farming?

“As with every business, you really need to think long and hard about what your goal is. Nine out of ten businesses have no clear idea of their goal. Then your project can never be successful. So you have to start by answering some key questions: what do you want to achieve, who are your customers and what do these customers want? Also for the projects I supervise at Consult2Grow, it’s important to first determine the goal, then to understand the local situation, and only then start looking at the technology. I call it reverse engineering.

And don’t forget that cultivating a plant is one thing, but how are you going to market that plant afterwards? In Dubai, 90 percent of produce is imported, because local produce still isn’t good enough. So if you’re going to put a local product on the market, you have to take a good look at how to position it.”

 Consult2Grow is a vertical farming consultancy based in Berkel en Rodenrijs, and co-owner of a vertical farm in Dubai. For their research, Consult2Grow likes to work with Grodan products, in order to test their own products, give feedback and optimize their products.

This story is part of the Gro-Hacks series, in which we ask partners and friends of Grodan about the lessons we can learn from their innovative entrepreneurial stories.

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VIDEO: Singapore’s Urban Farmers Seek High-Tech Solutions To Turn Waste Into Resources

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MAY 11, 2021

Nessa Anwar

KEY POINTS

• Singapore’s first urban insect farm, Insectta, is a biotech start-up extracting valuable biomaterials from the black soldier fly.

• With the challenges of climate change and a growing population, research and development have Nessa Anwar become critical in helping overcome threats to sustainability with the help of technology.

• Farmers in typically traditional environments are also tapping into technology to bring added value to their fields of specialty, such as Singapore fish farm Eco-Ark.

Farmers are popping up in major cities - here’s why

SINGAPORE — Thousands of wriggling larvae won’t deter this self-declared “urban farmer.”

Chua Kai-Ning is one of the founders of Singapore’s first urban insect farm, Insectta — a high-tech farm that rears the black soldier fly to help turn food waste into biomaterials for industrial use.

“The black soldier fly is a way to contribute to what we call the circular economy, where we produce things without anything going to waste,” said the 26-year-old, who has a background in English linguistics.

Some in Singapore are turning to urban farming in this land-scarce city, as they look for high-tech ways to turn waste into useful resources.

Chua is one of them.

We are not only reimagining what we farm, but what we get out of the farming process.

Chua Kai-Ning

CO-FOUNDER, INSECTTA

“Their superpower is their ability to consume food waste,” she said of the black soldier fly, regularly scooping up a handful of writhing insects with her bare hands throughout the farm visit.

“A kilo of larvae can go through four kilograms of waste in just 24 hours,” she said, explaining that pre-consumer food waste — primarily soybean leftovers and spent grain from the beer-brewing industry — is fed to the larvae.

But the work doesn’t stop there.

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Insectta’s co-founder and chief technology officer Phua Jun Wei demonstrating water-soluble melanin derived from their black soldier fly larvae.

From the insect farm, the trays of larvae are transported to a laboratory on the other side of the island state. There, biomaterials are extracted from the larvae and used to produce valuable substances for electronics, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, such as chitosan and melanin.

The future of urban agriculture, Chua maintained, is in deep technology. Deep tech companies are often start-ups founded on scientific and engineering breakthroughs, aimed at harnessing technology to address environmental or societal challenges.

“We are not only reimagining what we farm but what we get out of the farming process.”

Pioneers such as Insectta are not the only ones coming up with high-tech ways of farming to cater to a world with evolving needs. Farmers in typically traditional environments are also tapping into technology to bring added value to their fields of specialty.

Eco-Ark is one such example. The closed-containment floating fish farm located in the eastern side of Singapore uses seawater that has been optimally treated to farm fish.

The farm — an area slightly smaller than two basketball courts — also uses green energy tapped from its solar roof to power about 20% of its farming activities, the company said.

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The Eco-Ark is a closed-containment floating fish farm located off a Singapore coast, yielding more than 160 tonnes of fish a year.

“We produce our own oxygen, we produce our own ozone,” said Leow Ban Tat, CEO of Aquaculture Centre of Excellence, which built Eco-Ark.

Open-net fish farms are vulnerable to environmental threats such as plankton blooms, oil spills and warmer waters due to climate change. Unlike these traditional farms, fish on the Eco-Ark are contained in seawater that is filtered and treated to kill pathogens.

“As fish grow, they produce a lot of ammonia and nitrates,” he explained, adding that water discharged back to the sea is treated and free of waste.

In addition to a water filtration system that improves the mortality of fish reared, the high-tech floating farm is the first in the country to have post-harvest facilities, said Leow.

After cleaning and preparing ready-made fish for consumption, the fish bones and fish heads left behind are turned into pellets that can be used as plant fertilizer, ensuring no unnecessary waste.

Singapore sets its sights on high-tech farming

Traditionally, urban farms are not known to be energy efficient. Critics say that growing food with the help of high-tech systems to boost artificial farming environments, such as in climate control, raises energy costs.

With the challenges of climate change and a growing population, research and development have become critical to overcoming threats to sustainability with the help of technology. 

In its latest budget, Singapore set aside 60 million Singapore dollars (about $45.2 million) to encourage farmers to utilize technology. The Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund was established in February to help farmers better apply technology to local food production.

Separately, more than 23 million Singapore dollars from the Sustainable Urban Food Production grant have been utilized to fund a dozen research and development projects.

The goal of sustainability has drawn people like aquaculturist Nick Goh to fish farms like Eco-Ark.

“This is actually what I wanted to do. It is not sustainable if we keep on doing fish-netting outside, fishing, fish trawling,” he told CNBC. “So if we have aquaculture in the field, we can actually first sustain the ocean, and second, sustain ourselves in terms of food security-wise.”

Black soldier fly larvae eating through a tray of pre-consumer food waste.

Insectta’s Chua admits it’s not been easy.

“Pioneering anything, especially in a deep tech industry, is definitely scary,” Chua said. “But it’s also empowering because you know that you’re the first mover for change.”

“If we don’t go out there and look for new solutions to current problems such as the food waste crisis, dwindling natural resources, we’re never going to make any headway.”

New Solar Greenhouse With A Window To The Future Opens

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Vernon Graham@@vjgraham100

10-05-2021 | Farm Online

AUSTRALIA, Perth- The world's first clear solar glass greenhouse has been opened at Murdoch University's new grains research precinct in Perth. The glasshouse was built by Perth high-tech building materials company ClearVue Technologies using three different versions of its transparent solar photovoltaic glazing panels.

SOLAR GREENHOUSE: The world's first clear solar glass greenhouse at Perth's Murdoch University uses three different versions of ClearVue Technologies' transparent solar photovoltaic glazing panels.

The ClearVue technology turns windows into a generator of renewable energy.

The facility will be used by Murdoch University geneticist Professor Chengdao Li and his team to develop new plant breeding technologies and use them to develop commercial crop varieties.

Murdoch University Vice-Chancellor Professor Eeva Leinonen said the ClearVue greenhouse project was a number of years in the making but represented what universities and industry could achieve when they worked together.

"Murdoch's research strategy is focused on food, health, and the environment and the interconnections between each," Professor Leinonen said.

"I am delighted ClearVue has become an important new collaborator as we seek answers to wicked global problems - increased food demand, environmental sustainability and food safety."

Constructed using a $1.6 million grant from the federal government's AusIndustry Co-operative Research Centre Projects program, the greenhouse uses clear solar glass that not only lets natural sunlight through but also generates power using the unwanted UV and IR light wavelengths and converts these to power from photovoltaics at the perimeter of the window.

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SOLAR VISIONARY: ClearVue executive chairman Victor Rosenberg.

The ClearVue greenhouse has a range of sensors that record and present data in real-time providing scientists with accurate information relating to conditions like temperature, humidity, and the amount of light that plants are receiving.

This information is used to make automatic adjustments to air conditioning, lighting, fans, louvres, blinds, and reticulation systems which in turn allows scientists to maintain a constant micro-climate (23 to 26 degrees C) that provides optimum growing conditions - all while being powered by the energy generated by the ClearVue glass.

ClearVue Technologies executive chairman and founder Victor Rosenberg said ClearVue was also looking to expands into Japan, the US, and Europe.

He hoped to develop a carbon sink that would capture all the carbon produced by the various equipment in the greenhouse and turn it into food-grade carbon dioxide which could be fed to the plants to boost growth.

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ROOM WITH A VIEW: Murdoch University's new clear solar glass greenhouse.

"Estimates indicate the world's arable land has reduced by one third in the past 40 years," Mr Rosenberg said.

"By 2050, two-thirds of the world's population is predicted to be urbanized, which will further impact the availability of land for agricultural production."

He said the ability to control the microclimate within the ClearVue greenhouse created an optimum growing environment to achieve higher yields.

Leafy plants required protection from harmful UV rays in the same way humans need to protect their skin, he said.

Plants did this naturally by producing a waxy substance that shielded them from harmful UV rays.

Mr Rosenberg said ClearVue glass blocked these UV rays so the energy required by plants to create the protective layer on leafy vegetables can be redirected to growing more produce.

Source and Photo courtesy of Farmonline

It Is Time To Grow!

Sara Segergren

2ndProject portfolio Leader på IKEA, Ingka, Group Sustainability

The majority of IKEA visitors enjoy the IKEA food offer and today we enable millions of people to eat healthier and more sustainably by choosing our plant-based options. We are continuously exploring how we can contribute to a better, greener, and tastier future making healthier and more sustainable food accessible and affordable for many people.

In an Urban farming pilot project, we grow leafy greens in a nutritious fluid, in a container powered with 100% renewable energy outside the IKEA Malmö store in Sweden. This will not only result in delicious, fresh, locally grown greens that IKEA visitors can enjoy but what is more important this contributes to our ambition to become people and planet positive by 2030 by using fewer natural resources compared to conventional growing methods:

90% less water
No pesticides
No farmland
Less food waste

Together with Urban Crop Solutions we have installed a controlled-environment vertical farm where plants are grown in a closed system. Water and nutrients are used instead of soil and LED-light is used instead of sunlight.

We believe that every action that enables and inspires people to live more sustainably matters and perhaps we can change the world together, one plant at the time.

Urban Crop Solutions

Investing In Indoor Vertical Farming

By: Robert Colangelo, CEO Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc.

Indoor vertical farms are the new kid on the block, with commercial production farms being a little more than a decade old. The vertical farming market is projected to reach USD 7.3 billion by 2025 from USD 2.9 billion in 2020; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.2% during the forecast period. 1 

One vertical farm startup has raised over $250 million, and another has a valuation of over $1 billion. Are vertical farms hype, urban legend, or a good investment? Conducting thorough due diligence by a qualified expert is critical when considering an investment in a vertical farm.   

Here are a few pointers to consider when exploring investment candidates.

 Business Model: A good business model is a start to creating a profitable vertical farm. The model should include: where the farm will be located, who is the anchor customer, what crop will be grown and what volume, how produce will be packaged, how it will be distributed, and how it will be sold. In addition, it should speak to the type of farm that will be built- a turnkey operation "seed to supermarket" vs. a grow farm, that contracts germination, packing and sales. Startups always take longer than expected to get up and running, make sure there is a grace period built into the plan for initial operations and distribution challenges.

Management Team: After you have developed the winning business model, you need a qualified team to execute the business plan. Now that vertical farming has been around for several years, it’s easier to find qualified people with experience operating these types of farms. The C Suite should consist of professionals experienced in business administration and a technical team with horticultural production experience. This includes a senior grower, production manager, food safety manager, chief ag engineer, and sales manager. Depending on the farm; for example, a highly automated farm could look to related industries to find an operations manager with experience in a mechanized food production facility. 

Marketing and Sales: The produce market is very competitive and is referred to as "a pennies business" with tight margins and profit being made on large volume. Shrink can minimize the profitability of a vertical farm. The worst thing for any operator is throwing away crop and shrink can happen at each point of the growing chain (seeding, germination, nursery, growth, harvesting, packing, and shipping). In addition, produce is perishables having a short shelf life of 1-3 weeks. The best way to reduce shrink is to grow high-quality produce that is pre-sold. This will also yield the highest price. Having an experienced sales team with relationships with a wide variety of produce buyers is paramount to success. A well-thought-out marketing and a branding plan are also required to position your crop for the target buyer and detail how to make your brand known, such as in-store samples/tastings, sponsorships, chef partnerships, merchandising…

Technology: What technology will be used in the growing operation? Will the farm be designed and built by the management team, or will they contract an experienced farm design and builder? Will they use a proven hydroponic, aeroponic, or aquaponics growing system or deploy a disruptive new technology A well-designed farm will include a seeding area, a germ room, a nursery, a growing area, a packing area, and a cooler. It will require the Temperature (T), Relative Humidity (RH), and air circulation to be monitored and controlled at each operation. At a minimum, it will require specialized equipment to control the climate, irrigation, treat nutrient water, enrich the grow room with CO2 and control LED lights. In addition, the farm should have adequate sensors, a central data collection system with automated vales, so the delivery of all inputs can be precisely controlled. A disruptive technology can be transformative when scaling the business, increasing yields, generating profit, and optimizing productivity. 

Capital is the grease that lubricates the wheels of innovation. Investors continue to explore opportunities in the vertical farming market helping the industry grow.

Investors be(a)aware, there is a lot of hype in this market and much nuance in operating a successful vertical farm that does not show up in financial projections or a business plan.  A good business model, a seasoned management team, and a proven growing technology can all add up to make a vertical farm profitable.

1.      PRNewswire, NY, Aug 17, 2020.

 Robert Colangelo is the founder of Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc. (GSF. He is an early adopter in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and has over ten years of experience with the design-build, operations, and raising capital for vertical farms.

GSF provides contract research, consulting, and farm design and build services.

Fresh Fruit In February: Quebec's Premier About To Test A Cherished Commandment of Economics

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Kevin Carmichael

May 06, 2021

Quebec Premier François Legault, who earned a master’s degree in business administration and co-founded Transat A.T. Inc. before entering politics, is about to test one of the most cherished commandments of economics.

David Ricardo (1772-1823) popularized the idea at the core of all trade agreements: comparative advantage. Ricardo observed that it was ridiculous for England to produce wine when plentiful Portuguese vintages were both cheaper and better. Conversely, Portugal had no business making its own cloth, since its textile industry was no match for Britain’s cotton spinners. Everyone would be better off if England imported its wine from Portugal, and if Portugal obtained its cotton from England.

It took some time, but eventually, politicians saw the wisdom of Ricardo’s teachings. It helped that attempts to defy the rule of comparative advantage tend to go badly: the Newfoundland government’s embarrassing attempt in the late 1980s to become self-sufficient in cucumbers, for example. Free-trade agreements replaced tariff walls, culminating in China’s addition to the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Ricardo wouldn’t like many of the current trends in trade. Protectionism is back, thanks to the Great Recession and Donald “Tariff Man” Trump’s four years in the White House. Now, the COVID-19 crisis has some policymakers thinking that an inefficient textile industry might be better than no textile industry if the country with the comparative advantage in the making of masks and medical gowns refuses to send you any at the outset of a deadly pandemic.

The federal budget promises hundreds of millions of dollars for bioengineering, as Canada’s embrace of globalization left it without the manufacturing capacity necessary to make COVID-19 vaccines. Several provinces have initiated programs aimed at boosting home-grown supplies of food, none more aggressively than Quebec, which has put more than $150 million to become self-sufficient in all four food groups, all year around.

Folly? Advances in greenhouse technology combined with cheap hydro-generated electricity and shifts in spending habits suggest that it’s possible. Still, even if the cost of heating a state-of-the-art greenhouse in Quebec during the winter might be relatively cheap, it’s still not as cheap as in sunny Mexico, where fruit and vegetable farmers warm their crops for free. Legault’s bet will come down to whether Quebecers are willing to pay more for their food. Modern industrial agriculture is built on the notion that consumers only care about price. We’re about to see if that’s true.

Lead photo: A worker harvests strawberries at the Ferme d'hiver vertical farm in Brossard, Quebec, Canada, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. PHOTO BY CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/BLOOMBERG

This Weeks Episode - Season 3 Episode 33

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show serial entrepreneur, Dave Dinesen. Dave is the CEO of CubicFarm Systems, a local chain agtech company that provides unique automated onsite commercial-scale food and livestock feed technologies. Dave is committed to applying technology to address global challenges like food security and climate change. 

In this episode, Harry and Dave discuss the impact the pandemic has had on the vertical farming industry, why Dave places such a high value on equity in the workplace, and the critical tipping point we’ve arrived at for the future of our food supply.

Listen & Subscribe

CANADA: Feeding a City From The World’s Largest Rooftop Greenhouse

World Economic Forum

May. 08, 2021

By Sean Fleming

• The world's largest rooftop greenhouse is in Montreal, Canada.

• It measures more than 15,000m2 and produces more than 11,000kg of food per week.

• The company behind it had to hire 200 new employees due to pandemic-driven demand.

Can you grow enough produce for an entire city in rooftop greenhouses? Two entrepreneurs in Montreal, Canada, believe it might be possible.

Lauren and Mohamed Hage cofounded Lufa in 2009. The company has four urban gardens in the Canadian city, all in rooftop greenhouses. Lufa's most recent sits on top of a former warehouse and measures more than 15,000m2 – larger than the other three greenhouses combined. Its main crops are tomatoes and aubergines, producing more than 11,000kg of food per week. It is, the company says, the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world.

An Ambitious Goal

​Rathmell says the new greenhouse will accelerate Lufa's mission to grow food where people live and help it to meet an "ever-growing demand for fresh, local, and responsible foods".

The company – which says it's not trying to replace local farms and food makers, acknowledging that not everything can be grown on rooftops – follows what it calls 'responsible agriculture' practices. These include capturing and recirculating rainwater, energy-saving glass panels, and an absence of synthetic pesticides. Any waste is composted and reused, and food is sold directly to customers on the day it is harvested. Lufa also has a fleet of electric vehicles to make those deliveries.

"Our objective at Lufa is to get to the point where we're feeding everyone in the city," Hage said in an interview in Fortune. Lufa's fifth greenhouse is due to open later in 2021.

At the moment, Lufa grows food for around 2% of the city's population. While that might sound like a modest proportion, interest in urban agriculture is on the rise. Presently, agriculture in urban areas tends to be more common in developing countries. But the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) favors an increase in urban agriculture, saying it can have "important benefits for food security."

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Urban farming is often more common among poorer members of society. UN FAO

A Growing Global Trend

Lufa produces more than 11,000kg of food per week, including tomatoes and aubergines. Lufa

Urban agriculture has been taking off in other parts of the world in recent years, too – from shipping containers in Brooklyn, New York City, to allotments in unused spaces in Brussels, Belgium.

And at 14,000 m2, there's Nature Urbaine in Paris – which claims to be the world's largest urban rooftop farm. Nature Urbaine rents out growing space to Parisians who want to grow their own crops. Tenant farmers pay around $450 per year per 1m2 sized plot. They get a welcome pack with everything they need to start growing, as well as regular access to the Nature Urbine gardening team who are on hand to offer advice and support.

Lufa's first greenhouse was opened in 2011, in Montreal's Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, to grow herbs, microgreens, cucumbers, and peppers. Two more were added in 2013 and 2017, with the fourth joining last year. It sits on top of a former Sears warehouse in the Saint-Laurent area of the city.

In addition to its own produce, Lufa also sells a selection of other locally made or grown food, including bread, cheese, and drinks to its customers. Rising demand for its service, in the wake of the pandemic, led to the company hiring an additional 200 people, and partnering with 35 new farmers and food makers.

Lead photo: The new greenhouse will accelerate Lufa's mission to grow food. Lufa

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Lufa

Reposted with permission from the World Economic Forum.

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Tags: farming food sustainability urban farming agriculture

New Hydroponic Farm, Vittone Farms, Is Welcomed To The Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce With Ribbon Cutting

May 12, 2021

Vittone Farms, Inc., a true-agricultural start-up that uses hydroponic farming to grow thousands of plants a month and host of the Smith Mountain Lake (SML) Farmers Market, celebrated the ribbon cutting with the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. As an official member of the region’s growing business community, Vittone Farms looks forward to supporting the local and seasonal community.

10 local businesses attended the ribbon cutting and each attendee was provided with a hydroponic salad lunch created by a local Smith Mountain Lake restaurant, The Landing Restaurant, with salad ingredients provided by Vittone Farms.

The 40-foot farming container uses advanced vertical farming techniques using every inch of space for effective, indoor, all-season, all-weather growing and sits on land once known in the community for the Mayberry Diner & Drive-In. In 2007 the Diner burned down and for the past several years the prominent land remained vacant and unusable. Vittone Farms plans to make this land useful once again through the use of the farm and farmers market, making Vittone Farms a viable member of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce. The SML Farmers Market features local growers and producers from within a 100-mile radius of its location in Moneta, VA and for the 2021 season, all members of 4-H, FFA, or any young farmer or producer under the age of 18 is eligible to receive free booth space at the up-and-coming farmers market.

The Vittone Farms team consists of Jeff Vittone, the founder of Vittone Farms and SML Famers Market and a U.S. Air Force Veteran, Jordan Gudely, a lifelong farmer who attained his Argibusiness Management Degree from North Carolina State University gained unique experience with organic fruit and vegetable production from the NC State sweet potato breeding program also has 1.5 years’ experience in different forms of farming works alongside part-time worker Kevin Painchaud, a local high school student, and future Horticultural Science Major at Virginia Tech. The Vittone Farms team is preparing for the farmer’s market season by growing a variety of plants and herbs inside the container farm and will continue to learn how to optimize the unique sustainable farming technique.

Vittone Farms offers a variety of produce derived from organic seeds and pesticide-free nutrients from its initial harvest including: Butter Lettuce, Romaine, Bibb Lettuce, Red and Green Salanova Sweet Crisp, Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Parsley, and Radish. Soon, Vittone Farms plans to include Microgreens and eggs from free-range, cage-free, organically fed chickens.

“What is great about hydroponic growing is that we can serve the local community with safe, nutritional food 365 days a year, additionally local farming removes the extended transportation of produce from the equation. When food is shipped over extended distances it loses its quality and nutritional value. We are grateful to be part of this beautiful community and welcomed by the local chamber of commerce. We are honored to make use of a once treasured land by not only growing on the land but inviting others to join us each weekend by selling their local meats, produce, or designs,” adds Jeff Vittone.

This Subway Station In Seoul Doubles As A Futuristic Vegetable Garden

May 8, 2021

Although the image above might look like something straight out of Candyland—drat, my age is showing—I am pleased to inform you that it is part of our world. These aren’t sugar creations, but nutritious plants. In fact, if you lived in South Korea, you could enjoy these leafy greens from the comfort of the Sangdo metro station in Seoul.

These vegetables are not only sold there, they’re also grown there in a vertical smart farm taken care of by artificial intelligence-equipped robots, which control the environmental factors needed for the plants to grow. Managed by smart agriculture startup Farm8, the farm at Sangdo metro station is only 4,240 square feet (394 square meters), or teeny tiny compared to the average outdoor farm.

However, it is an example of how we can use technology to make agriculture more resilient in the face of climate change, which can wreak havoc on our food security.

Were Medieval Cities Greener? Urban Agriculture In The Middle Ages

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By Lucie Laumonier

Cities have grown so rapidly in the past century that we tend to forget that, until the late nineteenth century, the vast majority of people actually lived in rural settings. Even just one hundred years ago, most of the suburbs of large modern cities were completely rural.

In the Middle Ages, cities comprised a large population of farmers, ploughmen, and agriculturalists who worked in close vicinity to urban spaces. Most cities’ outskirts included an important portion of estates dedicated to agriculture where urban peasants laboured. However, one of the key characteristics of any city is that the food it produces does not suffice to feed its population. Medieval cities thus had to import most of the foodstuff required to sustain their citizens, even if a portion of it was produced locally.

Medieval cities were also full of gardens and vegetable beds that people cultivated for their own sustenance or for extra revenues. This preoccupation with urban agriculture is evident in Le Ménagier, a housekeeping guide written by a fourteenth-century gentleman from Paris for his young wife which included several sections about gardens. This was done in part so that his wife would “have some knowledge on horticulture and gardening, grafting in the proper season, and keeping roses in winter.”

This article looks at the urban farmers of medieval France and discusses the roles of the gardens that were found throughout medieval cities.

Urban peasants: How Many Were There?

Medieval population estimates depend on the nature of available sources, few of which were drafted for demographic purposes. Wills and fiscal sources are often the main indicators of a population’s stratification. In the town of Manresa, Catalonia, 13.5% of fifteenth-century taxpayers were farmers. This proportion is relatively low, especially compared to the large city of Montpellier, Languedoc, which counted more than 30,000 inhabitants on the eve of the Black Death. There, 22% of the 1380-1480 taxpayers were farmers or gardeners.

The data thus suggests that one in five late medieval urban dwellers in Montpellier practised agriculture. But, except for the gardeners, we have no concrete information about the actual work the farmers performed. We do not know for instance what proportion specialized in cattle or sheep rearing; how many were mainly producing wine or cereals. We do not know either how many owned the fields they tilled, how many farmed the estates of others, or how many had no land and no job security, and hopped from farm to farm looking for work.

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A gardener from around the year 1425, depicted in the Housebooks of Nuremberg – Amb. 317.2 fol. 8v

Part-Time Urban Farmers

Few work contracts were made by the urban peasantry. In Marseille, Provence, 10% of the fourteenth-century work contracts analysed by Francine Michaud concerned farming and agriculture. The figure is low but compares to the data I collected for Montpellier in Languedoc. The reason for such a small figure is that agriculture, in general, seldom prompted the drafting of a work contract, even in rural settings where it was the primary occupation of workers. Since agricultural work was seasonal in nature, it rarely called for the legal guarantees long-term work contracts required.

In the Montpellier sources, some self-identified urban peasants juggled different jobs, suggesting that agriculture was not, in fact, their full-time occupation. Some men described themselves as “agriculturalist and gardener”. Two men were “carpenter and ploughmen;” one taxpayer worked as “musician and ploughman and public crier;” one was a “glove maker and ploughman;” while another was listed as a “ploughman and fishmonger.” It is possible that agriculture was their primary occupation but that they had a side activity to make ends meet.

But it is also possible these workers took on agricultural work during harvest season as a way to supplement their earnings coming from their other activity. Medieval city dwellers often owned small pieces of land they rented out or cultivated in their free time. In the town of Castelnaudary, near Toulouse, 95% of the fourteenth-century taxpaying inhabitants owned at least some agricultural land. The rate was 91.5% in the fifteenth century. Most of these landowners held very small estates (less than 2 hectares), which would not have sufficed to sustain their families. Nonetheless, these lands did offer the guarantee of some sustenance to their owners.

Urban Gardens for the Poor and the Wealthy

Vegetables, fruits, and various herbs had always been cultivated in cities for practical and sustenance purposes. Cities were covered with backyard vegetable beds in which people planted cabbage, carrots, peas, and other products they would eat. Historian Jerry Stannard dubbed such vegetable beds “kitchen gardens” and underlines that “the produce of the smallest, most crudely tilled plot was preferable to nothing at all,” in that they provided “free” food to their owners. Besides vegetables, artisans and workers also planted (grew) medicinal plants.

However, the existence of kitchen gardens often depended on the population density of cities and on the demographic context. At times of demographic pressure, when cities were full, the spaces taken up by the gardens and vegetable patches of the poor were used for housing. The size and number of such gardens therefore decreased. But when the population declined, such as after the Black Death, unoccupied lots and abandoned houses were turned into vegetable beds to help sustain more modest households. Today still, depopulation in cities sometimes prompts the reconversion of available lands into gardens and parks.

Unthreatened by demographic changes were the patrician gardens that belonged to the wealthier inhabitants of cities. These gardens were usually of the mixed type, containing edible and medicinal plants as well as ornamental species cultivated for their beauty and delightful scents. Ornamental gardens were heavily featured in medieval literature (which teems with scenes unfolding in gardens), where protagonists engaged in all sorts of activities — preferably courting a lady or discussing philosophy with allegorical figures. The Romance of the Rose is a fitting example of such.

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An illustration from Roman de La Rose, depicting a fountain and a stream pouring outwards from the centre of the garden – Wikimedia Commons

Ornamental Gardens: Aromatherapy and the Pleasure of the Senses

Ornamental gardens gained traction (in popularity) after the devastations of the plague and its ulterior episodes. The scientific belief that nasty vapours carrying miasmas had caused the disease, as the airborne transmission of plague through droplets had been acknowledged by medieval physicians, fuelled the idea that gardens had the power to clean up the air. Gardens, in short, had a curative power one should not ignore. Through their odour, wrote Italian physician Marsilio Ficino in the second half of the fifteenth century, flowers and plants “restore and invigorate you on all sides, as if by the breath and spirit of the life of the world.”

The curative virtues of gardens worked in two ways, notes historian Carol Rawcliffe. On the one hand, the smell of flowers restores health by strengthening the heart, while on the other it works as a prophylactic agent. Medieval scientists recommended the scent of roses and violets as a form of protection against the plague. The perfume of violets was also prescribed to treat headaches, fevers, and skin diseases. Fourteenth-century physician John of Burgundy therefore recommended “to smell roses, violets, and lilies” before leaving one’s home in times of plague to avoid catching the disease.

Even more ambitious was physician Ibn Khatimah, who had witnessed the devastations of the Black Death in Andalusia. He argued that cities should protect themselves from the plague through the intensive cultivation of sweet-smelling plants around their boundaries. This physical barrier against the disease could then be enhanced by the stockpiling of plants to prevent its vapours from reaching the cities’ dwellers. In their homes, town dwellers could scatter freshly cut herbs and flowers on the floor to clear the air; and “refresh” their straw mattresses with the addition of lavender and other plants.

Besides the curative virtues listed above, medieval physicians also believed flowers to be beneficial to mental health. Walking in gardens, smelling and looking at flowers uplifted people’s morale, which in turn had positive effects on their general health. Moderate exercise and strolls in gardens or, when possible, in the countryside, cured both the soul and the body. The reason why medieval hospitals kept gardens in their precincts were both practical (cultivating the medicine and food they needed) and philosophical, thus enabling the sick to breathe some fresh air and engage in light yet invigorating activities.

Medieval cities were surrounded by agricultural estates. Within their walls, the urban space was partly covered with gardens that belonged to the wealthy, to hospitals and convents. In humbler neighbourhoods, the extent land was taken up by private gardens depended on the period of time and the density of the city in question. The fewer the inhabitants of a city, the more numerous its gardens tended to be. Besides their role in alimentation, gardens, ornamental ones especially, also had medicinal virtues for the soul and the body. In the Middle Ages, smelling the roses was to be taken literally.

Lucie Laumonier is an Affiliate assistant professor at Concordia University. Click here to view her Academia.edu page or follow her on Instagram at The French Medievalist.