CEA Advisors & Growtainers® promises even more global excitement in Indoor Farming and Controlled Environment Agriculture in 2017. After more than a year of meetings with the Produce Marketing team at a major US food retailer, the first custom built for onsite production Growtainer® has been delivered and will begin production in Q1, 2017. “We spent over a year discussing the retailer’s concerns and objectives and when I was sure we were all on the same page we began the design and manufacturing process” said Glenn Behrman, founder of Greentech Agro LLC and CEA Advisors LLC. Growtainers® have come…
Author: urbanagnews
Upstart University – an online training program for modern farmers – launched March 16, 2015. In under two years, it built 30+ courses on building farm businesses, designing effective grow systems, and managing crops. Now, as we sprint into the New Year, Upstart U has hit a major milestone: 1,000+ members (and counting). Over the years, the platform has found that a “focus on the farmer” approach is the best way to empower those members. That means building courses that answer real questions, giving pragmatic advice and recommendations, and crafting a community around the students. The first step in implementing…
Hearing Stephen Ritz of Green Bronx Machine speak is a sensational experience. Stephen’s energetic style fully engages by binding the listener on a journey of wide ranging emotions. There will be moments of intense sorrow and despair where the world seems hopelessly broken. Rest assured though, Stephen guides us to emerge from rock bottom with a powerful realization: a movement to grow away our problems is achievable and gaining more momentum every day. Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx educator / administrator who believes that students shouldn’t have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better…
Click here to download the issue. Urban Ag News Issue 16 | The Climate Management Issue | January 2017 It’s 2017! What better way to kick off the New Year than with a new issue of Urban Ag News. Changes in the climate are always a hot topic—even during the winter. So Urban Ag News is releasing its Climate Management Issue. Issue 16 has several articles related to environmental control for greenhouses and controlled environment agriculture. Be sure to check out the latest issue which contains some great articles and videos on controlled environment agriculture and urban farming. Urban Ag News…
What’s trending in Agriculture Jan. 3, 2016 2016 – the year in urban farming. Chris Higgins of Urban Ag News gives us an update on the big trends for the year that was. About Green Sense Radio: Founding Farmer Robert Colangelo is also founder and host of the nationally syndicated Green Sense Radio show. Recorded live on the Farm, Green Sense Radio features entrepreneurs, innovators, academics, and policy makers who are making the world a better place. The program is heard coast to coast every week. Send us an email if you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities so your sustainable message can…
Course: Lighting in greenhouses and vertical farms 3-5 April 2017 Wageningen, The Netherlands Do you want to improve the use of LED lighting in greenhouse production or vertical farming? Would you like to know how to reduce energy use and carbon foot print, how to improve production, or how to improve quality? Do you want to understand the different characteristics of light and how they affect physiological plant processes? Then this course might be valuable for you. Wageningen University and Research centre is the “knowledge heart” of the Dutch Greenhouse Horticulture, which is the most advanced and productive in the…
Tout Microloans as a Critical Factor BROOKLYN, NY, Dec. 20, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini and New York State Executive Director, James Barber, traveled to Brooklyn Monday to tour urban agriculture operations that were funded by USDA microloans. As more urban farms start in New York City, consumers can find a wider variety of fresh, locally grown vegetables, year round. “The USDA microloan has expanded funding and opportunities for beginning, niche and small farmers to start or expand their agriculture operations,” said Dolcini. “As urban agriculture continues to grow,…
Faster flowering can result in significant savings and better profitability for plant breeders. Various conditions can affect the flowering speed, but the quality of the light spectrum is probably the most important. It is well known that the ratio of red:far red (R:FR) color from the light source, be it sunlight or a lamp acts as a trigger leading to the flowering response in plants. A group of scientists from the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics have studied the connection between light quality and initiation of the floral response in early and late flowering genotypes…
Eindhoven, Netherlands – Philips Lighting (Euronext Amsterdam ticker: LIGHT), a global leader in lighting, today announced that the Dutch alstroemeria grower Hoogenboom Alstroemeria is moving to hybrid lighting in its 1.5-hectare greenhouse with Philips GreenPower LED toplighting. By using Philips GreenPower LED, grower Dick Hoogenboom will shorten growth cycles, increase quantity and quality of yields while reducing energy consumption up to 42 percent. Ries Neuteboom, Key Account Manager for Philips Horticulture LED Systems said “More and more alstroemeria growers are choosing hybrid lighting as growing alstroemerias require both light and heat at the same time. Hybrid lighting systems with a…
The National Strawberry Sustainability Initiative (NSSI) is leading efforts to identify the critical research and outreach needs of the strawberry industry and to develop a project around these issues through the support of the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative. The NSSI is a collaboration among universities, USDA-ARS, strawberry growers and the strawberry industry, across 13 states, with the goal to support and expand sustainable strawberry production. Please contribute to this national strawberry industry needs assessment by taking this survey. It should take 10-15 minutes and your answers will remain anonymous. The survey can be accessed here directly, or through a…
TORONTO, ON/BIBLE HILL, NS – TruLeaf Sustainable Agriculture Ltd. (TruLeaf), the indoor, multi-level farming company from Bible Hill, Nova Scotia has closed an $8.5-million equity-finance round. This funding will enable the company to continue its mission of becoming a global leader in vertical farming technology. TruLeaf develops sustainable farming systems that can be built anywhere that enable fresh, nutrient-dense, pesticide-free produce to be grown locally all year round. Mike Durland, Former CEO and Group Head of Scotiabank’s Global Banking and Markets division led this funding round along with a small group of strategic investors from Toronto. In addition, Mr. Durland…
Learn about the latest water treatment and conservation research in these free webinars! Researchers from Clean WateR3 (cleanwater3.org), a federally-funded research team, are focused on helping growers Reduce, Remediate and Recycle irrigation water. The grant team is managed by Dr. Sarah White at Clemson University and includes many research collaborators across the U.S. We are presenting a series of six webinars hosted by the University of Florida IFAS Center for Public Issues Education. Webinars will be 45 minutes long at 12 noon on consecutive Tuesdays, beginning on January 24. Sign up with this registration link: http://tinyurl.com/WaterWebinars17. Webinars will be archived…
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP) is pleased to announce the posting of a new draft guidance document: “Calculating the Percentage of Organic Ingredients in Multi-Ingredient Products (NOP 5037).” The NOP published in the Federal Register today a notice to inform that the draft guidance “Calculating the Percentage of Organic Ingredients in Multi-Ingredient Products (NOP 5037)” will be available for public comment, effective tomorrow, December 6, 2016. Although the USDA organic regulations establish labeling categories for organic products based on the percentage of organic ingredients in the product, certifying agents have interpreted the requirements for calculating the…
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP) is pleased to inform that that following final guidance was announced today in the Federal Register: Classification of Materials and Materials for Organic Crop Production. As a result of the unique construction of the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List), certifiers and growers sometimes have questions about which non-synthetic or natural substances are allowed and which synthetic substances are prohibited. Therefore, to clarify practices used to classify materials, the NOP published in the Federal Register today the following final guidance: Classification of Materials (NOP 5033) This guidance clarifies…