For Young Consumers Farm-to-Fork Is Not Organic

By Ariana Torres

This study investigated the market segments of young consumers based on their valuation towards foods from organic, local, sustainable, and small-family systems.

Millennials and Gen Z are predicted to shape emerging food trends in America. Millennials – the largest living generation – are spending more food dollars in restaurants and convenient meal prepping than previous generations. Millennials are usually described as progressive, open to trying new foods, and willing to value sustainable food attributes.

Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2008 – are characterized by their health consciousness and social media connectivity. As the newest and most ethnically diverse generation, Gen Z consumers have been introduced to healthy lifestyle choices and sustainable living at an earlier age than previous generations. Together, these two generations comprise the most consumption-oriented consumers of all time with access to abundant information on foods.

Market segmentation can help industry marketers to generate appropriate targeting and communication messages to help consumers make sustainable purchases. By understanding how these young consumers value different environmental and social attributes, market segmentation can allow food marketers to make
attributes claims more relevant.

Supplying foods with attributes that align with values can help marketers develop trust relationships with these two generations, that can result in long-term loyalties for products and businesses. Developing correct messages that appeal to their clientele can assist growers and retailers on enhancing the positioning of their food products in a competitive environment.

The Importance of Consumers’ Values and Attitudes Towards Foods

Researchers have reported the strong connection between messages that convey how foods are produced and marketed and consumers’ values and attitudes. Values and attitudes are strongly correlated with buying behavior, suggesting that young consumers adopt sustainable consumption patterns as a way to impact food systems with their dollar spending.

Main Characteristics of Young Consumers

Data for this study comes from a 2017 web-based survey of 1,351 Millennials and Gen Z consumers. They were asked about the importance they place on fresh produce attributes such as organic (ORGANIC), local (LOCAL), sustainable (SUSTAINABLE), and small-family farms (SMALL).

Most young consumers value foods coming from sustainable agriculture (79%), followed by local (73%), and small-family farms (71%). Interestingly, organic agriculture was the least important for young consumers, as they placed an average importance of 56%.

Most young consumers (97%) in the sample buy fruits and vegetables from grocery stores, 44% buy from farmers markets, and only 2% of young consumers are involved with growing some produce.

What Are the Market Segments of Young Consumers?

Young consumers can be clustered in 4 distinct market segments:

The first market segment, the largest segment, represents 33% of the sample (426 consumers). Cluster 1 (labeled committed) strongly valued all four attributes as important, as evidenced by the highest average values across all attributes (within column). The committed segment was comprised by a higher share of Millennials and Gen Z consumers purchasing in farmers markets (53%), being female (69%), seeking opportunities for campus/community involvement (59%), being out-of-state or international students, and living in on-campus housing.

The second market segment consisted of 27% of consumers. Consumers in the second cluster, labeled farm-to-fork, had high preference for attributes commonly related with local food systems, such as local, sustainable, and small-family farming, but not with organic farming. The farm-to-fork is comprised of individuals with an agricultural background (47%), coming from Midwestern states (74%), and enrolled in an agricultural major (28%). While the committed and farm-to-fork segments are different, Millennials and Gen Z consumers in the farm-to-fork cluster shared some demographic similarities with consumers in cluster 1. For example, they reported a similar shopping behavior, as well as their proportion of female, involvement in campus/community events, and in-campus housing.

The third market segment consists of 26% of the sample (333 consumers). Consumers in the third cluster (labeled unattached) had moderate expectations for all features and did not show high preferences for any of the attributes. This group had mean score intermediate between cluster 2 and cluster 4 for most variables. For example, 39% of consumers in this group purchased at farmers markets, 53% were female, and 56% were from the Midwest. These
unattached consumers were characterized by actively seeking campus/community involvement activities, being international, and living in on-campus housing.

The fourth market segment, labeled skeptic, consists of 14% of the sample (178 consumers). The skeptic segment was the smallest group and was comprised by consumers who did not express high expectations in general. Consumers in this group scored the lowest on purchasing in farmers markets, lacked an agricultural background and reported being international or from out of the Midwest.

Take Home Message
• The findings suggest a lack of trust of the organic label by an important segment of young consumers. Food safety recalls, along with distrust of big corporations entering the organic industry, are likely to lead young consumers to prefer food products that convey sustainability, localness, and small farming.
• For food retailers to build long-term trusting relationships with young consumers, they should use figures and messages that convey transparency about how the product was produced.
• Other labels can communicate the impact of the product in local and farming communities.
• One option may be to propose the coexistence of organic labels with labels that convey localness, sustainability, and impact on small-family farming systems.
• Another option may be for labels and logos convey potential benefits to the environment and local communities, such as information on carbon footprint, use of pesticides, or protection to pollinators.

Literature cited
• Torres, A., 2020. For young consumers farm-to-fork is not organic: A cluster analysis of university students. HortScience, 55(9), pp.1475-1481.

With an increasing Asian population in the United States, controlled environment growers have an opportunity to add Asian vegetables to their specialty crop product mix. 

Lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers are the crops most commonly produced by controlled environment vegetable growers. Other crops that are grown successfully in controlled environment production systems include a variety of leafy greens and herbs. Many CEA growers are looking to expand the product mix they offer their customers and to differentiate themselves from other growers.

One crop that is gaining the attention of controlled environment growers as well as field growers is Asian vegetables. In 2016, researchers at Rutgers University, University of Florida, University of Massachusetts and Penn State University conducted a study of the popularity and feasibility of Asian vegetables among the Asian-American population in New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Based on their findings the researchers concluded Asians buy up to three times as many vegetables as white Americans. In addition to determining the Asian population’s vegetable buying habits, the researchers also identified favorite Asian vegetable choices. The researchers used those choices to test 28 cultivars at university plots in New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts in order to assist growers in focusing on the best crops for their markets.

Expanding customer base

The Pew Research Center, based on U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, reported the Asian population between 2000 and 2019 grew 81 percent during this time span. The population increased from roughly 10.5 million to a record 18.9 million people.

The 2020 United States Census reported approximately 19.9 million people identified as Asian alone in 2020. Including the 4.1 million respondents who identified as Asian in combination with another race, Asian-Americans comprised 24 million people (7.2 percent of the total population). Asians are expected to make up about 40 million of the U.S. population by 2030.

While the focus of the 2016 university study mentioned above focused on Asian vegetables and Asian-American consumers, the researchers also looked at the availability, prices and sales value of these vegetables at Asian grocery stores, farmers’ markets and chain supermarkets. The researchers found other ethnic groups such as white Americans and Latin Americans also purchase and consume a wide assortment of Asian vegetables.

Producing Asian vegetables in Texas

Genhua Niu, professor of urban horticulture at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Dallas, Texas, is looking at the potential of growing Asian vegetables in both greenhouses and vertical farms. She started her research on Asian vegetables in 2017 when she was working at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in El Paso, TX. In 2018 and 2019 Niu and her colleagues conducted Asian vegetables trials in multiple production systems, including open field, in high tunnels and in greenhouses. The trials were conducted at AgriLife facilities in El Paso, Overton, Uvalde and Weslaco.

The trials included fall and spring plantings to test cool-season varieties of bok choy, tatsoi and Chinese celery, and warm-season varieties of Asian eggplant and yardlong bean.

“The demand for Asian vegetables is increasing due to changing demographics and consumer awareness,” Niu said. “Asian vegetables have been profitable crops in other states, but farmers in Texas aren’t familiar with how to grow them and whether they can be profitable.”

Niu said Texas has the third largest Asian population in the United States behind California and New York-New Jersey. Asian vegetables have been shown to be one of the most profitable crops for producers on the East Coast based on market prices.

“These crops are economically viable,” she said. “Asian leafy vegetables have shorter production cycles and high demand. Many researchers and growers are working on and growing lettuce. We wanted to expand the trials, but included lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers in our studies. I go to Asian grocery stores all the time and there are always the same Asian vegetable varieties available. Asian retailers and consumers are not happy because the price of these crops is high and variety is limited. This is why there is such a high interest in locally-grown crops. There is an opportunity to increase the number of different Asian crops as well as the varieties.”

Advantages, disadvantages for Texas growers

Niu said the biggest advantage Texas growers have compared to other parts of the United States is the relatively mild winters.

“The temperatures are warmer and the light levels are higher which allows growers to produce more crops with lower heating costs,” she said. “Based on our studies and measurements of natural light levels, growers can produce leafy greens without having to use any supplemental lighting on sunny days. If a grower wants to produce tomatoes or cucumbers more light would be necessary to increase the yields and quality. Growers could use supplemental light with leafy greens which would increase the yields and quality. 

“Texas growers have the opportunity to grow more vegetable crops at lower costs than growers in northern states. Knowing how to market those crops is critical before starting production.”

One major challenge facing Texas greenhouse vegetable growers is warmer summer temperatures.

“Trying to cool the air temperature to optimal levels in a greenhouse is impossible using a common cooling system, such as a combination of evaporative cooling and shade cloth,” Niu said. “Growers who are producing leafy greens during the summer need to be more concerned with chilling the water than cooling the greenhouse air temperature. Growers still need to lower the air temperature during the summer, but cooling down the irrigation water is easier and more important.

“This can be done by either using a chiller to lower the water temperature of an aboveground water reservoir or installing an in-ground water reservoir. Trying to lower the temperature of the aboveground reservoir is going to cost more than lowering the temperature of an in-ground water reservoir. The water temperature should be lowered to at least 75ºF. With an in-ground tank the chiller does not have to run as long to maintain a cooler water temperature.”

For leafy greens production the air temperature should not exceed 85ºF-90ºF.

“Growers can use shading to control the amount of solar radiation coming into the greenhouse,” Niu said.” If growers cannot cool down the water temperature to at least 75ºF during the summer, they will not be able to produce quality leafy greens crops.

“Climate control during the summer is the biggest challenge. High temperature and high humidity can lead to more problems with pests and diseases. Growers need to have the sensors to monitor the environment as well as an environmental control system in order to provide the proper air temperature and humidity. Growers using hydroponic nutrient film technique production systems need to be able to monitor the irrigation system to ensure water is reaching the plants. During periods of warm temperatures it is critical that irrigation water circulates around the plant roots.”

While most of the studies that Niu has conducted have focused on the production of Asian vegetable crops, she is looking to expand her research to include the propagation of starter plants.

“We are planning to conduct studies on propagation for both conventional and organic crop production,” she said. “There is an opportunity for controlled environment growers to produce organic vegetable transplants. 

“The crops we are looking at for propagating organic plug transplants would be for finishing outdoors. Propagating the transplants in a controlled environment gives growers an opportunity to put the plants into the field earlier. The transplants can also be transplanted into 4- or 6-inch pots to increase plant size. These larger starter plants can then be sold to other growers who are looking for larger size transplants.”

Even though Dallas has relatively mild winters there is a concern with frosts or cold temperatures that can kill or damage the plants.

“Transplanting larger size plants into the field can help to finish the crops sooner so that they are ready for market,” Niu said. “Also, growing the transplants for a longer time in the greenhouse for an additional month, allows growers to market a larger transplant that is worth more money.”

For more: Genhua Niu, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, (972) 952-9226; gniu@ag.tamu.edu; https://dallas.tamu.edu/research/urbanagriculture/.

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

Read the full article by e-Gro below:

These inaugural awards are organised by the food and drink experts Zenith Global, with headline sponsorship from Cultivatd and category sponsorship from Light Science Technologies.

Celebrating excellence and innovation across the global vertical farming industry, entries were invited in 16 categories spanning crops, technology, sustainability and commercial initiatives.

The finalists and winners have been selected by an eminent panel of independent judges representing all corners of the global industry.

The Finalists

Best Crop Innovation

• 80 Acres Farms – 80 Acres Farms
• AeroFarms – AeroFarms
• Bowery Farming – Crispy Leaf

Best Crop Enhancement

• Moleaer Inc – Nanobubbles
• Plenty – Plenty pesticide free leafy greens

Best Yield Improvement

• LettUs Grow – LettUs Grow’s Aeroponic Technology
• Moleaer Inc – Nanobubbles
• Plant Factory Technologies  – Plant Factory Technologies

Best Lighting Development

• Fluence by OSRAM – RAZR Modular System

Best AI/Automation Development sponsored by Light Science Technologies  

• Bowery Farming – Crop Imaging Software
• GROWx – Plant Manager
• iFarm – The iFarm Autonomous Data Acquisition Drone

Best Climate Control Innovation

• CubicFarm Systems Corp. – CubicFarm Systems Corp.
• Eden Green Technology – Eden Green Technology
• Urban-gro Inc – Dual Draft by Integrated Hydro Systems

Best Farm Design Innovation

• IGS Ltd – IGS Ltd
• Spread – Techno Farm
• Shenandoah Growers, Inc. – Biofarms

Best Energy Efficiency

• 80 Acres Farms – 80 Acres Farms
• Eden Green Technology – Eden Green Technology
• LettUs Grow/Octopus Energy – Vertical Power energy tariff

Best Sustainability Initiative

• Eden Green Technology – Eden Green Technology
• HydroGreen Nutrition Technology- CubicFarm Systems Corp.
• Light Science Technologies – nurturGROW

Best Water Saving Initiative

• 80 Acres Farms – 80 Acres Farms

Best Community Initiative

• AeroFarms – AeroFarms
• Eden Green Technology – Eden Green Technology
• Vertical Harvest Farms – Grow Well Model

Best Profitability Improvement

• Eden Green Technology – Eden Green Technology
• Urban Green Design Ltd – Integrated Cannabis Cultivation Development

Best Brand Marketing

• Bowery Farming – Mustard Frills
• Eden Green Technology – Eden Green Technology
• Plenty – Plenty rebrand

Best Retail Innovation

• 80 Acres Farms – 80 Acres Farms
• Bowery Farming – Farmer’s Selection
• Vertical Field – Vertical Field

Best At Home Innovation

• Green World Revolution Ltd.  – Micro Urban Farm domestic microgreen growing kit
• La Grangette – An extraordinary home farming experience
• Urban Cultivator – Urban Cultivator Residential

Best New Business

• Unfold – Unfold
• Optima Planta – Optima Planta
• Planet Farms Italia Società Agricola Srl – A Sophisticated Industrial Approach to Vertical Farming – Planet Farms

The 2021 Vertical Farming World Congress will be held online on 20-22 September. Full programme and booking details are available online at www.zenithglobal.com/events/vfwc2021, with concessions for start-ups or company groups of 4 or more. For further information, contact events@zenithglobal.com.

Lettuce seems to be the crop of choice for growers looking to start producing controlled environment food crops. Many of the new controlled environment growers that have begun operating over the last five years have started with producing lettuce and leafy greens.

“For many people producing lettuce is one of the easiest crops when it comes to providing the right amount of water, light and cool temperatures,” said Ramón Melón Martinez, an agronomic consultant and expert hydroponic leafy green grower. “This changes when trying to grow a consistent quality crop year round. There is the pressure of trying to grow without making any interruptions in the production system for multiple years and trying to increase the production level on a yearly basis.

“In most cases lettuce is a plant that is sold complete, so there is no room for mistakes that will affect the look of the product. And because of the way lettuce is marketed to retailers in year-round programs, growers don’t have the option of explaining why plant leaves may look slightly burnt or why plants are wilting five days after harvesting. This requires a strong discipline in crop and scheduling management be implemented in the growing facility to maintain continuous production success. This discipline needs to be focused on following these five must dos.”

1. Limit the hiccups

Lettuce plants are very resilient and are able to overcome specific production issues.

“The question is how many hiccups or issues are the plants able to tolerate and what are the most important hiccups that have to be overcome?” Martinez said. “It depends on the greenhouse production system. Lettuce cultivation in a greenhouse has the challenge of adapting the internal conditions to fluctuations in the weather and production system operation. 

“Any stress on the plants, be it from weather conditions or a clogged irrigation filter, if it is repeated over the production cycle, it can generate structural damage to the plant composition. This could lead to a shortage of calcium in the growing cells with different severities or collapse of the meristem preventing proper development of the plants.”

Martinez said hiccups can happen for numerous reasons and there are multiple ways of avoiding them, mostly by ensuring a good energy balance on the crop and stable fertigation and irrigation. It is quite likely that if production conditions are not stable, the end result is damaged plants.

2. Maintain the proper leaf area index

As the industry moves toward mobile production systems the goal is to have lettuce plants at the same physiological stage year round.

“The challenge for growers will be keeping all the plants moving at the same rate of growth,” Martinez said. “Whatever production system is used it is critical to understand that the climate needs to be adjusted to the physiological state in which the plants are at a specific time.

“The easiest way to do this with lettuce cultivation systems is to focus on leaf area index (LAI) to adjust the growth of the plants. A high LAI promotes the growth rate of the plants if conditions ensure no disease pressure. For a high LAI the microclimate surrounding the plants is more stable which allows the stomata to remain open for a longer time as there are less humidity fluctuations.”

However, there is a limit to LAI management.

“Plants competing for space will have to stretch to search for the light,” Martinez said. “In that specific moment two things are happening: First, there is a loss of energy because instead of developing new leaves, the old leaves are elongating. Secondly, there is postharvest loss. Elongation is accomplished by intracellular water accumulation. The more water in the cells causes a shorter postharvest life.

“A high LAI can produce stretching and lead to a higher disease pressure. A low LAI produces compact plants that require longer development time. The perfect LAI means there is a good balance between plant growth and plant morphology.”

Maintaining the right LAI requires monitoring the plants from the seedling stage. If seedlings are allowed to stretch, then the plants will always be stretched.

“In spring there can be a rapid acceleration of growth,” Martinez said. “When lettuce leaves start touching this can have a physiological effect on the plants. The leaves start stretching for light. This stretching comes with a cost to the plants and it comes with water accumulation as well. Plants with leaves that are at the wrong angle for light interception have a longer growth cycle. These plants will also have a higher water content making them less resistant to pests and diseases.”

3. Manage irrigation piping, water and the root zone

The root environment and water biology play a critical role in plant development.

“Modern hydroponic production systems are based on continuous operation that tends to overlook the constant release of carbon to the environment,” Martinez said. “Plants release about 20 percent of fixed carbon in root exudates that sustain microbial populations which colonize on the roots. The microbiota around the roots provide the plants with increased nutrient solubility, fixed nitrogen, competitive suppression of pathogens and plant growth promoting molecules.

“If this hydroponic microbial community, which is not as abundant as soil microbiota, is not balanced and controlled it can lead to a proliferation of pathogens or have a secondary effect on nutrient uptake that can make it harder for plant development. This is why it is essential to monitor, control disinfection and bacterial addition and provide water filtration to maintain continuous operation.”

Martinez said there has been a big push from the industry to disinfect production systems in order to control pathogens.

“Many of the mobile production systems are one irrigation system with some growers having two,” he said. “It is complicated to clean these systems without stopping production for two to three weeks. This may be easier to do during the summer when more crops are coming from the field.

“In North America right now there is not a high differentiation among consumers for hydroponic greenhouse lettuce vs. field-grown lettuce. But food safety issues are becoming more important, which means having a continuous supply of lettuce year round is becoming more critical. As a result, growers need to pay close attention to what the plants are doing and what is happening with the water and the piping becomes more critical.”

One of the issues than can arise in irrigation piping is the formation of biofilm.

“Biofilm is an anaerobic type of bacteria that grows in different layers in the piping,” Martinez said. “Biofilm normally requires calcium and magnesium deposits on the inside of the pipe. These deposits become an attachment point for biofilm bacteria to start to develop. The biofilm can start to effect the root growth and the plants start to grow more slowly.

“If growers have problems with root diseases the plants are still salable. That’s not the case if there are diseases on the leaves. Plants with bad roots may take longer to finish, but they can still be sold. If there are diseases on the leaves, chances are those plants are not going to be salable. If the plants have a healthy root system, then most disease issues can be overcome. I’m always more careful with the plant roots and observing them more often. If the plants have poor roots, then there are going to be problems.”

4. Start with a production budget

Martinez said there is nothing worse than starting a greenhouse lettuce operation without having secured the supplies necessary to produce the crop and knowing how that crop is going to be marketed once it’s harvested.

“When a new operation starts it is hard to know all the numbers, but starting with an approximation causes the grower to focus much closer on crop management and inspection,” he said. “Production budgeting needs to focus on the crop time required to reach harvest weight. This information needs to be constantly recorded to make budget changes. Once a one-year crop cycle is finished it can be used as template for the coming years updating possible improvements or using data analysis to review variations in the production.

“The budget process is constantly being refined. Growers need to continuously review their budgets every six to 12 months so that they make adjustments. These reviews should be driving growers to continuous improvement.”

Martinez said as important as it is to forecast production, it is equally important to be able to forecast sales. 

“Growers need to be able to forecast when crops should be started and when they will finish,” he said. “They have to know the crop cycle so that if there is more finished product coming they’re ready to start marketing that product and plan when crops will be ready to market.”

5. Aim for high germination rates

With the amount of lettuce seed that is being used in greenhouse production systems it is really important to look at germination rates. A one percent loss in germination can be very costly.

“Commonly overlooked, an even germination rate is key to a stable operation,” Martinez said. “Understanding that different types of lettuce may have different times for seed emergence is critical to optimize production. Two days at a constant 66.2ºF (19ºC), a saturated substrate and greater than 95 percent relative humidity should ensure a good germination rate for most lettuce varieties. Lower germination rates have a major impact on transplanting.

“It takes time to figure out the problems associated with poor germination. Having poor germination rates is going to affect yields and will impact the morale of the workers sowing the seed and transplanting the seedlings. There can be multiple reasons for germination problems, including the seed, the substrate and the irrigation. In some cases, it takes trying to germinate four to five crops to determine what is causing germination problems.”

For more: Ramón Melón Martinez, greenhouse crop consultant and expert hydroponic leafy green grower, +34 655 873 928; ramonmelon@gmail.com.

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

Organic hydroponic food grower Edible Garden stepped up its tech game by improving its product planning and product availability management.

Starting with a 5-acre glass greenhouse facility in Belvidere, N.J., Edible Garden ships organically-certified 4-inch potted herbs, hydroponic basil, living and cut lettuce and fresh cut herbs throughout the United States. In addition to its own production operation, Edible Garden contracts with growers in other regions including the Midwest to supply organic crops to retailers in that part of the country. Edible Garden distributes its products through about 4,500 retail outlets including Walmart, Meijer, Hannaford, Wakefern Food Corp. and Target. Geographically its products are sold from Maine to Maryland to the south and Wisconsin to the west

“We currently have supply agreements with a number of contract growers in the Midwest,” said Scott Prendergast, chief data officer at Edible Garden. “Up until last year we were providing almost all products out of our Belvidere facility with some supplementation from small contract grows. The growers we are working with produce a variety of crops that cover all of our products. Some of the growers produce almost exclusively for Edible Garden while for others Edible Garden crops are just one of their product lines. These growers are also producing the majority of the Edible Garden crops organically.”

For almost two years Edible Garden has been the exclusive provider of 4-inch potted herbs, cut herbs, living lettuce and hydroponic basil to 260 Meijer stores in the Midwest.

“Initially we provided these products from our facility in Belvidere,” Prendergast said. “Our motto is “Simply Local. Simply Fresh.,” our goal is to reduce the food miles, support local hiring and provide the best quality. We wanted to deliver Meijer stores a fresher, more sustainable product using less production and shipping processes. We have accomplished this during the last six months by transitioning nearly all of our Meijer production to our Midwest contract growers. This has enabled us to reduce 1,000 food miles for each product three times a week.”

Why organic food crops?

Edible Garden, which began operating in March 2012, had initially planned to grow floral crops with plans to add a small line of container herbs. As market conditions changed and as market opportunities were identified, taking the greenhouse organic became the company’s primary interest.

“We saw a market opportunity with organic crops,” Prendergast said. “There was quite a bit of big box competition and generic or non-organic products on the market. Identifying the ability to provide a high quality greenhouse-grown, certified-organic product drove our efforts to grow organically.

“The process to become certified organic took Edible Garden a couple of years. Transitioning from traditional production methods to growing organically was a difficult transition. Without being able to use the same products associated with traditional growing including substrates, fertilizers and pest control products. Our crops had to grow within the same production systems to produce the same quality using all organic materials.”

The company started growing 4-inch potted herbs and then added a line of fresh cut herbs.

“After we began growing potted herbs we became a fresh cut herb provider for restaurant chains and distributors in the Northeast,” Prendergast said. “We provide basil exclusively in bulk. We provided restaurants with fresh greens and fresh cut organic sweet basil through food distributors from New York to Washington D.C.”

Edible Garden had also done some direct distribution to individual stores for some smaller food store chains.

“Higher shipping costs, including rising gas and lease prices, along with the inefficiencies to deliver to individual stores has caused Edible Garden to migrate almost exclusively to the distribution center model,” Prendergast said. “Ninety-five percent of our production is herbs and 5 percent is lettuce. We are planning to increase the amount of lettuce we are producing. Our goal is to be able to locally grow and distribute the lettuce. We’ve already seen this manifest itself in the first-of-its-kind offering of cut lettuce at Meijer, which utilizes partner growers aligned within a couple of hours or less of its DCs.”

Getting the numbers right

While Edible Garden was working out how to grow quality organic crops, another issue it had to resolve was determining how much product to produce.

“There was an overwhelming unsureness of supply vs. demand and demand planning, which led to unsold crops,” Prendergast said. “Being in the produce industry you have to pick, pack and ship in full. Our management team, coming from the commercial banking industry, would always try to err on the side of too much than not enough. Unfortunately when too much became too much we were throwing away plants because they grew too big to sell. That was a loss to our bottom line.

“The mantra of Edible Garden’s CFO Mike James is we are in a penny business. If we overproduce 1,000 potted basil plants that is 1,000 pots and 18,000 basil seeds thrown away. With those pots we are also throwing away the substrate, fertilizer, water and labor that were used to grow the crop. The need for adapting technology was driven by not having the margins to absorb these kinds of mistakes. We need to use every tool at our disposal and if we don’t have it, we need to make it so that we can capture every penny of margin we can.”

When Prendergast joined Edible Garden two years ago the biggest sticking point was the lack of advanced planning and product availability.

“Edible Garden was throwing away a lot of inventory because it did not anticipate the accurate sales of its customer base,” he said. “Over the last two years the company has developed Green Thumb, a proprietary web-based portal that does inventory management in the greenhouse. It does crop estimations, tracks waste and does advanced planning to develop a sophisticated forecasting algorithm.

“The Green Thumb system is dialed in to track daily sow, pick and pack activities as well as customer sales forecasting and advanced planning. The system tracks not only demand forecast, but any greenhouse events that may affect inventory. It manages this compensation so that there are no future problems, no future deliverability holes.”

Edible Garden’s production facility team members handle the data entry into the Green Thumb system.

“The team uses either hand-held devices or laptops to enter the data,” Prendergast said. “We track the progress of the crop, which we call “weeks to finish” (WTF). We track weeks to finish and how it is impacted by seasonality as well as the weather within the season. If there is a 10-day stretch of cloudy weather in the fall or winter, the system understands that and expands out the weeks to finish so a crop that was anticipated to finish in 10 weeks may take longer.”

As Edible Garden started to resolve its issues with inventory management the company began to look for other technology that could automate other processes.

“We created a dynamic palette-building tool based upon our orders,” Prendergast said. “This pallet-building tool created a streamlined process that the production facility could use to eliminate any questions about how to fill the pallets with orders.

“On average, we are shipping 80,000 to 100,000 plants per week just from one facility. This requires a lot of pallets, shipping boxes, placards and purchase orders. Incorporating the tools to eliminate or mitigate packing and shipping questions or issues has really provided some quantifiable benefits to the production side as well.”

For more: Edible Garden, (844) 344-3727; ljames@ediblegarden.com; https://ediblegarden.com/.

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

For those that do not know Gotham Greens, please tell us a little bit about the company and when the company was formed?

Viraj: We are on a mission to transform how and where fresh food is grown. Gotham Greens is a pioneer in indoor greenhouse agriculture and a leading producer of fresh and sustainably- grown salad greens, herbs, dressings, dips and cooking sauces. By using hydroponic systems in 100% renewable energy-powered greenhouses, our farms use 95% less water and 97% less land than conventional farming. Since our launch in 2011, Gotham Greens has grown from a single urban rooftop greenhouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a multi-state greenhouse operator and one of the largest hydroponic leafy green producers in North America.

How many farms do you operate?  And where are those farms located? What do you grow?

Viraj: Gotham Greens currently operates 500,000 square feet of greenhouses across five U.S. states (and growing), including locations in New York City, Chicago, Providence, R.I., Baltimore and Denver. Through our national network of high-tech, hydroponic greenhouses, Gotham Greens produces fresh, long-lasting and tasty leafy greens and herbs along with a line of plant-based salad dressings, dips and sauces, available in more than 2,000 retailers in 40 states, restaurants in select cities, and foodservice customers all year-round.

Why did you choose a greenhouse over a vertical farm?

Viraj: Gotham Greens is focused on building a more sustainable food system and we are drawn to adaptive reuse projects in cities across America. Gotham Greens has a track record of established, robust and proven operations and technology compared to vertical farming, which is still a relatively young industry. Our hydroponic greenhouse technology uses less energy than vertical farming. While vertical farming is an innovative extension of modern greenhouse farming with overlapping principles that has garnered quite a bit of interest, there are still questions surrounding the technology and financial viability of this farming method. In theory, fully indoor environments that rely on artificial light and HVAC systems can offer very high yields and levels of climate control, pest management and food safety, but these benefits can be outweighed by significantly higher capital and operating costs than our hydroponic greenhouses. 

What are your predictions for the future of controlled environment agriculture?

Viraj: For many parts of the country, it’s difficult to get fresh, locally-grown produce all year round. Since more than 95% of lettuce grown in the United States comes from California and Arizona, by the time it reaches other markets, it loses its quality, taste and nutritional value – and has a much shorter shelf life. Gotham Greens, and controlled environment agriculture at large, provides an opportunity to transform our food system for the better by growing more fresh foods closer to where consumers live — all while using fewer natural resources. 

Consumers, retailers and foodservice operators are increasingly recognizing the reliability, consistency and high quality of greenhouse-grown produce that’s grown in close proximity to large portions of the population and we only expect this model to continue to grow as consumers pay greater attention to the food they eat and its impact on the planet. While indoor farming may not represent the future of all fresh produce production, for certain types of crops, it will become much more prevalent in the coming years.

You can hear Viraj Puri speak at the virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit June 24-25, 2021. Register now!

Learn more: @gothamgreens or gothamgreens.com

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.

Unfortunately, a UF/IFAS team also knows that those who grow blackberries face barriers in the market. Like all crops in Florida, blackberries can grow better if they improve their tolerance to the heat, humidity and wet climate of the state.

Zhanao Deng, a professor of environmental horticulture at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), and his team just won a $76,000 award from the UF/IFAS Research office. Deng and his colleagues plan to decrease obstacles so the blackberry sector can flourish.

The money comes from a program called “Support for Emerging Enterprise Development Integration Teams, or SEEDIT.” Through this program, 19 UF/IFAS teams earned monetary awards to launch or continue work on alternative agricultural enterprises.

“The blackberry has emerged as an important alternative crop for Florida growers,” Deng and his team wrote in their application for the funding. “Many Florida farmers are interested in growing it. Our visits to — and an online survey of — Florida blackberry growers indicated that the most concerning issue is low berry yield.”

There are many reasons blackberries don’t produce as much as they should.

Florida growers don’t have the right varieties to plant, and they don’t have tools to manage blackberry plants and pests. Furthermore, the plants differ significantly from other fruits and berries in how they grow, their requirement for chilling hours, and how farmers can manage their stems and pests.

“To break these chokepoints in an effective and efficient way and to promote a blackberry-based agricultural enterprise in Florida, we have organized this research and Extension team,” Deng said. “We will expand our team and are committed to integrating our experiences and expertise in multiple disciplines to address urgent issues faced by Florida growers and stakeholders.”

Blackberries are the fourth largest-selling berry in the United States, accounting for $549 million in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But in Florida, blackberries constitute only a small portion of the acreage. Deng and his team hope to increase blackberry acreage to 1,000 acres.

UF/IFAS Assistant Professor Shinsuke Agehara, also at the GCREC, has been trying to help farmers grow blackberries. Agehara has been trying to develop chemical strategies that can artificially induce bud break, so blackberries can be productive even without sufficient chill hours.

Meanwhile, blackberry trials at the University of Arkansas show climate-adapted blackberry cultivars under proper plant and pest management produced as much as 17,000 pounds per acre. UF/IFAS trials from 2019 showed only few cultivars could produce 9,000 to 10,000 pounds per acre.

If the average blackberry yield in Florida is increased to 8,000 pounds per acre, the per-acre value could reach as much as $35,360. This yield is achievable in Florida, as one grower reported 14,175 pounds per acre, Deng said.

So even with a moderate yield of 8,000 pounds, blackberry production can be highly valuable, and more growers will want to grow blackberries, Deng said. In fact, if the acreage goes up to 2,000 acres, the value could be $70 million a year.

“These models indicate that blackberry production can be a highly profitable agricultural enterprise in Florida,” Deng said.

The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty  in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.

ifas.ufl.edu  |  @UF_IFAS

Watching news reports on the COVID-19 pandemic one quickly realizes the importance accurate data plays in our everyday lives. Most industries are data-driven, whether this data relates to business management or specific production-related operations.

For the horticulture industry, data is an integral part of ensuring greenhouse facilities operate at maximum capacity. Unfortunately, growers have limited access to the data being collected in their greenhouses and are unable to utilize this data in a way that could help them increase operation efficiency and yields.

“The data being collected by greenhouse growers is being siloed, meaning the data is stored in different closed systems,” said Ken Tran, founder of Koidra LLC. “These closed systems don’t communicate with each other and growers do not have a way to unify the data for whatever purpose or whatever analysis they might want to do. This can be greenhouse environmental data, biological data or business management data.

“For climate control data, it is not uncommon to have this type of data living in different systems as well. For example, growers can have climate control data such as temperature and relative humidity in one system. The data for lighting supplied by another company may be in a different system. There are many lighting companies that provide their own controls. Most companies that growers are familiar with don’t want to expose the data that is being collected in a way that the systems can talk to each other.”

Limiting data analysis

Another critical problem with data being siloed is even if the growers’ data is in one system growers may not be able to do data analysis. In most cases, the only way the data is available is to export it to Excel files, which is very limiting.

“Climate control data is collected automatically and put in a system,” Tran said. “Depending on the type of climate control system that is used, data is collected in a database that is hidden under the interface of the climate control company. Growers are limited by what the climate control company interface will provide.

“If growers want to use the data, the systems can only provide limited capability in terms of data analysis. Growers may be only able to look at the data from one season’s crop. But the climate control software will not allow growers to build predictive models from the data. The only way growers can build predictive models is to be able to access the database. Growers should be able to use their data however they want.”

Giving growers access to their data

Tran said most growers are dealing with multiple databases depending on the type of data that is being collected.

“If a company’s expertise is in climate control management it makes sense that the company doesn’t focus on biological management data or business management data,” he said. “The best way to move forward is for these companies to open their data interfaces to the growers so that growers truly own their data. This would allow growers to access the databases so that they can hire third party companies to do data integration.

“Even though this is the best way for growers to access their data, it’s not the only way. Koidra offers data integration service as part of its umbrella autonomous greenhouse product to overcome this problem. It doesn’t necessarily require the companies maintaining the data to open their data interfaces.”

According to Tran, this situation is not unique to horticulture and is common in industries that have fallen behind in the technology curve. Some industries are more advanced when it comes to being tech savvy. Agriculture and some older manufacturing industries may have issues with the digital transformation curve.

Tran said many climate control companies see the trend toward artificial intelligence (AI) and they want to be able to expand their capabilities to the growers.

“The notion of data management and leveraging data analytics and machine learning are new,” he said. “A few years ago these topics weren’t even being considered by these companies. I haven’t yet seen the need for data management. There hasn’t been a demand from the growers to have access to this data. Even if they had access to this data what would they do with it? Most growers don’t have the capabilities to build their own predictive models.

“Some growers would like to work with companies that can do the analytics. Only a very few well-funded indoor vertical farm companies have chosen to develop complete in-house systems so that they can have more control over their data. Many companies want to have more control over their data and would like to do more with their data.”

Tran said growers can only truly own their data when:

1. They can store and transfer their data however they want.

2. They can query their data to get better insights however they want.

3. They can use whatever tools on their data as they want.

All of these require a programmatic interface to the data storage systems, which is currently lacking.

Building an autonomous greenhouse

The internet of things (IoT) is a network of interconnected devices that is embedded in sensor software that enables them to collect and exchange data making them responsive.

“IoT can be thought of as a system that enables automated, real-time and high-frequency data collection,” Tran said. “One type of device is a temperature sensor. Using this sensor there wouldn’t be a need to have humans collecting and inputting data. The sensor is connected to a network and it can transfer the data to the growers’ database automatically. It can communicate temperature data to growers or to their systems. IoT can be thought of as systems that enable automated, real-time and high-frequency data collection.

“Every business is connected to the internet. With the right data management infrastructure, growers should be able to get the right information at the right time from anywhere and on any device. Once full situational awareness of the business occurs, the business can effectively be managed remotely.”

Manual data collection or no data collection at all is the opposite of IoT. Manual data collection is not done in real time, is done infrequently and is expensive to do.

“IoT is an enabler for high-speed, high-volume and low-cost data collection,” Tran said. “This would allow growers to develop AI applications that leverage big data. AI capabilities can only be realized after the right information infrastructure (IA) is created. As the AI community tends to say, “There is no AI without IA. The fact that IoT is being adopted heavily in the greenhouse industry makes AI even more attractive.”

Tran said what will drive the development of autonomous greenhouses is what greenhouse owners and operators want.

“They want higher profits and yields and lower operational costs,” he said. “During the first International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge in the Netherlands it was shown that an autonomous greenhouse program can produce higher yields and higher resource usage than expert growers.”

During the competition the winning Project Sonoma team, led by Tran, outperformed a team of expert Dutch growers. The Sonoma team produced more than 55 kilograms of cucumbers per square meter. The net profit on the cucumbers for the Sonoma team was 17 percent higher than for the team of Dutch growers.

But not every autonomous greenhouse is efficient.

“An autonomous greenhouse can be less efficient than a good grower,” Tran said. “This was shown by the results of the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. The Sonoma team was the only one that outperformed the expert growers. All the other teams did worse than the growers.

“All companies want their businesses to be more automated, more scalable and more efficient. This is where AI, built upon rich IoT and crop management data, can help. A good AI program not only provides the value of automation, but higher efficiency as well.”

Is the commercial greenhouse industry ready for AI? Tran thinks so.

“It’s already happening, demonstrated by the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge,” he said. “Innovative companies that offer both data integration and AI services can help make that reality faster for greenhouse growers.”

For more: Ken Tran, Koidra LLC, (512) 436-3250; ken@koidra.ai.

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

“Growers often do these lighting calculations if they use supplemental lighting in a greenhouse, or have sole-source LED lighting in an indoor facility”, says Paul Fisher. He explains how to use the apps in English and Spanish videos at the Greenhouse Training Online YouTube channel (tinyurl.com/UFGTO). “Our industry advisory group in the Floriculture Research Alliance identified the need for this app”.

The app and videos are training materials in the Greenhouse Training Online courses for growers in greenhouse management, including Greenhouse 101 and Hydroponic Vegetable Production (hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training).

For more information, email greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu. 

The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents. ifas.ufl.edu  |  @UF_IFAS

By Chris Higgins

LED grow lights have been a very hot topic for more than a decade now and as with any (relatively) new technology, the first decade of LED grow lights has seen massive changes and improvements.  From the amount of companies selling LED grow lights to the technology powering what they are selling, we have all heard or read why each company feels their technology is the best. In recent months, that conversation has included topics ranging from fixture design to cooling to efficiency (umol/j) to intensity (umol/m2/s) to color spectrum (nm) (all of which are directly related when it comes to fixture performance).  I dare say we have probably heard and seen everything that we are going to see.

So why am I writing this article?

I am writing this article because the majority of commercial growers are still invested in older technology.  I know many of these growers are interested in innovation, but definitely don’t want to invest until they feel the technology is proven.

I also know that this article is bound to have many people and companies disagreeing with me.

That is why I am going to approach this from the perspective of what we need to happen, versus what the technology might be capable of doing.

First, I am a believer in red:blue led grow light concept.  And here are the reasons why:

1.  THE GREENHOUSE

I am still a believer in the commercial greenhouse and I am still a believer in the sun.  Most commercial greenhouse growers who are investing in light are only investing in supplemental light.  This means that for much of the year they are not using their grow lights or they are only using them for a short period of the day.  They are instead relying on the sun to provide most of the energy for the plants. This also means that the plants are getting full-spectrum light from the sun (or at least what spectrum is able to pass through the glazing) and even when the grower is using their grow lights the sun is normally contributing a significant amount to the percentage of DLI (Daily Light Integral) the plants receive each month.  Based on the knowledge we (as an industry) have today plus the equipment we have commercial access to, a well designed greenhouse with supplemental electric light is a proven and economic tool for year round plant production in a wide variety of climates and geographies.

This is not to say that I don’t believe in vertical farming.  It’s just to say that the greenhouse has been around long enough to be proven to work in a wide variety of conditions.  In a follow up article I will discuss how important vertical farming is to the future of different parts of the agricultural process.   

2. EFFICIENCY and INTENSITY

My research continues to prove that the most efficient LED grow lights are red and blue.  It also shows that those light fixtures with highest output (umols/s) are red/blue led grow lights.  Depending on the ratio of red:blue this could mean as much as a 45% savings in electricity for greenhouse lighting depending on what fixtures and type of technology one is comparing.  This could also mean about 10% more light per fixture, which means less overall fixtures in the farm. For those growing food crops or ornamental crops, these types of savings can have a big impact depending on where the farm is located and how much the farm is paying for electricity.  Efficiency should also be front and center for those growers interested in winning the sustainability discussion. There are plenty of people opposed to controlled environment agriculture. Their main opposition is the energy footprint. And that is a fair argument. That’s why it’s important that we learn to maximize production based on using the most efficient tools.

3. OPERATING COST

If we want to be profitable farmers, now and well into the future, we need to constantly focus on operating cost.  This means counting pennies and making the best investment in technology we can based on what we know and what we have access to.  Energy efficient equipment often costs more, but if you maximize the operational savings and take advantage of utility rebates, the right equipment/investments will start paying you back in a short period of time.  And since red/blue leds are proving to be the most efficient option, it only seems to make sense that we figure out how to adapt our production strategies in order to use this technology.

Again, it’s very important to remember that the only use of supplemental lighting is to increase plant performance. Plants absorb different light colors (light spectrum) at different levels. Science supports the fact that the colors most absorbed by plants in order to promote photosynthesis are red and blue. Meaning the rest of light colors will require a higher light intensity in order to trigger the same photosynthesis levels reached by red and blue LEDs. Photosynthesis is the main process in plants leading growth and development. By using red and blue light you can be sure the money you invest in your light is better used.

So, why would one not invest in red/blue leds?  Is it because the greenhouse crop does not grow well under the lights?  Not based on my experience. Many of my customers, staff and friends have been growing under red/blue leds for years now.  The crops look great and the yields are comparable when light intensities are equal. The best argument I have heard has nothing to do with the crop.  It’s that “employees” don’t like it and might be uncomfortable. That is a fair argument. But, in my opinion that is an argument with a very easy work around. Growers should look at strategically placed work lights that are capable of producing bright white light at a lesser cost.  These lights will be less efficient, but not need to run as long as the grow lights (because they only need to run when workers are present) and because of that these less effective fixtures will not have a negative impact on the potential efficiency and op ex savings.

In greenhouse horticulture there is a golden rule:
1 percent more light ensures 1 percent more yield.

Important definitions:
Supplemental light:  A strategy used in commercial greenhouse production to increase crop production during time periods with low levels of solar radiation by adding photons from electronic light fixtures.
Daily light integral: Describes the number of photosynthetically active photons that are delivered to a specific area over a 24-hour period. This variable is particularly useful to describe the light environment of plants. 
Lighting efficiency:  The appropriate metric for plant lighting is photosynthetic photon efficacy (PPE). This is the PAR photon output (unit of micromoles per second, or μmol·s–¹) divided by the input power (watts, or W) to produce that light. Thus, the unit becomes μmol·s–¹·W–¹, and because one watt (W) equals one joule per second (J·s–¹), the ratio can be simplified to μmol·J–¹ (μmol per second/joule per second).

Important questions for further discussion, please email me or message me for further discussion:

1. Why does the location of the farm matter?  
2. Why does the cost of electricity matter?
3. Do renewables make this argument stronger?  
4. And why is renewable energy so important for sustainable agriculture moving forward.

Additionally, for more information on LED grow lights or to get  a return on investment (ROI) calculation based on your current investment, please email or contact me directly. 

Anyone involved with the commercial horticulture industry is likely familiar with the van Wingerden family and the impact it has had on the production and marketing of ornamental plants. However, one member of the van Wingerden family is making a name for himself and his company by producing organic hydroponic produce. Joe van Wingerden operates FresH₂O Growers, a 12-acre greenhouse facility in Stevensburg, Va. Joe shares the greenhouse space with his son Ben who operates a potted orchid growing company called Color Orchids.

Focused on leafy greens

Joe van Wingerden built his first greenhouse and began growing bedding plants and hanging baskets during the 1970s. His main focus switched to greenhouse construction in 1995.

“Joe is the greenhouse general contractor for Prins USA and the dealer for Prins greenhouses in the United States,” said Mary-Scott DeMarchis, director of sales at FresH₂O Growers. “When Joe started his facility it was an office, warehouse and shop. He originally rented the space to a tulip grower which added on to the facility as it needed additional space. When that agreement ended, Ben decided to grow orchids and Joe decided to grow lettuce.”

Joe’s interest in producing lettuce began in the 1970s when he constructed a greenhouse for another grower.

“The lettuce greenhouse Joe built was a turnkey project so he did a lot of research about how to produce the crop and the environmental controls,” DeMarchis said. “He’s been interested in producing lettuce ever since. Joe developed a nutrient film technique moveable gutter system and he holds multiple patents on the design.”

van Wingerden worked with Prins greenhouse engineers in the Netherlands to develop the production system and Prins markets the system worldwide. Because it is a movable system FresH₂O Growers can produce more crops in the same square footage than traditional fixed systems.

“Although the NFT system was designed and is marketed for the hydroponic production of leafy greens, it can be adapted for other crops including kale, arugula and salad mix,” DeMarchis said. “We have also grown other types of greens and herbs. Right now we are growing only lettuce.”

Expanding market for leafy greens

DeMarchis said van Wingerden saw lettuce as one of the indoor crops that offered an opportunity on the East Coast.

“Joe saw controlled environment agriculture as a sustainable and safe way of producing greens,” she said. “Even though we are trialing other types of greens, right now there is an opportunity to continue growing hydroponic lettuce for East Coast markets. We are continuing to grow a lettuce monocrop for scalability.

“Being located in Virginia is also a key factor in producing leafy greens. We sell to large grocery stores and wholesalers. We sell to most of the retail grocery stores and some of the largest chains. We are centrally located to I-95 and we can be in any location within a day, whether it is Boston or Miami.”

Although FresH₂O Growers is focused on growing different varieties of head lettuce, the company is expanding its product offerings.

“We recently launched a long-lasting salad blend consisting of salad mix with the roots attached,” DeMarchis said. “For this new salad blend we designed a proprietary package that houses the roots separately from the leaves. This enables consumers to open the package and remove the leaves without touching the roots like they were harvesting lettuce straight from the greenhouse. With the roots still attached, the lettuce lasts longer and stays fresher until consumers pick the lettuce as needed.

“We have done R&D with different varieties like baby romaine and baby arugula. We hope to expand our offerings this year with a line of salad blends in the new packaging.”

Expanding production

FresH₂O Growers is currently using five of the 10 acres available to grow lettuce, but that production is expanding very quickly.

“We have already begun to expand the production into another acre of greenhouse space,” DeMarchis said. “We plan to double in size over the next year. We’re adding on to the hydroponic production system with plans to max out the greenhouses. We will be doubling our capacity from five to 10 acres. But the 10 acres isn’t a limit for us. We are going to max out our production at our current location before we look to expand. If we can keep on growing at this location, we will continue to do so. We have 300 acres of land around us so we can easily expand.

“We not only want to offer consumers a locally-grown product, but we also want to be able to do it so that more consumers can afford it. With our scalability we are trying to make it possible for more consumers to afford and enjoy organic, sustainably-grown products. Our motto is “Fresher, greener, healthier.” We want to grow a crop that is sustainable, that is good for our planet, but is also healthier and better for consumers.”

For more: FresH₂O Growers, (540) 399-9600; info@fresh2ogrowers.com; https://www.fresh2ogrowers.com.

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

Indoor Ag Science Café is an outreach program of our project OptimIA, funded by USDA SCRI grant program. The café forums are designed to serve as precompetitive communication platform among scientists and indoor farming professionals. The Café presentations are available from our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwIeYlKrzH_uppaf2SwMIg4JyGb7LRXC   

Contact Chieri Kubota at the Ohio State University (Kubota.10@osu.edu) to be a Café member to participate.