A typical shipping-container unit filled with ZipGrow’s technology sells for about $200,000, he says. For those wanting the output of more than two containers, he recommends setting up inside a larger building as more viable. Return on investment is achievable in five years on the $200,000 system, but the operator must grow the correct products — and definitely not unprofitable lettuce.

Lettuce offers the lowest return and costs the same to grow as higher margin herbs, he points out. “I tell everyone right off the bat, don’t ever grow lettuce. It’s just a waste of time.”

It’s only in the last couple of years that ZipGrow has made attempts to market directly to farmers, starting with a display at the 2022 International Plowing Match in Kemptville.

Hydroponics allow plants to grow without soil. It’s a technique being used to overcome limitations of traditional agriculture like inadequate water, poor soils, short growing seasons, excessive cold and limited sunlight. Hydroponic produce can be grown any time of year at any latitude, regardless of the weather.

“With the way we’re growing, we truly get 52 weeks,” Jones told The Narwhal of the growing season. Something edible is constantly in some stage of cultivation in the farm operation’s three sea-cans and one packing trailer. 

Just over a year in, the project now has three full-time employees growing crops you can’t find in local grocery stores. 

“The plants grow without any pesticides, herbicides, period. We don't have to do that,” said Trevor Spear, the owner of Nanue’s Farm. “When you pull the lettuce off the panel, it is fresh to eat right now. No cleaning has to happen.”

Spear took up hydroponic farming as a hobby in retirement, and soon found an unexpected passion. When he started Nanue’s Farm in 2019, downtown Raleigh was one of the first to embrace hydroponic farming.

FarmAnywhere introduces a comprehensive suite of Indoor Agriculture Services to support individuals and businesses in setting up and optimizing indoor farming operations.

Services include feasibility studies, consulting, project management, product R&D, market studies, building design, and system audits.

The initiative aims to empower clients with tools and expertise for sustainable and efficient farming.

• The services cater to a wide range of needs, from conceptual planning to operational optimization.

• FarmAnywhere underscores its commitment to making farming solutions accessible to all, regardless of location or resources.

The nine organizations are Korea Southern Power Co., the Korea Technology Guarantee Fund, the Busan Urban Corporation, the Busan Port Authority, the Korea Securities Depository, the Korea Asset Management Corporation, the Korea Housing Finance Corporation, and the Korea Maritime Promotion Corporation.

Smart Farm is an urban agricultural facility that utilizes information and communication technology (ICT) in the entire process of agricultural production, processing, and distribution. Starting with support for the installation of the first store on the subway site in 2021, BEF reached the 9th store, the first overseas expansion case through continuous expansion of smart farm support.

As food bank usage increases in B.C. amid the cost-of-living crisis, a group is starting to grow lettuce in a Cranbrook city park to encourage healthy and sustainable eating.

The CBC's Corey Bullock went to the farm, which is looking to expand.

Are you looking to promote your Freight Farm and expand your customer base? Whether you're already operating a Freight Farm or planning to start, effective marketing strategies can help you connect with your audience, secure sales, and maximize your farm’s success. In this guide, we’ll cover expert techniques to market your Freight Farm, increase visibility, and grow your business.

While farm to table restaurants are nothing new, not many operators source their own salad greens from right next door. Neon Greens is a newly opened quick-service salad restaurant in St. Louis, Mo., that operates its own 400-square-foot vertical hydroponic farm attached to the restaurant storefront.

The farm yields yield roughly three acres each of 80 different lettuces, all of which Neon Greens uses in its salads, from mizuna lettuce to sweet crisp lettuce.

The two hydroponic farms are in an ancillary room attached to the restaurant, and an elevated conveyor belt delivers the lettuce next door once it is harvested.

Puerto Rico imports nearly 85% of its food, leaving its food system vulnerable to disruptions like hurricanes, supply chain issues, and economic instability. Farm in the City Nowis tackling this challenge with a novel approach to agriculture franchising, building a network of container farms powered by sustainable, accessible technology. By blending modern farming techniques with local empowerment, FITC’s model isn’t just about growing food—it’s about fostering resilient communities and creating new economic opportunities across the island.

Farm in the City Now reimagines food production as a franchise system, where small-scale container farms are owned and operated by farmers and local entrepreneurs, yet supported by a cohesive network of resources, training, and technology.

This model, rooted in principles of sustainability and resilience, is a transformative solution that makes agriculture both profitable and accessible for local communities.

Today, we salute Navy Veteran Brad Fourby. Brad had a dream and moved nearly 2000 miles away from Sacramento to Pittsburg, Kansas, to make the dream come true. 

That dream is “Leafy Green Farms.” Using his military training helped keep Brad methodical in his approach to his dream, saying, “I knew I didn’t need to win the war today; I just needed to survive the battle.”

He planted his first seed on July 4, 2021. What he created inside a shipping container was vertical rows of produce in a hydroponic growing environment that now serves area food deserts as well as 10 different farm classrooms and school districts to inspire future farmers.

Hydroponics for beginners can be a daunting endeavor for even the most prepared of aspiring growers. There’s so much to learn, understand and implement to successfully grow crops hydroponically.

For someone just getting started, it can be intimidating to know what to do without an explainer. This article will provide exactly that.

In this blog, we’ll explain what hydroponics is, how it differs from traditional soil-based agriculture, and provide you with our top 10 tips for finding success with hydroponics.

"Last month, we delivered our first container farm to the Maldives. We're currently in discussions with several resorts interested in the solution. Container farms make a great solution for import-dependent islands like these that comprises a never-ending list of luxury resorts.

With just 160 square feet, a container can supply a resort's entire demand for fresh leafy greens," says Aneeshan Tyagarajah, Director of Honest Greens, a Sri Lanka based container farm supplier.

Rochelle and her husband, Evan, are looking forward to further expanding their business, Heartland Craft Grains. They’re getting help from a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program grant through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. On Oct. 31, the agency announced $3.1 million in funding for 41 projects aimed at strengthening local and regional food systems.

Heartland Craft Grains received just over $73,000 to invest in new equipment to expand capacity.

The Schnadts’ milling operation is currently housed in a renovated shipping container that sits next to an equipment shed on their family farm. Inside, the container is divided into two sections: one with storage and shelving holding samples of grains, including a spectrum of different colored corn, and sprigs of wheat poking out of jars. The other contains their milling equipment.

Land Betterment, a Certified B Corp. focused on innovative environmental solutions is pleased to announce that ekō Solutions' commercial partner, anu™ (Heliponix LLC), an ag-tech innovator, has been awarded a $175,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The company is potentially eligible for a $600,000 Phase II SBIR from USDA NIFA. ekō Solutions is a Land Betterment portfolio company.

Purdue University alumni Scott Massey and Ivan Ball co-founded anu, which has received financial support from the Purdue Research Foundation.

According to a staff member from the organizer of the competition, 90 percent of the young participants expressed their intention to pursue a career in agriculture in the future.

Li Shenghui, (a pseudonym), hailing from a rural background, had never dabbled in farming nor shown any inclination towards growing vegetables. Yet, drawing inspiration from his parents' toil in the fields nurturing crops like corn, tomatoes, and leafy greens, he crafted algorithms and applied them to grow lettuce in a shipping container. His dream is to bring this innovative technology back to his hometown, with the aim of benefiting the local community.

Yang Hao, a doctoral student at China Agricultural University, shared his joy and pride in planting lettuce for the first time. Yang, with a diverse academic background, has been deeply involved in lettuce cultivation for eight years.

This spring, two shipping containers designed to be vertical farms were delivered to Purdue University to offer students, staff, faculty and the community to learn and experiment with new horticulture and agricultural practices.

"The student farm is all about offering our students experiences in many different angles to production. So, the Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility project was a great fit. We are excited to educate our students how to operate a container farm. With many students excited by new technology, we have seen great interest in these container farms and the learning opportunities they can provide."

For millennia, humanity has depended on photosynthesis to cultivate crops and feed a growing population. However, the escalating challenges of climate change and global hunger now compel us to surpass the efficiency limitations of photosynthesis. Here, we propose the adoption of an electro-agriculture (electro-ag) framework that combines CO2 electrolysis with biological systems to enhance food production efficiency.

Adopting a food system based entirely on electro-ag could reduce United States agricultural land use by 88%, freeing nearly half of the country’s land for ecosystem restoration and natural carbon sequestration. Electro-ag bypasses traditional photosynthesis, enabling food cultivation in non-arable urban centers, arid deserts, and even outer space environments.

BoomGrow is an urban farm that utilises technology and data to cultivate crops in repurposed shipping containers stacked with modular plant racks. This controlled environment ensures the greens are packed with flavour, freshness, and nutrition, delivered straight from farm to fork.

Jay Desan started her urban farm when she realised how expensive buying fresh produce at local supermarkets can be. (BoomGrow pic)

“It isn’t a case of ‘plant and pray’ that something grows. Our farm controls water, light, and humidity with precision, ensuring consistent, fresh produce year-round,” Jay explained.

Indeed, BoomGrow takes “fresh from the farm” to a whole new level. According to Jay, their produce isn’t just local – it’s “hyperlocal”.

“I had a plan, or maybe it was more of a dream,” said Brad Fourby, Navy veteran and owner of Leafy Green Farms.

“The moment I saw a shipping container farm is how the idea for my farm started.” Leafy Green Farms is in southeast Kansas, where the population is 20,000 — a big difference from Brad’s hometown of Sacramento, California.

Brad’s decision to move nearly 2,000 miles away was aided by his military experience in strategic planning and resilience. “I knew I didn’t need to win the war today; I just needed to survive the battle” he said. That step-by-step approach has proved helpful as Leafy Green Farms has grown as steadily as their greens since the first seed was planted on July 4, 2021.

La Salle Bajío University launched a vertical hydroponic farm in collaboration with Verde Compacto to foster education in sustainable agriculture.

The Huvster container farm, a 30-square-meter space, can produce 200 times more vegetables per square meter than traditional farming with 90% less water.

The facility will serve as a research and education center for students, providing hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture technologies.

The farm produces around 100 lb of fresh vegetables weekly, supporting the university and local farm-to-table initiatives.