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The future of farming is most likely vertical farming with controlled conditions or underground. Especially when humans start going to other planets, this will

The future of farming is most likely vertical farming with controlled conditions or underground. Especially when humans start going to other planets, this will be key. Side note: Mormon church is the biggest land owner in lots of areas including Florida and Utah. [1][2] Also own lots of land in other states where they are top 10 like Montana and Idaho. [3] Ted Turner and the Wilks family are also massive land owners in Montana, Idaho and other areas. [4] Here's the top land owners in all of US as of 2019: [4] FAMILY ACRES John Malone 2.20M Emmerson family 1.96M Ted Turner 1.92M Stan Kroenke 1.38M Reed family 1.33M Irving family 1.25M Brad Kelley 1.15M Singleton family 1.10M King Ranch heirs 0.93M Peter Buck 0.93M John Malone is the largest land owner in the US [5]. Largest land owners are mostly corporate, private individuals and in some states, religions. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_Ranches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_Ranches [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-florida-mormons/mormon-church-set-to-become-floridas-largest-private-landowner-idUSL2N0IT2AZ20131108 https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-florida-mormons/mormon-c... [3] https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/money/2016/06/21/who-owns-montana-top-10-landowners/86179936/ https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/money/2016/06/21/who... [4] https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-largest-landowners-in-us/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-largest-landowners-i... [5] https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/john-malone-everything-need-know-americas-single-largest-land-owner/ https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/john-malone-eve...

bluGill 6y ago
Vertical farming doesn't work out in general. Plants tend to be limited by light, so when you go up you shadow horizontal land. There is some efficiency gain because solar panels -> LED can convert light wave lengths, but I don't know if it is enough to overcome the losses in the system plus the cost of the building. Vertical farms are all niches: lettuce is high value, and spoils fast. Thus they can get closer/faster to market by going vertical. They convert electric (coal and natural gas) to light, so they are not very environmentally sound.
- AngryData 6y ago
  From the numbers ive seen (which could be off), you get like 250 watts per square meter of solar panels, but you need atleast 350-500 watts per square meter of the highest efficiency currently available grow LEDs. And that is assuming you grow them in a building with higher than natural air temperatures because "wasted" wavelengths aren't really wasted because plants need them to elevate leaf temperatures significantly higher than ambient temperatures. So it has heating costs also. Also, the reason they grow lettuce for these tests and not more calorie dense or nutrient packed plants is because lettuce requires little light and little nutrients, most of its weight and volume is just water and air. Growing wheat or potatoes or other primary food crops requires a lot more light and a lot more nutrients than these demonstration crops.
legulere 6y ago
> The future of farming is most likely vertical farming with controlled conditions Not even for high price per area needed products like salad vertical farming is profitable yet. Most of the farmland is used for crops that use up a lot of space like wheat, corn or soybeans.
- drawkbox 6y ago
  Marijuana farming indoors/vertical will probably be the crop that pushes innovation in this area and most is grown indoors at minimum. Over time, controlled conditions will be a necessity. Right now the cost is still cheaper for most on land, that will change, especially if we move to new planets but definitely if we don't due to population. Necessity will fuel the innovation here and solar/light innovation will be a big future industry. Writing off vertical/indoor farming is like writing off other fuel choices or EVs, until it happens everyone said it was impossible but necessity changes the impossible mainly due to changes in cost/investment and returns, as well as new technologies made possible over time. Lots of examples of successes already besides in marijuana. Essentially just green houses that can be stacked like modular farming. https://interestingengineering.com/13-vertical-farming-innovations-that-could-revolutionize-agriculture https://interestingengineering.com/13-vertical-farming-innov...
kickout 6y ago
Nope, farming using land has free energy (sun) and more room (with nothing else to use it for). As such, its scale and efficiency will always compete well with vertical farming which has considerable more overhead.
- drawkbox 6y ago
  It isn't an either/or on Earth. Even the USDA thinks indoor/controlled vertical farming is key in the future [1] For other planets, we will have to have vertical or underground farming and controlled conditions. As more and more land on Earth gets used and population increases, climate changes, soil is more and more less fertile, the only way to meet that demand is indoor, up or down. Even industries like marijuana, where hydroponics and farming is more indoors, much of that is indoors and can be vertical. There are lots of innovations yet to be made that will make it more of a possibility and ultimately a necessity [2]. When it comes down to it, growing in controlled conditions is easier and less risky, growing outdoors is harder. Though it doesn't work for all right now, the areas it works for those elements are key. Even growing a single plant indoors versus outdoors, so much less to think about in controlled conditions. Farmers can be wiped out with a flood, or an insect, all of those things are less risky indoors where possible. [1] https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/08/14/vertical-farming-future https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/08/14/vertical-farming-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming
  - kickout 6y ago
    Those linked articles from the USDA talk about vertical farming for very niche products: fresh greens mostly and possibly some spices. Vertical farming will not be possible to supply the protein, starch, or oil needs of the world. Only large scale farming (think US Midwest) can provide at this scale. People simply underestimate how many acres of farmland there are or don't appreciate the scale and efficiency of modern farming. https://thinkingagriculture.io/what-agriculture-has-and-doesnt-have/ https://thinkingagriculture.io/what-agriculture-has-and-does... It should also be noted that the world population will peak around ~10B people. We will have plenty of food to feed all of these people (minus corruption and politics).

bluGill 6y ago

Vertical farming doesn't work out in general. Plants tend to be limited by light, so when you go up you shadow horizontal land. There is some efficiency gain because solar panels -> LED can convert light wave lengths, but I don't know if it is enough to overcome the losses in the system plus the cost of the building. Vertical farms are all niches: lettuce is high value, and spoils fast. Thus they can get closer/faster to market by going vertical. They convert electric (coal and natural gas) to light, so they are not very environmentally sound.

AngryData 6y ago
From the numbers ive seen (which could be off), you get like 250 watts per square meter of solar panels, but you need atleast 350-500 watts per square meter of the highest efficiency currently available grow LEDs. And that is assuming you grow them in a building with higher than natural air temperatures because "wasted" wavelengths aren't really wasted because plants need them to elevate leaf temperatures significantly higher than ambient temperatures. So it has heating costs also. Also, the reason they grow lettuce for these tests and not more calorie dense or nutrient packed plants is because lettuce requires little light and little nutrients, most of its weight and volume is just water and air. Growing wheat or potatoes or other primary food crops requires a lot more light and a lot more nutrients than these demonstration crops.

legulere 6y ago

> The future of farming is most likely vertical farming with controlled conditions Not even for high price per area needed products like salad vertical farming is profitable yet. Most of the farmland is used for crops that use up a lot of space like wheat, corn or soybeans.

drawkbox 6y ago
Marijuana farming indoors/vertical will probably be the crop that pushes innovation in this area and most is grown indoors at minimum. Over time, controlled conditions will be a necessity. Right now the cost is still cheaper for most on land, that will change, especially if we move to new planets but definitely if we don't due to population. Necessity will fuel the innovation here and solar/light innovation will be a big future industry. Writing off vertical/indoor farming is like writing off other fuel choices or EVs, until it happens everyone said it was impossible but necessity changes the impossible mainly due to changes in cost/investment and returns, as well as new technologies made possible over time. Lots of examples of successes already besides in marijuana. Essentially just green houses that can be stacked like modular farming. https://interestingengineering.com/13-vertical-farming-innovations-that-could-revolutionize-agriculture https://interestingengineering.com/13-vertical-farming-innov...

kickout 6y ago

Nope, farming using land has free energy (sun) and more room (with nothing else to use it for). As such, its scale and efficiency will always compete well with vertical farming which has considerable more overhead.

drawkbox 6y ago
It isn't an either/or on Earth. Even the USDA thinks indoor/controlled vertical farming is key in the future [1] For other planets, we will have to have vertical or underground farming and controlled conditions. As more and more land on Earth gets used and population increases, climate changes, soil is more and more less fertile, the only way to meet that demand is indoor, up or down. Even industries like marijuana, where hydroponics and farming is more indoors, much of that is indoors and can be vertical. There are lots of innovations yet to be made that will make it more of a possibility and ultimately a necessity [2]. When it comes down to it, growing in controlled conditions is easier and less risky, growing outdoors is harder. Though it doesn't work for all right now, the areas it works for those elements are key. Even growing a single plant indoors versus outdoors, so much less to think about in controlled conditions. Farmers can be wiped out with a flood, or an insect, all of those things are less risky indoors where possible. [1] https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/08/14/vertical-farming-future https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/08/14/vertical-farming-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming
- kickout 6y ago
  Those linked articles from the USDA talk about vertical farming for very niche products: fresh greens mostly and possibly some spices. Vertical farming will not be possible to supply the protein, starch, or oil needs of the world. Only large scale farming (think US Midwest) can provide at this scale. People simply underestimate how many acres of farmland there are or don't appreciate the scale and efficiency of modern farming. https://thinkingagriculture.io/what-agriculture-has-and-doesnt-have/ https://thinkingagriculture.io/what-agriculture-has-and-does... It should also be noted that the world population will peak around ~10B people. We will have plenty of food to feed all of these people (minus corruption and politics).