By Sam Milton For business owners and operators in the indoor agriculture or controlled environment agriculture (CEA) space, whether you grow leafy greens, strawberries, or cannabis, or those support these businesses, the main questions about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are most likely going to be: What is the Inflation Reduction Act? How will the Inflation Reduction Act help CEA businesses be greener? Will the Inflation Reduction Act help CEA businesses earn more revenue? What are the next steps for interested businesses? So what is the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022? There are two core elements of the Act: …
Author: urbanagnews
The exclusive challenge seeks innovative solutions from food-tech start-ups to maximize the potential of tomatoes Future Food-Tech today announced an exclusive innovation challenge with The Kraft Heinz Company, culminating at the flagship Future Food-Tech San Francisco summit on March 16-17. The challenge seeks innovative solutions to unleash the power of tomatoes, delivering on taste, sustainability, nutrition, convenience and/or affordability. The Innovation Challenge Kraft Heinz is interested in a wide range of solutions including ingredients, processing, and packaging technologies, as well as finished products, and companies are encouraged to have proof of principle and prototypes. Start-ups are invited to apply before…
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is working to provide healthy meals for kids and their families. Recently Village Farms Fresh has become part of this effort through a team volunteer endeavor in conjunction with their Mercy Kitchen location that provides meals to a variety of children’s after school programs in the greater Orlando, Florida area. A team from the Lake Mary corporate office comprised of employees from the Village Farms and Village Farms Fresh divisions spent a morning assembling nutritious meals for children at the Second Harvest Food Bank’s Mercy Kitchen location. In total 7500 meals were assembled…
Proposed to take effect March 31, 2023, Version 3.0 fosters sustainable growth in the controlled environment agriculture sector, while supporting decarbonization efforts MEDFORD, MA – The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) has announced the final version of it Horticultural Lighting Technical Requirements Version 3.0, increasing the efficacy and establishing additional minimum performance baselines for LED luminaires, lamps and controls used by the burgeoning controlled environment agricultural (CEA) industry. With a proposed effective date of March 31, 2023, V3.0 also introduces a surveillance testing policy intended to protect the integrity and value of the DLC’s Horticultural Qualified Products List (QPL) for all stakeholders. “Since the DLC created the first QPL for…
Last year, venture capitalist companies invested $51.7 billion in Ag Tech, but what exactly is Ag Tech? Ag Tech is technology focused agriculture that is meant to increase existing efficiency processes in agriculture and sustainability, which includes everything from aquaculture to new crops/genetics, to animal health to the controlled environment agriculture industry. With dwindling resources, increasing populations, and climate concerns, Robert Colangelo and his new ag tech company, CEA Technologies Inc., are seeking “to transform agriculture by developing sustainable indoor growing technology that can grow in any climate, free of pesticides using less, energy water and soil” with their unique…
One Of The World’s Largest Indoor Farms Is Using Advanced Tech To Build A More Resilient Food System Business Insider — AppHarvest is exploring the future of indoor farming and agriculture technology by using up to 90% less water, human-assisting AI, and the power of the sun for reliable food growth. Alongside local education efforts, AppHarvest’s main focus is to provide US consumers with sustainable, reliable produce so that we can all enjoy a healthier, more vibrant planet in the future. To learn more about how Dell Technologies is powering innovation, visit https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/what-we-do/index.htm
From conflict to climate change, our food is under pressure like never before. Amanda Little meets farmers on three continents trying to rise to the challenge. Farmers try to increase yield and do so sustainably as the world population increases. Watch more of the series from BBC:https://www.bbc.com/reel/playlist/follow-the-food-a-new-world?vpid=p0d9xnpz
Azlan Zahid, Ph.D., working on an controlled environment agriculture project at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Sam Craft) Grant-funded stakeholder meeting Dec. 5 coincides with annual controlled environment ag conference in Dallas By Adam Russell, Texas A&M AgriLife Developments within Texas A&M AgriLife’s urban agriculture efforts could pave the way for expanded research opportunities and progress in the field of controlled environment agriculture production. Texas A&M AgriLife Research recently received a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that could guide federal investment in controlled environment agriculture production in Texas and the U.S. The urban agriculture advisory…
Michigan State University invites you to participate in their Controlled Environmental Agriculture (CEA) labor survey. The purpose of this survey is to understand production-related labor requirements and estimate labor costs in CEA farms, including a vertical/indoor farm setting, containers or permanent greenhouses. In this survey, you will be asked about labor hours, level of automation and associated costs through your farm’s production stages. Your answers will be completely anonymous and no personally identifiable information will be asked. This survey should take about 20 minutes. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Simone Valle de Souza, from Michigan State…
The Laboratoire sur l’agriculture urbaine (Urban Agriculture Lab) is collaborating on a webinar on labor requirements in indoor agriculture. The webinar will be led by Dr. Simone Valle de Souza, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. The indoor agriculture (IA) offers an environmentally sustainable alternative to small or large-scale leafy green production, even in regions with less favorable climates, using significantly less water and land resources, little, if any, pesticides, and providing year-round fresh produce to urban dwellers. Although the concept is not new, only recently relevant technology has achieved economic feasibility enabling the industry to grow at a fast…
Developed in collaboration with growers, vendors, and academia, the objective guides provide tips on energy and water conservation related to construction, lighting and HVAC PORTLAND, Ore. (October 28, 2022) — Resource Innovation Institute (RII), the leading not-for-profit energy and water benchmarking organization providing resource efficiency best practices for CEA producers, announced today the availability of three horticulture best practices guides aiming to provide free resources on the topics of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) facility design and construction, lighting and HVAC. Each guide has been developed with expertise and input from business leaders, growers, government policymakers and members of academia to…
DANVILLE, VA – New connections and collaboration were clear themes that emerged from the October 25-26, 2022 debut edition of the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Summit East held at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville, VA. Co-hosted by Indoor Ag-Con and the Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center (a joint project between the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech, Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Virginia Tech and the IALR), the new event attracted 200 + attendees from 28 states plus Puerto Rico and Canada, including growers, educators, scientists, extension specialists, suppliers,…
University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online courses Irrigation Water Quality & Treatment starts November 12! Interpret water quality tests for irrigation of greenhouse and nursery crops, select appropriate water treatment technologies, and design a water treatment and monitoring system. Irrigation Water Quality & Treatment is the final course for 2022 of the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This advanced course is designed for experienced growers or technical managers. Lessons are offered in English and Spanish, and are taught by professors from six universities in the United States. The course runs from November 14…
Literature Review Shares Potential Efficiency Opportunities SACRAMENTO, Calif., October 14, 2022 – Dr. Greenhouse, Inc., a leading provider of state-of-the-art HVAC design and controls solutions for indoor grows, vertical farms and greenhouses, is pleased to announce the public availability of “Literature Review of Energy and Water Use in Controlled Environment Horticulture and Potential Efficiency Opportunities.” This literature review, a collaboration among Dr. Greenhouse, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and 2050 Partners, aims to provide an overview of previously published works, specifically the current state of knowledge about the Controlled Environment Horticulture (CEH) industry and its energy and water use. In addition,…