Article by The Upstart University Team The Farm Bill is moving in Congress and could impact your farm. As you may have learned in our previous post, Congress typically rewrites the Farm Bill every five years and is currently in the process of writing a new Farm Bill with the goal of passing it by the end of September. The next two and a half weeks are a critical time for farmers who want to inform the decisions made around this bill. So what’s in it for you? Each Farm Bill contains resources for farmers of all kinds, but the current bill…
Author: urbanagnews
From the Coalition for Sustainable Organics The USDA has published the pre-meeting materials on their website for the Fall 2018 National Organic Standards Board meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota to be held from October 24-26. The Discussion Documents and Formal Proposals do NOT include anything specific to greenhouse, container, hydroponic, aeroponic or aquaponic production systems. Those topics remain on the inactive work agenda of the National Organic Standards Board in spite of calls from an NOSB member to place the topic back on the active agenda. In addition to the review of materials for the National List, the NOSB will review other topics including…
Article by Amy Storey, Upstart Farmers In a recent survey conducted by Upstart University, 70% of respondents stated that they were unsure of whether the Farm Bill would impact their [future] business. Yet ironically all respondents plan on investing in some kind of energy-efficient equipment in the next year, whether that’s lighting, HVAC, pumps, or motors. These two facts conflict with each other! Why? Because the Farm Bill directly influences how billions of government dollars are allocated —and that includes the programs that can help farmers launch or scale their farms. In other words: the Farm Bill will affect your business more than you think!…
Because of unexpected scheduling and weather concerns, the Virginia Smart Farming Conference on Using Controlled Environment Agriculture has been postponed until March 5, 2019. Our team is extremely sorry for this inconvenience but is continuing its work and is excited for what will be delivered when we gather in the Richmond area on March 5, 2019. Contact us to receive registration information as soon as it is available or watch for updates on our website, https://www.hort.vt.edu/sfcea/. The conference offers both academic and industry experts exploring the latest advances in vertical farming, protected culture, sensor technology, lighting, computer vision, and automation. Hear from…
Greenhouse Training Online courses, including Disease Management, offered by University of Florida IFAS Extension (UF) have received a boost with an education grant from the American Floral Endowment (AFE). The four-week courses in English and Spanish are designed for growers or technical managers in the US and other countries, and have been completed by over 1,000 growers. The education grant from AFE will help cover the cost of translating course materials into Spanish. This commitment to diversity training is critical. Even though approximately 80% of agricultural workers in the U.S. are of Hispanic origin and are Spanish‐speaking, there is a…
GLASE Webinar A proposed horticultural lighting label On September 7, 2-3pm EST, GLASE presents this webinar which will be held by Dr. AJ Both from Rutgers University and Ryan Siddon from Intertek. Recent advances in light-emitting diode (LED) technology now provide the horticultural industry with multiple lighting options. However, growers are often unable to compare technologies and LED options due to insufficient data on lamp performance metrics. As a result, researchers are now proposing a standardized product label that facilitates the comparison of lamps across manufacturers. Dr. A.J. Both from Rutgers University and Ryan Siddon from Intertek will talk about…
The Aquaponics Association is gearing up for their Putting Up Shoots 2018 Conference in Connecticut. This conference will feature tours of four different sites in various parts of the state. Attendees will be able to see aquaponics from different angles, such as commercial, research, community, food safety, and STEM education. The tours will include sessions and team-building. These will give the chance to study how growers in Connecticut are finding success with aquaponics and how to apply these lessons. Find out more about the conference and how to register on the Putting Up Shoots Conference Homepage. Also check out the draft Putting…
This article was originally posted on currentbyge.com Horticultural lighting solution enables environmental benefits including 90% less water, 50% less fertilizer, reduced energy and carbon footprint High-care operation creates opportunities to redefine the future of global food, pharma and cosmetics with industrial scale production Clean room automation enables “no touch” harvesting versus an average of 13 human contact stages in conventional farming Project heralds the start of a long-term partnership with Jones Food Company Ltd. and wider ecosystem to research new ways to scale global food production to meet the needs of a growing population Jones Food Company Ltd. is a…
BioBee Biological Systems, headquartered in Sde Eliyaho, Israel, is at the forefront of implementing biologically-based integrated pest management (IPM) solutions in controlled environment agriculture and open-field production systems. BioBee USA, a subsidiary of BioBee, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., has partnered with horticultural supplier Hort Americas in Bedford, Texas, to work together to educate and provide greenhouse growers, vertical farmers, indoor agriculturalists and hydroponic growers with a wide range of biological control products. 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…
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Center of the University of Arizona presents Hydronic Intensive Workshop event on October 12-15, 2018. Why Intensitve Workshops? Education Immediately meets application CEAC’S unique facilities support a quality learning experience, where knowledge from classroom lectures is immediately applied in the greenhouse. Substancial time for immersion The length and thoroughness of CEAC Intensive Workshops is unmatched! Each course contains 40+ hours of lecture and hands-on work in the greenhouse. Experience yields efficiency CEAC Intensive Workshops have been around for 10 years. With a database of 100’s of common questions and strategic delivery of content, we will address many…
University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online courses Advanced Nutrient Management /Manejo Avanzado de Nutrientes Train yourself, or your staff, to make better crop management decisions by learning in depth aspects of plant nutrition management. This course covers multiple aspects of pH management, how to formulate your own fertilizer from individual salts, and diagnose nutritional problems and take corrective actions. Advanced Nutrient Management is the fifth course of the Greenhouse Training Online program offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension, winner of the 2018 ASHS Extension Division Education Materials Award. This course is advanced level, designed for an experienced, well-trained…
CEA Advisors is pleased to offer our 20’ fully equipped Growtainer®, a highly engineered modular vertical production environment optimized to produce high value Micro Greens for growers wishing to market Hyper-Local specialty products to consumers, chefs and restaurants. Each 20’ fully insulated Growtainer™ has been substantially modified by the removal of the container doors, the installation of an end mounted man door and the installation of an insulated wall with door inside the container to create a separate utility area, epoxy flooring throughout and a climate-controlled production area. The utility area creates a barrier against climate fluctuations and prevents pest…
Read the Aquaponics 2018 Farm Bill Letter Here The Aquaponics Association today published a letter asking Congress to support aquaponics and other sustainable growing methods in the 2018 Farm Bill. The Senate draft of the Farm Bill includes provisions that benefit aquaponic growers that are not included in the House version. (Read the Aquaponics Senate Farm Bill Fact Sheet). The two chambers must reconcile the two versions into a final draft. Over 300 aquaponic growers signed the letter asking the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to ensure that the final bill includes the Senate’s provisions for aquaponics.
In response to increasing global demands from indoor farmers, researchers and future entrepreneurs in the exciting emerging field of plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL), also known as vertical farm, this coming October, Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA) together with Chiba University will host an intensive five-day introductory training course in English on PFAL. Since 2010, JPFA and Chiba University have been organizing various in-depth and practical sessions, including introductory to advanced courses. This five-day introductory session in English, held October 1st -5th, covers what you would need to know before or after starting PFAL business or research. The sessions…