Agriculture

  The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) has released their Draft 1 Horticultural Technical Requirements V4.0. The draft proposes three updates:  Efficacy increase: Hort V4.0 proposes to increase the efficacy threshold to 2.5 μmol × J-1, which is an 8.7% increase over the Hort V3.0 threshold. This will set the DLC efficacy threshold for LED-based horticultural lighting at more [...]

  Ten states and Canada have passed laws banning most fluorescent lamps from being sold. The effective date (start date) for many of these fluorescent bans is January 1, 2025, in just a couple days. These states include: California: CFL pin-base & linear fluorescent effective 1/1/25. CFL screw-base already active. Colorado: CFL screw-base, CFL pin-base, [...]

  The 2024 “State of the Cannabis Lighting Market” report, published by Cannabis Business Times with support from Fluence, provides an in-depth analysis of lighting trends and practices among commercial cannabis cultivators. This report, which has been published annually since 2016, highlights the ongoing evolution and significant changes in cannabis lighting technology and practices. The [...]

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 [...]