USDA To Invest More Than $4 Billion To Strengthen Food System

Investments Will Support Biden Administration’s

Effort to Strengthen Critical Supply Chains

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Release & Contact Info

Press Release

Release No. 0125.21

Contact: USDA Press
Email: press@usda.gov

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2021 – Citing lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and recent supply chain disruptions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced plans to invest more than $4 billion to strengthen critical supply chains through the Build Back Better initiative. The new effort will strengthen the food system, create new market opportunities, tackle the climate crisis, help communities that have been left behind, and support good-paying jobs throughout the supply chain. Today’s announcement supports the Biden Administration’s broader work on strengthening the resilience of critical supply chains as directed by Executive Order 14017 America's Supply Chains. Funding is provided by the American Rescue Plan Act and earlier pandemic assistance such as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

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Secretary Vilsack was also named co-chair of the Administration’s new Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. The Task Force will provide a whole of government response to address near-term supply chain challenges to the economic recovery. The Task Force will convene stakeholders to diagnose problems and surface solutions—large and small, public or private—that could help alleviate bottlenecks and supply constraints related to the economy’s reopening after the Administration’s historic vaccination and economic relief efforts.

USDA will invest more than $4 billion to strengthen the food system, support food production, improved processing, investments in distribution and aggregation, and market opportunities. Through the Build Back Better initiative, USDA will help to ensure the food system of the future is fair, competitive, distributed, and resilient; supports health with access to healthy, affordable food; ensures growers and workers receive a greater share of the food dollar; and advances equity as well as climate resilience and mitigation. While the Build Back Better initiative addresses near- and long-term issues, recent events have exposed the immediate need for action. With attention to competition and investments in additional small- and medium-sized meat processing capacity, the Build Back Better initiative will spur economic opportunity while increasing resilience and certainty for producers and consumers alike.

“The COVID-19 pandemic led to massive disruption for growers and food workers. It exposed a food system that was rigid, consolidated, and fragile. Meanwhile, those growing, processing and preparing our food are earning less each year in a system that rewards size over all else,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The Build Back Better initiative will make meaningful investments to build a food system that is more resilient against shocks, delivers greater value to growers and workers, and offers consumers an affordable selection of healthy food produced and sourced locally and regionally by farmers and processors from diverse backgrounds. I am confident USDA’s investments will spur billions more in leveraged funding from the private sector and others as this initiative gains traction across the country. I look forward to getting to work as co-chair of the new Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force and help to mobilize a whole-of-government effort to address the short-term supply challenges our country faces as it recovers.”

The Build Back Better Initiative will strengthen and transform critical parts of the U.S. food system. As it makes investments through this initiative, USDA will also seek to increase transparency and competition with attention to how certain types of conduct in the livestock markets and the meat processing sector have resulted in thinly-traded markets and unfair treatment of some farmers, ranchers and small processors. Among other investments in the food system and food supply chain, Build Back Better will specifically address the shortage of small meat processing facilities across the country as well as the necessary local and regional food system infrastructure needed to support them.

Funding announcements under the Build Back Better initiative will include a mix of grants, loans, and innovative financing mechanisms for the following priorities, each of which includes mechanisms to tackle the climate crisis and help communities that have been left behind, including:

1. Food Production: Food production relies on growers, including farmers and ranchers, workers, and critical inputs. But a diminishing share of the food dollar goes to these essential workers. USDA will invest in the current and future generation of food producers and workers throughout the food system with direct assistance, grants, training and technical assistance, and more.

2. Food Processing: The pandemic highlighted challenges with consolidated processing capacity. It created supply bottlenecks, which led to a drop in effective plant and slaughter capacity. Small and midsize farmers often struggled to compete for processing access. USDA will make investments to support new and expanded regional processing capacity.

3. Food Distribution & Aggregation: Food aggregation and distribution relies on people working together throughout the food system and having the right infrastructure to gather, move and hold the food where and when it is needed. This system was stressed during the pandemic due to long shipping distances and lack of investment in local and regional capacity. USDA will make investments in food system infrastructure that can remain resilient, flexible and responsive.

4. Markets & Consumers: The U.S. spends more on health care and less on food than any other high-income nation; yet the U.S. has higher rates of diet-related illness and a lower life expectancy than those nations. At the same time, many socially disadvantaged and small and mid-sized producers do not have equitable access to markets. USDA will support new and expanded access to markets for a diversity of growers while helping eaters access healthy foods.

USDA will continue to make announcements through the Build Back Better initiative in the months to come. Today’s announcement is in addition to the $1 billion announced last week to purchase healthy food for food-insecure Americans and build food bank capacity, putting the total announced thus far at more than $5 billion.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

SCOTLAND: Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) Vertical Farming Solutions

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CLIMATE FOR CHANGE

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IGS -produce grown in trays

With vertical farming now starting to take off around the world, one Scottish company is rapidly becoming recognized as a world leader in providing the technology required to make vertical farms flourish.

As David Farquhar, CEO at Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), explains, his company has patented several technologies that give IGS’s automated, human-free, vertical tower ‘farms’ a huge edge over the competition. There are at least three major challenges facing any company wanting to design ‘box’ systems for vertically farming plants, Farquhar explains.

“If you put plants into a sealed metal box you are putting a natural process into an unnatural housing, so you have to create the perfect weather and climate for them. This means solving three big problems,” he says.

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David Farquhar, CEO at Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS)

Most plants will tolerate 18 hours or so of sunlight a day, but as living, breathing organisms, they need a period of rest every 24 hours. Plus LED lighting, which replaces sunlight in these sealed structures, is very energy hungry. So the first challenge is how to devise and control the perfect lighting environment.

IGS solved this with several patented processes. “All the LED lights that you see around you have an inherent flicker,” Farquhar explains. This is because they use single-phase electricity. This is basically a sine wave and in the middle of each wave the current is off, so LEDs flicker 50 times a second,” he explains.

IGS’s process uses three-phase electricity and also clusters the LEDs into colours and wavelengths so that it can tune the lights to give the plants exactly, but only, what they need to optimise growth and minimise cost. “We have a worldwide patent on using all three phases of mains electricity at low voltage to power LEDs. This is a unique invention and gives us a huge advantage,” he comments.

Green light stresses plants, so the idea is not to simply deliver the equivalent of blanket sunlight throughout the growing life of the plant. By tuning the LEDs so the plants only get the wavelengths that really benefit them IGS maximises the growth potential and minimises climate impact.

“By being extremely precise and giving the plants only the parts of the spectrum they need, we can reduce the amount of power we need. So we only need 50 percent of the amount of energy that vertical farms generally require,” Farquhar says. That adds up to a very significant energy saving for the farmers.

The second big challenge comes from the fact that plants take in water, carbon and nutrients and as part of the transpiration process they ‘exhale’ warm, humid oxygen. That mix is deadly to other plants around them so the trick is to deliver the right amount of air at the right temperature and speed, while extracting the hot, humid oxygen, and then rebalancing everything in an environmentally efficient fashion.

IGS cools the oxygen and captures the condensed water vapour. Mixed with CO2 this cool air is then blown back into the tower at a temperature that offsets the unwanted heat generated by the LED lights. Because LEDs are not 100 percent efficient, only two-thirds of the energy they consume is released as light, the other third is released as heat. The sealed tower farms need to support multiple, precise microclimates so IGS’s algorithms and processes ensure that the tower farms stay at the perfect temperature for crops.

“That is our second really big invention, and that is all patented as well,” Farquhar says.

The third really big achievement in IGS’s approach is that its towers are completely automated. There are no humans in the loop. “The reason for eliminating humans from the loop is that humans can make mistakes. They can also accidentally bring pests, diseases and other contaminants into the tower environment and they add no value,” he says.

No humans mean no wages in the growth area (though some employment is needed outside), eliminating another massive cost to farmers. Bringing seed trays into the towers and removing trays of fully grown plants is done robotically.

“Our towers are powered by AI, using growth recipes, a full knowledge of the environment the plants require, the nutrients and water volumes required and so on. It knows what vegetables, root and fruit crops are on each tray, how old they are and when the tray is mature. Because of this, we do not need pesticides and we do not need to wash (and bruise) the finished crops. As a result, we virtually double the shelf life of the crops produced, which supermarkets love,” he comments.

IGS’s growth towers create zero emissions. “We have had SEPA visit our towers and they have confirmed this,” he notes.

Once the system has been installed for a vertical farm, the resulting produce is ready to be shipped as a first harvest to supermarkets in something between two and three weeks. So the system is generating cash in less than a month.

Click image to read the full report online

One tower system will create somewhere around 25 tonnes of food, depending on the crops being grown. Each tower is around nine metres tall with a 6x7m base. They are paired together which means that as a unit they will produce between 40 and 50 tonnes of food per annum.

There is a corridor between the pair for the robot to fetch and carry new and mature trays. The whole system is bio-secure with an airlock and positive air pressure inside to make it impossible for pests and diseases to contaminate the tower.

Farquhar says that IGS is already talking to property developers around Europe who are looking at erecting large multi-storey car park-like buildings to house multiple vertical towers. This will create some real scale to vertical farming and will help to give towns, cities and countries vastly improved food independence and nutritional security.

According to Farquhar, IGS’s towers are already producing several lines of seed and starter plants to populate other farms.

This in turn will go a long way towards making these local farmers independent of outside nurseries for new plantings.

Find out more at www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com

This article appeared in The Herald COP26 report on the sustainable food sector in Scotland

USDA Funds Composition of New CEA Market Characterization Report

Resource Innovation Institute (RII) has assembled a senior level of its Technical Advisory Council to support its USDA-funded project titled Data-driven Market Transformation for Efficient, Sustainable Controlled Environment Agriculture. The new Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Leadership Committee, composed of a range of subject matter experts in CEA, will advise the development of a Market Characterization Report that will analyze the emerging “controlled environment” horticultural supply chain to determine opportunities to increase energy and water efficiency in cultivation.

“Market characterization is a critical first step in a coordinated effort to transform an economic sector toward efficient production,” said Derek Smith, Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute. “This is the first such supply chain assessment in CEA. We appreciate these leaders for stepping forward to support this important effort.”

The Market Characterization Report represents the first publication that RII will deliver as part of its work on a three-year USDA Conservation Innovation Grant designed to advance resource efficiency in CEA, a diverse, expanding market that includes greenhouses and vertical farms growing a range of crops, from microgreens to tomatoes to berries. RII is partnering with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) to deploy the grant.

The CEA  Leadership Committee is providing input on key market characterization issues such as supply chain: describing key market actors, barriers to energy efficiency and the best leverage points for market interventions; energy use: describing the energy used by producers (including on-site renewable energy, microgrids, and back-up generation); advantages of efficiency; describing the energy and non-energy benefits realized through implementation of efficiency projects; and baseline identification: describing key market baselines to be used in evaluating the impact of the market transformation initiative over time.

The organizations represented on RII’s CEA Leadership Committee include:

• American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

• CEA Consultancy

• Ceres Greenhouses

• Energy Solutions

• Fifth Season

• Fluence by OSRAM

• Grodan

• Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

• Oregon Association of Nurseries

• Priva

• Resource Innovations

• Schneider Electric

• Signify

• UVM Extension Services

• Zartarian Engineering

For a complete roster, see www.ResourceInnovation.org/TAC. 

For more information:
Resource Innovation Center
www.resourceinnovation.org 

7 June 2021

Biggest Energy Uses When Shopping In-Store Vs Online

By George Nott

4 June 202

A delivery fleet can produce 73% of an online-only grocer’s total emissions, and the energy consumption of physical stores constitutes 60% of emissions for a traditional retailer, but which is greener?

Competition for the title of ‘most sustainable model’ has been hotting up as online shops and traditional bricks & mortar stores try to prove their worth to environmentally conscious consumers.

Retailers in both spaces have been innovating to cut emissions, implement sustainable alternatives and switch to renewable energy sources without compromising the customer experience.

Here, we compare the biggest emitters of each model. 

Energy use in the store model

Lighting

A 2018 study by UCL and Brunel University found UK supermarkets had “significantly improved” and reduced energy intensity in recent years. Reductions of up to 32% have been won in lighting, much of it through the use of LED lights. Iceland ploughed £8m into sales floor LED lighting in 2015, which has delivered a 50% cut in its lighting-related emissions. More recently, it has installed automatic light controls so only half are used when stores are closed to the public and none when security alarms are activated.

Refrigeration

Supermarkets use vast amount of energy on keeping everything chilled. But that energy use is falling, thanks to the advent of new technology. A 2018 analysis of 565 supermarket stores from one retailer in the UK found the amount of energy used by refrigeration had fallen by as much as 20% in the five years to 2017. Simple solutions work. M&S is using ‘aerofoils’ on open-fronted fridges, which guide cold air down more efficiently, thereby using potentially 30% less energy.

HVAC

To keep customers comfortable, supermarkets typically maintain an in-store temperature of between 18°C and 24°C. Air-con systems have to work against bakery ovens, open chillers, customer body heat, opening entry doors, and the weather. Improvements are harder fought, with energy usage by supermarket HVAC systems falling only 8% in recent years. Tesco is using AI to fine-tune its systems. “This will optimize our heating and air conditioning through predictive algorithms,” the supermarket says.

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Energy used by refrigeration fell by about 20% in the five years to 2017

Customer vehicles

Close to a third of offline retail’s carbon emissions are a result of customers individually driving from their homes to shops. The impact is more than double that of delivery vans, which make multiple deliveries, fulfilling the same amount of shopping. There are significant variables – like distance travelled. If they take public transport, walk or cycle, the emissions drop. But carrying a full basket is hardly desirable. Promisingly, Oliver Wyman predicts vehicle emissions will fall 30% by 2030.

Alternative energy

Many supermarkets are prioritizing renewable energy sources. Some have gone all out on solar energy, in particular. Aldi has around 100,000 solar panels across 400 of its UK stores and all 11 distribution centres. On average, panels power around 10% of a store’s electricity consumption each year, the discounter says. Meanwhile, M&S boasts one of the UK’s largest panel arrays at its Castle Donington DC, while Tesco recently signed a deal for 15,000 solar panels to be installed on 17 of its stores.

Energy use in the online model

Delivery vans

Vehicle emissions are responsible for the most emissions in online operations. In Ocado’s case, its fleet produces 73% of the company’s total emissions (followed by electricity at 20%).

Ocado’s proposed new Islington depot will use electric vans for customer deliveries as it works towards “operating the largest fleet of electric vans of any grocery retailer in the UK”. Restocking the site will be done using only natural gas-powered LGVs, which are up to 65% lower in emissions than diesel LGVs.

Route optimizing

The rise of online grocery has led to efficiencies thanks to the density of drop-offs that can be made by a single van. “The innovation that needs to happen, but won’t,” says Andy Needham, MD of online surplus retailer Approved Food, “is that supermarkets amalgamate deliveries so there is just one van visiting a street at any one time, instead of the current procession of an Asda van at one house, Sainsbury’s two doors down at the same time and then Tesco turning up 20 minutes later.”

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’Over-packaging’ of online orders represents 23% of total parcel weight in fashion

Packaging

Oliver Wyman found “over-packaging” of online orders represents 23% of total parcel weight in fashion, 10% in books, and 18% in consumer electronics. For online grocery, above product-level packaging is minimal. While the analysis considered the impact of carrier bags “marginal”, online grocers have been confronting the problem. In April, Tesco removed the option for plastic bags and tray liners online. Meanwhile, Ocado operates a buy-back and recycling scheme for plastic carrier bags.

IT systems

The automated picking and packing systems used by online pure-players comes at a considerable energy cost. According to Oliver Wyman, IT energy consumption amounts to 178g of CO2 equivalent emissions per product for e-commerce, totaling around a fifth of total emissions. Here physical retail – despite all the checkouts, scanners, and control systems used in the space – is undoubtedly less impactful. In stores, IT emissions stand at 115g per product or 35% less than online.

CFCs

While huge grocery CFCs or ‘dark stores’ use less energy than stores, there are still improvements to be made. Major operators are joining the supermarkets in pursuing net-zero carbon targets. Logistics company Wincanton – which operates a CFC on behalf of Waitrose – this month launched a new environmental strategy that “will achieve its target to be net zero by 2040 across transport, property and waste”. Under its plans, home deliveries will be net-zero carbon throughout its network by April 2022.

Tags: Carbon Emissions Online Packaging Store design Supermarkets Sustainability & environment

Technology

Vertically Produced Veggies Sold In Japanese Supermarket

On May 28, Dean & Deluca Hiroo, a food shop in Hiroo started to sell vegetables grown in an indoor vertical farm. 

Infarm introduced the system was introduced to three Kinokuniya shops and two Summit shops in January this year. Dean & Deluca is the first supermarket in Japan to carry the product.

The vegetables are Italian basil, pak choi, red sorrel, and wasabi arugula (257 yen each). They are sold with their roots still attached. Dean & Deluca will replace some of its deli vegetables with those grown on the farm. These include the Lebanese potato salad (562 yen), the pak choi shrimp (702 yen), and the spiced potato salad and hummus sandwich (691 yen). Basil is used in the "Avocado gratin with prawns (shrimp) and basil" (594 yen) and "Edamame hummus" (454 yen, 100 grams each).

This is the first time that a vegetable-based dish has been sold at Kinokuniya and other stores. In Germany and other countries, vegetables harvested in the shop are sometimes used directly for cooking. Now, the company is aiming to introduce the product to restaurants in Japan as well.

Read the complete article (in Japanese) at www.news.yahoo.co.

1 June 2021

CubicFarms Announces Closing of $25.3 Million Equity Financing

CubicFarm Systems announced today the closing of its previously announced bought deal equity offering of common shares of the company. The net proceeds from the offering of approximately C$23.8 million will be used to support CubicFarms’ continued global growth, research, and development efforts to optimize machine yields, automation, and functionality, expand addressable crop varieties, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Pursuant to the offering, the company issued a total of 18,740,742 common shares at a price of C$1.35 per common share for gross proceeds to the company of C$25,300,001, which includes the exercise, in full, by the underwriters of the over-allotment option granted by the company to purchase an additional 2,444,445 common shares at a price of C$1.35 per common share.

“We are thrilled by the overwhelming support by our global institutional shareholders, like Handelsbanken, and their confidence in our vision,” said Dave Dinesen, Chief Executive Officer, CubicFarms. “The strong demand for this bought deal financing allowed us to upsize and fully allocate the over-allotment option with the closing of $25.3 million. This financing allows us to fully capitalize on our accelerating sale pipeline growth and market-leading R&D program.”

CubicFarms completes previously announced debt reduction
CubicFarms also announced that further to its news release dated May 3, 2021, the company has completed its previously announced issuance to Business Development Bank of Canada of 128,205 common shares of the company at a deemed price of $1.56 per common share.

“We’re pleased to work with our long-term lending partner on reducing the debt associated with our C$2.5 million growth capital loan with more favorable terms for the Company,” said Dave Dinesen, CEO, CubicFarms. “This demonstrates continued confidence in our ongoing development and the growth of the Company.”

CubicFarms approves grant of options
The Company also announced today that its board of directors has approved the grant of 700,000 stock options to certain directors and officers of the company pursuant to the company’s stock option plan. The options have an exercise price of $1.47 per share, vest as to one-third n each of 12, 24, and 36 months from the date of grant, and have a 5-year term. The grant of the options is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

For more information:
CubicFarms
1-888-280-9076
info@cubicfarms.com
www.cubicfarms.com

Publication date: Fri 4 Jun 2021

Sensei Ag CEO Sonia Lo Joins Indoor Ag-Con October '21 Keynote Line-Up

‘IMPROVING HUMAN WELLNESS ONE FARM AT A TIME’

SENSEI AG CEO SONIA LO TO LEAD KEYNOTE PRESENTATION AT
IN-PERSON OCTOBER 2021 INDOOR AG-CON

Lo To Discuss Sensei Ag’s Form Factor Agnostic & Scalable Approach to Indoor Agriculture on Monday, October 4, 2021

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JUNE 3, 2021  – Sensei Ag CEO Sonia Lo will lead the Indoor Ag-Con keynote presentation, “Improving Human Wellness One Farm At A Time,” on Monday, October 4, 2021 from 11:30 am – 12:20 pm. A headliner event at the October 4-5, 2021 edition of the premier trade show and conference for the indoor | vertical farming industry at the Hilton Orlando,  Lo’s discussion will focus on Sensei Ag’s form factor agnostic approach to building and expanding indoor farms.  

Themed “Growing Your Business,” Indoor Ag-Con will give attendees the opportunity to explore new resources on the expo floor and hear from Lo, other CEOs, thought leaders and industry experts from today’s cutting-edge farms and innovative companies.

 During her presentation, Lo will share more about Sensei Ag’s mission to improve human health and wellness by transforming indoor agriculture. The company’s uniquely vertically integrated value chain -- from seed conception to store shelves -- allows it to consistently deliver nutritious produce to consumers and actionable data to farmers. She will discuss the current challenges facing the indoor farming industry and how being a form factor agnostic company is a novel and necessary approach to overcoming such obstacles.

Tapped to head Sensei Ag in 2020, Sonia brings more than 32 years of combined agriculture, technology, and business experience to her leadership role. Lo began her career in technology, building her first tech venture as CEO of eZokaGroup, a UK-based internet startup that she sold in 2002. Following eZoka, Lo founded and served as Managing Director of Chalsys LLP, an advisory and direct investment firm which has invested over $120 million in 15 global growth-stage companies. From Chalsys, Lo became the Director of Localization and Global Content for Google, Inc.

Most recently, Ms. Lo was CEO of Crop One Holdings, Inc., a vertical farming company that owns a vertical farm in Massachusetts. Crop One is also part of a joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering in Dubai which is building one of the world’s largest vertical farms.

You can learn more about Sonia Lo and her Indoor Ag-Con keynote session here.

“We are very excited to have Sonia Lo join our keynote line-up. Her incredible background and proven leadership experience, coupled with the indoor farming innovations she and her Sensei Ag team are working on, promise to inspire our attendees, “ says Brian Sullivan, co-owner, Indoor Ag-Con LLC along with other event industry veterans Nancy Hallberg and Kris Sieradzki.

ROBUST 2021 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE NOW IN DEVELOPMENT

In addition to Sonia Lo’s keynote, look for additional announcements coming soon on other CEO keynote presentations planned for the October event. The 2021 conference will also include a full roster of panel discussions, fireside chats and presentations offering a deep dive into three core tracks – Business & Marketing, Science & Technology and Alternative Crops.

The extensive educational conference will be joined by other new initiatives and show highlights, including:

NEW LOCATION: HILTON ORLANDO – DISCOUNTED HOTEL RATES, TOO

Indoor Ag-Con’s Hilton Orlando venue makes it the perfect opportunity for a business vacation. Centrally located to all major theme parks and attractions, it is just minutes from the eclectic dining scene and entertainment of International Drive. What’s more, the Hilton Orlando resort sits on more than 26 acres of lush landscaping and tropical inspirations making it a true destination of its own. Indoor Ag-Con has arranged for discounted hotel rates for attendees and exhibitors starting as low as $129/night. Complete details are available on the show website.

NEW ASSOCIATION ALLIANCES

Indoor Ag-Con is also forging new alliances with other events, industry associations/groups that will play an integral role in its marketing outreach and conference programming. Look for partnership announcements coming soon.

EXPANDED EXHIBIT FLOOR & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

The Indoor Ag-Con team is working to bring even more resources for farmers/growers to explore across all sectors – everything from IT, energy, AI, and lighting solutions to substrates, vertical farming solutions, business services, and much more. Attendees and exhibitors alike will also have even more networking opportunities with daily luncheon sessions and receptions on the show floor.

QUICK FACTS:

WHEN: Monday, October 4 – Tuesday, October 5 , 2021

WHERE: Hilton Orlando, 6001 Destination Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32819

INFO: For information on exhibiting or attending visit www.indoor.ag or email hello@indoor.ag

ABOUT INDOOR AG-CON LLC

Founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con has emerged as the premier trade event for vertical farming | indoor agriculture, the practice of growing crops in indoor systems, using hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic techniques. The next edition is slated for October 4-5, 2021 at the Hilton Orlando.  Its events are crop-agnostic and touch all sectors of the business, covering produce, legal cannabis |hemp, alternate protein, and non-food crops. In December 2018, three event industry professionals – Nancy Hallberg, Kris Sieradzki, and Brian Sullivan – acquired Indoor Ag-Con LLC, setting the stage for further expansion of the events globally. www. indoor.ag

ABOUT SENSEI AG

Sensei Ag is a market-changing AgTech company on a mission to solve global gaps and inconsistencies in nutrition, food safety, and food security through the transformative power of data. Guided by the incomparable capabilities and insights of our founders, technology entrepreneur and Oracle Co-Founder Larry Ellison and esteemed physician and scientist Dr. David Agus, we design, develop and deploy cutting-edge agricultural technologies to build a better, more stable food supply that is capable of feeding our entire world nutritionally-relevant, delicious, affordable meals. We are the present and the future of farming, fostering agricultural innovations that will improve and support human health and wellness for decades to come. Sensei Ag: driven by data; grounded in science; focused on wellbeing. Learn more about our innovations in agriculture by visiting our website at sensei.ag and connecting with us on LinkedIn.

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Indoor Ag-Con, 950 Scales Road, Building #200,

Suwanee, GA 30024, United States

SpaceFarms Successfully Trialed With Grapes, Now Opts Almonds And Tomatoes

Introducing vertical farming to Georgia

Georgian vertical farming company SpaceFarms their product portfolio contains many different products such as salad greens, microgreens, herbs, and edible flowers. However, the company isn’t limiting itself to (leafy) greens only. “We’ve already grown three different grape varieties indoors because it’s a product we’re proud of here,” says Tusya Gharibashvili, Project author, and CEO. Tusya explains that Georgia is quite famous for its wine and its first wine was discovered 8000 years ago, research showed.

When Tusya first heard about vertical farming, she imagined a new generation of high-tech farming in Georgia. “I was fascinated when I heard about the possibilities of growing crops indoors in urban areas. Unfortunately, there’s little agricultural production in Georgia and lots of produce is imported from other countries.”

Crop trials
It’s important to us that we know how to enable grape cultivation indoors. Tusya noted they’re using cocopeat for the roots, and the results are promising thus far. “It gave us so much validation because we put so much effort into this and hopefully by rolling out more and more products, it will become more familiar to the Georgian (agri)culture,” Tusya affirms. Next to grapes, they’ve experimented with tomatoes and almond seedlings in a one-layer cultivar.

“We are now conducting strawberry trials so we still have supplied during the winter period. We’re constantly looking at opportunities for new crops to grow in our farm. We think it’s important to make people aware of the possibilities of growing in urban areas. We started experimenting with different crops in order to set the right growing parameters were.”

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In 2017, Tusya started to dive into the concept of urban farming, together with her partner. Their first production facility comprised a 15 m2 cultivation area where various microgreens were grown. Produce was delivered to restaurants and other organizations in the catering sector. “It was something completely new for everyone and people were amazed by the concept of growing indoors.” 

Government backing
After the initial success, Tusya started to follow up on more research in indoor vertical farming when she stumbled upon container growing. “After writing a motivation plan, I presented my ideas to Georgian investor to Mr. Temuri Ugulava the founder and the main driving force behind Adjara Group, decided to give it a try,” says Tusya.

At first, she started production inside a former Sovjet printing press building, now the award-winning Stamba Hotel., in order to supply fresh greens for the entire building. This was the first indoor farm space in Georgia. We had quite a tough time there, but with the help and support of Adjara Group, we made it through the first year.”

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Nowadays, Space Farms produces 5000 plants per month and 30-kilo Microgreens in a 150m2 area, using seven layers. We grow our greens in the most efficient way possible. SpaceFarms applies 75% less water than traditional farming. Don’t use pesticides, using disruptive technologies, we fully control the environment (light intensity, nutrient intake, humidity, carbon dioxide emissions, and temperature) to yield optimal plant growth. Regardless of the season, we’re able to deliver fresh micro and leafy greens.

“It’s such a small effort, and yet such a big step towards sustainability. CEA growing is a great innovation that I think will change lots of the meaning of agriculture in combination with modern technology,” says Tusya.

Introducing modern agriculture
Space Farms collaborates with students from the University of Agriculture. The students are introduced to hands-on learning on the farm, from sowing to harvesting. Tusya says, “It’s a unique opportunity to have these students working on our farm, so they can get familiar with this new type of agriculture. In this way, we’re hoping to increase awareness on vertical farming throughout the country and eventually to neighboring countries.”

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Next to running a farm, Spacefarms also working on a new project SpaceFarms spot, a farm growing kit that can be applied in any room. It’s the size of a fridge, which allows consumers or businesses to grow their own greens on location. “This will be something completely new in Georgia, so we hope to make a lasting impact. We might be a small country, but we can do big things with the help of technology. We’re backed by several programs from which we’ve received funding so we can further develop our Farm Pods,” adds Tusya.

Space Farms has received support from several programs. The programs are focusing on innovation and women in agriculture.

Lead photo: Tusya Gharibashvili

For more information:
Tusya Gharibashvili, Project author, and CEO Space Farms

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Tusya.Gharibashvili@adjaragroup.com 
Contact@spacefarms.ge 
www.spacefarms.ge 

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1 Jun 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

It's Harvest Time! Yukon's 1st Off-Grid, No-Dirt, Hydroponics Farming Unit Produces Crops

The First Harvest of Crops Comes After Only 6 Weeks of Planting The First Round of Seeds

Chris MacIntyre · CBC News · Jun 06, 2021

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'It's awesome to see what you put into the project, you get out,' said Brittany Weber, the agricultural operations coordinator at the Kluane Lake Research Station. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The Kluane Lake Research Station located between Haines Junction and Destruction Bay is known for its studies on climate change and the impacts it has on wildlife and the ecosystem.

Now, they're taking a look at food sustainability in the North.

It's been months of work but their off-grid hydroponic containerized farming unit is now producing leafy greens and herbs.

The first harvest of crops comes after only six weeks of planting the first round of seeds.

Brittany Weber is the agricultural operations coordinator for the research station.

And she's responsible for taking care of the crops.

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'It's kind of a bit of an optical illusion when you walk in. It's super cool,' says the station's agricultural operations coordinator, Brittany Weber. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

"We grow plants without the use of dirt," she explained.

"Instead we use this nutrient-rich water solution. Using pumps and gravity, we wash the water over the roots of the plants and that provides them with everything they need.

Weber says because the system is containerized it is a controlled environment so pesticides and herbicides aren't used.

Inside the container

The unit is 8 by 40 feet and can hold up to 2,800 mature plants and 1,000 seedlings.

"We have six shelves going all the way from the floor to the ceiling," said Weber during the tour of the unit.

Entering into the container is described as an optical illusion.

"The trays are actually sloped so you'll stand there and see the next tray in the back row and it'll be a foot off of the first tray but really that's the gravity so the water can flow naturally down these trays," Weber said.

The plants are arranged in a "cascading of age".

The front of the container holds the big greens while the back of the unit will have the newly planted seedlings.

"You'll be able to see the different life cycles of the plants," Weber said.

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A look inside of the off-grid hydroponic containerized farming unit. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The entrance of the container has been made into a processing area called an Arctic entrance.

This allows the vegetables and greens to be processed in freezing temperatures, without worrying about frostbite or losing any leaves.

"We have a little bit of a processing area called an arctic entrance,"

Harvesting the crops

Approximately 350 plants will be harvested next week.

Produce include kale, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, basil, cilantro, and dill.

Henry Penn, manager of the research station and the project lead, says the next step is to get the produce out into the community.

"The plan for the first number of harvests, they will be gathered up into a few small sample bags," Penn said.

"We'll be bringing them to locations around the Kluane region and offering them up to anyone that would like one free of charge."

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'People are more than welcome to come by the Kluane Lake Research Station and have a tour, see the facility and learn all about the project,' said manager Henry Penn. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The goal behind this is to let people try the product, understand how it is grown, and to provide feedback on what sort of produce is needed and wanted in the community.

Penn says now that the project is up and running, the public is invited to visit the station and see how everything works in person.

"People are more than welcome to come by the Kluane Lake Research Station and have a tour, see the facility and learn all about the project," Penn said.

Shipping Container Farm by CropBox

Lead photo: Yukon's first off-grid hydroponic containerized farming unit. This unit can hold up to 2,800 mature plants. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

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GERMANY: New 'Supermarket of The Future' Has A Greenhouse On Top

What will the shopping centre of the future look like? How do you build sustainably? According to REWE, it is one with a greenhouse on top. Last Friday, the German retail giant opened their first Green Farming pilot store in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. It is the first supermarket with a rooftop greenhouse in Europe and it combines retail with a basil farm and fish farm. "Since 2009, we have already built over 200 Green Buildings in Germany. The new store with integrated rooftop farm is the logical next step for us," says Peter Maly, Divisional Director REWE Group and responsible for REWE stores in Germany.

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Supermarket and production facility
"The Green Farming store is not just a supermarket, but also a production facility in the middle of the city. On the rooftop farm, which is operated by our partner ECF Farmsystems, 800,000 basil plants grow each year using aquaponics, which receive excrement from the fish that we breed on site as fertilizer. No pesticides are used in the process," shows Jürgen Scheider, Chairman of the Management Board REWE Region Mitte. Rewe is Germany's second-largest supermarket chain. 

"Our vision is to provide people with sustainably produced food. That's why I'm pleased to be able to help realize the dream of a self-producing supermarket here in Wiesbaden," adds Nicolas Leschke, founder and managing director of ECF Farmsystems. The company created a technique to couple aquaculture fish production with the hydroponic production of leafy greens. "Perch and basil are part of two resource saving cycles. The fish fertilize the basil plants with their excreta. These in turn clean the water from the fish tanks, which can then flow back to the perches. The use of this cycle system enables food production with 90 percent less water consumption compared to conventional agriculture, as the water is used twice."  

Basil supplied locally
The basil is already available at the opening and will also be delivered to 480 REWE stores in Hesse and parts of Rhineland-Palatinate. Around 14,000 pots of basil are packaged plastic-free on site every week and according to the REWE team, the sustainable packaging saves 12 tonnes of plastic per year.

At the same time, about 20,000 cichlids are bred in basins on about 230 square metres under sustainable conditions and processed on site. This produces about one tonne of fish meat per month. The fish is expected to be on sale by the end of 2021. 

ECF Farmsystems uses LED lamps for their herb cultivation, supplied by Fluence. They've gained experience with these lamps in their urban farm ECF Farm Berlin, which they constructed earlier and currently operate and of which the products are also sold to Rewe. Their other projects include planning and construction of the rooftop farm ecco JÄGER in Bad Ragaz in Switzerland and the rooftop farm on the Ferme Abattoir in Belgium.

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Construction and operating
"With Green Farming in Erbenheim, we are ushering in a new generation of green stores at REWE," says Peter Maly with REWE, adding that holistic sustainability not only includes product ranges but also construction and operation.

Wood is the core element of the supermarket: around 1,100 cubic metres of the renewable raw material were used here. "The indigenous coniferous wood stores more than 700 tonnes of CO2. In 30 years, the wood will have grown again and the CO2 balance will be balanced." Columns made of stacked wood form the supporting structure for the glass roof farm and form a vaulted structure that extends into the store. Inside, customers look out onto a glass atrium, the greenhouse on the roof. "A natural marketplace ambience with lots of daylight was created," Peter reveals. 

A lot of daylight can be used through the glazed east and west facades and the atrium. In addition, intelligent cooling and heating technology, 100 per cent green electricity and the use of rainwater for the roof farm, sanitary facilities and cleaning of the store ensure that resources are conserved.

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Also the assortment focuses entirely on freshness with a large fruit and vegetable section including a salad bar, many regional and organic products as well as a glass butchery with a show kitchen and meat from animal welfare farms. In front of the store, local suppliers can offer their products in specially produced market stalls.

"The new REWE store in Erbenheim is a milestone in the development of modern supermarkets. I am very pleased and also a little proud that this special project has been realized in our region," says Jürgen Scheider, Chairman of the Management Board of REWE Region Mitte. "We are particularly proud of the wide range of products from over 100 regional and local suppliers."

Publication date: Fri 4 Jun 2021
Author: Arlette Sijmonsma
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

USA - MAINE: Vertical Harvest To Begin Westbrook Farm Construction In August 2021

"I believe that we need to be open-sourced to succeed"

“With our first site in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we didn’t have much space and felt that a horizontal greenhouse wouldn’t achieve our goals for food production and job creation,” explains Nona Yehia, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vertical Harvest. An architect by trade, Nona has always been driven by architecture in cities and saw vertical farming as a tool to improve the resilience of communities.

Vertical Harvest was founded in 2015 and designs and operates socially driven, multi-storied hydroponic farms in urban centers. With its flagship farm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming built five years ago, Vertical Harvest became the first company to operate a vertical greenhouse farm in the northern hemisphere. The flagship farm spans 3 stories, produces 100,000 lbs. of leafy greens annually, and distributes to more than 80 supermarkets and restaurants across three states. The vertical farm also operates year-round and harvests at peak maturity for improved nutritional quality and flavor.

Construction to begin in Westbrook, Maine
Vertical Harvest has been planning the construction of its next farm in Westbrook, Maine, located in Greater Portland. At four stories tall, Vertical Harvest Maine will be one story higher than the flagship farm and is slated to produce 1 million pounds of leafy greens annually, which will be provided to hospitals, restaurants, markets, and consumers. Construction will begin in August 2021, with the farm designed by Portland-based architect Harriman and GYDE Architects, the latter having been co-founded by Nona. 

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The new farm design

Vertical Harvest is also developing a farm in southern Chicago which will be located in affordable housing development, again with the goal of serving underserved populations and bringing affordable, nutritious food closer to the point of consumption. This development was made possible by a grant awarded to Vertical Harvest in 2019. These developments are part of the company’s ambitious plan to expand to ten greenhouses in the next five years, according to Nona.

Nona hopes that the vertical farming industry will continue to develop through strategic partnerships, transparent processes, and loyalty to consumers.

“Everybody wants to know where their food is coming from, so this is our opportunity to talk about it. We’re all building companies but we need to make sure that we are delivering our brand promises. Entrepreneurship is always riddled with little pitfalls and I believe that we need to be open-sourced to succeed,” says Nona.

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Inside the Jackson farm

“The demand for local, affordable, nutritious food is present in all sales channels”
According to Nona, developing a diverse crop mix and accessing various sales channels have been key to Vertical Harvest’s successful financial and social model. Vertical Harvest has multiple offtake agreements with restaurants, grocery stores, distributors, and food access organizations. These channels all have different price points, which the company manages through its diverse crop mix.

“We grow head lettuce, baby greens, and microgreens. With that, we can tailor our crop mix to the different sales channels and price points which allows us to work with different organizations, maintain a profitable model and enable the progress that we want to see,” says Nona.

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Driven by social impact
Vertical Harvest is an impact-driven business that is committed to providing inclusive employment opportunities for underserved populations, such as those with developmental disabilities, formerly incarcerated citizens, and immigrants seeking asylum. Vertical Harvest calls this their Grow Well model which, according to the company website, “fosters professional development, personal discovery and community impact.” This model is demonstrated at the flagship farm in Jackson Hole, where 25 of the 42 employees are differently-abled and have a customized employment plan to foster their professional development.

“We believe in impact and want these farms to be considered critical infrastructure. We are rooted in urban redevelopment so while we’ve also been focused on food production and jobs, we also want to make these farms part of the cities where they’re located,” explains Nona.

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For more information:
Nona Yehia, CEO and co-founder
Vertical Harvest
info@verticalharvestfarms.com
https://verticalharvestfarms.com 

Publication date: Fri 4 Jun 2021
Author: Rebekka Boekhout
© VerticalFarmDaily.com

Natalie Portman, Other Celebs, Invest In Vertical Farming Startup Bowery

$300M Investment Round Will Help

The Company Expand Its

Indoor Farms Across The U.S.

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By Michael d'Estries

June 4, 2021

Natalie Portman | Roy Rochlin / Getty Images

Natalie Portman, an actor as well-known for her film roles as her dedication to causes ranging from the environment to animal welfare, has thrown her financial support behind a new investment round for Bowery Farming. The sustainable agriculture startup, the largest vertical farming firm in the U.S., secured over $300 million from both individuals and investment groups to help expand its operations across the U.S. 

"At Bowery, we're reinventing a new supply chain that's simpler, safer, more sustainable and ultimately provides vibrantly flavorful produce unlike what's available today," Irving Fain, CEO, and Founder of Bowery Farming, said in a press release. "This infusion of new capital from Fidelity, other new investors, and the additional support of our long-term investor partners is an acknowledgment of the critical need for new solutions to our current agricultural system, and the enormous economic opportunity that comes with supporting our mission. 

Portman’s investment is the latest in a series of big moves by the vegan activist to help grow companies that provide healthy, sustainable, and animal-friendly products to millions around the globe. In July of 2020, she joined others such as Oprah Winfrey and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in investing in milk-alternative startup Oatly. In November, she teamed with music artist John Legend in backing MycoWorks, a company creating vegan leather from fungus, to help raise more than $45 million. 

“So now lots of people make fun of vegans, right? Lots of people make fun of anybody who cares about anything deeply, right?,” Portman said during a youth activism speech in 2019. “But I’m here to say, it is always a great thing to care…whether it’s environmental issues, animal rights, women’s rights, equality, never be afraid to show how much you care.”

Joining Portman in the latest investment round for Bowery, which has raised more than $465 million since its founding in 2014, were well-known plant-based eating advocates Lewis Hamilton and Chris Paul, as well as world-renowned chef and hunger advocate José Andrés and singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake. 

Growth of vertical farming reaches new heights

So why is everyone from celebrities to investment groups throwing money at Bowery? Simply put, the skepticism around vertical farming that stunted early growth has been replaced with blooming enthusiasm in the wake of its success.

In the last year, Bowery has gone from selling produce in under 100 retail locations across the U.S. to nearly 800. According to Fain, these include such giants as Whole Foods Market, Giant Food, Stop & Shop, Walmart, and Weis Markets.

“It’s definitely bigger than the pandemic,” Fain told The Spoon. “What you’re seeing is a food system that’s evolving and [people have a desire] to see transparency and traceability in the food system.”

Bowery presently has two vertical farming sites in New Jersey and Maryland, with a third slated to open in Bethlehem, PA later this year. Each industrial space features various greens and herbs (butter lettuce, cilantro, arugula, etc.) stacked vertically in trays and grown hydroponically using a state-of-the-art computer control system and LED lights. An average of 80,000 pounds of produce is generated each week using 95% less water than traditional farms and with zero pesticides or chemicals. And because these vertical farms can be built within cities, transport costs and their associated environmental impacts are drastically reduced. 

While the focus for vertical farming remains firmly planted on greens, Bowery is testing new crops like tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries. They are also making constant improvements to the artificial intelligence system that monitors the plants at all times. At any moment, the computer can make changes to improve the yield or alter the flavor of a particular crop. 

“We achieve a plant vision system and that vision system takes photos of our crops in real-time and runs them through our machine learning algorithms,” Fain said in an interview with Tech at Bloomberg. “We know what’s happening with a crop right now and whether it’s healthy, but then also predict what we will see with this crop based on what we’ve seen in the past and what tweaks and changes we want to make.”

Yes, we know that sounds like some slice of a dystopian future, but vertical farming is quickly proving itself a necessary technology to help feed and sustain humanity. For Fain, he believes the ability to do all of this with fewer resources, chemicals, and independent changing climate conditions or unexpected global crises is something that should be celebrated and not feared. 

“I actually view it as this incredibly optimistic opportunity to say, ‘Wow, like, isn't it amazing that technology has taken us to a point where something that we've done in a certain way for hundreds and hundreds of years with iteration and optimization can really be rethought and re-imagined in totality because of human creativity and human ingenuity?", he told MyClimateJourney. “And I think that's actually exciting and that's something that we should be happy about and optimistic about. And that to me is really the message in what we're building at Bowery.”

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Treehugger Voices

A Primer On Vertical Farming As The Industry Gains Steam

MAY 28, 2021

RICH ALTERMAN

The modern concept of vertical farming was put forth in 1999 by Columbia University microbiologist Dickson Despommier, who along with his students, came up with a design of a skyscraper farm that could feed 50,000 people.

Since then, vertical farming has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. And it’s growing rapidly.

According to PitchBook data, nearly $1.9 billion of global venture capital was invested in indoor farming in 2020, nearly tripling investment in 2019.  And just this week, New York-based vertical farming startup Bowery Farming raised $300 million in its latest funding round, valuing the company at $2.3 billion.

Vertical farming growth may be accelerating at the ideal time, as concerns about population growth and climate change push the food industry to innovate to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

By 2050, around 68% of the world population is expected to live in urban areas, and this growth will lead to an increased demand for food. The use of vertical farming could play a role in preparing for such a challenge. At the same time, it could help restore forests depleted by commercialized agriculture and curb planet-warming emissions caused by farming and transportation. Agriculture and forestry alone account for about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases.

What is it?

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers as opposed to a single level, like a field or greenhouse.

Through the artificial control of temperature, light, humidity, and gases, food can be produced indoors in a way that optimizes plant growth and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics. The benefits of which are reliable, environmentally friendly, year-round crop production, significantly reduced water usage (by some estimates up to 95% less), efficient land use, and less exposure to chemicals and disease.

Among its downsides, vertical farms are costly to set up and operate and are too dependent on technologies that have yet to reach full maturity. Further, with its heavy reliance on electricity for lighting and climate control, it uses more energy than traditional farming methods and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

With that, the sector continues to innovate. And with vertical farming merely in its infancy, it’s reasonable to expect big things in the coming decades.

Investors certainly think so.

In fact, the global vertical farming market is projected to reach $12.77 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 24.6%, according to Allied Market Research.

CANADA: Quebec AI Processing Centers To Heat Gigantic Greenhouse Complex

A Quebec City entrepreneur, well known in the field of technology, is piloting a pharaonic project. Workers are working quietly on a large plot of land in Saint-Nicolas. The value of the total investment is in the billions of dollars. And it would be only the first of a series of "campuses" at the cutting edge to be built on Quebec soil. And, there's greenhouses in it.

Developer Martin Bouchard, founder of the Copernic search engine and then of the 4Degree data centers, wants to build at least three high-intensity data processing complexes with thermal waste recovery, to which would be added a pole of applied innovation in artificial intelligence. The total estimated cost is close to 5 billion euros. Why that could be relevant for the horticultural industry? The business plan calls for the recovered heat being used to heat greenhouses. "We want to contribute to the province's food autonomy with a potential of 400 hectares of greenhouses for the first campus alone," he tells in an article on LaPresse. 

Put the words artificial intelligence, innovation, circular economy, high-capacity computer servers, clean energy, greenhouse production, food autonomy; stir calmly and you will obtain the "Baiejamésienne" project on which Mr. Bouchard and his associates Vincent Thibault and Dany Perron have been working for three years on the QScale project.

QScale is a high-density data processing campus. The campuses seek to meet the needs of machine learning, which is in growing demand with the arrival of artificial intelligence in businesses. Consider the data calculations required to safely drive autonomous vehicles. Bouchard cites Tesla, Volkswagen, Pfizer and Goldman Sachs as potential clients.

The serial entrepreneur, along with private investors, has invested $30 million to start the project. The rest of the financial package will be revealed at the time of the official announcement. "We are working very hard to ensure that the ownership of the company remains entirely Quebec-based. "

The Quebec government is receptive to the project, La Presse has learned. Hydro-Quebec would have already said yes, assures Mr. Bouchard. The imprimatur of the monopoly of electricity distribution is essential because such a data center dedicated to artificial intelligence consumes twice as much power in a year as a city the size of Drummondville.

Construction has begun on the first campus located in Levis. Delivery is scheduled for November 2022. The daily newspaper Le Soleil recently outlined the project. QScale is planning a second branch in the Écoparc de Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, on Montreal's South Shore, just behind the commuter train station.

With the heat, greenhouses are to be heated. "We want to contribute to the province's food autonomy with a potential of 400 hectares of greenhouses for the first campus alone," he insists. However, all the vegetable production in greenhouses is currently grown on 123 hectares. "We are in discussion with several players for this part of the project," says Bouchard. André Michaud, a consultant for Savoura, says he has never been contacted by QScale. He said he was puzzled when he saw the project outline.

We have a greenhouse robotization project using artificial intelligence to eventually automate physically demanding jobs," says Mr. Bouchard. In Levis, we have the adjacent farmland that corresponds to the equivalent of 80 soccer fields, enough to produce 2880 tons of raspberries and 83,200 tons of tomatoes. "

Read more in LaPresse.ca (French)

4 Jun 2021

VIDEOS: A Made-In-Canada Clean Energy Solution Wins Multiple Awards For Innovation

Eavor’s technology consists of several Patent Pending innovations. The Eavor-Loop is a closed system within which a proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated. The working fluid is not fluid from a reservoir flowing into our wells, it is a fluid added to the closed-loop Eavor-Loop™ to create an efficient radiator, much like a vehicle radiator circulates fluid in a closed-loop to remove heat from a gasoline engine.

Eavor-Loop™ harvests heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating applications (ex: greenhouses or district heating) or to be used to generate electricity using conventional heat to power engines. Eavor-Loop™ is an industrial-scale geothermal system that mitigates many of the issues with traditional geothermal systems, which rely upon using wells to produce brine from a subsurface aquifer.

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The closed-loop is the key difference between Eavor-Loop™ and all traditional industrial-scale geothermal systems. Eavor-Loop™ is a buried-pipe system, which acts as a radiator or heat exchanger. It consists of connecting two vertical wells several kilometers deep with many horizontal multilateral wellbores several kilometers long. As these wellbores are sealed, a benign, environmentally friendly, working fluid is added to the closed-loop as a circulating fluid.  This working fluid is contained within the system and isolated from the earth in the Eavor-Loop™. The wellbores act as pipes, not wells producing fluid from the earth.

The working fluid naturally circulates without requiring an external pump due to the thermosiphon effect of a hot fluid rising in the outlet well and a cool fluid falling in the inlet well.  The working fluid contained in this closed-loop pipe system brings thermal energy to the surface where it is harvested for use in a commercial direct heat application or converted to electricity with a power generation module (heat engine).

Unlike heat pumps (or “geo-exchange”), which convert electricity to heat using very shallow wells, Eavor-Loop generates industrial-scale electricity or produces enough heat for the equivalent of 16,000 homes with a single installation.

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An excellent new video by CNBC entitled 'How Geothermal Energy Could Power The Future' features Eavor CEO, John Redfern and several others in the modern geothermal industry such as Catherine Hickson of Geothermal Canada, Tim Latimer of Fervo Energy, Cindy Taff of Sage Geosystems and Joe Scherer of GreenFire Energy.

The video covers topics such as:
- What is Geothermal energy?
- Geothermal startups gain traction
- Major opportunity for oil and gas
- The future of geothermal

"Miles below the Earth’s surface, there’s enough thermal energy to power all of humanity for the foreseeable future. It’s called geothermal energy, and it’s poised to play an increasingly large role as a source of always available, renewable power. Now, there are a number of startups in the geothermal space, working to figure out how to access this heat in difficult-to-reach geographies, at a price point that makes sense. And it’s even gotten the attention of oil and gas industry giants, who are interested in greening their portfolios while sticking to their core competencies - extracting energy resources from deep within the Earth."

When You Plant A Farm In A City, It Tastes Like The Future

How A San Francisco Company

Called Plenty Is Revolutionizing

The Concept of The American Farm

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By Changing America Staff

June 4, 2021

From the outside, the warehouse looks like any of the other industrial manufacturing buildings you find in this part of San Francisco. But that's just a facade. When you walk in, it's as if you have entered a portal to another world. In fact, that's exactly what it is. Welcome to the future of agriculture.

Instead of a traditional farmhouse, you'll find the sort of office space you'd see at Silicon Valley companies like Facebook or Apple. But keep walking and you'll see the farm. Instead of sprawling fields of crops stretching across acres of Iowa or Illinois farmland, you'll see a space the size of a Target store that resembles a high-tech luxury car assembly line, featuring vertical tubes that sprout two stories tall, each one packed with leafy greens that are lovingly surrounded by thousands of UV lights.

“We’ve literally flipped the farm on its end,” smiles Matt Barnard, co-founder and executive chairman of Plenty, “We’ve developed technology to deliver all the things plants need--nutrients, water, climate. And we do that in ways that are not only efficient but they also allow us to control flavor to an extent that's never been possible before.”

The field hands here look more like astronauts than farmers. They wear what resemble full-body hazmat suits, which help maintain an impeccably strict level of hygiene. This prevents any contamination of the plants, since one of the main selling points of Plenty's produce is that it doesn't use pesticides. As workers bustle about the warehouse with iPads, checking data points that help them engineer perfect bunches of arugula and kale, you might forget you’re at a farm at all--apart from that one employee over there wearing a cowboy hat. 

“Things that would normally take years on the farm I grew up on taking just months here," says Barnard. "Yield gains that take a decade in a field, we deliver in a few weeks. There’s no way to do that other than data. This new way of farming has really demanded that we be a data-driven company.”

Plenty's intense focus on data allows it to precisely calibrate its usage of California's most precious resource: water. The Golden State is the leading producer of agriculture in the United States, and consequently, the state with the highest water usage for farming--in fact, 40 percent of all water used in the state goes into agriculture. For the past decade, however, California has been suffering from brutal drought, the driest period in recorded state history. It’s a full-blown crisis that is only getting worse as the planet warms up further.

That's where the genius of Plenty comes in. The obsessive attention to data allows the company to increase the efficiency of its yield and cut down dramatically on the water necessary to grow it. Compared to nearby lettuce farms in Salinas and Yuma, Plenty is saving approximately a million gallons of water per week. 

In fact, the company argues that it is as much an infrastructure resource as an agricultural enterprise. Because it grows locally, it ensures nearby residents have delicious food to eat--and jobs to work at--all year round, even in barren food deserts, and even during times of severe supply-chain crises (wildfires, drought, ransomware attacks or, say, a global pandemic).  

Because everything happens in an indoor controlled climate, Plenty has no seasons. It can plant, grow and harvest late summer plants like its pristine strawberries every month of the year.

Plenty isn't just growing food, though. “Because we are able to grow 365 days a year, and grow plants that taste like late summer plants all year round, we get to invest in our people," says Barnard. "They’re here as long as they want to be here. It’s not seasonal, we know who’s going to be here next year, everyone gets to grow their income and their careers.”

The company is expanding quickly. They have a contract with the berry giant Driscoll’s to start producing strawberries, and they’re building a second farm in the unlikely working-class community of Compton, south of Los Angeles. 

Barnard envisions dozens and eventually hundreds of vertical farms across the country. This is where other countries, especially China, are headed fast and Plenty makes a strong argument that American federal and state governments should start planting the seeds of vertical farms as quickly as possible to avoid falling behind.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out their website, https://www.plenty.ag/, and try some of their famous lettuce next time you’re in the Bay area.

Published on Jun 04, 2021

VIDEO: World Food Prices Rise At Fastest Pace In A Decade As Inflation Concerns Continue In U.S.

AgDay 06/04/21 - Food Prices

By AGDAY TV June 4, 2021

The United Nations issued a warning this week as world food prices are rising at their fastest pace in a decade.

The data comes from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s Food Price Index for May. The Index surged in May with prices rising at their fastest monthly pace since October of 2010. Global food prices have risen for 12 consecutive months and now sit at their highest level since September of 2011.

What's driving the increase? Drought in key growing regions including the western U,S. and Brazil, slowing vegetable oil production in Southeast Asia along with increasing costs for livestock producers and soaring Chinese demand.

Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says inflation is also part of the equation. 

"It definitely is a factor," says Suderman. "And we saw after the Beige Book report [Federal Reserve] came out this past week talking about inflation pressures, how money came into the commodity sector in the overnight trade following that report's release, and it's a hedge against inflation. However, whenever that causes the dollar to rise sharply because interest rates start to go up, then they start to pull back because the fear factor takes hold, we're not going to compete. Longer-term, though, the trend is inflation tends to be positive for the commodity sector, particularly those with a story."

Suderman says data indicates wage inflation is also having an impact. He says wage inflation is increasing at rates the U.S. hasn't seen since the 12th Federal Reserve Chair Jimmy Volcker held his position from 1979 to 1987, under U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. 

"I still see momentum building on the flip inflation pressures right now," Suderman adds. "And a lot of people talk about it being transitory, the Fed talks a lot about that supply lines refilling, that's not what we're seeing in ag, this is a build up a demand that's been building up over time. And then when you look at wage inflation, the last four quarters in a row combined, the strongest wage inflation we've seen in four decades going back to the Paul Volcker era."

FAO says the world food price surge comes with a warning as it echoes similar moves in 2008 and 2011, when high costs led to food riots across some 30 nations.

VIDEO: Japanese University Looks Abroad

June 3, 2021

A Japanese university is turning overseas to find new customers for farming and medical technologies developed by its staff.

Chiba University has teamed up with the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO. They signed an agreement last month.

The push abroad will mainly be online for now as the coronavirus pandemic pulls the plug on conferences and other trade events.

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Researchers hope to promote technologies for things like breeding vegetables that grow well indoors.

They are already making progress in China.

The university's technology is helping a next-generation plant-growing facility in the city of Shenzhen.

Watch the video at www.nhkj.or.jp.

USA - VIDEO: NYC Students Growing Greens Inside Schools With Hydroponic Farming

CBS2 News At 6

To View The Video, Please Click Here

Getting access to affordable, nutritious food is difficult for many in New York City who face food insecurity. A grassroots nonprofit organization is changing that with the help of students and hydroponics; CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reports.

Categories: Education, Environment/Green, News, Local News, WCBSTV, Google

EUROPE: The Sustainable Farming Methods Helping Farmers Earn A Fair Income

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FARM TO FORK

By Claudio Rosmino • Updated: 11/05/2021

In partnership with The European Commission

The fruit and vegetable auction in Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium, may look like a space mission control centre, but it's actually one of the most major auctions of its kind in Europe.

Every day up to 4000 tons of fresh produce are sold there. Fruit and vegetables grown by over a thousand farmers travel to its warehouses to then end up on our plates.

The farmers that sell in Sint-Katelijne-Waver are all part of the BelOrta network, one of Europe's largest fruit and vegetable selling cooperatives.

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The BelOrta fruit and vegetable auctionSint - Katelijne-Waver, Belgium

The organization has strict production procedures to ensure good quality standards and prices. For growers, sustainable production also means a fair income.

Jo Lambrecht is a Sales and Marketing Manager for Belorta. He tells us that one of their goals is to get "the best possible price in the markets for the protection of growers". They also want to build consumer, buyer and grower trust to create "a long-term relationship between what happens on the field, what happens on the producer side and what happens at the consumer's home".

Fair market conditions, sustainable farming, and quality standards are also some of the pillars of the EU's new Common Agricultural Policy, known as the CAP.

Its future goals are to combine social, economic, and environmental approaches to create a sustainable model of European agriculture.

Two farms, that are part of the Belorta Network, have been able to change their production to make it more sustainable thanks to financial support from the CAP.

One of them is in the Belgian town of Putte. The thousands of tomatoes produced in the huge greenhouses there get exactly what they need.

The cogeneration system on the farm produces complementary energy which is released into the local grid. Thermal insulation screens help save heat at night, keeping the tomatoes at the right temperature for a lower cost. Natural methods also protect them from disease and the irrigation system ensures the most efficient use of water for their growth. Nothing goes to waste.

The tomato greehousePutte, Belgium

Kevin Pittoors the owner of the farm tells us "the excess water is collected and after it is purified, it is reused on the plants. So it's a closed cycle." They also use the maximum amount of rainwater in order to meet water requirements as efficiently as possible.

A LED lighting system, installed in the greenhouse, helps compensate for the lack of light during the winter months. Pittoors says the advantage of these lights is that "they consume less power", helping to "save energy" and providing "optimal light for the plants."

Why the CAP is key to agriculture

There are around 10 million farms in the EU. Some 22 million people regularly work in the sector.

Farmers' incomes are 40% lower

than those of people working in other sectors.

Weather and climate play a key role in farming

which makes it vulnerable to climate change.

Producing food takes time

so there is always a time gap between demand and production.

Source: European Commission

Farms of all sizes are playing an important role in the transition towards a more eco-friendly agriculture.

Sustainable solutions like those used in Putte's tomato production are also used on a family-owned strawberry farm in Halle.

The farm applies natural remedies to protect plants from disease as well as using new technology, like an autonomous robot that uses UV light to fight powdery mildew. It's a machine that helps reduce the use of pesticides.

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The powdery mildew fighting robotHalle, Belgium

The strawberry farm tries to use a natural strategy as much as it can when fighting plant diseases.

Robin Colembie, a worker there, tells us that chemicals are always the last option. He feels that it's important to make an effort and move towards sustainable processes because it shows in the final product. "There is also a growing demand from consumers for more environmentally friendly and pesticide-free fruits".

Copyright euronews