USA - TEXAS: FeedLot Funds Freight Farm Shipping Container Farm

Executive Director Trey Haper, Community Mission Link, pitches freight farming to council members Jan. 7.

ZACH FREEMAN

January 13, 2025

AZLE — Even in its off-season, the Azle Farmers Market promises exciting new prospects for growth. The farmers market and food truck park, dubbed The FeedLot, just finished its first operating season and is scheduled to return in the spring. Nonprofit Community Mission Link, which manages the farmers market, hopes to make next season even better by growing fresh vegetables on-site in a decked-out shipping container.

Executive Director Trey Harper of Community Mission Link spoke at the Jan. 7 Azle City Council meeting to explain the project. Harper said to start out, the Freight Farms container will mostly be used to grow lettuce, but it will be capable of growing over 500 different varieties of crops. Each week, Harper expects the operation to be able to produce around 990 heads of leafy greens.

“We had a challenge in our food pantry program of having a lot of fresh produce and we found this product called Freight Farms, which is, in fact, a shipping container that is a hydroponic farm,” Harper said. “The closest one to us that we know of is at UNT. So, we toured UNT's freight farm. It's all controlled on the iPad. It's very innovative and forward thinking.”

The lettuce will be sold at the farmers market, sold to Texas Health Resources, the project’s biggest funder, and provided to local nonprofits like the Azle Community Caring Center. Using a shipping container and advanced hydroponic system, Community Mission Link hopes to grow about four acres worth of produce in a much smaller amount of space. This is the first use of Freight Farms by a nonprofit in the area that he knows of. The project was jumpstarted after Texas Health Resources offered to enter an agreement providing the $220,000 needed to start the project. Harper said the container could be up and running by the time the farmers marker reopens for its second season in March 2025.

Though there is still much planning and work to be done, Harper informed the council that the container will be attractive, use relatively little water and will likely be staffed part-time with volunteer opportunities available. Among the many benefits touted by Harper and the council is the possibility for the setup to be a good educational experience for local school students.

The city council unanimously voted to allow the city manager to execute an agreement allowing Community Mission Link to pursue the project. The nonprofit will be required to procure all the project’s funding, while the city will provide water and electricity.