#indoor ag

[mauricesmall]

It’s the simple things.

[agritecture]

Can Vertical Farms Reap Their Harvest? It’s Anyone’s Bet.

CONTENT SOURCED FROM CIVILEATS

By now, the images of shelves full of perfect greens in hulking warehouses, stacked floor to ceiling in sterile environs and illuminated by high-powered LED lights, have become familiar. Food futurists and industry leaders say these high-tech vertical farming operations are the future of agriculture—able to operate anywhere, virtually invincible against pests, pathogens, and poor weather, and producing local, fresh, high-quality, lower-carbon food year-round.

That future seemed one step closer to reality last year when San Francisco-based indoor farming startup Plenty, which grows a variety of salad and leafy greens hydroponically (without soil) and uses artificial lighting in facilities in three locations, announced that it had raised a whopping $200 million in funding from the SoftBank Vision Fund, whose investors include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Flush with cash, Plenty quickly opened a 100,000-square-foot indoor farm outside Seattle that promised to produce 4.5 million pounds of greens annually—including some varieties not yet grown for the masses at scale, such as hydroponic peaches, carrots, and watermelon. To Plenty’s leadership and many observers, the cash influx signaled the economic promise of growing food indoors without sunlight and with less soil and water than field farming.

(Photo courtesy of Plenty)

“My reaction [to the $200 million round] was both that of validation, excitement,” said Matt Barnard, Plenty’s co-founder and CEO, over a manner of farming he says yields 350 times the produce per acre on one percent of the water used by dirt farming. “Now we must move with speed and efficiency if we’re to accomplish our mission of bringing people worldwide an experience that’s healthier for them and the planet.”

Not everyone is in agreement.

“My first thought was, ‘we could build a lot of greenhouses for $200 million,’” recalls Neil Mattson, a professor of plant science at Cornell and one of the country’s leading academic voices on indoor agriculture, who’s found that high-tech greenhouses that harness sunlight are more cost- and carbon-friendly than vertical farms that use artificial light.

Most vertical farmers are only hoping to claim a percentage of the conventional produce market, not replace it. To these founders and their investors, the market for lettuce and greens, especially—grown primarily in California and Arizona and shipped worldwide—is ripe for disruption. E. colioutbreaks like the one that hit Arizona-grown romaine lettuce earlier this year, killing a handful of people and sickening hundreds, only further their case.

But behind futurists’ fervent predictions about indoor agriculture, claims about product quality, and sexy technology lies a reality known by industry insiders but too often missing from media coverage: The future success of this nascent industry is still very much an open question.

The astronomical capital costs associated with starting a large hydroponic farm (compared to field and greenhouse farming), its reliance on investor capital and yet-to-be-developed technology, and challenges around energy efficiency and environmental impact make vertical farming anything but a sure bet. And even if vertical farms do scale, there’s no clear sense of whether brand-loyal consumers, en masse, will make the switch from field-grown produce to foods grown indoors.

Tricky Economics

Walking into any supermarket will reveal a small mountain of salad greens, carrying a price tag of between $9 and $12 per pound. They may be locally grown or organic, which will add $0.50 or $1 to the price tag. Meanwhile, a 4.5-ounce carton of Massachusetts-based FreshBox Farms’ spring mix—grown in the company’s hydroponic farm in Massachusetts—costs $3.99 for a 4-ounce box, or $15.96 per pound. Or kale: the conventional variety will run you $1.33 per pound at Walmart; organic kale costs around $4.99 per pound at Whole Foods; and vertically farmed kale grown at Newark, New Jersey-based AeroFarms will cost you a whopping $14.18 per pound.

That dramatic price gap is due to the millions of dollars currently needed to build one large indoor vertical farm—and that price is not going to drop until the industry scales up. Agritecture Consulting, whose clients include current and prospective indoor farms, estimates that a 30,000-square-foot vertical farm growing leafy greens and herbs in the tri-state area around New York City requires nearly $4 million in startup capital—not including labor.

They should know: In 2016, Agritecture built farm.one in Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood, which supplies hydroponic greens and edible flowers to a number of the city’s top restaurants. Chefs have been quick to catch onto the value of consistent, year-round, locally grown produce.

A farm.one indoor farming operation. (Photo courtesy of farm.one)

In 2016, AeroFarms, now considered an industry leader, spent $30 million on its flagship aeroponic farm in Newark. The majority of these costs lie in the equipment needed to grow greens without soil or sunlight—heating and cooling systems, ventilation, shading, environmental controls, and lights.

All of these costs add up to a hefty electricity bill: According to models compiled for Civil Eats by Agritecture, a 30,000-square-foot vertical farm in metro New York City should budget upwards of $216,000 annually for lighting and power, and another $120,000 on HVAC systems; costs will vary region to region depending on what each state charges for electricity.

Energy and equipment costs are, by far, the largest drivers of expenses that can bring the price of operating a vertical farm close to $27 per square foot. By contrast, Agritecture’s models show that the cost to run a 100,000-square-foot smart greenhouse is roughly a third as expensive, thanks to the use of natural sunlight and more advanced automation.

Vertical farms’ energy usage carries a significant carbon footprint. While vertical farm companies promise more-sustainable produce by growing it closer to consumers and using renewable energy to power their operations, the industry still has a long row to hoe.

Industry leaders acknowledge the energy challenges in the short term, yet tout continually improving lighting technology that has brought down costs. But Mattson, whose Cornell team studies the way plants respond to different lighting, predicts a plateau coming for improvements to LED technology.

LEDs lighting an indoor farming operation. (Photo courtesy of Agritecture)

“The best LEDs are 40 percent more energy efficient than in 2014,” Mattson says. “There continue to be improvements; however, those improvements will start to slow down over time. There’s only a finite amount of light you can generate at a given wavelength, and in 2022, I’m not expecting new lights to be 40 percent more efficient than the current lights now.”

FreshBox Farms began shipping greens from its 40,000-square-foot hydroponic facility in Millis, Massachusetts, in 2015. The warehouse farm, located 30 miles outside of Boston, runs on a combination of renewable energy and non-renewables, and CFO Dave Vosburg admits his company is “not doing any better” than field-grown greens when it comes to carbon usage.

When it eventually expands outside of Massachusetts, Vosberg says that by introducing a cogeneration system—technology that recycles otherwise wasted heat into new energy—FreshBox Farms will eventually keep costs and carbon emissions down in expensive markets like Connecticut, where commercial users pay an average of more than 14 cents per kilowatt-hour. But Vosburg says the company’s priority is to use contextually appropriate renewable energy sources to power the farms, such as wind energy in the Midwest, hydro in the Northwest, and solar in the Southwest.

“Yes, it sounds crazy to take the sun and turn it into electricity and turn that electricity back into light. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s what we’ll be doing,” Vosburg says. “It’ll be really efficient and clean and create a better product, and it won’t have the same carbon impact that we’re having today.”

And energy isn’t even a vertical farm’s top ongoing expense. The companies Civil Eats spoke to say labor is actually their largest budget item. Vertical farms typically pay workers higher, more metropolitan pay rates than both dirt farms—many of which rely heavily on migrant labor—and the more automated smart greenhouses. The fast-food chain Wendy’s announced in June that it plans to source vine-ripened tomatoes exclusively from greenhouse farms by early 2019.

Moreover, no matter how automated the indoor growing system is, vertical farmers are discovering the constant need for a human eye—or several—on the process. In fact, some estimate that if indoor agriculture continues to grow at the pace it has in recent years, vertical farms will have to hire 100,000 workers over the next decade.

That continued growth is not a given, however. Because of the high cost to launch, operate, and scale up a vertical farming operation, the industry is highly leveraged, with each new farm requiring tens of millions of dollars in investor capital before it can grow a single plant. Between 2016 and 2017, investments in vertical farming skyrocketed 653 percent, from $36 million to $271 million. The lion’s share of that investment went to Plenty, but Newark-based AeroFarms has raised $80 million in recent years and Brooklyn’s Bowery Farming added another $27 million.

Sky Vegetables’ rooftop hydroponic farming operation in New York City. (Photo courtesy of Agritecture)

Just last week, Manhattan-based BrightFarms announced it had raised $55 million. Shoppers can now find produce grown indoors by more than 23 large vertical farms in more than 20 supermarket chains in nearly every major metropolitan area in the country, according to Agritecture.

While industry leaders say scaling offers the best hope for profitability in this business, many vertical farms have encountered problems when they began planning to add additional production facilities. Before Atlanta-based PodPonics closed its doors in 2016, executives from the five-year-old hydroponic farm startup met with executives from supermarket chain Kroger.

Kroger indicated that it was ready to purchase 25 million pounds of produce from PodPonics annually if it would build the facilities to support that kind of production, founder Matt Liotta told a crowd at the 2017 Aglanta Conference. According to Liotta, who said PodPonics had lowered the cost to produce a pound of lettuce to $1.36, Whole Foods and Fresh Market also expressed interest in bringing PodPonics greens into their stores nationally.

“This was our wildest dream,” Liotta said. “Then we realized how much capital that was going to require, how many people we were going to have to hire. Every retailer told us the same thing: ‘We will buy it if you will build it.’ We realized we were incapable of building everything that they wanted.”

Unproven Demand for Food Grown Indoors

In early 2016, researchers from the University of Illinois-Urbana set out to determine whether consumers would spring for produce grown indoors. They asked a panel of 117 participants a series of questions about their perceptions of and willingness to pay for lettuce grown in fields, greenhouses, and in vertical farms. While vertical farming ranked fairly high in terms of produce quality and safety, the tech-heavy production method was rated less “natural” than both field farming and greenhouse and ranked last in participants’ willingness to purchase it.

(Photo courtesy of Plenty)

For the vertical agriculture industry to eat into the profits of field-grown products—a roughly $140 billion industry—Agritecture Consulting founder and managing director Henry Gordon-Smith says it will first need to prove consumers are demanding produce grown indoors. He points out that because of a lack of demand, many vertical farming operations are not yet at full production year-round—despite touting the 12-month growing season as a main benefit of the industry.

His sense is that indoor farms that have achieved the sales to produce continually—such as Gotham Greens has with its New York City greenhouses, for example—have a customer base that’s responding to strong “local” branding rather than the technology behind the food. That may include vertical farms selling their produce using the USDA Certified Organic label, which the National Organic Board reaffirmed in January, much to the dismay of many organic dirt farmers.

“I think the automation and economics are all improving,” Gordon-Smith says, adding that the question of “whether consumers are going to pay more or whether the products coming out of vertical farms are going to align with their values” is still an open question.

But while many of the East Coast vertical farms built their business models around replacing greens being shipped cross-country from California and Arizona, Matt Barnard of Plenty hopes to add to the global population consuming fresh produce. A 2015 report found that where USDA guidelines suggest each of us in the U.S. should eat up to three cups of vegetables daily, current U.S. production is only providing enough for 1.7 cups per person. Barnard extends that supply gap to the rest of the world, especially the Middle East and Asia, where a lack of water and high pollution have hampered agriculture.

“We believe the industry will be five times larger when there is supply to meet the demand,” Barnard says. “With the field unable to deliver consistent supply, new forms of agricultural capacity like Plenty must be added to the global food system.”

Plenty CEO Matt Barnard. (Photo courtesy of Plenty)

But as vertical farming companies like Plenty go city by city attempting to dominate local markets, it may be that small farmers get hurt the most. Barnard drew the ire of Washington State dirt farmers last year when he told GeekWire that Plenty expanded to Seattle, in part, because it was the West Coast’s “best example of a large community of people who really don’t have much access to any fresh fruits and vegetables grown locally.”

Not so, according to Sofia Gidlund, Farm Programs Manager at Tilth Alliance, which advocates for and supports local agriculture systems in Greater Seattle.

“We work with many hardworking local farmers who supply Seattle with high-quality, delicious, and nutritious food while caring deeply for our land. These farmers use sustainable farming practices, nurse the soil, create beautiful open green space and provide wildlife habitat,” says Gidlund, who adds that she does not speak for all area farmers on the issue of vertical farming. “Many consumers in Seattle choose to support local farmers, both urban or rural, because of this deep connection to the land. Providing that support is a point of pride for many Seattleites.”

Actual Data Is Coming

Peer-reviewed research into the business of vertical farming has been sparse, partly because the industry is so new. That’s set to change, however, when Mattson and a team of researchers at Cornell University finish a comprehensive study into the viability of this approach.

A three-year, $2.4 million research grant, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and kicked off in January, will compare the vertical farming industry to field agriculture in a slew of categories, including energy, carbon, and water footprints, profitability, workforce development, and scalability. The study will include one of the first nutritional analyses of food grown indoors, as well as comparing the price-per-pound to deliver strawberries, lettuce, and tomatoes grown vertically and outdoors to five U.S. metropolitan areas: New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.

A 2016 study conducted by a few of Mattson’s colleagues at Cornell found that the energy consumption and carbon footprint associated with a vertical farm (the study calls it a “plant factory”) is significantly higher than that of a greenhouse. Vertical farming leaders counter that they use significantly less water than field farms, are more space-efficient, and do not produce emissions from trucking produce across the country. Mattson says these factors were not considered in Cornell’s previous research but will be included in the current grant.

“[Vertical farming] is not a fad,” says Mattson, who wants to use data to help the industry become more sustainable over time. “I’m not sure to what degree it’s going to scale up, but this is happening. So we need to understand the economic and environmental implications—both the good and the bad.”

by STEVE HOLT

[producehabitat]

Tortuga AgTech Raises $2.4m Seed Round for Indoor Ag Robotics

Snippet: Tortuga Agtech is developing robotic systems for harvesting fresh produce in controlled environments, from indoor hydroponics to greenhouses, starting with strawberries. “Our products will enable advanced growing methods to compete with scale agriculture, which means growers will be able to grow better produce that’s also better for the planet,” says the company’s website.

Read the full article here on Agfunder

[agritecture]

World's Largest Vertical Farm to Be Built in Dubai

CONTENT SOURCED FROM AGFUNDER

Crop One Holdings, the company behind US container farming group Freshbox Farms, has signed a $40 million joint venture with the catering arm of global airline Emirates to build what they say will be the world’s largest vertical farm near Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central .

The $40 million is majority debt-funded and split 60:40 between Crop One and Emirates Flight Catering.

Vertical farming produces crops in indoor farms using technology to enable pesticide-free, optimal growing conditions with digital and mechanical, rather than chemical or genetic, plant control. The farms can be located anywhere because temperature, humidity, light, water and plant nutrients are all provided in a controlled environment. Vertical farms typically grow plants in a soilless growth medium using nutrient solutions - a method known as hydroponics.

The state-of-the-art facility will harvest three US tons (2,700 kg) of herbicide-free and pesticide-free leafy greens daily.

Crop One will construct the farm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to supply Emirates Flight Catering clients, including the Emirates airline but also the other 105 airlines and 25 airport lounges based at Dubai International Airport.

Crop One, which typically builds 320 square foot vertical farms in shipping containers or similar structures (although its largest is 43,000 square feet), will begin construction of a 130,000 square foot facility in Dubai in November 2018. It expects to complete construction in November 2019, delivering the first produce to clients in December 2019.

The farm's location will enable the quick delivery of fresh products within hours of harvest, helping to maintain the food’s nutritional value and reducing carbon emissions associated with transportation, according to a press release.

“As one of the world's largest airline catering operations, Emirates Flight Catering constantly looks at innovation, and ways to improve our productivity, product and service quality,” said Saeed Mohammed, CEO of Emirates Flight Catering in a statement.  “By investing to build and operate the world’s largest vertical farming facility, we secure our own supply chain of high quality and locally-sourced fresh vegetables, while significantly reducing our environmental footprint. We are pleased to partner with Crop One and together we look forward to delivering a best-in-class product and excellent value to our customers and stakeholders.”

Crop One says the facility will produce three US tons — 6,000 pounds or 2,700 kg — of herbicide- and pesticide-free leafy greens using 99% less water than outdoor fields. The joint venture will increase the company’s overall production levels to 5.3 tons per day by next fall, including three new US farms Crop One is launching by the end of this year. This will make Crop One the largest vertical farmer in the world, according to a press release.

Since 2016 FreshBox Farms has produced nine different leafy green retail products, serving 38 different supermarket and home delivery services in the Boston metropolitan area. It differentiates itself from other vertical farming groups by being equipment agnostic and integrating with third-party technologies. CEO Sonia Lo says it is “well beyond the technology experiment phase of most vertical farming,” pointing to the route to market many heavily funded vertical farming groups are taking.

“We are the only vertical farmer with a proven model at scale,” she wrote in a press release. “We have invested four years building our systems integration and development platform while establishing robust capital optimization. As a result, our capital efficiency is second to none, and this equips us with best mover advantages in breaking ground in locations where our innovation and environmental and food safety advantages are welcomed by cities, economies and consumers alike. This JV with Emirates Flight Catering also enables us to expand… internationally for the first time.”

Crop One has raised $16 million in funding from family offices to-date, last closing a $10 million Series A round in December 2017.

[agritecture]

Japan’s Indoor Ag Sector Is Becoming More Collaborative

CONTENT SOURCED FROM AGFUNDER

Ahead of her speaking slot at the Indoor Agtech Summit in New York this week, we caught up with Eri Hayashi, director of International Relations & Consulting of the Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA), a non-profit organization devoted to academic and business advancements in Japan’s indoor ag industry. Hayashi told us about the differences between the industry in the US and Japan, particularly around secrecy and collaboration.

What is the Japan Plant Factory Association?

We launched in 2011 with support from the Japanese government and are located in the campus of Chiba University, which is famous for agriculture studies and located in Kashiwanoha, an agri smart city. We have 130 local and international company members and 100 individual members, and our mission is to develop and introduce sustainable technologies to the world to solve three major global issues: food, energy, and resources. We want to do so in collaboration with research institutes and companies and currently have more than 20 research and development projects ongoing with different groups. There are around 10 greenhouses and vertical farms onsite that we manage. We focus on fostering collaboration between academia and industry.

We also provide workshops and training, technical business support as well as hosting an international conference. We have been providing these workshops and training courses every month for almost 10 years. We have different topics every month with roughly 100 people joining each session to share information and network with one another. This coming October, we will have an intensive course on vertical farms in English for beginners, covering what you would need to know before or after starting indoor farming business/research. Weekly sessions will include academic and practical classes, such as lighting, plant physiology, nutrient solutions, seedlings, and business case studies of commercial large-scale farms.

Do members pay?

There are different categories and levels of involvement that incur different fees per year. Some members, for instance, will use our onsite greenhouses — which were originally partially funded by the government — and put their own system inside it depends on the research topic. We also have a vertical farm that members can use. But other members utilize JPFA for networking and information sharing, and we also have an onsite tour of more than 5,000 people a year of which 40% are international.

What are some of the technologies being used and tested on-site?

There are multiple technologies being developed and tested on-site, but a particularly notable collaborative R&D project started last year about using artificial intelligence, phenotyping-based environmental controls and breeding for plant factories. Apart from developing a smart module system, we are developing phenotyping units for plant factories.

How would you describe Japan’s indoor ag sector?

From a historical standpoint, the first “boom” for indoor agriculture was in the 1980s, the second in the 1990s and we’ve been in the third boom since 2009 with around 200 plant factories across Japan.

I think we are shifting into the fourth boom now, which will be the scalability boom and the introduction of new technologies from artificial intelligence to phenotyping to automation.

The industry has been largely in research mode since 1970 and now the technology is getting ready for application.

Which are the biggest indoor farms in Japan?

Spread or 808 Factory, for example, are some of the biggest with a couple more of a similar size at the construction stage, but the number of large-scale farms is growing and that’s characteristic of the fourth generation of indoor ag in Japan.

In the US, you see a lot of indoor farms building their own technologies in-house, instead of collaborating with one another to deploy third-party technologies. Is this the same in Japan?

I get to see a lot of indoor farms not only in Japan but in the US and other countries where I think each farm is doing great but they are rather secretive and protective of their intellectual property. Even if I have a good discussion with them about their farms, they will ask me not to tell anyone!

Is it not so secretive in Japan?

It’s been changing; each farm is now realizing that we will need to work together at some point while of course each running a business. At JPFA we have several committee meetings, one of which is really interesting as all the major large-scale farms get together in the same room to discuss profitability and defining the terms and terminologies we use in the industry such as efficiency in electricity, labor, cultivation area, and investment. They also discuss how to improve the profitability of farms so they are actually open to sharing their experiences and it’s actually neat; I love this meeting.

The point of these meetings, and JPFA in general, is also to share data and facilitate research in the industry. Each R&D project has a different perspective on how to do research and this sharing can help to minimize the risk of starting a business. Standardization is also crucial to advance the industry. We also have been organizing LED committee meetings for some years together with leading researchers and LED companies, working on standardization and transparency of this technology.  As we see the fourth boom increase the use of new software, AI, machine learning and other dynamic technologies and breeding techniques, there will be more overlap between the businesses.

How else do the US and Japan compare?

In general what’s different between Japan and US is the dynamics of the investment environment. Plenty was a huge investment which could lead them to have more chance to develop and hire more people, as well as develop innovation in-house. Also, Japan is more detailed-oriented while the US is rather more marketing-oriented, and full of entrepreneurial spirit.

What are the main challenges for Japan’s indoor ag sector?

Hiring talent, relatively high electricity costs, and diversity. We also need the industry to start taking more of a social design approach to the sector – not just agriculture and science – but more like an architectural approach to integrate with society and create something new.

[agritecture]

6 places where soil-less farming is revolutionizing how we grow food

CONTENT SOURCED FROM INHABITAT

If it seems like “hydroponic systems” are everywhere, that’s because they are. Hydroponic farming is one efficient way to grow fruits and vegetables in small spaces without the use of soil. Instead of dirt, plants grow down into water, to which farmers have added the necessary nutrients for plant growth. These are then absorbed, along with water, through a plant’s roots. Light is provided either by the sun or specially designed grow lights, with many sustainable systems powered by renewable energy sources.

Aquaponic farming incorporates fish into the soil-less system, using the closed-loop nutrient cycle from fish digestion to their advantage. Some systems even feed nutrients to plants through the air! From water-less deserts to the sun-less underground, soil-less farming is offering new possibilities to feed an increasingly urban, growing global population in a more Earth-friendly way.

1. Stores

With consumers increasingly conscious of their environmental impact, many stores have realized that going green is good for business. Big-box store Target began a series of trials in spring 2017 in which vertical, hydroponic gardens were installed in various Target locations to provide customers with the freshest possible produce. In collaboration with MIT Media Lab and Ideo, Target designed a system that is capable of growing leafy greens and herbs with minimal water usage. The company hopes to someday branch out into other crops, such as potatoes, zucchini and beets. MIT may even offer Target use of rare heirloom tomato seeds for its project. Meanwhile, IKEA has teamed up with Denmark-based SPACE10 to design high-tech hydroponics systems in-stores and in homes.

2. Deserts

In preparation for a future dominated by climate change, in which oil becomes a lesser part of the world’s energy diet, Saudi Arabia has taken several major steps to build a more sustainable system in its challenging desert region. One such move is the rethinking of many traditional farming practices, especially focused on reducing water usage. A farm in the town of Jeddah uses neither water nor soil, rooting plants in mid-air while providing their nutrients through a mist. Designed by AeroFarms, the system is the first aeroponic farm in the Middle East and hopes to someday acquire all its water needs through capturing humidity in the air.

If a desert farm chooses to go hydroponic, there are ways to grow without draining freshwater supplies. In arid South Australia, SunDrops Farms grows 15% of the country’s tomato crop through a solar-powered hydroponic system. To eliminate the use of precious freshwater, SunDrops sources its water from the nearby saltwater gulf, which is then desalinated through the reflected heat of the sun.

In a very different kind of desert, soil-less farming helps growers from the Arctic to Antarctica make the most of a short growing season.

3. Cities

As the global population becomes more urban, cities are investing in more local food production systems that offer economic development opportunities and reduce a city’s carbon footprint. In a warehouse on the Near East Side of Indianapolis, Farm 360 are growing vegetables on a hydroponic system that is exclusively powered by renewable energy and uses 90 percent less water than traditional farming methods. The harvest is sold in local grocery stores while the farm supports dozens of living-wage jobs to residents of the neighborhood.

In even the most isolated urban areas, soil-less farming finds a home. With its ability to receive vital supplies and support a functioning economy severely restricted by the Israeli blockade, Gaza has stepped out onto the rooftops to grow its own food. Beginning in 2010, a United Nations-funded urban agriculture program equipped over 200 female-headed households with fish tanks, equipment, and supplies to build and maintain an aquaponics growing system. This initial spark has encouraged others to create their own and to teach others of this valuable skill.

4. The Underground

Farming without soil can often take place beneath the soil. In Paris, Cycloponics runs La Caverne, a unique urban farm that grows mushrooms and vegetables in an underground, formerly abandoned parking garage. The farm’s hydroponics system uses special grow lights to ensure the vegetables have what they need to survive. The mushrooms grow in a special medium and, through their respiration, provide valuable CO2 for the plants to thrive. La Caverne may have found inspiration from Growing Underground, London’s first underground farm. On 2.5 acres of unused World War II-era tunnels, Growing Underground produces pea shoots, several varieties of radish, mustard, cilantro, Red Amaranth, celery, parsley, and arugula.

Honorable mention: shipping container farms. Although these may be mobilized on the surface, they may as well be underground due to the closed roof of most shipping containers. The solar-powered hydroponicsLA-based Local Roots can grow the same amount of vegetables, at cost parity, with 99 percent less water than traditional farming.

5. On the Water

Some soil-less growing operations take it a step further, leaving the ground behind entirely and opting for a farm floating on water. Barcelona-based design group Forward Thinking Architecture has proposed a progressive solution to the decreasing availability of arable land by creating floating, solar-powered farms. Using modules that measure 200 meters by 350 meters, Forward Thinking’s design allows for expansion and custom configuration of farms. Each module has three levels: a desalinization and aquaculture level at the bottom, then a hydroponic farming level, topped off by a level of solar panels and rainwater collection. The company estimates that each module would produce 8,152 tons of vegetables a year and 1,703 tons of fish annually.

Greenwave takes an alternative approach to soil-less, floating farming by combining the cultivation of shellfish and seaweed, both profitable crops that also help to clean the aquatic environment and absorb greenhouse gases. The farm requires little external input, pulls carbon dioxide from the air and water, and consumes excess nitrogen that could otherwise result in algal blooms and dead zones.

6. Your Home

Yes, you too could get in on the soil-less action. Whether you prefer to DIY or you’d rather something more straightforward, there are options for every style.

Lead image via Depositphotos, others via MIT OpenAg, Sundrop Farms, Esther Boston, Cycloponics, GreenWave, and Urban Leaf

CONTENT SOURCED FROM INHABITAT

[agritecture]

12 steps to become an Urban or Vertical Farmer

The 12 Step Farmers have just released their 2017 season of the 12 Step Guide to becoming an urban farmer. Each step features in depth interviews and farm tours with successful pioneers from across the globe in the urban and vertical farming movement. You will learn about different crops, growing methods, marketing and business strategies, finance, policy, architecture and so much more. There is also a secret 12 steps community where you can connect to the pioneering farmers!

Agritecture’s very own Henry Gordon-Smith is featured in this year’s guide. In the interview he gives advice to entrepreneurs looking to start their own urban farm, such as how to select your site and plan out the space. 

Lifetime access to the 12 Step Guide, including over 10 hours of lessons from 12 Steps 2017, is on sale right now for €59.99. 

Click here to start your journey towards becoming an urban farmer!

[agritecture]

17th Annual Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course

Get your questions answered and increase your hydroponic growing know-how at CEAC’s Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course – A four day conference, put on by the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, including three full days of lecture, one day of hands-on training workshops at CEAC, and a commercial Arizona greenhouse tour.

From March 12-16, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona, this jam-packed 5-day event is a laser-cut harvest of information from experts in research, production and the bottom-line business of controlled environment agriculture. You have three full days of intensely focused sessions on all the science, technology and knowledge necessary to make your growing businesses improve.  And then, in the greenhouses of the UofA-CEAC, you’ll smell the vines that hold the tasty fruits of success with a full-day of hands-on training workshops led by globally renowned research and production specialists of the University of Arizona.

You’ll also have face-to-face time with industry experts on your special questions, as well as networking time with industry leaders, with personal follow-ups that phone and social contacts bring. “CEAC is a hub for indoor ag education, research and networking” (Seedstock) and our resources offer information and expertise that spotlights the essential information to keep your growing business relevant in an ever-evolving CEA market.  

Registration is open to become an attendee, exhibitor or sponsor.  Call us at UofA-CEAC to get best spots and make arrangements.

More information on the course, registration, early bird pricing and other discounts can be found on the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center’s website and a schedule of events & speakers here.