4 ms·

I'm not sure why you're so convinced that this is an inferior means of farming. It's generally accepted that modern day commercial practices are sub optimal. F

by brd 12y ago

I'm not sure why you're so convinced that this is an inferior means of farming. It's generally accepted that modern day commercial practices are sub optimal. Fertilizer is one of the largest costs, it will absolutely be minimized in a closed environment. Water is a largely externalized cost but I'm sure that will change over time and that too will be minimized in a closed system. Land is another significant factor and this is designed specifically to optimize yield per acre. Running irrigation systems should be cheaper because of the condensed space and lack of waste. Labor should be cheaper because of the condensed space and more controllable environment although perhaps the need for more specialized labor will offset that benefit. Transportation is another huge cost to modern agriculture and an approach like this makes it much easier to grow food closer to its point of consumption. Is there something I'm missing as far as where its clearly deficient to a standard large scale farm? There's some infrastructure for shelving and the upfront cost / electrical cost for the artificial lighting but considering their figure on power consumption, it seems like the latter isn't an issue.

deeviant 12y ago
"It's generally accepted that modern day commercial practices are sub optimal." Modern day agriculture techniques feed billions of people. It's on a scale that's hard to imagine. "Is there something I'm missing as far as where its clearly deficient to a standard large scale farm?" * The cost of the land/building/facilities is going to be substantial, and would get much much worse if you try to do this at a scale that would even barley put a dent into the food production system. This gets far worse if you want to put them in urban areas to reduce transportation costs. * It would take a great many years to achieve a scale that would change anything, even if the costs work out(which as I said earlier, I highly doubt). * Any business model revolving around this idea will be under dire threat of any cost optimization/wins on the open air large scale farms. For a metaphor, take a look at the multitude of solar start-ups that went into the market thinking X cost-per-watt was competitive only to have chinese panels drop by 30% in a year, immediately putting them under(see solyndra). This technique can't just be competitive, it has to destroy open-air farming in terms of cost in order to be safe enough to place a bet on it big enough to change anything. * I would like to see some solid research on the affects of artificial light on plants. Nutritional changes, in particular. Don't get my wrong, I am into technological solutions, I just don't see this panning out. For the record, I am in the automated ag industry, we build robots that perform various tasks on and around the farm. Solutions that I do see panning out in the near-term future in terms of ag are: * Autonomous/semi-autonomous farm robots/machines * Big data analytics, allowing farmers to make better/smatter/faster decisions. Things like smart crop selection based on data from projected weather patters and market conditions, crop cycle planning to better respond to water/market/field conditions, accurate yield prediction allowing better financial planning, etc. * GMO's that do something else other than allowing a farmer to douse a field in round-up or making a plant produce it's own pesticide. * The commoditization and expansion of "modern" farming technology to the various 3rd world countries.
- brd 12y ago
  I'm 100% in agreement with you that the current ag scene will barely notice these new practices but I've been casually watching the industry for a while and solutions like this one promise to fill some important niches. The point you make about technology shifts is one that absolutely needs to be acknowledged. I tend to look at big ag as stagnant but I know that's far from the truth. Really I'm just hopeful for a world where we see better quality produce (in both taste and nutritional content) with less externalized costs. I don't care how we get there as long as we get there. I just can't help but think we need these smaller, more clever solutions to drive up demand for better practices before big ag decides to do anything meaningful in that direction. I've long thought about getting involved in the sustainable farming niche; if you're interested, I'd love to chat sometime about how you see the industry shifting over time.

by brd 12y ago

deeviant 12y ago

"It's generally accepted that modern day commercial practices are sub optimal." Modern day agriculture techniques feed billions of people. It's on a scale that's hard to imagine. "Is there something I'm missing as far as where its clearly deficient to a standard large scale farm?" * The cost of the land/building/facilities is going to be substantial, and would get much much worse if you try to do this at a scale that would even barley put a dent into the food production system. This gets far worse if you want to put them in urban areas to reduce transportation costs. * It would take a great many years to achieve a scale that would change anything, even if the costs work out(which as I said earlier, I highly doubt). * Any business model revolving around this idea will be under dire threat of any cost optimization/wins on the open air large scale farms. For a metaphor, take a look at the multitude of solar start-ups that went into the market thinking X cost-per-watt was competitive only to have chinese panels drop by 30% in a year, immediately putting them under(see solyndra). This technique can't just be competitive, it has to destroy open-air farming in terms of cost in order to be safe enough to place a bet on it big enough to change anything. * I would like to see some solid research on the affects of artificial light on plants. Nutritional changes, in particular. Don't get my wrong, I am into technological solutions, I just don't see this panning out. For the record, I am in the automated ag industry, we build robots that perform various tasks on and around the farm. Solutions that I do see panning out in the near-term future in terms of ag are: * Autonomous/semi-autonomous farm robots/machines * Big data analytics, allowing farmers to make better/smatter/faster decisions. Things like smart crop selection based on data from projected weather patters and market conditions, crop cycle planning to better respond to water/market/field conditions, accurate yield prediction allowing better financial planning, etc. * GMO's that do something else other than allowing a farmer to douse a field in round-up or making a plant produce it's own pesticide. * The commoditization and expansion of "modern" farming technology to the various 3rd world countries.

brd 12y ago
I'm 100% in agreement with you that the current ag scene will barely notice these new practices but I've been casually watching the industry for a while and solutions like this one promise to fill some important niches. The point you make about technology shifts is one that absolutely needs to be acknowledged. I tend to look at big ag as stagnant but I know that's far from the truth. Really I'm just hopeful for a world where we see better quality produce (in both taste and nutritional content) with less externalized costs. I don't care how we get there as long as we get there. I just can't help but think we need these smaller, more clever solutions to drive up demand for better practices before big ag decides to do anything meaningful in that direction. I've long thought about getting involved in the sustainable farming niche; if you're interested, I'd love to chat sometime about how you see the industry shifting over time.