Robotic farming paving the way?

Is fully automatise farming the hereafter ?

It is , in fact , part of the time to come says Mike Zelkind , chief executive officer of 80 Acres Farms , a vertical farming society establish in Hamilton , Ohio . “ I think indoor farming should play a role in a holistic answer to land — so should glasshouse and other traditional farms , ” read Zelkind .

The almost five - yr - sure-enough fellowship is currently put to work on its third farm in Hamilton , Ohio alone which add to the family of farm located in Cincinnati , Alabama , Arkansas and North Carolina . It also relies on the indoor farming technology developed by Infinite Acres , its married person company headed up by Zelkind ’s business partner Tisha Livingston . ( The indoor agriculture technology is also available for cut-rate sale outside of 80 Acres . )

Micromanaged productSo what ’s inside an 80 acre farm ? The companionship grows a diverseness of product including tomatoes , cucumbers , leafy greens and more year - round inside progressively automated facility . “ Our former farm were more manual . We ’re testing different things in different farms — sometimes it ’s water , sometimes it ’s air catamenia , other farms you ’re testing lighting recipes . But our latest farms are about 80 per centum automated , ” enjoin Zelkind .

But the automation involved is n’t just for the interest of incorporate mechanization . “ With any normal farm , labor is a big lot so that ’s where our philosophical system in automation come in . Along with a lot of backbreaking work in land , there are also virtual production inefficiencies associated with manual seeding , transplanting and harvest home , etc . Without consistency in those processes , you ’re never going to grow great crops , ” says Zelkind . “ So we automatise to take aid of those things . The product is always tasty and of highest quality because the variableness is out of it . ”

Which is why the testing throughout each novel farm is so key . All of that examination goes towards uprise premium product that Zelkind enjoin is high timbre in appreciation , nutrition and more . The products are pesticide and rest gratis , rely on 100 per centum renewable Energy Department to grow as well as practice 97 per centum less water to produce more food for thought than would develop on a traditional farm its size .

Where they ’re locatedBut 80 Acres is also about location , location , location . “ We focus on building our farm next to statistical distribution centers so we fundamentally eliminate the supplying chain , ” he enounce . Not only does it cut down on supply chain issue but it adds to the product ’s quality says Zelkind . “ We do n’t have as many people touch on the nutrient . It ’s a uncontaminating , food - safe environment to originate food and quickly and safely distribute it . And the food is always invigorated because it ’s 1 - 2 days old and it ’s reap for orders , ” he says , noting that its farms are in the main pre - sold in production before build .

So , why is n’t everyone farming this way ? “ Indoor agriculture is just one critical component of solving the world ’s food for thought provision progeny . It ’s chapiter intensive and it ’s really challenging . The industriousness is still unseasoned and learning , ” says Zelkind . That said , he supply that capital and operating costs have come down importantly since 80 estate began control five year ago , and the farms are vigor effective .

To really impact the produce industriousness with this new farming proficiency , not only must one get differently , but you need to get a better way to communicate the product ’s benefit to a client through effective selling , says Zelkind . “ You have to collaborate with retail partners to communicate with their customers . consumer are asking for food with more nutrition , good preference and other topically grown benefits , ” he tell , tally that 80 Acres mathematical product is price at constitutional story . “ With volume , we might be able to go below constitutive pricing . But this is everything organic is aspiring to be . ”

At the end of the day , Zelkind notes that it ’s still just farm at 80 Acre . “ Food does n’t grow itself no matter how many vision systems you put around it , ” says Zelkind .

For more info : Rebecca Haders80 Acres FarmsTel : +1 ( 513 ) 910 - 9089[email protected]https://www.80acresfarms.com/