CLEVELAND, OH – 28 February, 2022 – GE Current, a Daintree company has today
unveiled two new, high-efficiency, high-performance members of its Arize Element family. The
latest L1000 model offers an increased maximum output of up to 2600µmol/s adding a new
option to the existing L1000 portfolio, which already features efficacy-oriented models offering
up to 3.6µmol/J. With the all-new, 3600µmol/s Arize Element L2000, Current is offering
growers more choice than ever before when designing the optimal lighting plan for their
greenhouse operations.

Following the same design as the Arize Element L1000 Next-Gen, with an ultra-slim form
factor, a choice of eight tailored light spectra and Current’s proprietary XW Optic to ensure
uniform light dispersion across a wider area, the new L1000 model is designed as a 1:1
replacement for HPS fixtures, boosting productivity and reducing energy costs. The L2000
consumes 1000W, and its next-gen XW optic spreads light even wider than the L1000, further
reducing fixture count and increasing yields in HPS retrofit applications.

Bruno D’Amico, Global Product Manager for Horticulture Lighting at Current explains the
rationale for the expanded Arize Element range, “Every greenhouse operation is different, with
different production considerations and priorities. When our product experts, plant scientists
and lighting designers tackle a new project, they account for every potential variable to develop
the lighting plan that will deliver the best possible results for the customer. Challenges could
range from cost control or boosting productivity to a completely different goal. With these new
high-performance models, our aim is to give customers greater control over the balance they
strike between the variables that are most important to them.”

For more information on the full Arize Element portfolio, as well as Current’s complete range of
horticultural lighting solutions, from HPS to LED, please visit https://www.gecurrent.com/

By David Kuack, originally published on HortAmericas.com

Current now offers LED grow lights manufactured in the U.S. for whatever controlled environment agriculture application you’re using.

If shortages in the supply chain have you concerned about finding the products you need to produce your crops, the availability of LED grow lights shouldn’t be one of them. GE Current, a Daintree company, has started to manufacture its LED grow light fixtures in its state-of-the-art facility in Hendersonville, N.C.

Arize Factor

The first LED grow lights Current has manufactured in its North Carolina plant are its new Factor series.

“I expect the majority of the Factor LED fixtures will be used for vertical farming,” said Bruno D’Amico, global product manager, horticulture at Current. “The good thing about Factor is its optics and flexibility, which enable it to be used in other applications. Its wide optics also lends itself well to some shorter head spaces in greenhouses and warehouses.”

Factor came out of growers asking for a light fixture that could deliver higher light intensities.

“We were receiving requests from growers to develop a fixture that could deliver more than 300 μmol/m²/s,” D’Amico said. “Growers were asking for higher light intensities for cannabis as well as leafy greens.

“Once the light intensity starts to exceed 300 μmol/m²/s, this isn’t necessarily a high or low power fixture, it’s kind of in between. That is where Factor comes in. It is a fixture that is very flexible in terms of who can use it. Factor can target light levels as low as 250 μmol/m²/s and as high as 1,000 μmol/m²/s. The Factor family can be used by large scale leafy greens growers as well as cannabis growers who are looking for a high light intensity either for propagation, vegetative growth or flowering.”

D’Amico said Factor falls between Current’s Element and Lynk2 fixtures and is available in two power levels.

“The Factor ML300 does very well between 18-24 inches of head space,” he said. “It’s well suited for growers needing between 300-600 micromoles per square meter. The Factor ML900 works best for higher intensities where growers are targeting 900-1,000 micromoles per square meter.

“For both the ML300 and ML900 Current has nearly doubled the micromole maintenance over time. The L90 is 54,000 hours, which means the fixtures will deliver more consistent light for a longer period of time. L90 means growers can expect to see a 10 percent reduction or loss in light after 54,000 hours.”

Because of Factor’s wide beam spread (140° over a 4-by-4 footprint), it enables growers to cover more surface area with up to three times fewer fixtures. The dimmable (0-10 volts) fixture also offers growers some versatility regarding installation location. Each light bar can hang independently from top or side hanging bars.

“For indoor vertical farms with under shelves, instead of having to have a fixture every 12 inches center spacing, Factor can extend that spacing up to 36 inches,” D’Amico said. “Factor allows vertical farm growers to achieve good uniformity while minimizing the number of light fixtures that need to be installed on the shelves.”

Current is also looking at the potential for using Factor in shorter greenhouses with less head space.

“In these tighter situations, greenhouse and warehouse growers who are using 400-watt HPS fixtures may want to consider replacing them with the more efficient Factor LED fixtures,” D’Amico said. “The ML900 can uniformly deliver 900 micromoles per square meter which is ideal for lighting cannabis plants.”

Arize Element L1000

Current is developing the next generation of its Arize Element L1000 LED fixture, which will begin to be manufactured at its North Carolina plant later this year.

“Element is our top light greenhouse LED lighting fixture,” D’Amico said. “The most recent Element product is the L1000. It is a one-to-one replacement for 1,000-watt HPS fixtures in greenhouse applications.

“We are raising the intensity and the efficacy to where growers are going to have the most success with this fixture. This ultra slim fixture will have a more powerful output of up to 2,200 micromoles at over 3 micromoles per joule. Element, which has multiple spectral offers, will match the micromoles delivered by HPS fixtures while lowering operational costs with 40 percent energy savings.”

Element is a good choice for growers looking for a high efficiency fixture.

“Current has boosted Element’s efficacy,” D’Amico said. “Element is well suited for situations where growers are facing either high utility rates and/or longer lighting hours. For cannabis growers who are producing in warehouses, Element’s optics and higher efficacy will meet their needs.”

Element also comes standard with an optic.

“HPS fixtures are built with reflectors to spread out the light,” D’Amico said. “Element comes with one optic which allows growers to optimize light especially with vine crops where head space may be limited. When the head space is 4-6 feet, optics provide the uniformity and help to minimize the number of fixtures. Element allows growers to keep the fixtures to a minimum and still get the uniformity for vine crops where head space is limited.”

Arize Lynk²

Arize Lynk² is Current’s next generation indoor vertical farming precision LED fixture. Lynk² target crops include lettuce, leafy greens, microgreens and propagation. Lynk² is ideal for any crop where growers are looking for sub 250-300 μmol/m²/s and the head space is limited to 12-18 inches. The fixtures are available in 4- and 8-foot lengths and are can be daisy chained. Lynk² allows growers to deliver uniform, targeted, precision lighting.

Although Lynk² is not manufactured at Current’s North Carolina plant, this grow light is built off the legacy that the company had with Lynk, which was its first indoor vertical farming fixture.

“Lynk was widely used by many large vertical farms including Mirai in Japan and Jones Food Co. in the UK,” D’Amico said. “All the lessons learned from using Lynk in those operations and the feedback from our customers went into building Lynk².”

There were three major updates that Current made with Lynk².

“We have increased the efficacy of Lynk², which now surpasses 3 micromoles per joule,” D’Amico said. “This is particularly important when considering the amount of energy used in sole source lighting as in vertical farms. Lynk² can help growers avoid having to spend more money on utilities.”

Another feature that was added to Lynk² is dimming.

“Lynk² has a 0-10 volt dimming functionality that allows growers to tailor the light intensities for their specific operations,” D’Amico said. “This dimming feature, which is a lighting industry standard, enables growers to light where they want at the intensities they want.”

Another thing that Current improved in Lynk² is its optics.

“Current has 20+ years of experience working with LEDs across a lot of different categories,” D’Amico said. “That has enabled us to learn about optics, which we design in-house.

“The optics on Lynk² are wider so the fixture produces more uniform light. Delivering the same amount of light from edge to edge on the surface of the plants allows growers to have better quality control. This means every crop is going to be uniform, which is a real a benefit when growers go to sell their crops.”

Another significant improvement that Current made to Lynk² is its lumen maintenance.

“We’ve improved significantly to nearly 2x Lynk²’s micromole maintenance,” D’Amico said. “The L90 is 54,000 hours, which previously was an L90 of 36,000 hours. For growers this means more consistent light for a longer period of time. Growers can expect to see a 10 percent reduction or loss in light after 54,000 hours, which is very good.”

Advantages of U.S. production

D’Amico said the advantages of building the Factor and Element grow lights in Current’s North Carolina manufacturing facility include product availability and delivery.

“This factory is built around just-in-time manufacturing,” he said. “This is especially important for just-in-time orders for growers and installers. Growers who are installing lights in a 1- to 10-acre facility, managing all the logistics as to when the lights will be delivered and installed can be a lot of work and can be costly. Particularly for large operations, this means ordering the lights in bulk and having them delivered and having to store them near the facility so they can be installed.

“The advantage of manufacturing the fixtures in North Carolina is the plant is within five-day transit of anywhere in North America. This means we can work with growers to manufacture the fixtures so that we can ship them when they need them. Looking at the logistic costs and the savings that can be realized, it can add up quickly for growers.”

For more: GE Current, a Daintree company, Dan Lee, (216) 375-4618; Daniel.Lee3@gecurrent.com; https://www.gecurrent.com/horticulture.

If you are attending this year’s Cultivate’21, July 10-13 in Columbus, Ohio, be sure to stop by the Hort Americas trade show booth (No. 2421) to see and learn more about Current’s LED grow lights.

An increasing number of controlled environment growers are looking at Henderson County, N.C., as having the right natural resources and market location for them to succeed.

Within a three-hour drive of Henderson County, N.C., are located 30 distribution centers for major supermarket and food service providers serving cities along the East Coast. Henderson County is also within 250 miles of Raleigh, Atlanta, Charleston, Nashville, and Cincinnati with easy highway access to regional and international airports in Asheville and Charlotte, N.C., Greenville, S.C., and Atlanta. Seventy-five percent of the U.S. population lives within a one-day drive of Henderson County.

“Henderson County is a prime location for any type of controlled environment agriculture,” said Mark Williams, executive director of Agribusiness Henderson County in Hendersonville, N.C. “Greenhouse operations fit well in this area for many reasons. At a land elevation of 2,200 feet, temperatures are moderate and there is plenty of sunlight year round. There is also an abundance of high quality water. It’s a perfect fit for controlled environment production.

“The one area where the county has some limits is on the availability of large tracts of flat land that is not in a flood plain area. To date we have been able to help growers locate sites for operations up to 45 acres.”

Seeking out potential ag businesses

One of the newest members of the Henderson County agribusiness community is BrightFarms, which opened a 280,000-square-foot greenhouse operation in April. The hydroponic grower is expected to produce over 2 million pounds of leafy greens annually. It will be the largest controlled environment grower of leafy greens in the state. The company is expected to invest $22 million to operate the facility, which will create 55 new jobs. BrightFarms also operates greenhouse production facilities in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“BrightFarms was a company that we actually recruited to locate in Henderson County,” Williams said. “If there is a real interest on a company’s part, we will host company officials and introduce them to county officials and other ag businesses. We try to make the potential new company familiar with the area, the infrastructure that’s in place and all the supports that are here. Once Agribusiness Henderson County has successfully interested a company in locating here, we get involved not only in site selection, but also help to make connections with engineers, contractors and other service providers along with area distributors and markets. We serve as the go-between helping to connect all the dots. In terms of what Agribusiness does, the most important thing is creating and building relationships.”

One North Carolina Fund provided BrightFarms with a performance-based grant of $55,000 to assist the company in the operation of its Henderson County location. One North Carolina Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs.

“At the county level, there is a standard tax deferment program that has been approved through our general assembly,” Williams said. “The program is based on the amount of investment by a company, the number of jobs created and the salaries those jobs are paying. If the company performs then it receives a tax deferment on its property taxes. This is the only project that Agribusiness has taken on that money was received specifically for the operation, but more seem interested in taking advantage of incentive programs.”

Overcoming land and labor issues

One of the biggest controlled environment projects that has been constructed in Henderson County is a 15-acre greenhouse facility built by Lakeside Produce. Headquartered in Leamington, Ontario, Canada, the company is producing greenhouse tomatoes and mini-cucumbers at this new location. Currently one of the largest greenhouse operations in Henderson County, the company plans to expand the facility to 45 acres.

“Unfortunately there aren’t many sites available within the county to allow the size capacity of a Lakeside Produce,” said Williams. “The county is limited in terms of land available. If a company needs 15-30 acres, there are numerous sites available within the county that meet those needs.

“When I learned Lakeside Produce had an interest in locating in Henderson County, I reached out to company officials. They came down to look around and were able to find a suitable site. The company has invested close to $40 million in the operation. By the time the facility is finished, Lakeside Produce will have invested over $100 million in the site. At this point the company has created about 120 jobs. The job force will eventually expand to around 300 jobs.”

Williams said an increasing number of production operations in North Carolina like in other states are looking to the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers program to find an adequate workforce. 

“Labor is a tough situation regardless of where a company is located, it’s a global issue,” he said. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find people who are willing to work at base level jobs, especially with domestic labor and regardless of pay. Most growers are depending on foreign workers.

“Lakeside Produce, which relies on the H-2A program, built housing at its North Carolina facility to be able to accommodate guest workers. The workers will come in and work the crop and then go back to their home countries. In terms of the labor pool that is the direction many growers have had to go. In regards to higher level management positions, there haven’t been any real problems filling those positions yet, but as the controlled environment industry grows, demand increases and more specialized training is needed.”

High on Henderson County

Williams said that every month he meets with an agribusiness that is considering locating in Henderson County.

“Not all of these companies are affiliated with controlled environment agriculture,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we see more expansion in vertical farming as well as greenhouses. What would be suitable for us would include any type of operation looking to produce leafy greens, herbs and strawberries. We are not limited to these crops, but that’s where we think the potential is highest based on proximity to markets, acreage availability and economic feasibility.”

One vertical farming operation that Williams is working with is AgriFacture. The company has transitioned from a start-up phase and is building a vertical farm facility on a commercial scale to produce mushrooms.

“This new operation should be up and running within the next few months,” he said. “The company is looking to eventually expand beyond mushrooms to other crops that could include herbs, microgreens or leafy greens. There is also an increasing interest and research in vertical farm strawberry production.”

Engaging CEA growers, students

The increase in controlled environment growers locating in Henderson County has the potential to expand business for one of the county’s largest manufacturers. GE Current, a Daintree company, has been manufacturing lighting fixtures at its Hendersonville factory since 1955. Recently the company began manufacturing its new Arize Factor LED grow lights at this facility and will also add production of its updated Arize Element grow light series.

Mike Armstrong, ‎director of Strategic Growth Initiatives at Current, said the company’s involvement with the CEA industry is not new, but the addition of LED grow light product lines in Hendersonville offers the company the opportunity to work with both growers and the educational community in the area.

“We’ve had good fact-finding meetings to open dialogue with local businesses and agribusiness and county officials,” Armstrong said. “We’ve discussed the possibility of initiating conversations with administrators at the local Blue Ridge Community College and North Carolina State University. We could envision various educational or training programs with these schools. Just like we have internships for engineering positions, there is the potential opportunity to provide internships in the areas of horticulture and agriculture lighting and related applications. We are just getting started in terms of our engagement related to controlled environment agriculture in Henderson County.

“There is also a lot of work going into introducing Current to growers in the county. We have had opportunities to talk about advancing technologies in all areas of greenhouse growing. We have been introduced to the growers in the county through the assistance of Agribusiness Henderson County. This has opened the door for potential collaboration on testing our LED products for specific crops.”

Armstrong said Current is also looking at opportunities for ways the company can engage potential future employees, including establishing internship programs.

“There have been discussions about working with the local educational community including Blue Ridge Community College, which is looking at putting in a teaching and testing greenhouse on its campus,” he said. “We are in the process of making a major investment to upgrade a lighting education and training facility on our Hendersonville campus. The facility will open later this year and will include our horticultural lighting products where we will be able to demonstrate how they work. There are a lot of opportunities not only from the commercial side, but also education and research-and-development, the training of young people and community engagement with local schools to work with them.”

For more: Agribusiness Henderson County, (828) 697-4543; mwilliams@hendersoncountync.org; https://www.agrihc.org/. GE Current, a Daintree company, Jim Benson, (216) 534-4166; james.benson@gecurrent.com; https://www.gecurrent.com/.

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas.

Designed for multi-layer leafy green, microgreen and propagation applications, the Lynk² builds on the success of the first generation, providing more light, spectra, and flexibility than ever before. Here’s what is new with the dimmable Arize Lynk².

9 Spectra.

The Lynk² features four all-new spectra: two broad spectrum options, BRI and BRV, for versatility in any growing environment, along with two far red spectra, PPF and PFK, which encourage a stretching and expansion response.

Better Uniformity.

Optical design improvements widen distribution by 6°, while the new side connector extends the useable lighting surface by 2.5 inches, improving edge uniformity at canopy level.

More Efficient.

At up to 3.2 μmol/J, the Lynk² is up to 15% more efficient than its predecessor.

Longer Lifespan.

With a 54,000-hour L90, the Lynk² features a 50% longer lifetime than the previous generation.

Increased Flexibility.

Finally, we redesigned the connector on the Lynk², which not only increases the useable lighting surface, but when coupled with new splitter accessories, allows for 52 fixtures per junction box in a single run, a 100% increase in loading. This slashes installation labor costs.

Deliveries beginning late Q1 in North America and late Q2 in EU/UK.

To learn more about the Lynk², click here.

CLEVELAND—GE Current, a Daintree company has gifted 272 horticultural lighting fixtures to The Ohio State University to benefit the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. 

The Arize Element L1000 LED fixtures will illuminate a state-of-the-art greenhouse being built within the new Controlled Environment Food Production Research Complex. The greenhouse was made possible with funding from Nationwide Insurance, as well as support from other Ohio-based companies.

“We are excited to be deepening our relationship with OSU,” said Melissa Wesorick, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Current. “This is a great opportunity to strengthen our ties with this historic institution and the Ohio community, as well as inspire and empower the next generation of growers.”

With construction slated to begin in 2021, the production greenhouse will provide hands-on training opportunities for students to learn how to grow various crops in a greenhouse setting. The multiple tailored light spectrums offered by the Arize Element L1000 opens the door for unique research and scientific exploration into crop production and plant growth, as well as expand upon the understanding of how LEDs can further that growth. The facility will also serve as the location for future grower conferences and workshops. 

“Lighting is a key technology of controlled environment agriculture,” said Chieri Kubota, professor in Ohio State’s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science and lead researcher at the new greenhouse facility. “We are excited about potential research outcomes that will advance the science and technology of growing in these environments. We greatly appreciate Current’s generous and important gift to help make this happen.”

Kubota’s work encompasses plant physiology and horticulture engineering to enhance the understanding and efficiency of controlled environment agriculture production systems such as greenhouses, warehouses (vertical farms) and growth chambers.

Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Science offers science-based instruction and solutions in both the classroom (to over 3,200 undergraduate and 500 graduate students) and in Ohio’s 88 counties through OSU Extension. Learn more at cfaes.osu.edu.

About GE Current, a Daintree company
Current enhances commercial and industrial facilities, cities, greenhouses and all spaces in between with advanced lighting and intelligent controls. Working with our partners, we deliver the best possible outcomes for our customers. See why Current is always on at www.gecurrent.com. 

Unlocking Potential

Using LED Grow Lights for Better Cannabis Yields by Hans Spalholz, PhD

Traditionally, cannabis growers have relied on high pressure sodium (HPS) systems for their lighting needs. Advancements in LED technology, coupled with increased demand and the need to reduce expenses, accelerate turns and save energy, make LED fixtures a viable replacement. Despite their
advantages, there is a learning curve as you change from HPS to LED and several things to consider.

This guide will walk you through things to keep in mind, as well as detail the benefits of LED growth.

Fill out the below info to download the whitepaper.
(We value your privacy. This content has been created by GE Current, A Daintree Company, with support from Hort Americas and they will have access to your information.)

The Opportunity

Wasabi Japonica is widely accredited as the “hardest to grow” plant in the world. The plants are native to Japan and require a very specific set of environmental conditions to successfully produce healthy plants.

Wasabi is most commonly associated with Japanese food, where it is used as a unique spice and as a condiment on sushi, but many are now learning of its secondary metabolites that possess distinct health benefits including significant anti-cancer and antimicrobial properties. Unfortunately, few growers outside of Japan have successfully grown Wasabi Japonica commercially. This has led not only to a high global demand for fresh grown product, but also to an increasing amount of interest from commercial growers trying to tap into a market that now pays an estimated $325/£250 per kilo of rhizome.

The Possibilities and the Challenges

Successful field cultivation is difficult because of the specific parameters required for growth over a relatively long harvest period of up to 2 years. Wasabi is also highly susceptible to pests and disease. Although resistant strains are available in Asia, the West is restricted to two main varieties: Mazuma and Daruma. Vegetative propagation can be successful for F1 generations, but thereafter, endogenous fungal infection leads to poor yields and major crop loss. Therefore, it is important to grow from clean stock produced under controlled environmental conditions.

A small startup in Scotland called The Functional Plant Company is currently working with LED grow lights from GE Current, a Daintree company to grow wasabi. The Functional Plant Company is using a variety of hydroponic and micropropagation techniques to produce plantlets from tissue culture through to acclimation and eventually full maturity. They are proving that light intensity and spectrum are equally important factors in establishing new cuticle and stomatal development. Their aim to prove this can become more efficient and faster by using GE LED battens as compared to natural daylight.

Finding Success with LED Grow Lights

Trials show the plants have established good root production using the Arize Lynk LED Grow Lights at 60umols/m2/s, although they noted the leaf canopy growth is slower and darker than when using TLEDs at equal intensity. The Functional Plant Company added that interesting results also arose when trying other spectrums of the Arize LED grow lights. They have noted a darker callus at higher light levels with high percentage of red light, while lower intensity prevents leaf burn and dehydration during early acclimation.

They concluded by noting that the Arize LED grow lights are very energy efficient, generating little heat—which is perfect for Wasabi as even a small temperature increase can cause wilt and plant loss.

Contact Hort Americas if you are looking to learn more about using the Current LED grow lights to produce crops grown in tissue culture and micropropagation facilities.

The Arize Element is the most advanced, flexible greenhouse grow light on the market. Current worked closely with its customers to design a top light with efficacy levels up to 3.5 micromoles per joule—the most efficient grow light on the market—that supports universal installation, enabling growers to grow more and consume less in any region. 

“We’ve developed our spectrum offerings based on trials conducted with growers across the globe, developing solutions with their unique needs in mind,” said Bruno D’Amico, product manager at Current. 

BDS Analytics predicts the cannabis industry will be worth $40.6 billion by 2024. As the sector grows, LED technology will be integral to profits not only through increasing energy efficiency, but also in helping growers produce consistent crop yields, grow year-round and customize products.

Current’s unique partnership with Hort Americas, their sole horticultural and cannabis* lighting distributor, enables close collaboration on the development of lighting solutions that improve growth and save energy. New Frontier Data estimates total electricity demand from legal marijuana cultivation in the United States alone is estimated to rise 162 percent between 2017 and 2022. 

According to Hort Americas’ general manager, Chris Higgins, “Whether it be a vertical farm, a single layer indoor farm, a greenhouse or a tissue culture facility, the advantages of controlled environment agriculture are clear: more uniformity, more consistency and higher quality, 365 days per year. North American growers are already seeing the benefits of the L1000 LED grow light from Current. Its light intensity increases production through better uniformity and higher light levels, while using fewer fixtures.”

Current and Hort Americas will continue working in close collaboration, combining advanced LED expertise with expert market understanding, to propel the industry forward by delivering the most effective and efficient growing solutions.

* Activity subject to all applicable laws  

About GE Current, a Daintree company
Current is the digital engine for intelligent environments. The company blends advanced LED technology with networked sensors and software to make commercial buildings, retail stores, industrial facilities and cities more energy efficient & productive. Backed by a broad ecosystem of technology partners, Current is helping businesses and cities unlock hidden value and realize the potential of their environments. www.currentbyge.com 

For more information about Hort Americas

www.hortamericas.com

• Horticultural lighting solution enables environmental benefits including 90% less water, 50% less fertiliser, reduced energy and carbon footprint
• High-care operation creates opportunities to redefine the future of global food, pharma and cosmetics with industrial scale production
• Clean room automation enables “no touch” harvesting versus an average of 13 human contact stages in conventional farming
• Project heralds the start of a long-term partnership with Jones Food Company Ltd. and wider ecosystem to research new ways to scale global food production to meet the needs of a growing population

Jones Food Company Ltd. is a prime example of the magic that can result from experts coming together with the vision, creative thinking and experience to tackle an old problem from a new angle. With a growing global population and limited farming resources sparking fears of diminishing nutritional returns, vertical farming – the practice of growing food inside warehouse-type buildings, using artificial light and advanced growth techniques like hydroponics where no soil is used – is seen by many as a potential lifeline. However, with the industry in its infancy, many vertical farms have failed to take the crucial step from small-scale, hobbyist production, to a commercially-viable industrial scale.

When James Lloyd-Jones (CEO), Dr Paul Challinor (CTO) and Gary Thorneycroft (CFO) came together to develop the idea of Jones Food Company, they knew that it would be crucial to make the facility as efficient and future-proof as possible. This meant that production not only had to be viable from a financial perspective but it also had to be environmentally sustainable. They also expanded their view of vertical farming’s potential, moving beyond food production, to considering the booming demand for premium, natural ingredients featured in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

Lighting the heart of the farm

Before they had even identified a facility in which to build their enterprise, the co-founders of Jones Food Company knew they needed help on one crucial element and approached the experts at Current by GE for help. The complete lack of natural light inside a vertical farm presents an opportunity to completely control the light spectrum used.

Current by GE’s horticulture team has developed three Growth Spectrums based on the combination of different light wavelengths:

• Reproductive: to promote leaf coverage and fruit generation (with a greater proportion of red wavelengths)
• Vegetative: to promote plant structure and leaf mass (with a dominance of blue wavelengths)
• Balanced: to promote overall growth performance (offering a more balanced spectrum)

Jones Food Company’s Dr Paul Challinor worked closely with Current by GE to provide the most suitable solution for his needs, offering a balanced mix of red, blue and white LEDs that would be flexible and efficient enough to grow a strong, balanced plant. Different spectrums and mini growing rigs were tested on Dr Challinor’s property before the perfect set-up was identified.

Building the future in the heart of North Lincolnshire

The Jones Food Company team found their perfect site in the form of an old cold store in the heart of the UK’s North Lincolnshire countryside. A ready-made “empty box” once cleared, the site was ripe for conversion into a vertical farm, offering the size, height and infrastructure needed to power a futuristic installation. The property also offers space for future new-build expansion, allowing the operation to scale easily on the back of future success.

Offering a growing area of 5120m2 – the size of nearly 26 tennis courts, with growing racks stacked to a height of 11m – the team at Current by GE needed to design a lighting solution that would ensure every single plant would receive its own personal dose of optimal light to ensure consistent, uniform growth in intensive conditions. The final design saw 12.3Km of Current by GE’s Arize horticultural lighting solutions connected – nearly the length of 38 Eiffel Towers laid end-to-end!

Future-ready, today

Successfully producing food with a long shelf-life and high phyto-nutrient content (equal to or higher than that of conventional, land-grown plants) wasn’t the company’s only goal. By designing the facility as a high-care installation that meets exacting HACCP standards, Jones Food Company Ltd. will apply a fully-automated system to grow crops in ideal, clean conditions that meet the high quality standards of the wider pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors. Unlike conventional farming, where crops typically come into human contact 13 separate times, the crops grown by Jones Food Company will have little to no human contact from seed to harvest. The Arize lighting is also IP66 UL Wet rated, meaning it can be easily cleaned and sanitised in situated to keep the growing area free of pathogens that can be found in other vertical and conventional farms. This also means that the crops can be grown free of pesticides and using 50% less fertiliser.

A commercially viable way to safeguard the environment 

Consumers today are faced with a dilemma. We all want the foods we enjoy to be available year-round and at a price we can afford but increasingly we are becoming aware of the serious environmental impact of our expectations – in the form of food miles and their associated carbon footprint. Once the Jones Food Company facility is up and running, it expects to produce 420 tonnes of leafy greens per year, to be sold in stores within the UK, dramatically cutting the food miles of salad and sandwich staples which are often shipped to UK consumers from around the world.

Proximity isn’t the only way that Jones Food Company is taking a lead in environmentally-responsible food production however. Vertical farms can be seen as high-cost facilities, with huge electricity bills generated by the lighting and cooling needs of the operation. While the Jones Food Company facility will initially draw power from the grid, the goal is to make the facility entirely self-sufficient through the use of solar panels. In addition, the Arize lighting solutions from Current by GE offer a power saving of approx. 33% as the luminaires not only consume less power but also generate less heat than other solutions, resulting in lower demand for cooling than other vertical farms. The facility will also use GE’s cloud-data system to monitor electricity usage from its LEDs and heating and cooling systems.

In addition to the energy savings through lighting, the facility will recycle water (using up to 90% less than conventional farming methods) and pump pure CO2 into the growing room, preventing it from being replaced by fresh air. This allows the plants to “breathe” in carbon dioxide at least 50% more efficiently than they would in a traditional greenhouse unit, turbo-charging the growth cycle for faster production.

Just the beginning

This facility is just the start of a long-term partnership between Current by GE, Jones Food Company Ltd and their ecosystem of partners. Together they will find new ways to scale global production and secure future supplies of high-quality food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients, in a way that reduces the environmental costs of vertical farming.

Want to learn more about how you can work with Current by GE to build your vertical farming or greenhouse operation in a way that benefits your business, and the environment? Click here

The amount of investments made in the vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture industries has been well documented. Those companies that successfully raise capital are seen as industry heroes and it’s quickly assumed that they must have all the answers. But, the big question is…do they?

In order to answer that question, it is important to be specific about the questions we are asking, the assumptions we are making and to understand that the answers will come from a wide variety of different perspectives.  

List of questions

Examples of questions I am receiving and ones that we might want to ask include:

• Can a farm using controlled environment agriculture techniques be profitable?
• What crops have proven to be profitable in a greenhouse?
• What crops have proven to be profitable in a warehouse?
• What crops have proven to be profitable in a shipping container?
• What segment of the produce industry are these farms capable of serving?
• What defines a vertical farm?
• What is the difference between a greenhouse and an indoor ag facility?
• What makes controlled environment agriculture techniques and innovations unique?
• Does geographic location play a role in designing a controlled environment agriculture facility?
• Why invest in controlled environment agriculture?
• What problems are we solving?
• Is controlled environment agriculture environmentally sustainable?

The answers to all these questions are extremely important. The answers provide important insight on whether there are existing examples of multiple successful projects in a given region for a given set of crops to be produced in a controlled environment agriculture facility.

An example of how this plays out can be seen when looking at the greenhouse-grown vegetable industry. There are a number of Dutch greenhouse experts for those climates and crops that companies have proven successful over the past decades. But this does not mean that their expertise necessarily transfers to every situation. Any time ag technology and “experience” are taken to a new climate and introduced to a new market and crop there will be problems, mistakes and failures. This has been proven time and time again.

Successful business models

It is also important to realize that it is highly likely that there are many different business models that can be successful as we look at innovation to solve growing problems within horticulture and agriculture. This can easily be seen in existing greenhouse industries.

For those of us close to the industry, we can acknowledge the fact that there are low-, medium- and high-tech greenhouse facilities that are capable of producing good quality crops consistently and profitably. The reason for this is that depending on where the greenhouse is built and the crops that are grown, the greenhouse and the technology within it are designed to serve different purposes based on labor and access to natural resources. It is likely that as the indoor ag industry matures, we will find similar models.

Hurdles to overcome

So, what are the hurdles the indoor ag industry needs to overcome in order to be successful? And how are we as an industry going to achieve this success?

Based on my conversations with many industry leaders, these are the top 11 topics we need to address:

Finally, how are we as an industry going to provide solutions to these challenges or other larger problems?

First, we need to agree on which challenges we should address first and which ones we have the best chance of overcoming. Second, we need to be self critical. We need to determine if these challenges are caused by problems we created and determine if they really need to be solved?

We then need to learn from other industries that have come before us. This means we need some level of open collaboration. We will need some form of standardization. We will need to focus on education. And finally, we will need some luck.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

If you are interested in taking this conversation to the next level, I encourage you to join me on social media, at one of the many upcoming events I will be participating in or through collaboration.

Written by Chris Higgins – Urban Ag News and Hort Americas.

Join Urban Ag News, Hort Americas and Current, powered by GE, for the inaugural Great Lakes Ag Tech Summit on Monday, September 23. The summit will be held at at the historic Nela Park campus in Cleveland, Ohio.

The one-day event features keynote presentations and panel discussions from leading researchers and innovative growers in the Great Lakes region. Attendees will be able to connect with growers, scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs as we shape the future of food and move controlled environment agriculture forward.

Due to the fact that Nela Park is a secure facility, we cannot register guests the day of the event.
Registration will close on Thursday, September 19.

Keynotes

Achieving Best-in-Class Economics for a Commercial Vertical Farm

Austin Webb, CEO and co-founder of mega-vertical farm Fifth Season (formerly RoBotany)

Austin Webb is the CEO and co-founder of Fifth Season (powered by RoBotany), a robotic indoor vertical farming company based in Pittsburgh. Austin holds a BA in Finance from Wofford College and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie. Austin served as an Investment Banking Associate for FBR Capital Markets, where he caught the entrepreneurial fever. Austin originally hails from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but plans on keeping roots in Pittsburgh to achieve Fifth Season’s mission.

Fifth Season (powered by RoBotany) is a robotics and AI company with Carnegie Mellon University roots that builds and operates highly efficient commercial-scale vertical farms in urban communities. Fifth Season’s newest commercial-scale farm will open in early 2020 in Braddock, an historic steelmaking community in Pittsburgh, continuing the city’s legacy of industry-defining innovation. Fifth Season’s proprietary robotics and artificial intelligence technology profitably grows leafy greens and herbs for local grocery retailers, restaurants and consumers at unprecedented low costs, all year-round. The company designed its modular farms for simple, quick installation and is currently siting locations for similar farms in cities throughout the U.S.

Optimizing Plant Production Under a Controlled Environment – Research and Education Programs at the Ohio State University

Dr. Chieri Kubota, Leading controlled environment agriculture researcher and professor at Ohio State University

Dr. Kubota’s research mission is to serve in the development of science and technology in the area of controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Her projects are in an interdisciplinary area that encompasses plant physiology and horticultural engineering to enhance understanding and efficiency of CEA plant production systems such as greenhouses, warehouses (vertical farms), and growth chambers.

Vertical Farm Production of Young Plants, From Hemp to Tomatoes

John Jackson, CEO and co-founder of the USA’s first commercial vertical farm producing seedlings and transplants for field and the greenhouse, the Sustainable Indoor Growing Systems, Inc.

John is the CEO of Sustainable Indoor Growing Systems, Inc. (SIGS) born from an USDA funded industry-academic partnership with Grafted Growers, the University of Arizona, and North Carolina State University. John is an award-winning entrepreneur and University of Arizona alum with an MBA from the Eller College of Management. John has successfully launched investor and grant funded businesses and operated tech based companies to early stage revenue. Born in Compton, California, John continues his grandfather’s legacy as a sharecropper of tomatoes in rural Texas.

SIGS gives plants what they need to express the features that the market wants.

Sustainable Indoor Growing Systems, Inc. (SIGS) is a clean agricultural technology company that uses controlled environment agriculture to induce young generic plants to express enhanced physiological traits customers want – while increasing the economics of propagation. This is made possible by scientific discovery and development of unique growing recipes which are learned and enabled only by the SIGS multi-layered growing platform and architecture.

Are Consumers and Growers Putting Dollars in the Local Food Industry? Insights on Technologies and Preferences

Dr. Ariana Torres, Ag Economist and Assistant Professor at Purdue University

Dr. Torres’ background combines field experience in agriculture with theoretical and applied research on agricultural economics. She has worked on projects looking at the impact of marketing choices on technology adoption for fruit and vegetable growers; the economic implications of social capital on entrepreneurship; and the role of community support on the resilience of small business after disasters.

Dr. Torres uses economic analysis to support the economic viability of the horticulture industry. Her research focuses on the intersection between the horticulture industry and marketing decisions. Her goal is to conduct innovative outreach and applied research in specialty crops marketing, with the end of promoting economic sustainability for horticultural businesses.

Dr. Torres is currently working on a project evaluating the market, economics, and potential barriers to produce export-quality dried apricots from smallholders of southern Tajikistan. She is also working on evaluating the adoption of a solar dehydrator for selected dried specialty crops in Indiana and Georgia. Lastly, she is collecting foundational data and establishing long-term pricing reports for Indiana farmers markets.

How technology is changing controlled environment agriculture – from hemp to berries

Chris Higgins, General Manager of Hort Americas and Founder/Owner of Urban Ag News

Chris Higgins is General Manager of Hort Americas, LLC a wholesale supply company focused on all aspects of the horticultural industries. He is also owner of UrbanAgNews.com and was a founding partner of the Foundation for the Development of Controlled Environment Agriculture and the International Congress on Controlled Environment Agriculture in Panama. With over 20 years of industry experience, Chris is dedicated to the commercial horticulture industry and is inspired by the current opportunities for continued innovation in the field of controlled environment agriculture.

Panelists

We have added a panel discussion with industry experts to the agenda!

Paul Brentlinger is President of CropKing Inc., based out of Lodi, OH. He has extensive knowledge of growing high-quality food products and is a controlled environmental agriculture expert who has spoken at the University of Florida, Indoor-Ag Con, Cultivate and a variety of other conferences. Having been in business for 35 years, CropKing is the leader in commercial hydroponics and growing systems, with many techniques and practices applicable to a wide variety of crops. Under Paul’s leadership, CropKing consults for new operations, manufactures greenhouses and hydroponic systems, and distributes a variety of products in supports of both cannabis and produce growers around the globe.

Location

The Institute at Nela Park

1975 Noble Rd. Cleveland, OH 44112

Date & Time

Monday, September 23, 2019
9 am to 4pm

Registration

Early bird admission price is $30 if registration occurs before Sept. 16.
Regular admission: $50

Hotel

Hyatt Legacy Village
24665 Cedar Rd
Lyndhurst, OH 44124

The rate is $129 for the night of 9/22/19.

• Call the toll-free number at 1-888-492-8847 for Hyatt Place Reservations and ask for the “Great Lakes Ag Tech Summit” or code G-GLGT

• OR use this link https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/ohio/hyatt-place-cleveland-lyndhurst-legacy-village/clezl?corp_id=G-GLGT

About Urban Ag News
The mission of Urban Ag News is to be the leading science communicator for the commercial hydroponics, greenhouse vegetable, vertical farming and urban agriculture industries. Urban Ag News educates readers and provide an understanding of the industry’s latest technologies and luminaries.

About Current, powered by GE
Current, powered by GE, offers cutting-edge innovations in horticultural lighting. We’ve spent years perfecting our lighting technology and working with growers, systems integrators and plant scientists to establish the specific needs of the horticulture industry. The result? LED grow systems that maximize the potential of greenhouses and indoor farms by enabling efficient growth at an industrial scale.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 13, 2019 – Current, powered by GE today announced Hort Americas as its sole distributor for LED horticulture lighting solutions in North America. The news is being featured as part of Hort Americas’ exhibit (#3317) at the Cultivate conference, where Current is showcasing its new Arize Element Top Light, the L1000. This product is the industry’s first one-for-one LED replacement for a double-ended 1000-watt high pressure sodium (HPS) fixture. 

The Arize Element is the most advanced, flexible greenhouse grow light on the market. Current worked closely with its customers to design a top light with efficacy levels up to 3.5 micromoles per joule – making it the most efficient grow light on the market – that supports universal installation, enabling growers to grow more and consume less in any region. 

As the vertical farming industry grows – Statista predicts it will be worth $6.4 billion by 2023 – LED technology will be integral to profits not only through increased energy efficiency, but also in helping growers more accurately predict crop yields, grow year-round and customize products to be nutrient dense. A recent installation of Current’s Arize lighting at Greener Roots Farm generated a 10 times higher yield compared to a conventional farm of equal size.

According to Hort Americas’ general manager, Chris Higgins, “Growers in all industries are already discovering the benefits that greenhouse and controlled environment production offers. Better control over environmental factors will have a positive impact on growers of all types, from young plant producers to ornamental growers, to hemp and greenhouse vegetable producers.”

In addition to supporting a wide variety of additional crop types, the partnership also marks the first time Hort Americas and Current will begin distributing lighting solutions for use in the cannabis market*, providing new opportunities for improved growth and energy saving.  New Frontier Data estimates total electricity demand from legal marijuana cultivation in the United States alone is estimated to rise 162 percent between 2017 and 2022. 

“Combining Current’s technology with Hort Americas’ ten-year strong acumen in the commercial horticulture industry, we’re connecting growers to relevant products and developing solutions with their unique interests in mind,” said Bruno D’Amico, design and product manager at Current, powered by GE. 

Current and Hort Americas will continue working in close collaboration, combining advanced LED expertise with expert market understanding, to propel the industry forward by delivering the most effective and efficient growing solutions.

* Activity subject to all applicable laws  

About Current, powered by GE
Current is the digital engine for intelligent environments. The company blends advanced LED technology with networked sensors and software to make commercial buildings, retail stores, industrial facilities and cities more energy efficient & productive. Backed by a broad ecosystem of technology partners, Current is helping businesses and cities unlock hidden value and realize the potential of their environments. www.currentbyge.com 

For more information about Hort Americas

www.hortamericas.com

PRESS RELEASE – PHILADELPHIA – May 20, 2019 – Current, powered by GE unveiled a series of new products and digital solutions at LIGHTFAIR International that provide channel partners and distributors with workflow improvements and deliver productivity savings to end users.  The company is focused on engineering products that extend benefits beyond energy savings with innovative approaches to installation, component modularity and asset management.

“Multi-level efficiency means thinking beyond energy efficiency and using other product features to find ways we can help our channel partners with quicker installations of complete solutions that stand the test of time,” said Melissa Wesorick, Current’s General Manager of LED Products & Technology.

Product Portfolio Delivers Industry Leading Installation Advancements

Current’s new LUR Refit^* product features a patented mechanical-electrical interconnect technology that decreases installation time by 75 percent compared to other suspended fixture retrofit products, making it particularly valuable in retail spaces with long continuous runs of suspended fixtures. Once the starter is installed, it takes less than two minutes to install an eight-foot fixture which is less than a tube and driver replacement solution. The LUR includes Current’s TriGain^* technology and has built-in features to eliminate snaking. It is also the first product to debut Current’s new photo banding technology, which works with iOS and Android devices to enable more precise indoor positioning than BLE for retail applications.

Customers working on outdoor solutions can improve installation efficiency by upgrading their 150W HID Cobra Head products with Current’s new ERLC Compact Cobra Head, which is 30 percent lighter (8 vs 12.5 lbs) with comparable lumen output to illuminate local roads. This product is complemented by Current’s new Cat-M version of its LightGrid* Outdoor Wireless Control, which is designed to extend controllability beyond city centers onto highways, rest stops, malls and suburban areas where street lighting is sparser.

Current continues to expand in the horticulture space with the introduction of the Arize Element* TopLight, the industry’s first one-for-one replacement for 1000W High Pressure Sodium products.  With multiple light spectrums to maximize growth for specific crops and universal installation with loop cables, this fixture design can be installed dozens of different ways — dramatically reducing inventory needs to meet demand for greenhouse LED retrofit options.

Earlier this year, Current introduced the RPL, its first flat panel retrofit door kit with field installable lighting controls, and the industry’s first and only LED replacement for a traditional 1000W HID lamp used in industrial and outdoor applications. 

“We continually talk to our customers and channel partners to understand how we can help them become more efficient,” Wesorick explained. “Installation ease is a critical need that we have challenged ourselves to deliver.”

Digital Innovation Improves Productivity from City Streets to Grocery Aisles

Current’s digital innovations showcased at LIGHTFAIR demonstrate the industry’s shift to efficiency improvements that extend beyond lighting.

·         A new partnership with IMS Evolve allows Current to help food retailers reduce operational costs and improve customer experience. The IMS technology leverages real-time performance and efficiency data from refrigeration, lighting and HVAC assets to drive significant savings across energy, waste and maintenance/supply chain spend. With these new levels of control and visibility, grocery customers have moved beyond energy savings to realizing productivity improvements like reducing stock loss from machine failure by approximately 50 percent and slashing reactive maintenance calls by 40 percent.

·         Current debuted its new Daintree* WMZ10 people count sensor to passively count people in commercial office settings. The ceiling sensor is the most economical solution for companies to anonymously count people in open areas.  When coupled with Current’s desk level occupancy sensors, the solution creates the most efficient way for real estate executives to understand space utilization.

·         Current’s CityIQ* hardware is being paired with app partners to spawn entrepreneurship and improve public safety and mobility.  A new bicycle planning API will soon be helping cities make informed investment decisions to improve biker safety and increase biking as a percentage of mobility. A partnership with Genetec’s reporting software is helping police departments increase conviction rates, reduce investigation costs and save time from incident to prosecution. The San Diego Police Department leveraged CityIQ data to facilitate complex investigations in more than 90 serious incidents involving violent crime and fatal traffic collision cases in nine months.

“Time is the new currency. We want to provide measurable time saving solutions throughout the lifecycle of our products, from the first installation continuing through the final end user experience,” Wesorick noted.

About Current, powered by GE
Current is the digital engine for intelligent environments that blends advanced LED technology with networked sensors and software to make commercial buildings, retail stores, industrial facilities and cities more energy efficient and productive. Backed by a broad ecosystem of technology partners, Current is helping businesses and cities unlock hidden value and realize the potential of their environments. www.currentbyge.com

• Horticultural lighting solution enables environmental benefits including 90% less water, 50% less fertilizer, reduced energy and carbon footprint
• High-care operation creates opportunities to redefine the future of global food, pharma and cosmetics with industrial scale production
• Clean room automation enables “no touch” harvesting versus an average of 13 human contact stages in conventional farming
• Project heralds the start of a long-term partnership with Jones Food Company Ltd. and wider ecosystem to research new ways to scale global food production to meet the needs of a growing population

Jones Food Company Ltd. is a prime example of the magic that can result from experts coming together with the vision, creative thinking and experience to tackle an old problem from a new angle. With a growing global population and limited farming resources sparking fears of diminishing nutritional returns, vertical farming – the practice of growing food inside warehouse-type buildings, using artificial light and advanced growth techniques like hydroponics where no soil is used – is seen by many as a potential lifeline. However, with the industry in its infancy, many vertical farms have failed to take the crucial step from small-scale, hobbyist production, to a commercially-viable industrial scale.

When James Lloyd-Jones (CEO), Dr Paul Challinor (CTO) and Gary Thorneycroft (CFO) came together to develop the idea of Jones Food Company, they knew that it would be crucial to make the facility as efficient and future-proof as possible. This meant that production not only had to be viable from a financial perspective but it also had to be environmentally sustainable. They also expanded their view of vertical farming’s potential, moving beyond food production, to considering the booming demand for premium, natural ingredients featured in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

Lighting the heart of the farm

Before they had even identified a facility in which to build their enterprise, the co-founders of Jones Food Company knew they needed help on one crucial element and approached the experts at Current by GE for help. The complete lack of natural light inside a vertical farm presents an opportunity to completely control the light spectrum used.

Current by GE’s horticulture team has developed three Growth Spectrums based on the combination of different light wavelengths:

• Reproductive: to promote leaf coverage and fruit generation (with a greater proportion of red wavelengths)
• Vegetative: to promote plant structure and leaf mass (with a dominance of blue wavelengths)
• Balanced: to promote overall growth performance (offering a more balanced spectrum)

Jones Food Company’s Dr Paul Challinor worked closely with Current by GE to provide the most suitable solution for his needs, offering a balanced mix of red, blue and white LEDs that would be flexible and efficient enough to grow a strong, balanced plant. Different spectrums and mini growing rigs were tested on Dr Challinor’s property before the perfect set-up was identified.

Building the future in the heart of North Lincolnshire

The Jones Food Company team found their perfect site in the form of an old cold store in the heart of the UK’s North Lincolnshire countryside. A ready-made “empty box” once cleared, the site was ripe for conversion into a vertical farm, offering the size, height and infrastructure needed to power a futuristic installation. The property also offers space for future new-build expansion, allowing the operation to scale easily on the back of future success.

Offering a growing area of 5120m² – the size of nearly 26 tennis courts, with growing racks stacked to a height of 11m – the team at Current by GE needed to design a lighting solution that would ensure every single plant would receive its own personal dose of optimal light to ensure consistent, uniform growth in intensive conditions. The final design saw 12.3Km of Current by GE’s Arize horticultural lighting solutions connected – nearly the length of 38 Eiffel Towers laid end-to-end!

Future-ready, today

Successfully producing food with a long shelf-life and high phyto-nutrient content (equal to or higher than that of conventional, land-grown plants) wasn’t the company’s only goal. By designing the facility as a high-care installation that meets exacting HACCP standards, Jones Food Company Ltd. will apply a fully-automated system to grow crops in ideal, clean conditions that meet the high quality standards of the wider pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors. Unlike conventional farming, where crops typically come into human contact 13 separate times, the crops grown by Jones Food Company will have little to no human contact from seed to harvest. The Arize lighting is also IP66 UL Wet rated, meaning it can be easily cleaned and sanitised in situated to keep the growing area free of pathogens that can be found in other vertical and conventional farms. This also means that the crops can be grown free of pesticides and using 50% less fertiliser.

A commercially viable way to safeguard the environment Consumers today are faced with a dilemma. We all want the foods we enjoy to be available year-round and at a price we can afford but increasingly we are becoming aware of the serious environmental impact of our expectations – in the form of food miles and their associated carbon footprint. Once the Jones Food Company facility is up and running, it expects to produce 420 tonnes of leafy greens per year, to be sold in stores within the UK, dramatically cutting the food miles of salad and sandwich staples which are often shipped to UK consumers from around the world.

Proximity isn’t the only way that Jones Food Company is taking a lead in environmentally-responsible food production however. Vertical farms can be seen as high-cost facilities, with huge electricity bills generated by the lighting and cooling needs of the operation. While the Jones Food Company facility will initially draw power from the grid, the goal is to make the facility entirely self-sufficient through the use of solar panels. In addition, the Arize lighting solutions from Current by GE offer a power saving of approx. 33% as the luminaires not only consume less power but also generate less heat than other solutions, resulting in lower demand for cooling than other vertical farms. The facility will also use GE’s cloud-data system to monitor electricity usage from its LEDs and heating and cooling systems.

In addition to the energy savings through lighting, the facility will recycle water (using up to 90% less than conventional farming methods) and pump pure CO2 into the growing room, preventing it from being replaced by fresh air. This allows the plants to “breathe” in carbon dioxide at least 50% more efficiently than they would in a traditional greenhouse unit, turbo-charging the growth cycle for faster production.

Just the beginning

This facility is just the start of a long-term partnership between Current by GE, Jones Food Company Ltd and their ecosystem of partners. Together they will find new ways to scale global production and secure future supplies of high-quality food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients, in a way that reduces the environmental costs of vertical farming.

Want to learn more about how you can work with Current by GE to build your vertical farming or greenhouse operation in a way that benefits your business, and the environment? Click here