Sep 18, 2017

Indoor Ag-Con Philly Quickly Approaching By Jasmina Dolce

After two successful years in New York, Indoor Ag-Con has relocated its East Coast event to Philadelphia, which is set to take place on Oct. 16, 2017, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The agenda is packed with 12 industry-leading keynotes covering subjects such as the use of artificial intelligence and the impact of LED lighting.

This one-day event will be split into four themed sessions that look at the “big picture” of indoor agriculture with various presentations from thought leaders. Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A session and discussion.

On Oct. 17, the day after Indoor Ag-Con Philly, Nextbean Ambassador sponsors at Kennett Township will be hosting tours of the extensive indoor agriculture production and distribution facilities that support their mushroom industry. This is a truly unique opportunity to get an insider’s view of what’s involved in producing and distributing a large-scale agriculture commodity grown entirely indoors.

Are you looking to get into or expand existing indoor agriculture production? Are you interested in learning about leading technology and innovative business models? If so, it’s not too late to register for Indoor Ag-Con. Click here for more information.

— Jasmina

2017 Agriculture Project of the Year

Urban Organics and Pentair were recently awarded the 2017 Agriculture Project of the Year by the WateReuse Association at its annual WateReuse Awards for the recently opened 87,000-square-foot indoor aquaponics farm in St. Paul, Minnesota. As one of the largest commercial aquaponics facilities in the world, the vertical farm uses less than 10 percent of the water that would be required for conventional farming while producing 275,000 pounds of fish and 475,000 pounds of organic produce annually. The WateReuse Awards were presented Sept. 12, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona, during the 32nd Annual WateReuse Symposium.

AeroFarms Receives $1 Million Research Grant

AeroFarms, an indoor vertical farming company based in Newark, New Jersey, has been awarded a $1 million Seedling Solutions grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. AeroFarms will match the foundation’s grant for a total investment of nearly $2 million. The project seeks to advance crop production by measuring the link between stressed plants, the phytochemicals they produce and the taste and texture of the specialty crops grown. The work is expected to result in commercial production of improved leafy green varieties.  Roger Buelow, chief technology officer at AeroFarms, will work with Rutgers University and Cornell University scientists on using vertical farming systems technology to improve crop characteristics, such as taste and nutritional quality.

Future Farm Collaboration to Develop Vertical Farm in Alabama

Future Farm Technologies has announced it is collaborating with Volunteers of America and CBO Financial to develop a new vertical farming facility in Mobile, Alabama. The Alabama project will be designed, financed and constructed in tandem with the previously announced Baltimore facilities. The Alabama facility design is underway and is expected to be completed within two to three weeks. The property consists of 21,123 square feet under roof and 2.7 acres of land. One of the primary objectives of the project is to provide opportunities to develop therapeutic programs involving all aspects of planting, growing, harvesting and selling plants.