Hydroponic Vegetable Production Starts November 13!

Learn to manage different hydroponics systems, as well as the fundamentals of climate, water, nutrition, and plant health in these systems. Hydroponic Vegetable is part of the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training courses offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This intermediate course is designed for growers with some experience and training. Topics covered include hydroponics growing systems and structures, specific vegetable crop examples, business management, and food safety. The course is offered in English and Spanish. Rated 4.4 out of 5 by grower participants, with an 83% graduation rate last year! Over 190 growers have successfully taken this course.

The course is taught by a team of instructors from the University of Florida and Cornell University led by Bob Hochmuth and Dr. Tatiana Sanchez-Jones at UF/IFAS. Past participants have liked that it was “a well-done course with plenty of relevant information for all aspects of hydroponic growing throughout the industry” and described instructors as “attentive, responsive, and enthusiastic”.

The course runs from November 13 to December 15, 2023. The cost is $US265 per participant, with a 20% discount if you register 5 or more. All course material is completely online and available at any time of the day, and includes pre-recorded videos, an interactive discussion board with PhD professors, and quizzes. Two new modules are activated each week during the course, for a total of 8 learning modules. Instruction is at your own pace and time within the 4 weeks of the course, with a typical time commitment of about 4 hours per week.

Click here to register (http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/).

For more information, go to http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/, or contact Greenhouse Training, Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, USA, Email: greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu.

However, with the agricultural sector already heavily criticised for its contribution to global warming, and the sector vulnerable to climate change impacts, increasing global food production to feed an additional two million inhabitants using conventional models is no longer seen as viable.

Plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) – more widely known as vertical or indoor farms – are recognised as a promising model that protects food production from weather extremes, optimises yields and can reduce the overall impact of agriculture on the environment.

In their latest venture, two pioneers of indoor farming – Toyoki Kozai and Eri Hayashi – have collaborated with an impressive range of international experts to produce a new book: Advances in plant factories: New technologies in indoor
vertical farming.

“Professor Toyoki Kozai and Dr Eri Hayashi have had a major influence on the advancement and global understanding of vertical farming,” says Christine Zimmermann-Lössl, Chairwoman of the Association for Vertical Farming, Germany.

“This new book addresses key topics such as energy modelling, the nutritional components of crops and spectral manipulation. We see tremendous value in this latest publication from Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing and are confident that it will become a standard reference book in this area,” she concludes.

The book provides an authoritative review of the latest research in the development and application of PFALs for a range of crop, including the application of machine vision, plant phenotyping and spectral imaging to monitor plant health and growth.

PFALs are viewed by many as a more resources-efficient production model with less environmental impact. For example, when compared to conventional open-field production, PFALs have been proven to reduce water consumption by 90% per kg of produce and pesticide and herbicide usage by almost 100%. And it’s the technology within the system that enables this.

“One of the core technologies of the PFAL derives from the use of an airtight and thermally insulated cultivation room with sensors for measuring all resource inputs, product outputs, environmental factors and plant traits or phenotype,” says Professor Toyoki Kozai, co-editor of this new book.

“This means that plant environmental factors can be controlled at an optimum point with minimum resource inputs and waste outputs, regardless of local weather, soil and ecosystem conditions,” he adds.

What makes this book particularly valuable is that it also addresses the continuing challenges that indoor farming faces.

The editors, along with the contributing authors, identify where more research and investment is required to tackle some of the biggest obstacles facing indoor farming, including the current rate of resource consumption (electricity, plastics and fertilisers), as well as the emission of greenhouse gases during the construction and operation of PFALs.

This article is first because I firmly believe labor is the biggest challenge we face today, as well as for the next 10 years in controlled environment agriculture (CEA), and in commercial horticulture and general production agriculture.

Victor Loaiza Mejia posted the following on LinkedIn on August 10, 2023: 

“I disagree with your assessment of the lack of ‘grower or production leadership’. Traditionally the greenhouse industry has had a legacy program (like Ivy League College) that benefited growers that come from outside the NAFTA countries. The local younger generation of growers and operators need opportunities to grow into these positions. They need mentoring and support.

“My vision of protected agriculture is more regional (USA, Canada, Mexico) than only thinking about the USA. As you mentioned in the article, the growing surface has decreased in the US but has increased in Mexico for example. The oldest greenhouse companies operating in the US and Canada are now some of the largest tomato marketers in the USA, purchasing greenhouse produce in Mexico at a very large scale, without really having ‘skin in the game.’ I see this as a big entry barrier for new companies based in the USA.

“The opportunity for small greenhouse companies is to resist the push to buy the newest closed greenhouse and buy only the necessary technology and develop their local market. Creating Cooperatives style of relationships with other small growers might be beneficial.”

Well, Victor, yes. That’s really all I have to say. Yes, I agree. I should have and could have selected my words better, while also providing more details behind my statement. If I would have, you would have seen that we are saying almost the same thing.

Now that we officially agree, let’s break this conversation down into the realities that drive the factors you highlight.

Where did the head growers, production managers, and vice presidents of operations come from in the U.S. controlled environment agriculture industry?  

The U.S. greenhouse vegetable industry started in the early to mid 1980s. (The Canadian greenhouse industry started a few years prior, and the Mexican greenhouse industry began about 10 years later.) Initially, the industry was almost 100% focused on growing tomatoes. Much of the industry was built off importing not only Dutch greenhouse technology, but also Dutch growers who were equipped with the training and knowledge needed to operate this new technology.  

As years went on, the U.S. continued to attract growers from the Netherlands, as well as nearby areas such as the United Kingdom and Belgium, which also had well-established glasshouse industries. Many of these early immigrants were well experienced with some education. They were young males eager to make their mark on a new industry in a new world thought of as “the land of opportunity.”

Now these same individuals have been in our small industry for 30-40 years. They are getting close to retirement, but many still work. This is an important part of Victor’s criticism and if you compare it with the graph below, you see why they have aggressively held on to positions of power.  

The industry does not have enough companies that can pay them the money they want or to promote others into key positions, while protecting their own careers and those of their friends. (Nothing new here. This occurs in all industries. Normally, industries have more companies and the impact is not so drastic.)

What about the other skilled labor needed to profitably operate a greenhouse vegetable facility?

Greenhouses require lots of skilled labor to operate successfully, especially when the operations are anywhere from 10-200 acres. You need IPM managers, labor managers, assistant growers, junior growers, packhouse managers, logistics managers and more. The list goes on and on. 

So where did these people come from? In many or most cases, Mexico. In the 1990s, the largest vegetable greenhouses in the U.S. were in southwestern Texas and southeastern Arizona — a short drive from the U.S.-Mexico border. This attracted young, educated Mexican (again mainly) men to jobs that paid well, provided year-round employment (not always the case in agriculture) and opportunities to work in a highly technical field that showed promise for advancement.

Now fast forward 30 years. These guys are ready and prepared to take over, but there are not enough opportunities for everyone to be in charge. This also means that as new companies open, we have a lack of ongoing opportunities to attract talent and give individuals chances to grow and develop the skills needed to run smaller or more niche organizations.

A change in politics. A change in opportunities. H-2A.

Simultaneously, we have seen a shift in our ability to bring labor into the United States. U.S.-based agriculture businesses rely heavily on worker visa programs to bring in groups of individuals to work jobs not often desired by locally available workers. The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. (The word “temporary” is key!)  But, this program and our attitude toward migrant workers has shifted significantly over the past 30 years.  

According to the USDA, “Hired farmworkers make up less than 1 percent of all U.S. wage and salary workers, but they play an essential role in U.S. agriculture. According to data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture, wages and salaries plus contract labor costs represented just 12 percent of production expenses for all farms, but 43 percent for greenhouse and nursery operations and 39 percent for fruit and tree nut operations.”

The tightening of our southern border means that we rely on the H-2A program more than ever.  According to a July 2023 article in NPR, “The number of guest worker visas issued each year has more than quadrupled over the past decade. But the program is rife with labor rights violations, and farmers who have come to depend on it don’t love it, either.”

As I stated before, U.S.-based greenhouse producers are competing directly with Canadian greenhouse growers, as well as Mexican greenhouse producers, for consumers’ wallets in produce aisles across the United States. This means, as the American portion of the greenhouse-grown industry, we need to be conscious of all costs (of which labor is a significant portion). It is safe to say that we have learned and can confirm that locally available labor is not as efficient as the labor we get through worker visa programs. 

Why is local labor not as efficient as our immigrant workforce?

I will not even attempt to answer this question. But, what I can report is that through interviews with major greenhouse tomato growing operations, it is estimated that you need 3-4 times the amount of local labor as you do immigrant, migrant or visa workers. (This number seems true regardless of pay and benefits, based on information we received from the recently announced bankrupt company AppHarvest.) 

Conversations with on-site labor managers makes me believe that one main reason this perception exists is because this talent pool is seen as an unskilled labor force. Labor managers all agree that is far from the truth. The truth is, many of these individuals are skilled based on experience gained at other farms. These skills make them eager to be employed based on “production output,” as they recognize that their production compensation will far out pace any hourly rate that they might be paid.

According to USDA statistics from October 2022, the H2A program has expanded since 2005. But has it expanded enough to keep up with the demand? Especially the demand of the controlled environment agriculture sector?  

Even if we could keep up with demand in the greenhouse (or vertical farm), these programs do not allow us to address the issue of finding talented operational managers with experience to run the facility based on the current glass ceilings that appear to be in place.

So questions around labor, management and leadership remain for the U.S.-based controlled environment agriculture industry. From finding the experienced staff needed to operate an efficient greenhouse to providing the most talented in that group the opportunity to advance and excel. 

And Victor, my response to your comment remains “yes.” Now my question back to you is, how will you and your contemporaries lead our industry in change?

Urban Ag News would love to hear from you.  Please let us know your thoughts and comments.

The labs will be customized to carry out CEA vegetable production research unique to the Fort Pierce laboratory.AmplifiedAg has also supplied 16 vertical farming labs to the USDA-ARS U.S. Vegetable Research Lab in Charleston, South Carolina, designed to support its wide range of CEA research in vegetable growing processes, LED spectrum analysis, renewable energy, plant pathology, and plant breeding and selection for controlled environments. 

“The USDA has done a tremendous job of supporting research efforts in controlled environment agriculture, urban farming, and sustainable farming practices, and we’re extremely proud to be a provider for their continued innovation and research at ARS laboratories across the country,” says Don Taylor, CEO and Founder of AmplifiedAg.

In addition to supplying labs for third-party research, AmplifiedAg has an extensive R&D program that includes CEA cultivation of tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, potatoes, rice, medicinal herbs, and saplings such as Loblolly pines. The company is also collaborating with farms on the development of healthy fruits and vegetable transplants for greenhouse and field production.AmplifiedAg’s vertical farming labs – known as AmpLAB – are purpose-built research modules complete with a hydroponic propagation station and NFT channels for dual growing functions, and are fully integrated with proprietary environmental control systems and a SaaS-based farm software platform for total lab management. The software’s robust data collection enables USDA scientists with informed analysis to expedite research data. To create an all-encompassing laboratory, AmpLAB also includes a certified food-safe work zone with storage, sinks, and a dedicated workspace for researchers for experimentation and analysis in a clean, controlled environment.

This is the world’s first closed-loop, comprehensive autonomous growing solution developed for
the greenhouse industry. Other solutions focus on smoothing climate and are typically based on
small sampling datasets. The solution developed by IUNU uses computer vision to
comprehensively monitor crop growth for every plant in the greenhouse and autonomously
executes crop strategies based on how crops are performing.

“WPR has long served as a leader in the horticulture industry and we are thrilled to work
together to bring truly autonomous growing to the greenhouse industry. Having exclusive access
to world-class research facilities and talent accelerates our ability to bring products to market and
to drive value for growers around the world,” said Allison Kopf, Chief Growth Officer at IUNU.
IUNU has installed its computer vision system at WPR facilities in Bleiswijk in both traditional
and semi-closed greenhouse compartments with both Moving Gully Systems (MGS) as well as
Deep Water Culture (DWC) pond systems.

IUNU intends to bring this solution first to commercial lettuce growers, then to high wire crops.
To learn more about autonomous growing, visit IUNU’s website at www.iunu.com.

About IUNU
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Seattle, IUNU aims to close the loop in greenhouse
autonomy and is focused on being the world’s leading controlled environment specialist. IUNU’s
flagship platform, LUNA, combines software with a variety of high-definition cameras — both
fixed and mobile — and environmental sensors to keep track of the minutiae of plant growth and
health in indoor ag settings. LUNA’s goal is to turn commercial greenhouses into precise, predictable, demand-based manufacturers that optimize yield, labor, and product quality.
www.IUNU.com

OptimIA project members are sharing their indoor farm research findings with the controlled environment agriculture industry and the public through a variety of educational and informational outlets.

The indoor farm industry is very fluid right now with changes occurring on a weekly basis. New companies are starting, some are leaving the industry, while others continue to receive millions of investor dollars to expand their operations. While financial stability is a key factor in the sustainability of some of these businesses, the need for production- and economic-related information is crucial to profitably producing quality leafy greens crops. Those with the financial backing have been able to develop and implement their own technology to produce indoor crops. New indoor farm growers, existing operations with limited financial resources, and even large-scale farms already in operation continue to look for sound production- and economic-related information that they can apply to their businesses.

Improving the indoor farm industry

In 2015 when members of the OptimIA project team initially submitted a USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant proposal for funding, the primary focus of their research was on the production of leafy greens in indoor farms, but the focal points were moderately diverse.

“We went through the proposal submission process for several years before USDA approved the grant for the OptimIA project,” said Erik Runkle, who is project director and a horticulture professor at Michigan State University. “The proposal that was finally approved was to study the aerial environment as well as economics for leafy greens grown indoors. The aerial environment refers to air circulation, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, light and temperature.”

One of the major objectives of the OptimIA project was to focus on industry outreach.

“The outreach program objective was to engage with stakeholders in the indoor vertical farming community,” Runkle said. “Prior to submitting the proposal to USDA, the project team members worked with an industry advisory committee and stakeholders from the indoor farm community.”

OptimIA team member Chieri Kubota, who is a professor and director of Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC) at Ohio State University, said proposals submitted for USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grants usually require both a strong research and outreach focus.

“USDA SCRI-funded projects focus on problem solving to move a specific industry forward,” Kubota said. “Not only is the research important, but also implementation of research findings in the industry sector. This is basically outreach extension. The proposals cannot just focus on research alone. It is important to have strong outreach activities.”

Multiple outreach activities, educational materials

Even before the grant proposal was submitted to USDA, OptimIA team members had already begun interacting with members of the indoor farm industry.

“We had been engaging stakeholders as a sort of proposal activities,” Kubota said. “We started doing the Indoor Ag Science Café almost a year in advance of submitting the grant funding proposal. That way we were engaging our stakeholders trying to develop a community educational platform that was a main activity. Indoor farm growers and equipment manufacturers are the general target audience of the project’s research. Team members are also constantly answering questions from growers and venture capital companies regarding indoor vertical farms.”

The OptimIA website includes a variety of educational materials including Research Highlights articles , scientific research journal publications and trade magazine articles, including Urban Ag News.

The OptimIA team members have also shared information from their research at various scientific- and grower-focused industry conferences. In July several members shared their research findings at Cultivate’23 during an educational workshop on the Essentials of Hydroponics Production: A tHRIve Symposium.

Team members have also been developing online educational materials under OptimIA University, which include YouTube videos.

“We have posted several lectures with topics based on discussions among the project members,” Kubota said. “The concept of OptimIA University is free access to whoever wants to use the online materials. The grower sector is the targeted audience.

“Rather than offering courses for a fee, we decided to make the information available to everyone, including growers and other companies that want to use it to train their employees. It consists of YouTube video lectures with pdf slides and additional reading materials. The OptimIA University website is about half completed and there are other course lectures still pending.”

The OptimIA researchers also hold an annual invitation-only stakeholder meeting.

“The annual meetings are specifically for our advisory committee which gives team members an opportunity to share information about the research in progress and that has been recently completed,” Runkle said. “It’s also an opportunity for the committee members to provide feedback and guide future project activity.

“We also invite growers and company representatives who we have worked with in some capacity on research projects. This includes growers with whom we may have conducted research trials or representatives from companies that have provided us with equipment or supplies used in our research.”

Educating the public

Even though the primary focus of the OptimIA project outreach program is members of the indoor farm industry, the team members also extend their educational activities to the general public.

“OptimIA researchers at Ohio State participated in the COSI Science Festival organized by the Columbus Museum of Science and Industry,” Kubota said. “This is a community STEM educational event in which companies and scientists participate and showcase their technologies and science. It is held in May over multiple days. We participated as an OptimIA group. We showed how leafy greens can be produced using different hydroponic systems with LED lights. OptimIA team members at Michigan State University and at University of Arizona have also done similar STEM programs related to hydroponic crop production for the public.”

For more: Erik Runkle, Michigan State University, Department of Horticulture; runkleer@msu.edu; https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/dr_erik_runkle; https://www.canr.msu.edu/profiles/dr_erik_runkle/cell. Chieri Kubota, Ohio State University, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science; kubota.10@osu.edu; https://hcs.osu.edu/our-people/dr-chieri-kubota; https://ohceac.osu.edu/. OptimIA, https://www.scri-optimia.org/.

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas.

The course is offered in English and Spanish. Rated 4.2 out of 5 by grower participants, with over 80%
graduation rate last year! Over 480 growers have successfully taken this course.

Dr. Carrie Harmon, Director of the UF/IFAS Plant Diagnostic Center in Gainesville, FL and Co-Director of the National Plant Diagnostic Network, teaches the course. Growers have described the training as “detailed but digestible, with an emphasis on practical, field-applicable knowledge”, and that the course material “is very dynamic, which makes it easy to understand and apply to our day-to-day work in the greenhouse.”

The course runs from September 11 to October 6, 2023. The cost is $US265 per participant, with a 20%
discount if you register 5 or more. All course material is completely online and available at any time of the day, and includes pre-recorded videos, an interactive discussion board with PhD professors, and quizzes. Two new modules are activated each week during the course, for a total of 8 learning modules. Instruction is at your own pace and time within the 4 weeks of the course, with a typical time commitment of about 6 hours per week.

Click here to register (http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/).

Disease Management is one of six courses that counts towards the Plant Health Professional certificate
offered by University of Florida UF IFAS Extension (UF Greenhouse Training Online) and the Michigan State University Floriculture Program Extension (MSU Online College of Knowledge) to help greenhouse clientele grow their career in plant health management.

For more information, go to http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/, or contact Greenhouse Training, Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, USA, Email: greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu.

There will be keynote speeches on the latest technology and interdisciplinary research on PFALs and open discussions on business trends, needs for technology development and collaboration specific to PFALs, and future possibilities for social activities with key players such as PFAL operators actively involved internationally. Poster presentations, exhibitions, and sponsored lunch sessions will also be held at the venue, providing an opportunity for interaction and high-level networking among the world’s plant factory leaders and enthusiastic community.

The symposium will feature the keywords, including “Global trends, challenges, and prospects of plant factory business, large-scale strawberry plant factory, fully automated plant factory, improving light and other resource use efficiency in plant factories, plant phenotyping, plant factories with generative AI, next-generation nutrient solution management, breeding, space farms, plant-made pharmaceuticals and functional food, urban farm, plant factories for the circular economy, plant factories in the smart city.” These topics will be covered through open discussions and international collaboration at smart city Kashiwa-no-ha, and online, with a view to achieving “staying healthy simply by living.” The symposium will offer highly interactive sessions from various perspectives with leading international researchers and the hottest business leaders of the moment. 

Speakers/Panelists

Chieri Kubota Professor, the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University, U.S.

Leo Marcelis Professor and Head of Chair Group Horticulture and Product Physiology,　Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Hiroki Koga Co-founder and CEO, Oishii Farm, U.S.

Seishi Ninomiya Emeritus Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Francesco Orsini Full Professor, the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), University of Bologna, Italy

Roel Janssen Chief Business Officer, Planet Farms, Italy

Eiji Goto Professor, Chiba University, Japan

Yoshiaki Kitaya Professor Emeritus and Director of R&D Center for the Plant Factory, Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan

Masayuki Hirafuji Project Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Paul Gauthier Professor, Protected Cropping, The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Australia

Katashi Kai General Manager, Shinnippou (808 factory), Japan

Nagateru Nozawa CEO, MIRAI CO., LTD, Japan

Eri Hayashi President, Japan Plant Factory Association

Click https://select-type.com/e/?id=DFQu2EcoBas&w_flg=1 for onsite registration
or https://select-type.com/e/?id=9USB5nqn1p4&w_flg=1 for online registration.

For more information, go to JPFA International Symposium on Plant Factory 2023, or contact the JPFA at symposium@npoplantfactory.org. 

Japan Plant Factory Association

The Japan Plant Factory Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 2010, is devoted to advancing the plant factory industry and controlled-environment agriculture in and outside Japan through academia-industry collaborations.

Its mission is to develop and disseminate sustainable plant factory systems in a bid to address issues concerning food, the environment, energy, and natural resources.

Activities range from research and development in collaboration with research institutes and industrial companies, technical and business support, planning and operation of human resource development programs to educate plant factory specialists, organizing onsite tours, and international projects, including public relations activities.

Facilities: 15 Plant factories and more on the Kashiwa-no-ha campus site

R&D projects by consortium members, applied research at facilities suitable for demonstration, collaboration with academia and industry

Website: https://npoplantfactory.org/en

The course runs from August 14 to September 8, 2023. The cost is $US530 per participant, with a 20%
discount if you register 5 or more. All course material is completely online and available at any time of the day, and includes pre-recorded videos, an interactive discussion board with PhD professors, and quizzes. Two new modules are activated each week during the course, for a total of 8 learning modules. Instruction is at your own pace and time within the 4 weeks of the course, with a typical time commitment of about 6 hours per week.
Click here to register (http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/).

For more information, go to http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/, or contact Greenhouse Training, Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, USA, Email: greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu.

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 29, 2023) — Resource Innovation Institute (RII), the leading not-for-profit energy and water benchmarking organization for CEA producers, announced today the availability of its long-awaited Water Circularity Best Practices Guide for Controlled Environment Agriculture Operations. It can be downloaded from RII’s resource catalog at this link.

“This report is the result of a comprehensive, collaborative effort between equipment manufacturers, academia, regulators, utility providers and RII’s in-house experts,” said Derek Smith, Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute. “It is the first comprehensive guide on water efficiency in CEA in North America and will prove invaluable to any operation working to implement efforts to reduce water consumption and increase efficiency.”

According to Smith, environmental sustainability is just one reason to implement water efficiency best practices. As reported in a 2016 study from Alberta, Canada, resource efficiency also makes a direct impact on a CEA facility’s bottom line. For example, the study found that recirculating irrigation water has been shown to reduce water consumption by 20-40% and fertilizer costs by 40-50%. The Water Circularity Best Practices Guide covers topics such as reducing irrigation water use in hydroponic and horticultural substrate culture, reducing the use of climate control water and process water, how to recapture water and other critical issues.

“Any size operation will be able to implement the best practices for reducing water consumption identified in this report,” Smith said. “Larger or more advanced facilities can apply the strategies for recycling and remediating multiple water streams using physical, chemical, and biological technologies, putting them on the path to become zero-discharge facilities. There really is a comprehensive focus to this guide that will be beneficial for everyone.”

Through actionable tips and tools on the operational benefits of adopting water-saving practices, the guide offers practical solutions to reduce, remediate and recycle a CEA facility’s water usage. It can be downloaded at this link from RII’s resource catalog.

About Resource Innovation Institute: We Empower Farm Resilience
Resource Innovation Institute (RII) is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership advancing climate resilience. RII provides resource efficiency education, training, and verification services, in collaboration with CEA producers, researchers, governments, utilities, and the design & construction sector. Visit our website at ResourceInnovation.org. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

OptimIA researchers are using crop modeling to identify the most favorable environmental parameters for growth and yield of indoor farm lettuce crops and how to prevent tipburn.

One of the research objectives of the OptimIA project, which is being funded by USDA to the tune of $2.4 million, is to study the aerial environment for producing indoor leafy greens. The aerial environment refers to air circulation, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, light intensity, and temperature. Prior to preparing the project proposal, members of the OptimIA team surveyed stakeholders of the indoor farm industry to identify the challenges and needs of the industry.

“There was a lot of feedback related to environmental parameters, especially airflow,” said Murat Kacira, an OptimIA team member who is director of Controlled Environment Agriculture Center and professor in the Biosystems Engineering Department at the University of Arizona. “The indoor farm industry had a real need for optimizing the environmental variables related to light, temperature, humidity management and control. Leafy greens growers wanted to be able to understand plant growth, quantify the plant response, yield, as well as the quality attributes under various environmental conditions.”

Crop modeling predictions, potential

Kacira explains crop modeling is simply crop growth and yield prediction.

“Given setpoints for air temperature, photosynthetic active radiation, humidity, carbon dioxide enrichment, we were able to model crop growth and predict the kilograms or grams of lettuce yield on an hourly or daily basis and also at the end of the production cycle,” he said.

Kacira’s lab used modeling to focus on plant growth and yield predictions for lettuce in indoor vertical farms considering environmental variables, including temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide level and light intensity.

“Considering the co-optimization of different environmental variables, there are many combinations of those setpoints that are possible,” he said. “It takes a lot of time and effort to study all those combinations. A model we did was focused on plant growth and yield prediction for growing lettuce in indoor vertical farms considering environmental variables. Using modeling can help to narrow down the combinations or the possibilities that can occur.

Another modeling study enabled Kacira to identify the possibility of dynamic carbon dioxide enrichment.

“We looked at whether carbon dioxide enrichment should be done for the full production cycle from transplanting to little leaf harvest or whether it should be done during different phases of production leading to savings either for electrical energy or carbon dioxide use,” he said. “Also, we considered how carbon dioxide enrichment and control would be incorporated with lighting controls. For example, can the light be dimmed while increasing the carbon dioxide level to achieve a similar yield outcome, but with a control strategy enabling electrical energy savings during production.”

Determining best airflow distribution

Kacira is also using modeling and computer simulations to study airflow and airflow uniformity to design alternative air distribution systems to improve aerial environment uniformity and to prevent tipburn in lettuce crops.

“Early on we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) space simulation and modeling to study airflow,” he said. “We looked at some existing air distribution systems to understand what would be the environmental uniformity and aerodynamics in indoor vertical farms. Then we studied what-if scenarios. We developed design alternatives that can deliver optimal growing conditions with improved aerial environment uniformity and help prevent lettuce tipburn.

“Our CFD simulations and experimental studies confirmed that vertical airflow compared to horizontal airflow was more effective reducing aerodynamic resistance with improved airflow and transpiration, thus preventing tipburn in lettuce.”

Some of the outcomes determined by Kacira and his team have been presented to OptimIA stakeholders and CEA industry members through seminars, webinars and research and trade publications. Kacira will continue using computer simulations, modeling, and experimental studies to design and test more effective localized air-distribution methods, environmental monitoring, and control strategies for indoor vertical farms.

Production techniques for preventing tipburn

Chieri Kubota, who is a member of the OptimIA team and professor and director of the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at Ohio State University, and graduate student John Ertle studied various techniques for reducing or preventing tipburn. These techniques have application to lettuce crops produced in indoor farms and greenhouses.

“Growers can reduce the light intensity at the end of the production cycle to mitigate the risk of tipburn,” Kubota said. “If growers want to reduce tipburn and they can tolerate reduced yields, they can lower the light intensity towards the end of the production cycle.

“For example, when the daily light integral (DLI) was reduced by 50 percent for the final 12 days of production (out of 28 days), the incidence of tipburn can be largely reduced for cultivars sensitive to tipburn-inducing conditions. However, this approach reduces the yield and likely the quality of lettuce, while reducing the loss by tipburn. Therefore, efficacy of this approach is dependent on the cultivars and their growing conditions. More research needs to be done to refine this approach.”

Another technique growers can use to prevent tipburn is to stop growing lettuce before it enters the final 1½ weeks of the six-week growing period. This is what many growers are doing because they can’t take the risk of tipburn occurring. Plants are being harvested at this young stage.

Among the techniques that Kubota and Ertle examined, they found that the most effective in preventing tipburn was using vertical airflow fans. This technique was originally discovered by a research group at University of Tokyo in the 1990s and implemented into greenhouse hydroponics at Cornell University.

“We confirmed that when vertical airflow is applied under conditions that highly favor tipburn induction, tipburn can be prevented very effectively,” Kubota said. “We created an environment based on our previous knowledge which always induces tipburn. We confirmed the use of vertical airflow fans reduces tipburn.”

For more: Murat Kacira, University of Arizona, Controlled Environment Agriculture Center; mkacira@arizona.edu; http://ceac.arizona.edu/.

Chieri Kubota, Ohio State University, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science; kubota.10@osu.edu; https://hcs.osu.edu/our-people/dr-chieri-kubota; https://ohceac.osu.edu/. OptimIA, https://www.scri-optimia.org/.

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas.

OptimIA at Cultivate’23

If you are attending this year’s Cultivate’23, July 15-18 in Columbus, Ohio, you have the opportunity to hear OptimiA researchers, including Murat Kacira and Chieri Kubota, discuss some of the findings of their research. They will be speaking during the Essentials of Hydroponics Production – a tHRIve Symposium on Saturday, July 15 from 8-11 a.m.

By encouraging students to showcase their work through poster presentations, the competition seeks to foster collaboration opportunities between individuals in academia and private industry, while also connecting commercial companies with qualified candidates.

“We are proud to co-host the graduate student poster competition at the CEA Summit East Conference,” said Brian Sullivan, CEO, Indoor Ag-Con. “This competition not only provides a great platform for students to share their research, but also enables commercial companies to discover talented individuals who can contribute to the future growth and innovation of the CEA sector.”

The Virginia Tech-IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center is dedicated to advancing research and development in CEA. The center’s Co-Director and IALR Vice President, Scott Lowman, Ph.D., adds, “The graduate student poster competition is one more way we’re bridging the gap between academia and industry, promoting knowledge exchange, and opening doors to new collaboration in the CEA field.”

Graduate students interested in participating in the competition are invited to learn more and submit abstracts detailing their research by August 1, 2023, via www.ceasummit.com/#poster-competition.

A panel of experts will review the abstracts and select ten finalists to present their work through poster presentations at the conference. Selected candidates will receive a complimentary full access graduate student conference pass ($395 value) to attend the conference/competition. Judging will be held during the event and the winner will be announced at the day two keynote breakfast session on September 20, 2023.

Following its successful debut edition in October 2022, which brought together more than 200 attendees from 28 states, CEA Summit East 2023 will continue to foster connections and collaboration among growers, educators, scientists, extension specialists, suppliers, engineers, tech specialists, architect/developers and other industry members. Throughout the two-day event attendees will have the opportunity to explore the latest innovations from tabletop exhibitors, enjoy networking opportunities, and attend a full roster of keynote, panel presentations and research/industry showcases.

For more information about the graduate student poster competition and the September 19-20, 2023, edition of CEA Summit East, visit the conference website at www.ceasummit.com

ABOUT INDOOR AG-CON
Indoor Ag-Con is the premier global event series focused on the future of indoor farming. Since 2013, the trade show and conference, the industry’s largest, has been at the forefront of the rapidly expanding vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture sector, providing a platform for industry leaders, innovators, and researchers to connect, share knowledge, and drive the industry forward. More information- www.indoor.ag

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA TECH-IALR CEA INNOVATION CENTER
The Virginia Tech-IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center is a joint project between IALR and Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center. By developing strategic partnerships with both industry and academia, the goal of the Innovation Center is to conduct research and educational programming to develop, promote and advance the CEA sector in the U.S. and internationally. More information–www.ialr.org/cea

[Ithaca, New York] – The Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium is thrilled to introduce Gretchen Schimelpfenig as their new Executive Director. With an impressive background in Civil Engineering and extensive experience in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, Gretchen brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her new role.

Ms. Schimelpfenig’s educational journey includes an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University in 2014 and a B.S. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Wyoming in 2012. As a licensed Civil Professional Engineer in California and Vermont, she has demonstrated her commitment to innovation and sustainability.

At GLASE, Gretchen will spearhead collaborative efforts with academics and industry stakeholders to drive groundbreaking advancements in greenhouse technology and systems. Her primary focus will be on reducing the environmental impact and increasing the profitability of the CEA industry by pioneering and commercializing emerging solutions.

In addition to her role at GLASE, Gretchen currently serves as a senior engineer at Energy Resources Integration (ERI), where she assists greenhouse growers and indoor farmers across the country in implementing cost-effective energy management strategies to maximize efficiency. Her expertise in this field is further highlighted by her previous position as the Technical Director of Resource Innovation Institute (RII). As the author of RII’s Lighting, HVAC, and Facility Design & Construction Best Practices Guides for CEA in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Gretchen has already made significant contributions to the industry.

“I firmly believe in a carbon-neutral and climate-smart future for controlled environment agriculture. High-performance systems are the key to increasing greenhouse energy productivity,” says Gretchen Schimelpfenig, PE.

As the new Executive Director, Gretchen Schimelpfenig will lead GLASE in forging new partnerships, creating opportunities for knowledge exchange, and driving the adoption of cutting-edge solutions across the industry. Joining GLASE as a member means becoming part of a visionary community dedicated to transforming the future of controlled environment agriculture.
To learn more about GLASE and how to become a member, visit www.glase.org.

About GLASE

The Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium is a public-private collaboration that stands at the forefront of LED systems engineering, plant photobiology and physiology, and greenhouse environmental controls. Committed to pioneering and commercializing breakthrough greenhouse technology, GLASE brings together a diverse range of stakeholders in the controlled environment agriculture industry. For more information, visit https://glase.org/membership/.

About ERI

Energy Resources Integration (ERI) is a clean energy consulting firm developing a sustainable future for our planet through cost-effective energy management. Since 2011, ERI’s team of professional engineers has supported over 20 utilities across 8 states and worked with hundreds of agricultural, industrial, and commercial businesses as an energy advisor to support and accomplish sustainability goals. ERI executes strategies for businesses to foster a clean energy future. For more information, visit https://www.eripacific.com/contact-us/.

Nutrient Management Level 1 Starts July 10!

One of the biggest factors affecting the success of your crop is correctly managing nutrients in the root zone. Nutrient Management Level 1 is part of the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training program offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This course is intermediate level and designed for people with some experience or entry university level, who are in production, technical, or sales role for greenhouse and nursery crops. Topics covered include common nutrient problems, essential nutrients, fertilizer types, growing media, and testing (soil, nutrient solution and tissue). The course is offered in English and Spanish. Rated 4.4 out of 5 by grower participants, with over 90% graduation rate last year! Over 900 growers have successfully taken this course.

The course runs from July 10 to August 4, 2023. The cost is $US265 per participant, with a 20% discount if you register 5 or more. All course material is completely online and available at any time of the day, and includes pre-recorded videos, an interactive discussion board with PhD professors, and quizzes. Two new modules are activated each week during the course, for a total of 8 learning modules. Instruction is at your own pace and time within the 4 weeks of the course, with a typical time commitment of about 6 hours per week. Click here to register.

Nutrient Management 1 is one of six courses that counts towards the Plant Health Professional certificate offered by University of Florida UF IFAS Extension (UF Greenhouse Training Online) and the Michigan State University Floriculture Program Extension (MSU Online College of Knowledge) to help greenhouse clientele grow their career in plant health management.

For more information, go to http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/, or contact Greenhouse Training, Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, USA, Email: greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu.