PRESS RELEASE – Indoor Ag-Con, LLC is pleased to announce “MegaTrends In Indoor Farming,” the latest topic to join its new Indoor Ag-Conversations monthly free webinar series. Hosted by Agritecture Consulting, this panel discussion will cover megatrends in food, agtech, and vertical farming. Scheduled for Wednesday, June 24 at 2 pm EST, the program will be moderated by Agritecture Founder & CEO, Henry Gordon-Smith and include panelist Menachem Katz, former head of WeWork Food Labs. Additional panelist to be announced soon. “From Covid-19 to climate change to food security concerns, there are a number of factors accelerating megatrends shaping the…
Author: urbanagnews
As indoor agriculture has grown, finding, training, and retaining a skilled workforce has emerged as an important challenge to the industry. A unique combination of plant production, tech troubleshooting, and innovation is needed among employees managing these operations. What are the critical skill sets, and how can we create a larger pipeline of individuals trained in these skills so that they can contribute to CEA business success? At Cornell University, a group led by Professor Anu Rangarajan (Director, Small Farms Program) seeks to provide answers as part of a National Science Foundation-funded research project on CEA Viability in Metro Areas. Rangarajan’s…
PRESS RELEASE – This webinar series, named ‘Eat This’ is a close collaboration between NethWork and World Horti Center. Both organizations want to connect the horticultural sector with the world beyond horticulture. Renee Snijders and Ed Smit of NethWork will present these weekly webinar sessions. 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…
Verlage Joins Top Execs from United Fresh, DNO Produce, BrightFarms For Virtual Panel On Produce Trends, Business Growth Opportunities For Indoor Growers Emerging From Covid-19 Pandemic PRESS RELEASE – Victor Verlage, Senior Director of Agriculture Strategy Development, Walmart, will join the panel line-up for the debut session of the new Indoor Ag-Conversations webinar series announced last week. Scheduled for Wednesday, June 3 at 4 pm EST, the program, “United Fresh Produce Association Panel: Produce Trends & Business Opportunities For Indoor Growers Emerging From Covid-19 Pandemic, ” will be moderated by United Fresh President & CEO Tom Stenzel, and also include…
Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center Executive Director Charles Platkin, PhD, JD, MPH will be joined by Stephen Ritz, the Founder of Green Bronx Machine and self-proclaimed CEO – Chief Eternal Optimist – of Bronx County to discuss COVID-19, food insecurity and food policy in New York City. Jun 17, 2020 09:30 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Unlocking Potential Using LED Grow Lights for Better Cannabis Yields by Hans Spalholz, PhD Traditionally, cannabis growers have relied on high pressure sodium (HPS) systems for their lighting needs. Advancements in LED technology, coupled with increased demand and the need to reduce expenses, accelerate turns and save energy, make LED fixtures a viable replacement. Despite theiradvantages, there is a learning curve as you change from HPS to LED and several things to consider. This guide will walk you through things to keep in mind, as well as detail the benefits of LED growth. Fill out the below info to download…
VICTORIA, CANADA – SunTracker Technologies is pleased to announce that it has developed a web-based free to use online calculator to predict monthly DLI values for anywhere in the world, based on climate-based Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) weather records from over 2,100 weather stations worldwide. The Daily Light Integral (DLI) is a relatively new metric for farmers and greenhouse operators trying to decide whether crops will thrive in a given geographic location. It takes into consideration historical weather records that have recorded hourly direct sunlight and diffuse daylight for a minimum of thirty years, and from these calculates the monthly…
‘How to Fund Your Indoor Farm’ by Nicola Kerslake (Contain Inc.) This month’s Indoor Ag Science Cafe was about financing indoor farm start up. Nicola Kerslake gave an overview of funding strategies and her guest presenter Dave Dinesen (CubicFarms) shared their insightful experience. Indoor Ag Science Café is an outreach program of a project OptimIA, funded by USDA SCRI grant program (http://www.scri-optimia.org). The café forums are designed to serve as precompetitive communication platform among scientists and indoor farming professionals. The Café presentations are available on the YouTube channel. Contact Chieri Kubota at the Ohio State University (Kubota.10@osu.edu) to be a Café…
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Every modern grower needs to speak the language of lighting, in terms of light spectrum, intensity, photoperiod, and daily light integral. The University of Florida IFAS Extension has developed short and simple videos in English and Spanish (“Four Key Concepts of Lighting” / “Cuatro Conceptos Clave de Iluminación de Plantas”) on its YouTube channel (tinyurl.com/UFGTO) to explain these concepts. With the rapid adoption of LED lighting by the horticulture industry, there is increasing need for growers to understand technical aspects of lighting. This can help them decide on how to purchase the correct type of lighting product…
PRESS RELEASE — For several years, UF/IFAS Extension has offered online certification courses in greenhouse management, with over 650 growers taking these courses in 2019. The Greenhouse Training Online program is adding video content on a new YouTube channel (tinyurl.com/UFGTO). New videos in English and Spanish walk viewers through the process of petiole sap testing with the guidance of Tatiana Sanchez, UF/IFAS Extension Alachua County commercial horticulture agent. The videos also include links to bilingual fact sheets in BackPocketGrower.org in the Fertilizer and Nutrients section under Training. Nitrate and potassium meters are effective tools for growers to do onsite testing…
Free monthly virtual events to share content originally planned for May 2020 annual in-person conference postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic PRESS RELEASE – Indoor Ag-Con LLC, producers of the premier event for the indoor|vertical farming industry, is launching a free monthly webinar series to share content originally planned for its May 2020 in-person annual conference that has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Titled “Indoor Ag-Conversations,” the new virtual event series kicks off with the United Fresh Produce Association Panel: Produce Trends & Business Opportunities For Indoor Growers Emerging From Covid-19 Pandemic on Wednesday, June 3 at 4 pm…
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and most U.S. states have categorized farms as Essential Critical Infrastructure— meaning that these operations remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is important that growers implement proper sanitation strategies to protect themselves and their staff from SARS-CoV-2 (Figure 1), the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. USDA recommends that farms follow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines to handle cleanup of facilities (www.usda.gov/coronavirus). In this e-Gro Edible Alert, a summary is provided of the options available for surface sanitation based on the Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
By Tawnya Sawyer The USDA recently recognized aquaponics under their voluntary Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program through the Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) division. This program is in its pilot phase for audits and certification of selected aquaponics farms through the end of 2020. Having a set of guidelines for aquaponics helps to better align with the specifics of growing in soil-less media, using filtered fish waste for nutrient solution, and bio-integration of fish and plants in a growing facility.Prior to this pilot program, aquaponic farm audits were subject to standard GAP guidelines designed for produce crops grown in a field or cultivated…
By Thomas Wheet and Brian Filipowich The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill charged the USDA with creating the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (“Urban Ag Office”). The Farm Bill noted that urban agriculture can “contribute to the revitalization of abandoned or underutilized urban land, [bring] social and economic benefits to urban communities, and [create] beneficial impacts on the urban landscape.” After months of navigating the Congressional appropriations process, the necessary funding for the Urban Ag Office was finally signed into law in December 2019. The Aquaponics Association reached out to the leadership of the Urban Ag Office and Congressional Offices…