The Controlled Environment Agriculture Design Standards (CEADS) certification program will enable CEA growers to identify those areas within their companies that are operating sustainably and where improvements can be made to improve efficiencies and lower costs.

An increasing number of consumers are asking for and purchasing products that have been produced sustainably, including fruits and vegetables. The Hartman Group reports in its recently released “Sustainability 2021: Environment and Society in Focus” that nine out of 10 consumers consider at least one environmental or social well-being issue when choosing foods and beverages. The research and consulting company found that nearly 50 percent of the 2,000 U.S. consumers it surveyed indicated they are more concerned about the environment, and four in 10 are now more worried about social well-being, compared to 18 months ago.

Most of the survey participants identified the environment and social well-being as two separate but equally important areas of need. When shopping for food and beverages, the survey found consumers’ sustainability priorities are nearly evenly split between environmental and social well-being issues. Eighty-two percent considered environmental issues, especially waste reduction, sustainable packaging and pollution, to be priorities. In the case of social well-being issues, 86 percent pointed to support for the economy, safe working conditions and good wages/benefits as priorities.

Making CEA more sustainable

Companies in all industries are announcing their plans and promoting their efforts to become more sustainable. Whether it is reducing their dependence on fossil fuels, lowering greenhouse gas emissions or switching to more sustainable packaging, companies are trying to show consumers they are working diligently to lower their impact on the environment.

In September 2019 following the USDA/NIFA Az-CEA Conference in Oracle, Ariz., representatives from academia, the agriculture industry and USDA met to identify and discuss cross-disciplinary areas of synergy, opportunity and need for the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry. One of the objectives of the conference was to identify research priorities for USDA to focus on. Cornell University defines controlled environment agriculture as “an advanced and intensive form of hydroponically-based agriculture where plants grow within a controlled environment to optimize horticultural practices.”

“Out of the CEA meeting in Arizona there were discussions about the environmental impact of controlled environment agriculture,” said Gary Stutte, founder and president at SyNRGE LLC. “As we were discussing the state of the agriculture industry the term sustainability kept coming up. Conference speakers talked about agriculture and sustainability related to a number of issues including the amount of water being used to produce food crops and the inefficiencies of land use. Controlled environment agriculture will be part of the solution for sustainable agriculture. Controlled environment agriculture will help feed the three billion people living on the planet.

“Currently there are no metrics to define what sustainable agriculture is. There are metrics related to efficiency of lighting and HVAC systems and the amount of water that is recirculated, but for production systems per se, what is really sustainable?”

Development of CEA sustainability standards

Follow up discussions after the conference lead to the formation of a committee that decided to determine what sustainable meant in regards to controlled environment agriculture. The committee, which included members from the private sector, government and academia, recognized the need to define goals for the advancement of the CEA industry. An external review process was conducted for nearly a year resulting in the formation of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Design Standards (CEADS).

“A concept was presented that what was really needed is a means for CEA growers to do a baseline self-evaluation to achieve some external certification as to just how sustainable their operations are,” Stutte said. “The committee put together a metric with a model that follows the LEED’s (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system, which is recognized worldwide. 

“CEADS enable a production facility to be ranked how sustainable it is, not just on any one process or any one product or portion of it. A CEA facility may replace a lighting system with one that is more efficient, but that is only one aspect of the operation. An operation isn’t going to be sustainable based on one system.”

The CEADS standards have been assessed by growers, academicians and industry representatives. The initial standards were sent out for external review and adjustments were made based on numerous comments and inputs that were received.

CEADS includes the management and stewardship of energy, water, materials, byproducts, pests, safety and finances. Growers who participate in the CEADS program will be able to benchmark their operation’s performance in seven CEADS domains: Resource Utilization, Materials and Waste, Crop Quality, Integrated Pest Management, Automation and Labor, Equity and Localness, and Profitability.

“CEADS certification is a voluntary effort,” Stutte said. “This is not a regulatory program. Where there is state or federal regulations, CEADS standards will have to match what the growers are expected to achieve.”

Resolving unforeseen issues

CEADS has initiated a pilot project to determine what issues may arise in the sustainability certification process.

“We are initially looking at four growers in the pilot project,” Stutte said. “We are limiting the number in order to work out any kinks before the certification program is open to more growers. The pilot project will help us identify the areas that we thought might need some additional work across the industry. There’s a chance to recognize that there are differences in the areas where CEA crops are produced.

“CEADS is crop and facility agnostic. It is recognized that there are some very different energy and water management issues that would go into producing a greenhouse ornamental crop vs. hydroponic lettuce vs. drip cannabis. We have established the pilot project to work with a group of growers including greenhouse, indoor, vegetable and cannabis production. From this pilot project we look to gain a sense of what changes may need to be made in the certification standards.”

Benefits of sustainability certification

Stutte said the benefits of what the CEADS standards and certification will bring to growers are three-fold.

1. The CEADS program will assist in identifying areas within a growing operation for increased cost savings, including lighting, water and labor efficiency.

“The CEADS program can help to identify areas within a growing operation that can be focused on in order to reduce costs and improve the sustainability and profitability of a facility,” he said. “Ultimately if an operation is not profitable, it is not sustainable. The CEADS standards are a tool to allow growers or managers to do complete assessment of their facilities.”

2. Achieving CEADS certification allows a differentiation of a market.

“Obtaining this certification indicates a CEA facility is operating sustainably because it has an external certification by CEADS that is good, better or best,” Stutte said. “This is an external validation of the ethos of a company.”

3. Obtaining CEADS certification can lead to an enhanced ability to receive classification that would increase the attraction of a particular investment community that is focusing on sustainability, especially within the agriculture sector.

“CEADS certification would make a company more in line with what an investor or investor group is looking for,” he said. “CEADS certification is an indication to the investor community that a company is operating at a particular level of sustainability and what is needed to achieve the next level, whether that is an investment in A, B or C.”

For more: Controlled Environment Agriculture Design Standards (CEADS), board@ceads.ag; https://ceads.ag/. Gary Stutte, SyNRGE LLC, gstutte@synrge.com; https://synrge.com/.

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

Tuesday, November 16th, 2021 (San Francisco, CA) – BRF, Raízen, Rumo, AMAGGI and SINAI Technologies, announced today a first-of-its-kind collaboration to collect, calculate, forecast and share primary emissions data across the global supply chain to drive industry mitigation and decarbonization. 

Through this collaboration, the companies reinforce commitments to the global agenda, understanding that engagement is essential to reach decarbonization. This is the first time – in any industry – for a collaborative initiative with the shared goal of identifying decarbonization opportunities throughout all supply chain operations. While this first partnership focuses on the agriculture industry, the goal is to accelerate the deployment of low carbon solutions across any and all supply chains.

These companies will connect emissions from seed processing to agricultural production, trading, logistics, feed and food production and operation, and finally distribution from Brazil to global markets using SINAI Technologies’ decarbonization platform. From a consumer perspective, this yields the potential to see carbon-neutral food products available at your local supermarket.

The companies are utilizing SINAI Technologies’ decarbonization platform to allow industry experts to develop emission allocation frameworks based on the primary data provided while prioritizing data privacy. The goal is for software to provide automated allocation methodologies that are developed and reviewed by sustainability experts to guarantee that the primary data in this way will provide accuracy and transparency which may incentivize the adoption of low carbon solutions, and contribute to the liquidity and reliability of off-sets and in-sets in a voluntary market. All data collected will be audited by a third party to validate the data, allocation methodologies, and calculations in SINAI’s decarbonization platform.

“It is pivotal that we continue to find moments to collaborate across global supply chains and enable cross-industry collaboration. Initiatives like this, and the Carbon Transparency Partnership from the WBCSD and the RMI, add substantial value to global adoption and collaboration, and set the tone for others to follow,” said Maria Fujihara, CEO & Founder, SINAI Technologies.

SINAI Technologies, a San Francisco-based startup that provides organizations with the technology tools needed to build effective decarbonization strategies, is acting as the technology partner. SINAI’s newly-launched Value Chain Module calculates Scope 3 emissions for participating companies using the same accounting methodology across the chain. The software also demonstrates how to allocate emissions at the product-level, from the facility-level (GHG inventories), without using common outdated product databases.

Quotes from Supply Chain Leaders

“Taking part in such an initiative with key players within our value chain strengthens AMAGGI’s project to start soon offering carbon-neutral soy to the market, positively impacting the GHG emissions of the products offered to consumers,” said Juliana de Lavor Lopes, AMAGGI’s ESG, Communication and Compliance Director. “We understand that agriculture has a fundamental role in combating climate change. Therefore, offering climate solutions to global challenges is in line with our sustainability strategy, which includes commitments to decarbonize our operations by 2035 and to neutralize net emissions by 2050 (NetZero emissions), according to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the global Race to Zero movement, which we are a part of.”

Grazielle Parenti, Vice President of Institutional Relations and Sustainability, BRF said, “we are one of the largest food companies in the world and we are aware of our responsibility to people and the planet. We believe that engagement and cooperation between companies are essential for us to reach the common, necessary and urgent good: decarbonization. We are advancing on our sustainability journey and joint action between different players drives the global challenge of combating climate change. Here at BRF, we are part of this agenda and we are committed to being Net-Zero by 2040, with a focus on zero net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our operations and our chain.”

Fernanda Sacchi, People, ESG and Communication Director at Rumo, said, “the partnership with SINAI offers a platform to centralize data on greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s activities, allowing the targeting of mitigation strategies for the impacts caused, as well as defining goals to reduce these emissions. It is also possible to share data with stakeholders, as part of the monitoring of the value chain, providing transparency to the process.

###

About SINAI Technologies
SINAI Technologies Inc. is a software platform built to help organizations to build decarbonization strategies. Their decarbonization platform enables more intelligent carbon emission measurement, reporting, mitigation and scenario analysis for organizations using science-based methodologies. To learn more, visit: www.sinaitechnologies.com or follow us on Twitter @SINAICarbonTech or on LinkedIn @SINAI Technologies Inc.

About BRF
One of the largest food companies in the world, BRF is present in over 117 countries and owns iconic brands such as Sadia, Perdigão and Qualy. Its purpose is to offer quality food that is increasingly tasty and practical, to people and their pets all over the world, through the sustainable management of a living, long and complex chain, which provides a better life for everyone, from farm to fork. Guided by the fundamental commitments of safety, quality and integrity, the Company bases its strategy on a long-term vision and aims to generate value for its more than 100 thousand employees worldwide, more than 350 thousand customers and approximately 10 thousand integrated workers in Brazil, all its shareholders and for society.

About Rumo

Rumo is the largest railway operator in Brazil and offers logistical services for rail transport, port elevation and storage. The Company operates 12 transshipment terminals, six port terminals and manages approximately 14 thousand kilometers of railways in the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Tocantins. The asset base is made up of 1,200 locomotives and 33,000 wagons.

About Raízen
Raízen is a global benchmark in bioenergy with an integrated business ecosystem: from the cultivation and processing of sugarcane in our bioenergy parks, to the sales, logistics and distribution of fuels, we continually invest in innovation to reshape the future of energy. Through advanced technologies, we seek to play a leading role in the energy transition by expanding our portfolio of renewable energy sources, such as second-generation ethanol (2GE), biogas, bioelectricity and solar energy. By doing so, Raízen has already avoided the emission of 5.2 million tonnes of C0₂ per year (reference: 2020); by 2030, we aim to avoid twice this amount.

About AMAGGI

Founded in 1977, AMAGGI is the largest Brazilian grain and fiber company. Present in several stages of the agribusiness chain, AMAGGI operates in the agricultural production of grains, fibers and seeds, origination, processing and commercialization of grains and inputs, grain river and road transport, port operations, in addition to the generation and commercialization of renewable electric energy. AMAGGI produces circa 1.1 million tons of grains and fibers per year – including soy, corn, and cotton – and has a commercial relationship base of approximately 6000 rural producers. In 2020, it sold approximately 13.9 million tons of grain worldwide. Headquartered in Cuiabá (MT), AMAGGI is present in all regions in Brazil, with farms, warehouses, offices, factories, river and road fleet, port terminals and hydroelectric plants. There are 74 units located in 42 municipalities in 9 different states. Abroad, the company has units and offices in Argentina, China, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, and Switzerland.

The use of plastic in berry production has proven to have significant benefits, such as improved yield, reduced food loss and improved food safety, among other benefits. However, a series of environmental, community, and economic impacts remains since recycling is not a viable option for plastics that have contact with the soil, which represents a significant share of agricultural plastics.

To bring about meaningful and sustainable change, Driscoll’s outreached to additional berry industry leaders, including Aneberries, California Giant, Gem Pak, Good Farms and Naturipe, to join the innovation challenge. The Agricultural Plastics Innovation Challenge is an opportunity for berry producers to identify early-stage innovations that effectively collect, recycle, compost or convert waste to energy. A panel of experts will select winners in each category that have demonstrated the capacity to scale their innovations into commercial production and deliver true environmental benefits.

“Driscoll’s is proud to be the corporate sponsor of The Agricultural Plastics Innovation Challenge, as it will support the entire industry in discovering scalable and economically viable solutions to improve the usage and recyclability of agricultural plastics,” said Scott Komar, senior vice president of Global R&D, Driscoll’s. “We believe it is important to invest in ways to combat plastics waste and understand that as an industry, we all have a role to commit to broad and significant action toward more sustainable product offerings that are good for both people and the planet.”

The Ag Plastics Innovation Challenge complements existing efforts by Driscoll’s and others in the berry industry to reduce the environmental impact of plastic clamshells. In early 2020, Driscoll’s and others across the fresh berry industry made a joint pledge to achieve 100% recycle-ready packaging by 2025.

“As an industry, we share a common goal to reduce the environmental impact of plastics,” said Joe Barsi, president of California Giant Berry Farms. “This challenges us to think beyond the clamshell and address hard to recycle plastic that is used in berry production. We owe it to our growing communities, growers, and consumers to be leaders and help find solutions.”

For more information, visit: https://www.tbpinnovate.com/agplasticsinnovation

About Driscoll’s

Driscoll’s is the global market leader of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage, Driscoll’s is a pioneer of berry flavor innovation and the trusted consumer brand of Only the Finest Berries. With more than 900 independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s develops exclusive patented berry varieties using only traditional breeding methods that focus on growing great tasting berries. A dedicated team of agronomists, breeders, sensory analysts, plant pathologists and entomologists help grow baby seedlings that are then grown on local family farms. Driscoll’s now serves consumers year-round across North America, Australia, Europe and China in over twenty-two countries. As a fourth-generation grower and the son of one of Driscoll’s founders, J. Miles Reiter serves as chairman and CEO.

About Think Beyond Plastic

Founded in 2012, Think Beyond Plastic Foundation leads a global multidisciplinary effort to eliminate global plastic pollution by harnessing the forces of innovation. For more information, visit, http://www.thinkbeyondplastic.com/. The Think Beyond () Innovation Center leads global action to raise a wave of innovation addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To secure a rich pipeline of innovation, it is building an innovation eco-system connecting industry, investors and innovators. The Innovation Center has a network of Regional User facilities for design, testing, characterization and prototyping throughout the United States, as well as Europe – Germany and Bulgaria. For more information, visit http://www.tbpinnovate.com

The recent pandemic has left all of us, regardless of the generation, with time to evaluate the environmental impact of our daily lifestyle practices. Choosing greenhouse grown produce provides some assurance of environmental stewardship.  Yet, ditching plastic straws will not be enough to keep our planet safe from the harm that plastic and other harmful waste can inflict. And people are beginning to understand they have the power to do more by purchasing food products that are packaged sustainably. 

Compared to Boomers, Millennials followed by Gen X, and then Gen Z, are more cognizant of the impact that their purchasing decisions have on society according to a recent report by the Hartman Group.  And at the same time, the World Economic Forum reports every year more than 400 million tons of plastics are discarded worldwide and only 14-18% is recycled.  During the pandemic there was a heightened concern for food safety, especially regarding unpackaged foods. Packaging helps to keep produce items safe and aids in what retailers refer to as reducing ‘shrink’, that also comes at a huge cost of doing business. In turn, packaging can reduce food waste which also comes at a huge cost to the environment. So, the need to protect our food and increase its shelf life with packaging is still relevant and necessary today.

The challenge to find environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic has increased in urgency. Sustainable packaging solutions that ensure the safety and shelf life of a product are also key. Village Farms has been working for several years now to develop and test packaging that can remain out of landfills. The recently launched Sensational Sara tomato was the debut of one such solution for the company.

Sensational Sara tomatoes are packaged in an innovative 1lb environmentally friendly box that is biodegradable and recyclable. The clear window film is made from a natural cellulose material that is certified home compostable.  The film can be easily peeled away and tossed in your backyard compost pile or community compost bin. The remaining paper board box can be recycled in your regular cardboard/paper recycling stream. A QR code on pack guides consumers through this simple process of separating the film from the box.  Helen L. Aquino, Director of Brand Marketing & Communications for Village Farms tell us. “The Pandemic also brought about a resurgence in the use of QR codes for touchless restaurant menus, and Dr. office intake forms, etc.  At the same time the technology caught up to functionality by simple act of opening your camera and pointing it at the code to scan, vs. using a dedicated app.  Both circumstances drove an increased use in QR codes.  This makes QR code the perfect vehicle for providing recycling information without taking up added packaging real estate for this important information”.

Village Farms is thrilled to offer this environmentally responsible packaging option for the debut of its unique newest tomato variety Sensational Sara in a 1lb box.  Village Farms is also offering this box for their 1lb Maverick Mix tomatoes, a lovely mix of specialty tomatoes in assorted shapes and sizes. They are hoping this type of packaging will gain further momentum with their retail partners. Aquino also mentioned, “We have a number of retailers showing interest and some with sustainability initiatives already in place giving preference to suppliers that can deliver on protecting the environment and sustainable packaging is one way such way.”

To grow healthy and delicious food for human consumption is a huge responsibility. Village Farms is continuing this trend with packaging that is healthy for the planet as well.  The company’s innovative packaging solutions are keeping waste out of landfills, harmful gas out of the atmosphere, and keeping minds at ease knowing they are making a difference for the Earth.  Village Farms is committed to feeding an evolving and growing world population while preserving the planet.  The company’s cutting-edge greenhouses use less water, land, and chemicals to grow more food.   Village Farms’ innovative Controlled Environment Agriculture growing methods pave the way to curtail climate change. To find out more about Village Farms and their sustainability efforts visit their website at www.villagefarms.com and read about their Good for the Earth platform. 

By Eric W. Stein, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture

Abstract

This article identifies the potential environmental effects large-scale indoor farming may have on air, water, and soil. We begin with an overview of what indoor farming is with a focus on greenhouses and indoor vertical farms (eg, plant factories). Next, the differences between these 2 primary methods of indoor farming are presented based on their structural requirements, methods of growing, media, nutrient sources, lighting requirements, facility capacity, and methods of climate control. We also highlight the benefits and challenges facing indoor farming. In the next section, an overview of research and the knowledge domain of indoor and vertical farming is provided. Various authors and topics for research are highlighted. In the next section, the transformative environmental effects that indoor farming may have on air, soil, and water are discussed. This article closes with suggestions for additional research on indoor farming and its influence on the environment.

Keywords

Indoor farming, vertical farming, vfarm, zfarm, plant factory, water, air, soil, sustainability, carbon cycles, drought, information technology, greenhouse gases, climate change, environment, agtech

Citation

Stein EW. The Transformative Environmental Effects Large-Scale Indoor Farming May Have On Air, Water, and Soil. Air, Soil and Water Research. January 2021. doi:10.1177/1178622121995819

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction

Open field farming has been practiced the same way for centuries as the primary means of growing food. Its origins can be traced back to wheat production 11 000 years ago in the Middle East, which later spread to the Mediterranean, north-Africa, and elsewhere.1 Given limitations on the amount of arable land, water scarcity, increased awareness of sustainable development, and the well-documented environmental effects of open field agriculture, other farming methods have been developed in the past few decades. The primary alternative to open field farming is referred to as indoor farming, which has received relatively little attention in terms of environmental impacts. The goal of this article is to introduce indoor farming in its many forms to environmental scientists, outline key areas of research, and highlight the effects large-scale indoor farming could have on the environment. Research needs to be done to better understand the cumulative and transformative environmental effects indoor farming methods may have on water, air, and soil as it realizes its potential to supply a significant portion of the population with fresh food.

What Is Indoor Farming?

Indoor farming is a relatively new method of growing vegetables and other plants under controlled environmental conditions. These farm systems are variously referred to as indoor farms, vertical farms, vfarms, zfarms, greenhouses, controlled environment agriculture (CEA), and plant factories.2,3 Indoor farms are sometimes confused with urban farms, which typically represent small outdoor farms or gardens to grow vegetables that are located in urban areas. It also should be noted that mushrooms have been grown indoors in compost under controlled conditions without light for more than one hundred years.4 For the purposes of this article, we will focus on characteristics of controlled environment indoor vertical farms and greenhouses, which are the primary architectures used for the large-scale production of leafy greens and other vegetables that require natural or artificial light.

The many faces of indoor farming

Greenhouses have been the workhorse for indoor growers for decades, especially in the production of flowers and ornamental plants. The modern high-tech greenhouse designs were pioneered in the Netherlands and have since been embraced all over the world. Several examples of these farms are evident throughout the United States and the largest span hundreds of acres. For example, according to Greenhouse Grower,5 Altman Plants (CA) has almost 600 acres under glass followed by Costa Farms (FL) with 345 acres. These are mainly used in the production of ornamental plants.

For vegetables, greenhouses were originally designed for tomatoes, but now are used in the production of kale, microgreens, lettuces, herbs, squash, and other types of fresh produce. These greenhouses, formerly located in rural areas, are now being positioned near urban and peri-urban areas to bring operations closer to population centers to save money and reduce the carbon footprint associated with transportation miles. For example, BrightFarms (brightfarms.com) has greenhouse operations located just outside of Philadelphia and Cincinnati to produce lettuces and other leafy greens. Gotham Greens (gothamgreens.com) situated its first greenhouse on top of a warehouse in Brooklyn, NY and has since expanded to other cities. AppHarvest (appharvest.com) is a venture located in Kentucky whose greenhouses cover more than 60 acres to produce tomatoes and other vegetables. What is common to greenhouse design is that all growing takes place on a single level, they are clothed in materials such as glass that transmit natural sunlight, and include climate control and irrigation equipment. They may also use a modest amount of supplemental artificial lighting during winter months.6

Growing leafy greens and other plants in buildings has emerged in the past 25 years whereby plants are grown vertically and hydroponically using artificial lights. Indoor vertical farms are typically located in warehouses or similar structures that have been retrofitted to provide superior heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) for the benefit of plant production and racking systems to support the production systems.7-9 The PVC grow systems transport nutrient-rich water to the root zone of the plants, and the water is then returned to the main reservoir. Designed as closed re-circulating systems, indoor vertical farms only use a fraction of the amount of water as greenhouses or open-field methods (see also section “Water Use”). The advent of cost-effective LED lighting technologies has allowed farmers to provide the plants with just the right wavelengths of light, intensity, and photo-period to optimize growth.10 Other advances include automation, IoT, and artificial intelligence; ie, all of the information technologies that contribute to “smart farming.”11

Although modern LEDs are very efficient compared to HID, high-pressure sodium or florescent lamps, the capital and operating costs of these artificial lighting systems are significant,10 as are the climate control systems that are also required. Greenhouses, for example, require significant investment in heating and cooling equipment to maintain stable temperatures and humidity, which result in significant operating costs in buildings with low R-value membranes (eg, glass). The chief benefit of this design is that the light comes free, although growing is limited to a single level. Indoor vertical farms, however, can benefit from well-insulated structures that reduce heating and cooling costs and growing can take place on multiple levels. That said, these savings come at the expense of relatively high electricity usage for artificial lighting.10 These operating costs can be mitigated with the increasing efficiencies of LED’s, sensing systems that modulate light to the maximum required for the plants, pairing indoor farms with renewable energy sources such as solar and geo-thermal, and architectures that favor energy efficiency.9

Methods of indoor farms

Indoor farms are characterized by several parameters:

• Growing Method and Media
• Source of Nutrients
• Lighting Requirements
• Facility Capacity
• Climate Control
• Economics

Most indoor farms use hydroponic methods of growing; i.e, plants are grown in water. Seeding takes place in an inert material such as stone-wool or peat, which is irrigated with nutrient–rich water. Water is administered using a variety of techniques ranging from fine mist sprayers (aeroponics), to shallow water (NFT) irrigation, to deep water culture (DWC) immersion to flood and drain methods.9 All are effective and have their pros and cons. Nutrients for larger scale hydroponic production systems typically come from dissolved salts that ionize in the water. In some smaller systems, the nutrients come from the nutrient-rich water of fish farms (ie, aquaponic systems) that are proximate to and coupled with the plant production system.9

In greenhouse production facilities, most lighting comes from the sun, which may be supplemented with artificial light, especially in the northern latitudes during winter. Plant factories and vertical farms, however, use only artificial lighting but are designed to maximize growing area using stacking methods. One common design is characterized by horizontal multi-tier growing systems starting at ground level that may include up to a dozen growing levels or tiers. Aerofarms (aerofarms.com) and Bowery Farms (boweryfarming.com) use this type of design for their production processes. An alternative is to use vertical drip irrigation grow systems. This design is characterized by vertical multi-site growing systems starting at ground level that extend upwards of 8 ft. In these systems, plants grow “sideways” toward artificial lights that are positioned at a right angle. Plenty, Inc. (plenty.ag) uses systems like these obtained in the acquisition of Bright Agrotech. Several examples of vertical farming ventures can also be found in Al-Kodmany.9

All indoor farming methods share the characteristic of offering CEA. Controlled environment agriculture offers the grower complete control over several environmental variables including, but not limited to: light intensity and wavelength, photo-period, wind velocity, temperature, and humidity. Water culture is further managed to obtain optimal results based on nutrient levels, PH, and dissolved oxygen.9,12 In most cases, pesticides and herbicides are eliminated. More advanced farms such as Fifth Season (fifthseasonfresh.com) benefit from extensive use of sensors, IoT, robotics, automation, and control systems designed to optimize yields and minimize labor. Another valuable aspect of CEA farms is their ability to produce plants with certain desired morphologies and nutritional profiles based on the control of lighting wavelength, temperature, and nutrient levels. SharathKumar et al13 go so far as to suggest that with CEA, we are moving from genetic to environmental modification of plants.

Benefits and challenges of indoor vertical farms

Several benefits are associated with vertical farming,9 although the industry is not without its challenges (see Table 1). The principal sustainable benefits of indoor vertical farming are a large reduction in the use of water (see also section “Water Use”), the reduction or elimination of pesticides, and mitigation of the effects of excess fertilizer run-off. From an economic perspective, the ability to control the environment results in a stable supply chain, price stability, long-term contracts with distributors and retail markets, and high yields per square foot. The elimination of pesticides puts produce grown this way on par with organics, which command premium pricing. Indoor farms, if designed correctly, can reduce labor costs and may be located closer to urban centers. Some see a role for indoor farms to ameliorate food deserts, unemployment, and as a means to re-purpose abandoned buildings and lots.3,9,14-16 Finally, vertical farms provide resilience to climate change, flooding, droughts, etc.

However, the vertical farming industry is facing some key challenges. For instance, currently only a very small portion of fresh vegetables are produced indoors. The one exception is the mushroom industry, which represents a US$1.15 billion industry.17 Second, the USDA does not clearly identify vegetable production by method; eg, greenhouse, open field, vertical farm, etc, so data are not readily available. Third, profits have been elusive, especially for vertical farms.18 According to the 2019 Global CEA Census Report only 15% of shipping container farms and 37% of indoor vertical vertical farms were profitable vs. 45% for greenhouse operations.19 Another limitation of indoor farming is that a relatively small number of cultivars can be grown using indoor farming methods. The primary ones are leafy greens, herbs, microgreens, tomatoes, and peppers, although berries, root vegetables and other more exotic plants are being trialed.19 Another challenge for indoor farm start-ups are the high capital costs, which can range from US$50-150/ft2 for greenhouses to US$150-400/ft2 for vertical farms. For example, AppHarvest had to raise over US$150 million to fund its 60 acre greenhouse complex.20 Aerofarms raised US$42 million for a 150 000 ft2 vertical farm,21 which equates to over US$280/ft2. Cosgrove22 further reports that access to capital is impeding the growth of indoor farming, especially for smaller farms. One reason that indoor vertical farms are not easily profitable is that they have to compete against conventional farms, which still enjoy a cost advantage. As a result, indoor farms typically price product toward the high end and along the lines of pricing for organics,2 which limits market penetration. The 2 major factors contributing to the high costs of indoor and vertical farm operations are energy10,23,24 and labor, which account for nearly 3 quarters of the total.2,24 Despite these challenges, venture capital continues to pour money into indoor farming and agtech in the hopes of driving cost down and maintaining growth. Dehlinger25 reported that US$2.8 billion was invested by venture capitalists in Agtech companies in 2019.

Finally, the industry is struggling to share knowledge, establish standards, and create best practices, although progress is being made. For example, the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture established a “Best in Class” award for growers and manufacturers (indoorgacenter.org). Indoor Ag-Con (indoor.ag) and the Indoor Agtech Innovation Summit (rethinkevents.com) hold online events and annual conferences to help promote knowledge sharing. Several specialized industry news outlets now exist including Vertical Farm Daily (verticalfarmdaily.com), Urban Ag News (urbanagnews.com), iGrow (igrow.news), Hortidaily (hortidaily.com), AgFunder Network (agfundernews.com), and others.

Read more >

The virtual Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit on June 24-25 will gather the world’s leading farm operators, retailers, food companies, investors, seed companies and technology providers to meet, network and cultivate new commercial partnerships.

350+ attendees from the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia will participate in livestream sessions, join roundtable discussion groups and connect directly through 1-1 video meetings and group chats.

By sharing best practice from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem.

2021 Key Themes

• Hands-Free Cultivation: Latest developments in robotics, automation and AI
• New Crops: Mapping a pathway to mass production
• Retail Insights: Understanding the drivers behind consumer demand
• Seed Optimization: Breeding a competitive advantage
• Financial Models: The investment models scaling the industry
• Advanced Growing Environments: Blurring lines between lighting and genetics
• Profitability at Scale: The technology driving down OPEX
• Food Systems: Bringing food into urban planning
• Direct to Consumer Business Models: Scaling beyond a city
• Energy Efficiency: Driving down the costs of optimum operations

All participants can schedule video 1-1 meetings with potential partners and clients throughout the summit, and for an extended period before and after the sessions.

By sharing best practice from around the globe, and facilitating new connections and collaborations, the summit offers an invaluable platform to develop new business and accelerate projects across the Indoor AgTech ecosystem.

Summit website: https://indooragtechnyc.com/

Registration:
One Summit Pass: Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit (June 24-25, 2021)

Super Early Bird Price: $195
Register before April 2

Early Bird Price: $295
Register before May 7

Standard Price: $395

Two Summit Pass: Indoor AgTech (June 24-25, 2021) and Future Food-Tech Alternative Proteins (June 22-23, 2021)

Super Early Bird Price: $445
Register before April 2

Early Bird Price: $595
Register before May 7

Standard Price: $695

The program will be part of the interdisciplinary food-health-sustainability education cluster at the Bronson Healthy Living Campus – alongside Sustainable Brewing and Culinary Arts & Sustainable Food Systems degrees; Community Culinary & Nutrition classes; multiple accredited Allied Health programs; and the ValleyHUB urban farm and food hub.

The ideal candidate has strong knowledge in horticulture, agriculture, ecology, and/or landscape design; excellent project management skills; and a commitment to systems-oriented, equity-promoting solutions to climate change in the built environment and food system.

Deadline for applicants is March 22, 2021.

Please visit https://jobs.kvcc.edu/postings/3635 for more information and to apply by March 22.

Simple answer, those with the most passion and perseverance.

As the controlled environment agriculture industry we spend a significant amount of time discussing how we are going to improve our communities, the environment, the farming experience and the quality of food we eat. By themselves these are major commitments. Together they are an enormous commitment. This got me thinking about a simple question, “who should be the leaders of this proposed revolution?” In this post I am going to discuss how we can learn from another industry that is historically conservative as well as providing three focal points I think we should concentrate on.

To find an answer, I started to think about other interests in my life. For those that know me well you know that I love being outside. (For those that don’t know me, hold on you are about to get some insight.) I started to think about my interest in fly fishing and I started to pay close attention to the challenges this niche industry is also experiencing.

In order to explain this better, let me “paint” a picture for you. Rarely, once a year (if I am lucky), I get to travel to one of my favorite places with one no more than two people on a remote saltwater flat. A saltwater flat is any area of shallow water with a relatively even bottom. You can find flats in freshwater, but for me I dream of a remote quiet flat with no people and no access to technology. The most iconic place nearest me are the excotic sands of the Bahamas. (See opening photo.) I am not necessarily there to “catch” a fish, I am more there to capture the experience. The beautiful and hopefully untouched and unpolluted gin clear ocean water provides me a feeling that has been unmatched in my travel. The colors of amazing sunset or dramatic sunrise (to me) are more valuable than the finest piece of art. The wildlife exist in a volume that one never gets a chance to experience in the majority of the USA. The pinnacle, if I am lucky, the chance to get to walk up on a tailing fish. I then have a choice, I can choose to simply watch or I can choose to grab my fly rod, a hook wrapped in some twine and feathers and then play a game of trickery with a very formidable competitor. Either way, my the perfect day has been had.

For those of us who live in the United States, one place you can still have this amazing outdoor experience of chasing a tailing fish is Florida. Luckily for me I have family in Florida, but the experience in Florida is getting more difficult to come by. The opportunity to capitalize on agriculture, tourism and other business has put the Florida coast in the state of constant development. With development you have increased pollution and a growing amount of people putting pressure on a limited resource. Development also means more and more fishermen, many of whom do not share my values of protecting the resource and the surrounding environment which if done correctly allows the many generations still to come the opportunity to enjoy this highly unique experience. Let me be clear, I do not believe in limiting access regardless of whether I disagree with their opinions. I think we should all have access to our nation’s natural resources regardless of one’s financial or political position. So what’s the difference between me and those other outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen? What’s their focus? Normally its land as many fish as possible, kill as many fish as the law will allow (because most everyone I meet does follow the local regulations), get a photo, share on Instagram and think nothing of the trail of trash and destruction they leave behind. It is now a fact that this approach is not sustainable if we want everyone to continue to have access.

Now let’s remember that there is a complete, complex industry that makes money off trying to provide me with this experience– airlines that get me there, the hotels that keep me there, the guides that take me there or retailers that sell me all the necessities I “must have” to be there. These companies and the individuals they employ need these shared resources to continue to make a living, pay taxes and support their families.

And this is where the talk gets oddly political. Not all of those heavily invested in making these experiences possible agree on the best way of protecting these resources.Heck, not all of those individuals even agree that these resources need to be protected.

This leads me back to the basic question, “who’s responsible” for protecting these precious resources?

I started digging deeper into the outdoors industry to see what was actually happening. For those not interested in outdoor activities, it is easy to think that hunters and fishermen/women only really care about going into the wilderness to kill stuff. I realized quickly that within the industry there is a clear difference between a hunter, a fisherman and an outdoorsman. And it’s interesting to see that more and more the outdoorsmen/women who are leading the fight to protect the environments are the same ones that not only cherish it but use it to make a living. They are changing the narrative by encouraging people not to be focused on killing as many fish as they can catch. They are building platforms like Captains for Clean Waters that allow your voice to support science-based solutions and empower your dollar to fight for water quality and hold elected officials accountable. They are better educating themselves by creating entities like Bone and Tarpon Trust to support fisheries through collecting data by using science-based methods supported through collaborations with institutes and governments.

Most importantly I noticed that these individuals are also by far the most passionate about their careers, their hobbies and the natural resources. They are motivated because they see the importance of making change now. They are political, but not in the way you would think (I am still trying to figure this one out so I will hold off on additional comments.) They are motivated by money (this is their living), but the money is not directly derived from the actions they are taking to create change. They have convinced their industries biggest personalities to take a stance while promoting science backed solutions in their most popular venues (tv shows, podcasts, movies and retailers.) Most interesting to me they have convinced these personalities to do this even though it might go against the beliefs of their typical customer base. They realize that offending their customer base is not as important as protecting the resources that allow them to actually have a client base.

Now let’s get back to one of my earlier questions, “who should be the leaders of these changes in our industry?” I think we can learn from other industries by saying, that those whom are most passionate should be our leaders and we as an industry need to find ways to work together to give those passionate individuals a platform that will help to attract new talent to our industry and better educate those individuals interested in our industry or the consumer eating the produce we so proudly grow.

We need to remember that we don’t need to solve every problem, because that’s not realistic. We need to know that if we all work to solve small manageable problems, collectively we will solve big problems. We need to remember that it’s important to encourage those individuals tackling these problems as they will be the ones that create opportunities for all of us.

So what problems can we solve as the controlled environment agriculture industry?

1. Education: The environmental impact that occurs as farmers feed the world. 

We have all read, watched or heard the statistics on how “bad” traditional farming is for the environment. I for one think it’s unfair to put this all on the farmer, even if the facts support much of the rhetoric. It’s unfair because of economics. Traditional farmers do an amazing job of providing “us” with inexpensive food options because that’s what “we” as the consumer have asked them to grow. This creates a big problem for many farmers I know who spend a significant amount of time contemplating how to best steward their land while producing enough yield to pay the bills. We are asking much of these individuals and their relatively small family business.

REMEMBER:  FARMING IS A BUSINESS.

This is our opportunity to support voices that educate. We need to encourage voices that can show or present positive environmental outcomes for the future of farming. One which allows the farmers to become excited for their future and that of their families. For certain crops and in certain geographies, controlled environment agriculture practices can allow farmers solutions to problems like nitrogen run-off, high pesticide usage and inefficient water use. This technology will also allow the farm to become more labor efficient while extending their selling seasons. Success will be based on how well we take the science based data coming out of universities like Wageningen, Ohio State and North Carolina State and then turn it into something that the farming community, local government and ultimately the consumer can use to change the way they grow and purchase food.

Warning:  Our industry needs to be careful that we don’t over promise while at the same time focus on the positive impact we can make while not creating other possibly larger problems.

2. The Platform: Rebuilding of blighted rural and urban communities.

Not historically an “ag” or “hort” conversation, community development is becoming a popular part of many new ventures’ pitch decks. It’s obvious that local politicians in certain areas are interested in this concept, but the reality of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) businesses creating many jobs with good salaries is still yet to be proven.

The current interest, global attention and spotlight may well mean it’s our best opportunity at creating a platform with real stakeholders financially committed to helping us drive opportunity forward.

In order to do this, we will need to open up and think like a community. We will need to:

• Create platforms that support developing an industry within an industry.
• We will need to educate innovators with the problems that truly need to be solved.
• We will need to think about how we work together to build up a variety of businesses that have the same focus and shared missions.
• We will need to think creatively about what business makes sense in what settings.
• We will need to think about investing in our industry to create ways of educating the next generation of workers and leaders.
• We will need to lobby to get the support of both the financial and political communities.
• We will need to focus.

Most importantly we need to understand it’s not our businesses that will alone strengthen the community; it’s the creation of opportunities that lift up families giving them the economic means to further their education, improve their diets, become property owners and invest in their own futures.

“Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”
– Martin Luther King.

3. Changing the Narrative: Health and wellness of individuals in our communities.

For most, the food we eat becomes the center of our social universe.  Think about it.  Where do people gather when they visit your house?  The kitchen.  When you think about some of your best memories what is one of the things you remember?  The food and drink you enjoyed.  When you need to feel at home, what do you turn to?  Comfort food.

That’s why for me, this is a no brainer.  We grow fresh produce.  We create the fuel people put in their bodies.  We have an opportunity to be part of the memories the consumer makes.  We need to be proud of this.  We need to motivate consumers by educating them to understand why fresh produce is an important component of creating a long healthy happy life filled with good memories surrounded by family, friends and happiness.  

We need to promote diets high in fresh vegetables and produce which means challenging the animal protein industry for space on plates.  We need to work with chefs to make sure our product is the centerpiece and not a side dish.  We need to promote these diets as fashionable and desirable.  Not encouraging the stereotypes of meatless diets, but the benefits and enjoyment that comes from a plant based lifestyle with animal proteins as the side dish.  We need to look at our own homes and look at the dollars we are spending on our plates.  We need to ensure that we are supporting those that support us.

Finally, the exact solutions will not be provided by one person.  My colleagues and I continue to work to do what we can to play a small role in improving the environment around us.  But, for us to ultimately succeed we will need to identify multiple individuals that have grit, then support them and their passion to solve specific problems.  Join me in starting this journey and remember its most important to start now as its only getting harder and harder to protect what we love.

BrightFarms founder and president Paul Lightfoot, who is chairman of the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee, said controlled environment agriculture could play a major role in helping to solve some of the significant issues facing the ag industry and U.S. Photos courtesy of BrightFarms

As chairman of the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee, Paul Lightfoot at BrightFarms is looking for ways to make major improvements in food production, sustainability and consumption.

When Paul Lightfoot founded BrightFarms in January 2011 he had no experience in commercial food production. Ten years later he is president of one of the fastest growing controlled environment agriculture companies in the United States. Starting with one 54,000-square-foot greenhouse facility in Pennsylvania in 2013, BrightFarms has expanded with greenhouse operations in four states with a total production area of 700,000 square feet.

“I had a background in retail supply chain improvement,” Lightfoot said. “I was running a supply-side software company for about nine years and was thinking about whether I could create an opportunity that would combine my career with my personal interest in healthy sustainable food. I studied different opportunities and came across the leafy greens supply chain as one that was ripe for destruction.

“At the time, all salads in North America basically came from the West Coast, either Salinas, Calif., in the summer or Yuma, Ariz., in the winter. I identified a very centralized, very industrialized supply chain that wasn’t benefitting consumers.”

Lightfoot said the concentrated field production locations and long-distance shipping required to deliver leafy greens to East Coast markets was not good for the product.

“Most leafy greens are five to seven days old when they arrive at retailers’ distribution centers, and that shows in the quality, nutrition and taste,” he said. “I also thought field food production had some Achilles heals’ in terms of food safety and sustainability, which I thought would become more important, providing BrightFarms with a terrific market opportunity.

“I knew that consumers would continue to focus on healthy eating and that the demand for salads was going to rise. I grew confident that BrightFarms could disrupt a supply chain that was fragile and vulnerable.”

After opening its first greenhouse facility in 2013, Lightfoot said by the end of 2014 the company had figured out its operating model.

“We began to raise serious capital,” he said. “We graduated from venture capital to private equity in 2016 as we hit the national stage. We opened much larger greenhouses, one in Virginia to serve the Washington, D.C., market and one in Illinois to serve the Chicago and Milwaukee markets. Those were in partnership with Ahold Delhaize and Kroger.

“Before then I don’t think the produce industry had taken controlled environment salad production seriously. After 2016 we established ourselves as a contender to continue winning market share.”

Lightfoot said just about every major retailer in the U.S. now has an indoor-grown salad program on its shelves.

“There are billions of dollars of market share to be captured with leafy greens,” he said. “It’s a big and growing segment and by far the lion’s share of the growth is coming from controlled environment local production like ours.”

Helping to solve ag industry, societal issues

In October 2020 Lightfoot was elected chair of the USDA’s Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (FVIAC). Formed in 2001, the purpose of the committee is to examine issues that impact the fruit and vegetable industry and to provide recommendations and ideas to the Secretary of Agriculture on how the USDA can tailor programs to better meet the needs of the produce industry. FVIAC currently has four working groups: food safety, production, labor and trade.

“During our committee meetings the members develop a series of recommendations on the matters that are within the preview of the USDA,” Lightfoot said. “These recommendations are relevant to fruit and vegetable companies in the U.S., including growers, shippers, distributors, retailers and other organizations that have a stake in this space.”

Lightfoot said the U.S. agriculture industry has an opportunity to help tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the U.S., including climate change and nutrition. 

“We have a society where the majority of Americans are obese or nearly obese and an extremely high percentage is diabetic or pre-diabetic,” he said. “The leading cause of death in the U.S. is from chronic diseases that are a result of our diets.

“We don’t need fancy technology to see the solution. Only about one in 10 Americans eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. Shifting our diets away from highly processed foods and toward more fruits and vegetables would reduce diet-related chronic diseases, reduce the costs of healthcare, and even improve our military readiness.”

Another area where Lightfoot said the agricultural industry could help resolve issues is related to climate change.

“It is well understood that the energy and transportation sectors are huge contributors to climate change,” he said. “In general, as a world we are making progress on those fronts. I’m not alone in driving an electric car and powering my home with wind-powered electricity.

“Less well understood is that the U.S. agriculture industry emits 10 percent of our country’s greenhouse gases. It is also one of the most vulnerable sectors to more volatile weather that results from climate change.”

Lightfoot is particularly concerned about the impact the agriculture industry is having on the country’s top soil and water resources.

“We’re mining our soil,” he said. “If we continue to degrade our soils, we only have about 50 seasons of soil left in the Midwest. Farming practices in the Midwest and California have also had a major impact on waterways, reducing sources of potable water.

“More biodiversity needs to be introduced into the areas of the West Coast that currently grow our salads. It has become a monoculture, which has removed the life from the soil and disrupted the water cycles. One idea would be to provide incentives to those farmers to “re-wild” some of that land, adding biodiversity to restore the soils and water cycles. That lost production capacity could be offset with the growth in high intensity indoor farms.”

Taking the CEA industry seriously

Lightfoot said his participation with FVIAC is beneficial to BrightFarms and to the CEA industry.

“It is important to remember that I am representing the entire fruit and vegetable industry in my role with FVIAC,” he said. “I care about BrightFarms like I care about a child, but in this role I will be speaking for the entire industry.

“The U.S. should be doubling the per capita annual consumption of fruits and vegetables. Because Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, our country is suffering.”

Lightfoot said his participation with FVIAC, along with being a board member of the United Fresh Produce Association, reflects the changes occurring in the CEA industry and how it is viewed overall by the agriculture industry.

“The CEA industry was considered fairly new and only recently has it become a bigger player,” he said. “These ag organizations recognize that and want our representation. We are glad to have it. We think we have an important voice and I’m glad to be able represent the CEA industry.”

For more: BrightFarms, Farm Support Center, Irvington, NY 10533; (866) 857-8745; info@brightfarms.com; https://www.brightfarms.com/

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

During weekly webinar sessions, thought leaders in the field of food will share his/her vision on (the future of) healthy food.

Following last week’s session with Henry Gordon Smith. Dave Chen, CEO of private equity firm Equilibrium, will explain in more detail his firm’s vision on purposeful, sustainable investment in controlled environment production and why this way of investing is so important for the future of the horticultural sector. In the past few years, his private equity firm Equilibrium invested more than 100 million USD in horticultural projects and there’s much more to come. Purpose driven investment and sustainability are key to his business.

He strongly agreed with Henry Gordon Smith and also with Meiny Prins that food production in and near the cities is becoming more important. The current crisis will only accelerate the developments towards food systems based on short(er) chains, resilience and with a regional focus. These developments will have a great impact on the future (geographical location and role) of horticulture.

He also argues that the current advances in technology that take place at break-neck speed, call for open minds and out-of-the-box thinking. To this end, attracting outside talents with different backgrounds and competences to work in horticulture is crucial for further development of the sector. 

Dave Chen will explain his vision on ‘the future of food’ in more detail during the upcoming EAT THIS! session, taking place on June 3 from 16.00 hrs CET onwards.
In Curious to know more? Join us for this session via this link: https://bit.ly/EATTHISDaveChen

In this first issue, they featured an article by UAN founder, Chris Higgins.

“The distribution of food is now being put under a microscope. But where there is chaos, there is opportunity. So what do we do to rebuild, restrengthen, and reinforce our food distribution models so that we can provide healthy food to the majority of the population?”

–Chris Higgins

Leafy greens include commonly consumed vegetables such as lettuce, kale, and microgreens. Production challenges outdoors have led to interest in growing these specialty crops hydroponically in controlled environments, such as indoor farms. However there is little information on whether this is economically viable. Capital and operating costs can be significant for startups, especially as it relates to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and cooling systems. Leafy greens are a good candidate for indoor farming because they can be grown rapidly and in relatively small spaces. Indoor environments are heavily controlled, so growers aren’t constrained to a small geographic area within the U.S. There are, however, other geographic concerns.

The team and its collaborators have three major goals:

• Define optimal profitability based on yield and other high-value attributes of the plants, such as nutrition content
• Optimize indoor environmental conditions, such as humidity, air movement, temperature, light and carbon dioxide concentration, to increase yield and high-value attributes
• Encourage indoor farming stakeholders to collaborate with academic and industry groups that are working in controlled-environment agriculture.

The long-term project goals are to help integrate indoor farming into the specialty-crop segment of agriculture in the U.S.; to increase the sustainability and hence profitability of this rapidly emerging sector; and to locally produce leafy greens that have higher quality attributes. To this end, our economists will better understand operating and capital expenditures (capex), and define risk and production scenarios that are most profitable. Our horticulturists and engineers will improve production efficiency, product quality, and value-added attributes of leafy greens for reliable, consistent, year-round production. In addition, the team will design and test more effective localized air-distribution methods suitable for indoor production systems, as well as develop strategies to better manage humidity around plants to reduce tip burn. While the project focuses on leafy greens, the results will also inform a wide range of controlled-environment growers through the development of growth recipes, strategies for nutritional content and anthocyanin enhancement, environmental management recommendations, and insights for economic sustainability as well as market and consumer perception of locally produced crops.

For more information, visit the project website at scri-optimia.org.

Despite rapid growth, data is notoriously difficult to come by in the CEA industry. According to the two companies, farm operators see the potential for improvement and are optimistic about the future, but often express frustration at not knowing where to turn to for help. Confounding this is the sentiment from farmers that many consumers, and particularly local governments, lack clarity around the benefits of local & controlled environment farming. In the report, Autogrow and Agritecture paint a clearer picture of the global CEA industry by identifying important trends and contextualizing them for a wider audience.

The Global CEA Census ran from June 4 to July 22, 2019, asking growers around the world a total of 45 questions. It was promoted primarily through both companies’ social media channels and with the help of various industry media partners, including AgFunder. One respondent won a free trip to NYC AgTech Week in September as part of the Census promotion.

Major takeaways highlighted by Autogrow and Agritecture include:

• Controlled environment agriculture has become a truly global industry. Two-thirds of respondents came from outside the U.S., and 30% were from developing parts of the world.
• Controlled environment farms are diversifying by expanding their crop choices far beyond leafy greens and herbs.
• While the average age of traditional farmers continues to climb, CEA defies the trend by attracting younger professionals to the agriculture industry.
• CEA is experiencing an entrepreneurial boom of new entrants. Nearly half of all farms started in 2019 had founders with no prior experience in agriculture.

The report dives into additional demographic patterns, as well as growing methods; facility types; marketing strategies; challenges to growth; future outlook by farmers; and more. The companies look forward to making the survey an annual occurrence with increased participation, particularly amongst greenhouse growers.

The report is available free for download at: www.agritecture.com/census

• Improve you crop productivity, from managing lighting, temperature and humidity to controlling disease and pests.
• Attend in person for educational sessions, greenhouse tours, and network reception. Attend via webinar for presentations only.  

Education Credits

• GAPs Certification of Completion will be provided.
• Continuing education credits have been requested for several certification programs. 

For those who are difficult to travel, the whole workshop (except tours) will be accessible for online participants via webinar.

Click here for online registration.