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…
Author: urbanagnews
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The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP) is pleased to announce the posting of a new draft guidance document: “Calculating the Percentage of Organic Ingredients in Multi-Ingredient Products (NOP 5037).” The NOP published in the Federal Register today a notice to inform that the draft guidance “Calculating the Percentage of Organic Ingredients in Multi-Ingredient Products (NOP 5037)” will be available for public comment, effective tomorrow, December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…
Organic Foods Nov. 28, 2016 Chris Higgins of Urban Ag News has at organic foods, our feature on urban agriculture. 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 reach our millions of listeners! Click here to listen to the latest Green…
Local Roots Farms, the LA–based indoor farming company, will now build indoor farming projects across the country to serve its commercial customers. Local Roots Farms, the LA–based indoor farming company respected for its high-quality leafy greens and innovative approach to farming, announced completion of a TerraFarm network, ready for commercial deployment in Q1 2017. After a dramatic increase in demand for their scalable indoor farming solutions, Local Roots will now build indoor farming projects across the country to serve its commercial customers. Despite an increased desire nationwide for locally-sourced produce programs, no indoor farm has yet been able to offer…
East Meets West: Urban Ag News and the Japan Plant Factory Association come together for Nor Cal Networking Event Urban Ag News and the Japan Plant Factory Association in coordination with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry are pleased to announce a joint networking event with US-based agriculture organizations and operations. The event will take place on Tuesday, November 29, 2016, from 9am to 4pm at the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Agricultural Center Conference Room located at 1432 Abbot Street, Salinas, CA 93901. Entry will be $20.00 and will include morning coffee service and lunch. Please proceed to Eventbrite…
Capital and Funding in Urban Agriculture Nov. 16, 2016 Chris Higgins of Urban Ag News has a look on Growing Green, our feature on urban agriculture. 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 reach our millions of listeners! Click here…
Colorado Aquaponics and Ceres Greenhouse Solutions – two Colorado –based independent businesses – announced that they will partner to create super energy-efficient aquaponic greenhouses. The new greenhouses build off each companies’ years of research and development in their respective industries. Colorado Aquaponics designs high-yield aquaponic systems for small-scale commercial farms. Ceres Greenhouse Solutions creates super energy-efficient greenhouses using passive solar design principles and renewable heating / cooling methods. Now, through a strategic partnership, the companies will deliver integrated designs that pair space-efficient, hybrid aquaponic systems with high-performance year-round greenhouses. The aquaponic greenhouses feature Ceres’ steel frame structures, with an insulated…
The 2017 International Symposium on Growing Media, Soilless Cultivation, and Compost Utilization in Horticulture. The meeting will be held on the campus of Portland State University in scenic Portland, Oregon of the United States from August 20-25, 2017. This meeting attracts scientists and allied industries from around the world to share knowledge in the fields of soilless substrates, crop production, and compost utilization. Topics to be covered will include cultivation of plants in soilless substrates and hydroponics, characterization of soilless substrates and composts, Cannabis substrates, biochar production and utilization, wood fiber production and commercialization, new technologies for compost production and characterization,…
Coventry-based pioneer of hydroponics, HydroGarden, has been recognised for its innovative vertical-farming system, VydroFarm, in the EEF’s Future of Manufacturing Regional Awards 2016. HydroGarden won the ‘Manufacturing Innovation Award’ for the Midlands at the regional celebration lunch held at Staverton Park, Northampton. The firm will now go on to represent the region in the National Awards, the winners of which will be announced at the EEF’s National Gala Dinner on 31st January 2017 at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London. The role of the EEF is to champion manufacturing and engineering in the UK and the EU, and provide tools and…
We invite you to attend the Aglanta Conference on February 19, 2017 at The Georgia Railroad Freight Depot. The Aglanta Conference is a gathering to showcase urban and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) innovation in the City of Atlanta. The City of Atlanta has partnered with Blue Planet Consulting to bring together restaurateurs, grocers, architects, entrepreneurs, technologists, business owners, and urban farmers for this premium networking and knowledge sharing opportunity. Our goal is to foster Atlanta’s growth as a central hub in the nation’s $9 billion a year indoor farming industry. The Aglanta Conference will be an intimate and invaluable environment…
Osmo Systems, Inc., a hydroponic monitoring company based in Berkeley, California, is launching a pre-sale on Kickstarter of their flagship monitor, OsmoBot Hydro. Starting at $450, OsmoBot Hydro continuously monitors eight parameters (pH, EC/TDS, water temperature, water level, air temperature, relative humidity, lux, and PAR), uploading the readings to the cloud. Users can log into a browser-based dashboard to get a system overview, look at historical data of a specific parameter, and set text/email alerts if any parameter goes too high or low. Osmo Systems is also offering advanced sales of their patent-pending dissolved oxygen and ammonia sensor. Relying upon…