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Verticale landbouw floreert dankzij digitalisering

Vertical farming flourishes thanks to digitalization

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No soil in this farm: pallets of plants grown with hydroponic methods. (Photo: 80 Acres Farms)

80 Acres Farms has made supplying fresh food for a growing population its mission. How? With fully automated, indoor vertical farming. As it turns out, controlled environment agriculture is also more sustainable than traditional farming methods.

Who said the plants we eat must be grown outdoors? All over the world, city populations are increasing in size. At the same time, more and more consumers are demanding clean, locally grown food. Metropolitan agricultural efforts seek to combine these trends with controlled environment agriculture.

A leader in this area is 80 Acres Farms, which grows everything from salad, microgreens, and herbs to tomatoes and baby cucumbers. Siemens supports the industrialization and scaling of the company's proprietary Loop platform from 80 Acres Farms’ technology-focused subsidiary Infinite Acres. This comprehensive solution encompasses crop management software, algorithms, environmental controls, robotics, and automation.

A typical vertical farm is stacked high with layers of plants. Picture fields stacked on top of fields lit with LED lighting at each level, efficiently utilizing the vertical space and significantly increasing food production. The conditions in a vertical farm are monitored around the clock to ensure the plants have the perfect amounts of light energy, carbon dioxide, nutrients, air, temperature, and humidity they need.

Ten years ago, this was science fiction. Tomorrow, indoor vertical farming is going to be so ubiquitous that everyone will wonder how we lived without it.
Mike Zelkind, Co-founder and CEO , 80 Acres Farms

Better for the environment

Vertical farming leads to healthier and more sustainable food. For one, everything 80 Acres Farms grows is 100% pesticide-free. Compared to traditional agriculture, 300 times more food can be grown per square foot at an 80 Acres Farms site. And with 17 to 20 more growing cycles annually, output is considerably higher. Because produce is grown close to consumers, there are lower carbon emissions associated with travel. Finally, optimized water and land use lead to less agricultural waste.

Of course, what is good can always become better. 80 Acres Farms and Infinite Acres are committed to employing innovative automation and digitalization technologies to make farms safer and more productive. And to do that, they are partnering with some of the biggest and best in technology – including Siemens.

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A strategic investment in the future of agriculture

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From left: Tisha Livingston, Co-founder of 80 Acres Farms and CEO of Infinite Acres, John Parrott, VP of F&B/CPG vertical markets of Siemens U.S., and Mike Zelkind, Co-founder and CEO of 80 Acres Farms. (Photo: 80 Acres Farms)

Begin 2023 kondigden Siemens en 80 Acres Farms officieel hun samenwerking aan om het gepatenteerde Loop-systeem van Infinite Acres te industrialiseren en op te schalen. Verankerd door een aandeleninvestering van Siemens Financial Services (SFS), werken Siemens en 80 Acres Farms samen om innovatieve oplossingen toe te passen, zoals software en algoritmen voor gewasbeheer, milieucontroles, robotica en automatisering. Dit zijn slechts enkele van de vele concrete technologieën die Siemens levert:

Siemens voorziet in slimme stroomdistributieapparatuur en gebouwbeheertechnologieën binnen de faciliteiten, waarmee brand- en levensveiligheid, beveiliging en de stroomdistributiesystemen zelf kunnen worden gecontroleerd, allemaal via één enkele interface. Bovendien helpt de suite van geavanceerde industriële automatiseringstechnologieën en randapparatuur de productielijn te automatiseren, terwijl randapparatuur en mens-machine-interfaces de controlesystemen van de landbouwbedrijven monitoren en bijwerken.

Om de activiteiten nader te onderzoeken, werken Siemens en 80 Acres Farms aan een digital twin die de plantengroei en het productieproces simuleert. Hierdoor wordt het mogelijk de plantengroei onder verschillende omstandigheden te voorspellen en de groeicycli beter af te stemmen op de verzendschema's.

The future of vertical farming is all about collaboration – finding the best partners to help scale and industrialize the technology – so that fresh, clean, nutritious food will be accessible to more people around the world.
Tisha Livingston, Co-founder, 80 Acres Farms

A better yield of tastier and more nutritious plants

De samenwerking strekt zich ook uit tot onderzoek en ontwikkeling. Siemens Technology maakt bijvoorbeeld gebruik van kunstmatige intelligentie (AI) en machine learning om een app te ontwikkelen die software optimaliseert voor het besturen van verticale boerderijen. Het doel is tweeledig: ongunstige omstandigheden voor de planten te vermijden die de oogst zouden kunnen beïnvloeden, en te bepalen welke omstandigheden leiden tot betere voeding en smaak.

Het kapitaal dat SFS aan 80 Acres Farms verstrekt, maakt het voor het milieuvriendelijke bedrijf mogelijk om groei te stimuleren en de toekomstige infrastructuur en technologie te financieren die nodig zijn om op te schalen. Met financiële en technologische steun van Siemens beschikt 80 Acres Farms over wat nodig is om het aantal verticale boerderijen dat het exploiteert uit te breiden (binnenkort zeven). Infinite Acres kan zijn Loop-systeem naar nog meer stedelijke gebieden brengen. Consumenten die in de stad wonen: bereid u voor op voedzaam, smakelijk voedsel dat dicht bij u wordt geteeld.

Februari 2023

Contactpersoon: John Parrott

80 Acres Farms

80 Acres Farms is a leader in the indoor farming industry, specializing in growing the next generation of food – food grown in eco-friendly indoor farms closer to consumers’ tables. The company currently operates production sites in the United States, with five farms in southwestern Ohio, a new farm in Florence, Kentucky, and a farm under construction in Covington, Georgia. In addition, it operates R&D facilities in Arkansas and the Netherlands.80 Acres Farms

Infinite Acres

Infinite Acres is a wholly owned subsidiary of 80 Acres Farms. The company’s software and hardware engineers, data scientists, crop specialists, architects, and other indoor agriculture professionals have developed every aspect of Infinite Acres’ proprietary Loop system. Loop is a comprehensive platform, encompassing software and algorithms, environmental controls, robotics, and automation. It ensures the highest efficiencies, quality, and yields in the industry, helping plants grow from seed to healthy, ready-to-eat produce.
Infinite Acres