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I'm not totally arguing against you. Indoor farming will have its place. I would say land is NOT in demand though, population trends clearly shows people/societ

I'm not totally arguing against you. Indoor farming will have its place. I would say land is NOT in demand though, population trends clearly shows people/society migrating towards high density cities as opposed to spreading out where there is land (central US). You can literally drive around the Midwest and see tens of millions of acres that have no other purposes than....to just sit there, chilling. The 'buy land, they don't make more of it' is almost a meme at this point. We have plenty of land. ETA: I had the spice and niche crops comment in my first comment, so yes we agree. Most of farming is to produce starch,oil, or protein at scale. Spices are a very very very (very) small slice

drawkbox 6y ago
I hear you on land and population. There is also climate changes, limitations to fertile soil and many other things. As I mentioned in my edited comment above, most large farms are cattle ranches or livestock that need massive amounts of land. Those also aren't as affected by weather. Unless people stop eating meat (they won't) then ranches will always exist and there will be at least a doubling of the need based on current populations to projected. For plants, controlled conditions are always better. So when certain crops are viable to do indoors/vertical it will be economical to do so with less risk. That is already the case with marijuana, herbs etc that are smaller but also big business and will grow (no pun intended). If people do start eating more plants instead of meat, and products move plant based more and more, indoor/vertical farming could become more necessary largely due to access/shipping/fulfillment and even labor availability. Right now current farming would not be able to support if everyone became vegan or vegetarian. If population does top out and people are happy in cities, then your prediction is probably correct. If people don't want to live in cities as much due to other situations (climate change or pandemics or politics or other) some of that land may be more profitable in other uses. As industries move more remote and housing costs are too high in cities, people will spread out. Efficiencies also come with indoor/vertical that you can't get on land: limited use of pesticides, recycled water or water constraints, recreating soil fertility, weather control, etc. Where soil is not fertile, vertical/indoor farming is a potential solution as it can go where land based farming can't always. Final point, indoor/vertical/controlled farming would make humans able to survive on other planets or if anything were to ever happen with events that might make outdoor conditions risky or less viable. Everybody's bunker is going to need a good indoor farm.

drawkbox 6y ago

I hear you on land and population. There is also climate changes, limitations to fertile soil and many other things. As I mentioned in my edited comment above, most large farms are cattle ranches or livestock that need massive amounts of land. Those also aren't as affected by weather. Unless people stop eating meat (they won't) then ranches will always exist and there will be at least a doubling of the need based on current populations to projected. For plants, controlled conditions are always better. So when certain crops are viable to do indoors/vertical it will be economical to do so with less risk. That is already the case with marijuana, herbs etc that are smaller but also big business and will grow (no pun intended). If people do start eating more plants instead of meat, and products move plant based more and more, indoor/vertical farming could become more necessary largely due to access/shipping/fulfillment and even labor availability. Right now current farming would not be able to support if everyone became vegan or vegetarian. If population does top out and people are happy in cities, then your prediction is probably correct. If people don't want to live in cities as much due to other situations (climate change or pandemics or politics or other) some of that land may be more profitable in other uses. As industries move more remote and housing costs are too high in cities, people will spread out. Efficiencies also come with indoor/vertical that you can't get on land: limited use of pesticides, recycled water or water constraints, recreating soil fertility, weather control, etc. Where soil is not fertile, vertical/indoor farming is a potential solution as it can go where land based farming can't always. Final point, indoor/vertical/controlled farming would make humans able to survive on other planets or if anything were to ever happen with events that might make outdoor conditions risky or less viable. Everybody's bunker is going to need a good indoor farm.