By Joel Cuello, Originally published by New York Daily News, Oct. 1, 2019 While New York City as a whole by no means is a food desert, wherein access to fresh produce by its residents is severely constrained, such access nonetheless appears to require significant enhancement. The 2019 American Fitness Index for America’s 100 largest cities, for instance, shows that only 17% of New York City’s residents get their recommended daily portion of vegetables, compared with the top-ranked city in the category, Washington, D.C., wherein 30% of its residents do. Intriguingly, the same survey shows that New York City only has 18 farmers’…
Author: urbanagnews
International scientists, investors, directors, and advisors come together to share global initiatives and spur innovation. Miami, Fl., October – This month’s Sustainability & Digitalization Leaders forum is the exclusive, comprehensive conversation every thought leader in agtech should be a part of. The SDL agenda demonstrates critical awareness of the most relevant sustainability issues across the agtech landscape, from regenerative agriculture to carbon sequestration and soil health; responsibly investing in the latest innovations to ensuring a traceable, transparent food system for consumers. The Miami forum, 22-24 October, also sees the introduction of breakout workshops tackling issues in a collaborative, discussion-based format…
By Tory Moore, 352-273-3566, torymoore@ufl.edu APOPKA, Fla. — The University of Florida and the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) will hold a Plant Health on the Go workshop on December 3 where growers can learn plant health management techniques from horticulture experts. Building on the success of the Greenhouse Training Online courses (https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/), UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) professor and extension specialist Paul Fisher wanted to bring the courses to life and offer face-to-face instruction. The workshop includes lectures and hands-on demonstrations of biological control of pests, heat tolerance, disease management, weed management, LED lighting…
BVB Substrates and Delphy are organizing the 10th “International Soft Fruit Conference” in the Netherlands. The conference will take place on Thursday 9th January 2020 in the “1931 Congrescentrum Brabanthallen” in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. We will be presenting many aspects of the cultivation of soft fruit in Europe in order to create a unique platform for growers and suppliers, advisers and traders. A wonderful opportunity for you to do some networking and benefit from expertise and experience from all over Europe. A select group of international specialists will provide various presentations covering many aspects of the cultivation of soft fruit. Soft-fruit growers…
Illumitex upgrades it’s popular grow-proven NeoPAR LED lighting system for vertical-farming to record performance levels and adds FarmVisionAI™ to see every plant, from anywhere, at anytime. [Press Release – Austin, Texas] Illumitex, a leader in LED Grow Lights and Digital Ag, announces NeoPARTM XO, a major upgrade to their grow proven NeoPAR LED lighting system designed for vertical agricultural systems. The new NeoPAR XO is a major leap forward in lighting performance and brings the benefits of Illumitex’s horticulturist-curated artificial-intelligent machine-learning FarmVisionAI to the difficult task of vertical farming. NeoPAR XO takes Illumitex’s proven LED platform to the highest output commercially…
When choosing dehumidification equipment, there are a number of variables that have to be considered to ensure that it operates effectively with the crop and production facility. In this webinar Dr. Nadia Sabeh will discuss: How to transition from indoor production facilities to greenhouses. How to select a dehumidification system.The impact of plants on dehumidification.How relative humidity control impacts disease and pest The GLASE Webinar Series features the latest technological innovations and best practices in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry providing the participants an opportunity to discover new solutions and to connect with industry experts. The webinar was hosted…
Jonny Reader, research associate at the University of Nottingham and design engineer at V-Farm talked about the current fruit and vegetable market in the UK and insecurities surrounding Brexit. Here are the t 5 take home points: UK farming activities relay on forging seasonal labor and the future is uncertainly due the eminent UK departure from the European Union. 30% of the food consumed un the UK is imposed from the European Union In 2017 the UK imported $13.84 billion worth of fruits and vegetables Automation is viewed as a promising solution for labor shortage Europe represents 21% of the…
The company’s first urban farm, incubated at Carnegie Mellon University, uses proprietary robotics technology to grow affordable fresh produce for Pittsburgh-area grocery stores and restaurants PITTSBURGH—Fifth Season, an indoor farming pioneer, announced plans for its first highly efficient, commercial-scale indoor vertical farm, which will open in early 2020 in Braddock, an historic steel town near Pittsburgh. Fifth Season, originally founded as RoBotany Ltd., is a consumer-focused technology company that was incubated at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship—an alliance of CMU’s business, robotics and other schools focused on fostering innovation. The company has raised over $35 million to…
The Ohio State University is organizing annual Greenhouse Management Workshop (January 16 & 17, 2020; Wooster, OH), providing learning opportunities for the basics of greenhouse management practices. In this workshop, our hydroponics track focuses on Hydroponic Food Safety and GAPs provided by OSU Food Safety GAP training team. The contents are relevant to indoor farms also. Those who complete this track can receive a Certificate of Completion for Hydroponics food safety and GAPs training. For those who are difficult to travel, the whole workshop (except tours) will be accessible for online participants via webinar. For more information, please contact me…
Whether you are a greenhouse grower or a vertical farmer, you won’t want to miss this. 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…
University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online courses Earn CEUs with Disease Management Learn how to prevent and manage diseases in nurseries and greenhouses. Disease Management is the fifth course of the 2019 Greenhouse Online Training program offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This intermediate course is designed for growers with some experience and training and offers Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for many States in the United States. Topics covered include disease cycle, how to differentiate between a disease and other issues, organic and conventional disease management options, and how to safely apply and handle fungicides. The course is…
Press Release – Artemis, the leading enterprise Cultivation Management Platform (CMP), today announced the launch of its first Global Ag Report survey to capture the latest trends, biggest challenges, and opportunities for global enterprise farmers growing fruits, vegetables, cannabis, hemp, and other specialty crops. The survey will inform the newest iteration of the State of Indoor Farming Report, released in previous years by Artemis under the company’s former name—Agrilyst. The survey is open to all speciality crop growers and operators of enterprise farms, including operators of greenhouses, high tunnel farms, indoor facilities, and field growers, and will close for responses on October 15, 2019. The…
BrightFarms, leading grower of hydroponic salad greens and herbs, is set to open a 280,000 sf facility in central Pennsylvania later this year. At that point its existing Pennsylvania greenhouse in Bucks County will become surplus to requirements. It will be ready for occupancy by a new user late in the first quarter 2020. It is a fully operational automated hydroponic greenhouse with a glass roof, computer controls, sophisticated HVAC and irrigation systems, artificial lighting and cold storage. For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at soneill@brightfarms.com.
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Center is offering an intensive course in Hydroponic Lettuce and Leafy Greens October 5th through the 9th. Lettuces and leafy greens – we eat them every day! (or we SHOULD!) But how do we grow them sustainably with delicious flavor? Join the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center to answer these questions and more during our Intensive Hydroponic Lettuce and Leafy Greens course. Our esteemed staff and faculty will provide 40+ hours of classroom time and hands on application in the Greenhouses on the CEAC Campus to ensure your hydroponic leafy greens are a success. About CEAC: The…