FarmBox Has Become an Essential Part of Ag Programs at Morgan Community College | SALUTE TO AG
By Robin Northrup | The Fort Morgan Times
March 29, 2025
In July 2024, Morgan Community College (MCC) in Fort Morgan launched the FarmBox, a cutting-edge indoor farming system to connect students with modern agricultural technology.
Funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title III STEM grant, the FarmBox is a repurposed refrigerator container equipped with full-spectrum LED lighting, seedling trays, and moveable grow walls that can hold 3,888 plants. This system can produce as much as 2.5 to 3 acres of crops annually, harvesting 684 plants weekly while using only 3 to 5 gallons of water daily.
“The FarmBox uses programmable logic (PLC) to operate lights, pumps, timers, valves, and other equipment to grow the product,” said George O’Clair, MCC Electromechanical Technology Faculty. “The Electrical Mechanical Technology (ELMT) students study PLCs to operate those items. The FarmBox will be beneficial to the class to see an operating PLC in action.”
Bill Miller, MCC Precision Agriculture Faculty, gives a tour to show how the FarmBox provides a cutting-edge indoor farming system to connect students with modern agricultural technology. Photo from tour June 2024. (Robin Northrup/Morgan County Times)
The FarmBox has been used to grow various crops, including leafy greens, herbs, microgreens, tomatoes, and peppers. Recently, flowers have become a highlight, offering students a chance to learn how plants grow in controlled environments. This new focus on flowers shows just how versatile the FarmBox can be.
Since its introduction, the FarmBox has served as a hands-on learning tool for students. Bill Miller, MCC Precision Agriculture Faculty and Division Chair for Career and Technical Education, explained, “We’ve brought local vegetable crops indoors so students can learn about nontraditional farming methods.”
Students use the FarmBox in courses like agribusiness, agriculture marketing, and crop production, gaining real-world experience in sustainable farming.
“We’ve seen great progress,” Miller said. “Students are growing multiple crops while learning innovative techniques. We’ve also worked with the community to provide fresh produce, and experimenting with flowers has added another exciting way for students to learn.”
The produce grown in the FarmBox is donated to the food pantry at the college for students, and the remaining is donated to Rising Up in Fort Morgan.
FarmBox merges agriculture with science by using precision agriculture for optimal resource use, employing biotech for enhanced crop traits, and utilizing controlled environments like vertical farming. Data analytics aid in decision-making, promoting sustainability through reduced efforts and enhanced productivity. According to Dr. Steven Sjostedt, MCC Chemistry Faculty, students can study the impact of various nutrients on different plants.
The FarmBox combines scientific innovation with traditional farming to improve efficiency, sustainability, and crop resilience. When the grant funding for the FarmBox winds down, MCC is committed to keeping it as an educational resource.
Miller stressed its importance as a long-term part of the program: “Even after the grant, the FarmBox will remain central to what we do. We’ll keep using the FarmBox to give students real-world farming experience and find ways to work with the community to grow fresh produce and support sustainable farming.”