Agriculture

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) experienced some high-profile bankruptcies and closures and a deep decline in VC funding in 2022 and 2023. However, there are now signs that the CEA market is improving. Investment Trends VC investments in indoor farms declined 90% year-over-year. Several high-profile vertical farm companies went bankrupt and ceased operations. By contrast, 2024 [...]

  From 2009 to 2019, controlled environment agriculture (CEA), that includes greenhouses, vertical agriculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, and other controlled production methods, saw significant growth in both the number of operations and production of fresh produce in the United States. Indoor farming can control factors such as temperature, wind, lighting, and precipitation. These systems help to [...]

Long-Day Lighting (LDL) is an established strategy in the dairy farming industry, but not universally implemented. LDL uses lighting to boost both productivity and animal welfare. This lighting strategy seeks to create the optimal light-dark cycle for heifers’ health and productivity. LDL as a lighting strategy seeks to elongate the day using artificial lighting. LDL [...]

  To improve greenhouse management, Sollum Technologies announced a new strategic partnership with Damatex climate control systems. This collaboration combines the greenhouse lighting control features of Sollum’s proprietary SUN as a Service® cloud platform (SUNaaS®) with Damatex’s advanced climate control systems. The benefits are all about simplifying clients’ daily operations. The synchronization of both control platforms consolidates multiple functions [...]

  Vertical farming has been struggling, due to high capital costs and high energy costs. Some vertical farms are now setting their sights on the most valuable crops in the world to achieve profitability. A good example is Veles Farming, a start up in Slovakia since 2021, that specializes in growing Saffron, the most expensive [...]

    Last week, I attended the annual IPPE poultry show in Atlanta, GA. Poultry lighting is one of many interesting niches within the lighting industry. Most of the show is NOT lighting. In fact, the show is not for the faint of heart. The IIoT poultry processing machines were on display with grim signs [...]

  Square Roots, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup, recently introduced a groundbreaking program supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program aims to demonstrate the feasibility of removing light from commercial indoor vertical farming by utilizing gene-edited (CRISPR) plants that grow heterotrophically. These plants can add biomass through carbon uptake from acetate [...]

  2023 was another turbulent year in the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) market. There was a surprising wave of bankruptcies in Q1, Q2, and Q3. Major players like Infarm, AppHarvest, Aerofarms, and Kalera all closed operations and filed for bankruptcy. The high-profile closures then contributed to funding drying up for CEA ventures, hindering new projects. [...]

Recreational marijuana was legalized in Ohio by a ballot measure that passed on the November 7 election, with 57% of the vote. More info here. The measure, known as Issue 2, allows adults 21 and over to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants at home. Ohio’s passage of [...]