Current provided LED grow lighting for the four chambers that will be used to grow vine crops, berries and leafy greens at the CEARC, while Hort Americas handled the lighting layout, design and planning. The 48,989-square-foot CEARC will provide a platform for interdisciplinary research at the nexus of horticulture, engineering, entomology, pathology, food science, computer science and human nutrition/health.

“This is an important project for the industry because of the cutting-edge research, teaching and job training that will be conducted at this facility,” said Chris Higgins, Hort Americas president and co-founder. “We’re also excited because this is a way to prepare students to enter directly into the commercial horticulture workforce.”

CEARC researchers will explore new methods for improving nutrient density and flavor in vegetables and fruits, as well as optimizing harvesting and controlling insects and pests. In addition, clinical studies will be done to examine the efficacy of enhanced nutritional value in the human diet. 

In appreciation for Current’s support, the CEARC’s lobby is named the Arize Lobby. Arize is Current’s world-class LED lighting brand.

About Current

At Current, we are Always On and working to improve lives with the industry’s most expansive portfolio of sustainable advanced lighting and intelligent controls that reliably meet our customers’ needs. Learn more at CurrentLighting.com.

About Hort Americas

Hort Americas is dedicated to playing an integral role in the different niches of commercial horticulture. We work closely with key manufacturers to develop and bring the highest quality, technically advanced and most cost effective products to the greenhouse growers and vertical farmers in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico. Learn more today about our commitment, services and products at www.hortamericas.com.

Press Release, February 24, 2022 — In May 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, greenhouse vegetable grower AppHarvest approached commercial horticultural distributor Hort Americas with a challenging request. AppHarvest, which was already operating a 60-acre greenhouse tomato operation in Morehead, Ky., was looking to build an additional three production facilities in the Appalachian region. AppHarvest’s request to Hort Americas was to source LED grow lights that were:

1. Manufactured in the United States.

2. Manufactured in the Appalachian region.

3. Manufactured at a cost equal or less than the other horticultural product suppliers.

Hort Americas president Chris Higgins accepted AppHarvest’s challenge and contacted GE Current, a Daintree company, which manufactures horticultural LED grow lights. At the time Current wasn’t manufacturing any of its grow lights in the United States.

Through a collaborative effort, known as AppLit, between the three companies, Current officials made the decision to begin producing LED grow lights at its manufacturing facility in Hendersonville, N.C.

“Current has produced outdoor and industrial products at the plant for 70+ years,” said Mike Armstrong, former director of strategic growth initiatives at Current. “The plant has reduced its footprint on the manufacturing side. By incorporating the latest robotics and high-speed assembly technology initiatives has enabled Current to speed up and improve its output efficiencies and its quality across the board. What that means for horticultural and agricultural products is the plant has compressed its manufacturing footprint within the facility which allows for opportunities for growth and expansion.”

Armstrong said the expansion that is occurring within the controlled environment agriculture industry offers a great opportunity for expansion at the Current plant.

“We have this manufacturing facility here in Henderson County, where there is this huge growth market and industry,” he said. “It gives us a lease on life for the future because it is such a growing and dynamic industry.”

Higgins said the benefits of the AppLit project are best summarized as promoting community and collaboration.

“The pandemic has forced us to become better problem solvers and better partners,” Higgins said. “We are building products in the United States that create good jobs for multiple people in the supply chain from manufacturing the lights to the people growing the food.

“AppLit was designed to support Appalachian companies and communities. This is going to lead to opportunities for greenhouse growers, vertical farmers and other people within the controlled environment agriculture sector around the country and throughout North America. It also reminds us of the importance of collaborations. These are lessons we don’t plan on forgetting anytime soon.”

For more: Hort Americas LLC, (469) 532-2383; SalesSupport@HortAmericas.com; https://hortamericas.com/. GE Current, a Daintree company, (216) 375-4618; Daniel.Lee3@gecurrent.com; https://www.gecurrent.com/horticulture. AppLit; https://applit.farm/.

Article originally published by Hort Americas

Hort Americas is working with Current to ensure their customers receive the maximum utility rebates for their LED grow light purchases.

The benefits of using LED grow lights with controlled environment crops are well documented. One of the reasons some growers are reluctant to make the investment in these grow lights is affordability. Horticultural distributor Hort Americas is working with LED grow light manufacturer GE Current, a Daintree company, to ensure its customers are making the right choices to meet their lighting, production and profitability requirements.

“Hort Americas and Current are continually monitoring what kind of financing solutions are available for our customers and their projects,” said Lee Levitt, North American utility director at Current. “This includes utility rebates, grants and loans through federal, state and local municipalities or helping to solve energy supply issues in deregulated markets with the potential ability to leverage a creative financing solution. Our team is supporting and educating the horticulture market by keeping our fingers on the pulse of what is happening in that marketplace.

“In my role at Current and in my dozen plus years of experience doing utility rebates, we deliver with Hort Americas an approach that maximizes the customer experience in utility engagement. We can leverage with our customers the greatest rebate dollars that might be available to them.

We have a proven track record of rebate award success with countless clients across the U.S. and Canada. Over the years, with the support of our partners like Hort Americas, we have delivered millions of dollars in utility rebates back to our customers who completed lighting and/or lighting controls for renovation or new construction projects.”

Geography is a rebate driver

Levitt said geographic location is a major driver in who qualifies for a utility rebate and how many rebate dollars are available for specific projects.

“Geography is absolutely a driver of these rebates,” Levitt said. “Agencies, whether they are state or federal, or electric utility companies, and the traditional rebate type programs that people are familiar with, present different opportunities for growers depending upon what they’re producing, what the scope of their work looks like and where their facility is located across North America.”

Levitt said scope of work refers to what the project might look like.

“This could be a greenhouse, warehouse, a renovation or new construction,” he said. “This also includes whether LED lamps or tubes are being replaced or new fixtures are being installed. We also help support our customers to make sure they leverage all eligible rebate measures. A project could have a much larger scope where a whole building analysis might make sense where it is affecting HVAC or is it just lighting and controls.

“Current works with Hort Americas to support and leverage the greatest rebate eligibility opportunity based upon what the customer might qualify for. This applies to whatever type of facility it is or where it is located and what barriers, if there are any, based on the facility’s geography that might be present.”

Levitt said the utility rebate program landscape continues to evolve. There are about 20 states with at least one utility company within that state that offers a specific horticulture program incentive. There are also about a dozen states that do not have a specific horticulture rebate program, but will evaluate energy-savings grow projects through a custom or other mechanism of evaluation to determine eligibility.

“My analysis of horticulture grow light rebates has a wide range of award opportunity depending on geography,” he said. “Geography can be a major influential factor on how and if a program recognizes a horticulture project or not. Issues that influence rebate eligibility and award values are wide ranging and can include things like day light harvesting, energy savings, renovation vs. new construction, hours of operation, type of indoor grow facility, replacing lamps/tubes vs. whole fixture upgrade and more.

“Utilities can be very complex around how their rebate program algorithms operate meaning they could be built around a one-for-one fixture change out or they may be based on energy savings calculations around kW or kWh. It’s not really black-and-white. Those are some of the factors that can determine what the rebate amount will be. For all these reasons Current and Hort Americas help support growers maneuver the process so they can maximize their rebate awards.”

More rebate opportunities for horticulture

Levitt said there is rebate program eligibility for growers just like any other energy-efficiency project.

“Horticulture is a unique space and there are and can be significant rebate program dollars available to growers,” he said. “Depending on the size of a project, a greenhouse or warehouse that is considered smaller in scope could qualify for a hundred thousand dollar rebate which could be a lot of money based on project costs. There could be multi-million dollar farms that are massive in size and scope where much larger rebate opportunities can deliver significantly more rebate dollar awards.

“Utility rebates have been around for years, and the traditional low hanging fruit was always lighting. As the commercial market landscape becomes more saturated with traditional to LED upgrade solutions, indoor grow which is a new space is very appealing when it comes to energy-saving goals that utilities are trying to achieve on an annual basis.”

Levitt said utility companies are always looking for energy-savings opportunities that can be recognized within the guidelines of their rebate programs.

“Utility companies are becoming more aware of the horticulture industry and controlled environment agriculture,” he said. “Some of these projects can generate a unique whole-building type of analysis that can affect someone who is doing lighting or lighting controls. The benefits in lighting can also lead to benefits for HVAC utility rebates. There is the potential to stack energy-savings opportunities for all stakeholders around a whole building depending on the
project leading to significant rebate dollars for the customer.”

Even though significant rebate dollars may be available, Levitt said utility rebate programs can be difficult to maneuver because of their complexity.

“Many utilities require pre-approval and engagement with the utility in the early stages of advancing energy-efficiency projects,” he said. “The benefit in engaging with utility programs early helps to make the utility knowledgeable that a potential energy-efficiency project is being completed in their territory. Utility programs are structured with a limited amount of dollars. When those dollars run out, rebate awards end. Achieving pre-approvals where applicable and addressing pre- and post-inspections are all requirements in most utility rebate programs.

“We offer rebate processing solutions and support that allow growers to stay focused on growing. Each project and scope of work is unique and so are the rebate processing needs and support that is required depending upon each customer, what they’re working on and the customer’s unique needs. Current and Hort Americas are familiar with their customers’ needs and goals and help support them so that they can complete and submit the rebate paperwork to leverage those utility rebates and accelerate LED adoption.”

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

Hort Americas continues to show its industry leading knowledge in controlled environment agriculture with its series of Online Short Courses. Look for a new one each month. In June, they will tackle fertilizers and nutrients.

You can register now for the next one on Saturday, May 22, 2021!

Learn all the important aspects of growing strawberries successfully.

From hydroponic growing system selection, best substrate options, nutrient requirement and how to create the proper rootzone and air environment to promote growth and development in greenhouse production.

Instructor: M.S. Karla Garcia
– Hort Americas Technical Service
– Master in Plant Sciences from The University of Arizona
– Recognition by ISHS in strawberry hydroponic research
– Editor: Book Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs
– CEO at Microgreens FLN

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Schedule: 10:00 AM TO 12:00 PM (Central Time)
Platform: ZOOM US
Price: $50 US

Once you have registered, we will make contact to provide access to our LIVE session!

Course Content

– Strawberry hydroponics growing systems

– Nutrient requirement

– Irrigation

– Environmental requirements for strawberry
a) Light
b) Temperature
c) Humidity
d) Air flow
e) Rootzone environmental conditions (Substrate options)

– Cultivar selection
a) June- Bearing
b) Ever-bearing

– Planting material

– Crop management

Send us an email at technicalservice@hortamericas.com if you have any further questions!

‘Indoor Farming in Mexico: Current Status and Opportunities’ by Karla Garcia

Founder and Director of Microgreen FLN and Technical Services Specialist for Hort Americas, Karla Garcia, discusses in the February 2021 Ag Café episode what’s happening in Mexico’s controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, what’s impeding its growth, and what she hopes will change that in the future. As a business owner and technical consultant in CEA, Ms. Garcia has a unique and insightful perspective on the impact government policy, training, and public perception of CEA products has on the future success of CEA in Mexico.

This presentation ‘Indoor Farming in Mexico: Current Status and Opportunities’ was given by Karla Garcia (Microgreens FLN & HortAmericas) during our 27th cafe forum on February 23rd, 2021. Indoor Ag Science Cafe is organized by the OptimIA project team funded by USDA SCRI grant program.

The Café presentations are available from YouTube channel.

Upcoming Cafes:
March 30, 11am EST – ‘USDA SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Grants Program Overview’ by Dr. Steven Thomson & Melinda Coffman (USDA NIFA)

Interested in giving a talk to share your thoughts and experiences? Contact them

Press Release – Hort Americas presents their latest online short course. From hydroponic growing system selection, use of artificial lighting and environmental control of all key variables in vertical farming systems. This is your time to master the use of artificial lighting!

Instructor: M.S. Karla Garcia
– Hort Americas Technical Service
– Master in Plant Sciences from The University of Arizona
– Recognition by ISHS in strawberry hydroponic research
– Editor: Book Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs
– CEO at Microgreens FLN

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Schedule: 10:00 AM TO 12:00 PM (Central Time)
Platform: ZOOM US
Price: $50 US

Once you have registered, we will make contact to provide access to our LIVE session!

Course Content

– Plant factory: Advantages in yield and production

– Hydroponics in vertical farming systems
a) NFT
b) DFT
c) Ebb and flow

– Leafy greens production (Lettuce, herbs, microgreens)

-Understanding artificial lighting
a) Light quality
b) Light quantity
c) Light calculations for vertical farming systems

– Environmental control in plant factory
a) Air flow
b) Gas exchange
c) Temperature
d) Humidity

– Advice in sales and product selection

Send an email to technicalservice@hortamericas.com if you have any further questions!

HYDROPONICS 101 – Growing systems

Learn all the important aspects of growing crops hydroponically, from hydroponic growing system selection, best substrate options for your plants and how to create the proper environment to promote growth and development successfully.

Instructor: M.S. Karla Garcia

• Hort Americas Technical Service
• Master in Plant Sciences from The University of Arizona
• Recognition by ISHS in strawberry hydroponic research
• Editor: Book Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs
• CEO at Microgreens FLN

Date: Saturday, May 2, 2020

Schedule: 12 PM to 6 PM (Central Time)

Platform: ZOOM US

Price: $50 US

Once you have registered, we will make contact to provide access to our LIVE session.

Course Content

-Introduction to hydroponics

-Hydroponic systems

-Substrates

-Basics of plant nutrition and system monitoring

-Hydroponics system in leafy greens

a) Lettuce, culinary herbs and microgreens

-Hydroponic system in vine crops

a) Tomatoes, Pepper, cucumbers

BREAK

-Hydroponics system in strawberry

-Hydroponic system in cannabis/hemp

-Hydroponic system in ornamentals

-Introduction to plant response to environmental factors

-Introduction to artificial lighting

The Opportunity

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

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

The Possibilities and the Challenges

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

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

Finding Success with LED Grow Lights

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keynotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vertical Farm Production of Young Plants, From Hemp to Tomatoes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Panelists

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

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

Location

The Institute at Nela Park

1975 Noble Rd. Cleveland, OH 44112

Date & Time

Monday, September 23, 2019
9 am to 4pm

Registration

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

Hotel

Hyatt Legacy Village
24665 Cedar Rd
Lyndhurst, OH 44124

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

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

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

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

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

What does it take to grow leafy greens and herbs in controlled environment structures? Commercial hydroponic grower and consultant Tyler Baras has written “Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs” to help those interested in commercial hydroponic production. The book is based on Baras’ experience with commercial hydroponic leafy greens production.
The goal of the book is to provide information that can guide investors through some of the details related to starting a hydroponic operation. Topics covered in the book include site selection, structure and growing system selection, lighting, nutrient solutions, substrates, crop selection, plant health and target markets.

“This book covers a lot of the traditional recommendations seen in hydroponic textbooks, but I’ve also included my personal experiences that have widened my perspective on the ways to grow hydroponic leafy greens,” Baras said. “I often run into situations that seem to run against the traditional recommendations coming from universities and textbooks. I think the entire industry still has a lot more to learn.”

Baras said people looking to invest in controlled environment agriculture often only see the potential production and financial statistics used to promote commercial hydroponic leafy greens.

“These numbers don’t tell the whole story which includes a lot of not so flashy challenges,” Baras said. “I’ve seen investors get sold on the flashy stats without a full understanding of the challenges of creating and managing a profitable leafy greens farm.

“I’m tired of seeing controlled environment farms fail due to avoidable mistakes. Small mistakes in the farm planning process can cut into a farm’s potential, drastically reducing output and profitability.”

Another tool to help CEA growers succeed

Chris Higgins, general manager at Hort Americas, said this new publication is just one of many ways his company is working to support controlled environment agriculture.

“As a horticultural distributor, Hort Americas cannot succeed if our customers don’t succeed,” Higgins said. “We want to assist our customers in building economically sound businesses so we can build our business around successful growers. We support controlled environment agriculture for many reasons and want to promote it.

“What we don’t want to do is encourage people to invest in a controlled environment operation and then end up failing. “Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs” helps to make clear the challenges and requirements facing anyone looking to start this type of business.”

Join us on Tuesday, March 12, and explore additional tools for expanding farm revenue through vertical farming innovations.

Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension invite you to register at http://bit.ly/Register-2019-Vertical-Farming  for the 2019 Virginia Innovation in Greenhouse and Vertical Farming Conference

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Virginia Farm Bureau
12580 West Creek Parkway; Richmond, Virginia

Keynote Speaker
Neil Mattson, Ph.D., Cornell University

Special Guest Speaker
Chris Higgins, Hort Americas

In addition, you will hear from:

• Jerry Conner, Four Oaks Farms
• Travis Higginbothan, Fluence Bioengineering
• John McMahon, Schulyer Greens
• Ryan Pierce, Fresh Impact Farms

Join academic and industry experts in exploring the latest advances in vertical farming, greenhouse technology, sensor technology, lighting, and automation.  Hear from technical experts and Virginia producers who have been successful in incorporating controlled environment agriculture into their business models.

Register by visiting http://bit.ly/Register-2019-Vertical-Farming before Thursday, February 28.

BioBee has developed protocols for the integration of its beneficial insects and mites with selective pesticides under strict pest monitoring programs. These protocols can be used by conventional and organic growers of vegetables, fruits and ornamentals.

“BioBee believes that insects are the future,” said Rami Ben Dor, general manager at BioBee USA. “We are inspired by nature when we integrate our beneficial insects and beneficial nematodes into our growers’ IPM programs based on our 35 years of field experience and research and development.”

BioBee offers a variety of biological controls for some of the most common pests that infest both edible and ornamental crops, including spider mites, western flower thrips, sweet potato whitefly, aphids and leaf miners.

“Hort Americas has been looking to add biological controls and beneficial insects to its catalog for a few years,” said Chris Higgins, general manager at Hort Americas. “There has been an increasing demand for greenhouse-grown, pesticide-free products.”

Hort Americas partners with leading suppliers of commercial horticultural products from around the world to serve North American professional greenhouse and indoor growers with the latest technologically advanced products.

For more: Hort Americas, (469) 532-2383; customerservice@hortamericas.com;
https://hortamericas.com. BioBee USA, http://www.biobee.us.

While much of the country’s indoor hydroponic food production is being done by growers located near large urban areas, mGardens in Gorham, Kan., is bucking the trend. Tom Murphy, who is the company’s operator, asked why should people living in or near large cities be the only ones able to enjoy the taste, freshness and nutrition associated with hydroponic leafy greens?

“My wife Jo and I first got interested in hydroponic food production when we talked to Ron Cramer,” Murphy said. “Ron and my wife are from the same home town, went through school together and continue a longtime friendship.

“When Ron retired from Sakata Seed he got interested in hydroponic food production with LED lights. He has been talking to me and my wife for about five years about growing leafy greens. He said more food production is moving in this direction. This is related to the loss of freshness and nutritional value during shipping of perishable crops.”

In 2015, Tom, Ron and their wives met with Chris Higgins at Hort Americas, a horticultural distributor in Bedford, Texas.

“While we were in Texas we visited a Central Market grocery store that is using a GrowRack to offer its customers fresh produce,” Murphy said. “The store was growing hydroponic lettuce in its produce department and marketing it to its shoppers. You can’t get any fresher and local than that.

“We came back home and purchased a three level GrowRack hydroponic unit equipped with LED lights. We started operating it in March 2017 and were very impressed with the taste and quality of our first crops of lettuce, kale and arugula.”

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When Murphy began growing the crops Cramer told him that he would end up producing more food than he knew what to do with. Murphy initially gave the produce to relatives and neighbors.

“The people to whom we gave the produce raved about the taste and the freshness,” Murphy said. “We started playing around with producing a greens mix.”

In September 2017, Murphy put on a salad-making demonstration with the greens mix at a meeting sponsored by the Russell County Economic Development & Convention and Visitors Bureau. At the meeting were local entrepreneurs and business people.

“I explained to the attendees where a lot of our food comes from, how much food is wasted and what we can do to offer fresher, better-tasting food,” Murphy said. “I told them how this food could be grown locally and asked for feedback. Everybody loved the salad. At the meeting was the owner of the local grocery store, Klema’s Apple Market Grocery. He said the store would buy and sell the greens. A solid grocery market was what I felt was needed to start growing commercially.”

Getting serious about growing

After the response from the business community about the greens, Tom and his nephew Mike Murphy and Mike’s wife Tonya decided to set up a commercial operation.

“We prepared a business plan and met with Chris Higgins,” Murphy said. “Chris explained to us that the floating pond system is the most economical way to grow vegetables. So Mike and I converted the three-level GrowRack ebb-and-flow system into a three-level floating pond system.”

Tom ran the floating pond system from July 2017 until January 2018. He was looking for a system that didn’t require acres of land like Hort Americas’ demonstration greenhouse, which he had toured during his trip to Texas.

“I asked Chris how we could adapt a confined totally environmentally controlled area equipped with LED lights into a pond system,” he said. “We ended up designing the system on a napkin.”

The Murphys purchased two old stainless steel refrigeration rail cars that are 40-feet long by 8-feet wide by 9-feet tall. Tom and Mike began working on the system in November 2017.

“We gutted everything out of these stainless steel containers and poured concrete footings because we knew there would be a lot of weight from the pond system,” Murphy said. “We calculated that we could put in two rows of racks. We purchased the pond liners and 8-foot GE LED lights from Hort Americas. Mike did all of the electrical, plumbing and welding.”

Prior to beginning the construction, Murphy said he contacted the USDA to inspect the production system that he and Mike were installing.

“I wanted the USDA to insure compliance with its guidelines,” he said. “USDA officials visited us three times before they did their final walk through to give us a license to operate.

“We also wanted to be FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) certified. We had to install a three-basin commercial sink without a connector drain. It had to have an air drain on it. Before we started growing we wanted to make sure that we were compliant with FSMA, even though that law doesn’t go into effect until January 2019.”

Murphy said the company also was required to obtain a grower license as well as a processor license in order to bag the produce for grocery sales.

“Just like a restaurant has to be inspected by USDA, so do we,” he said. “That fit right in with what we were doing in regards to meeting FSMA guidelines. Our main concern is food safety. We’re telling our customers we don’t grow in soil, we monitor for pests and diseases and no insecticides or fungicides are used. The facility is closed to the public.”

Expanding markets

The Murphys began growing in the new production facility in May 2018. Initially they thought grocery stores would take more of the leafy greens, but they are currently taking less than 25 percent of the crops produced.

“The grocery stores have to develop their market,” Murphy said. “They don’t want to buy too much and then watch it go bad. Right now restaurants are buying more. Hickok’s Steakhouse in Hays, Kan., is a higher-end restaurant that was looking for locally-grown produce. It is now buying all of its greens from us and making some unbelievable specialty dishes with our products. North Central Kansas Technical College has a culinary arts program and a catering business and is buying from us.

“We believe our future is in the restaurant business because they tend to use more of our product on a consistent basis. Our goal is to grow 100-150 pounds of produce per week. We built the system so we could double our production capacity if needed.”

Trialing new crops

When Murphy was doing all of the production in the GrowRack, he tried various crops. While lettuce, kale, arugula and basil are his core crops, he continues to try new species and varieties.

“We buy all of our seed from Johnny’s Selected Seeds,” he said. “After experimenting with these crops, if they are going to be grown commercially, it’s all based on turns per square foot. This is where growing in the GrowRack for a year really helped us. When we started growing in the pond system we were ready to go. We had already selected the crops that we were going to grow. We plant about 1,000 plants per week.”

For more: mGardens, (785) 637-5604; mGardens@gorhamtel.com.

The data platform for horti- and agriculture

30MHz provides agribusinesses with everything they need to start monitoring their crops and growing environment accurately and in real-time, with just minutes of setup. Customers choose from a variety of sensors sourced and developed with growers and agricultural research institutions (capturing metrics including VPD, dew point, temperature, humidity, soil moisture and airflow.) 30MHz also provides a private, scalable mesh network (with the option to easily add more sensors at any time) and an intuitive analytics platform with real-time alerts, visualizations, heatmaps, charts and graphs accessible on any device.  

With 30MHz technology, customers can deploy a wireless sensor network themselves, without technical expertise. Sensors arrive preconfigured— customers simply connect their gateway to a power supply and ethernet, and log into the platform to immediately start measuring.

Built to help agribusinesses of all sizes harness the full power of their environmental data, the 30MHz platform makes crop metrics accessible, shareable and actionable without the burden of juggling multiple interfaces. Real-time sensor data can be viewed alongside data from other sources, including climate control systems, shelf quality control and traceability monitoring and root zone monitoring software.

Empowering agribusinesses across the chain

The scalable and modular nature of 30MHz tech makes it a fit for growers of all sizes across agricultural verticals. With over 150 customers across five continents, 30MHz serves agribusinesses from farm to fork, in greenhouse, vertical (hydroponic and aeroponic), arable, ornamental, cold store, processing, packing, transport, retail and livestock. Based in Bedford, Texas, Hort Americas partners with leading suppliers of commercial horticultural products from around to world in order to serve the North American professional greenhouse and indoor ag grower community with the latest technologically advanced products from around the world. Hort Americas’ breadth of expertise across horticulture makes the company ideally positioned to bring the Dutch-founded 30MHz further into the North American market. “We’ve seen the hunger for actionable data among North American growers— they’re constantly looking to innovate and make the most of their resources. But they don’t have time for overly complex systems that silo their data and take forever to get off the ground. Hort Americas understand the specific challenges and needs of North American agriculture, and how to translate Dutch agri-innovation into efficiency and productivity in local contexts” notes Director of Customer Affairs Cor Jan Holwerda. “Hort Americas continues to look for cutting edge technology that solves problems and provides answers to the questions our grower partners are asking us.  With believe that 30MHz’s product portfolio does just that,” adds founder and general manager Chris Higgins.

More About 30MHz

30MHz helps agribusinesses of all sizes make the most of their resources with real-time data on their crops and environment, from farm to fork. Through an accessible data platform, scalable mesh network and a selection of wireless sensors, 30MHz provides all the elements growers need to start monitoring in moments, without technical expertise. All it takes is a few minutes and an internet connection.

More About Hort Americas

Based in Bedford, Texas, Hort Americas partners with leading suppliers of commercial horticultural products from around the world in order to serve the North American professional greenhouse and indoor ag grower community with the latest technologically advanced products. Learn more at www.hortamericas.com.