Upcoming RII Workshop: “Insights from the USDA Agriculture Census”
Following the publication of their "CEA in the Census of Agriculture" report, a curated publication distilling findings of the USDA Agriculture Census through the lens of the CEA market and available as a paid resource through RII membership, the Resource Innovation Institute will be hosting their latest seminar.
Data & Trends in Controlled Environment Agriculture: Insights from the USDA Agriculture Census featuring Dr. James Altland, Research Horticulturist, USDA ARS Application Technology Research Unit, will be held on Wednesday, August 7 (TOMORROW!) at 1:00 p.m. Eastern/noon Central.
With key takeaways designed to help business development and greenhouse industry professionals gain a better understanding of emerging opportunities in CEA, actionable insights for enhancing business developments, and context of state and national-level trends, this webinar is a great opportunity to learn more about how the USDA Agriculture Census can relate to you.
More information and the
registration link can be found on the RII website.
Texas A&M Approves $7.4 Million CEA Facility in Dallas
Texas A&M recently announced that they'll be constructing a 7,700-sq. ft. advanced greenhouse facility at the
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas. With $7.4 million approved by the Board of Regents, “It is a powerful resource in our agency’s mission to advance leading-edge discoveries and innovation, sustainable production systems, economic strength and healthy living,” said G. Cliff Lamb, AgriLife Research Director.
Out of the 13 research and extension centers operated by
Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Dallas is the only one located in an urban environment. Researchers are therefore hopeful that the facility will become a working example of sustainable food production within urban food deserts. Each of the four greenhouses built into the facility will feature precision lighting and irrigation, advanced sensing and data processing capabilities, and multispectral camera systems to capture and document plant responses to climate changes. More information about the facility and its design can be found in the
press release.
With planning underway, I can’t wait to see what Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center comes up with for this facility!
Genetic Breeding for Indoor Vertical Farming
Published this week in npj Sustainable Agriculture, researchers Zhi Wei Norman Teo and Hao Yu conducted a review of recent technological advancements in crop breeding and the associated efforts to develop cultivars with traits important to indoor vertical farming.
While traditional crop breeding is conducted to meet a wide variety of needs critical to commercial farming, the study authors noted that “better performance under energy-efficient artificial lighting, high growth rate and unique flavors” are critical for developing crops tailored to indoor production. The article is open access, so look and let me know what you think of the authors review and analysis.
Penn State Webinar on Greenhouse and Hydroponic Production
For anyone interested in learning more about the fundamentals of greenhouse production and hydroponic production, this latest webinar from Penn State Extension might be for you. It includes information on the benefits and pitfalls of different production systems, soil vs. soilless substrates, and systems for irrigation, cooling and heating. Space is limited and registration ends the day before on August 7 (TOMORROW), so make sure to reserve your space today!
Living on a Few Acres: Greenhouse and Hydroponic Production
Date: Thursday, August 8, 2024
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m. Eastern
CEA Summit East Coming to Virginia
The upcoming 3rd Annual CEA Summit East Conference will be held in Danville, Virginia, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research Conference Center on October 1 and 2, 2024. A collaboration between The Virginia Tech-IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center and Indoor Ag-Con, attendees can see the traditional conference and trade show format Indoor Ag-Con is known for alongside the 45-plus speakers currently registered.
While at the conference, make sure to attend "Bridging Innovation In CEA: Collaborative Research & Development Between Academia & Industry" being moderated by our very own Managing Editor Jen Polanz.
Within the Business Track, attendees can “explore the dynamic partnership between academia and industry in driving research and development (R&D) initiatives within Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).” More information about this session and more can be found on the
conference speaker’s page.
The Intersection of Humans & Technology
I had the pleasure of virtually attending this year’s OHCEAC’s 3rd Annual CEA Conference on “Advancement in CEA Automation and Crop Management” and came away with some interesting tidbits to share.
First off, what is OHCEAC and what is this conference? It’s The Ohio State University’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, a newer facility that specializes in CEA research, and organizers have been putting on a conference directly after Cultivate in Columbus for three years now. Each has a specific theme and this year speakers explored the increase in technology and automation, and its impact on CEA production.
One very interesting point made by Dr. Eldert van Henten of Wageningen
University & Research in the Netherlands is to not jump to the solution first when implementing or creating automation. He urged conducting a systems analysis and creating a model first to better determine where the automation is needed—or if it is needed. He also asked researchers to look beyond tomatoes in their studies.
“I challenge the academics among us to think a little bit broader,” he said of his request to consider other crops that require mechanization—and not just at harvest, but at other points in production and packing, too.
It seems the automation surrounding tomatoes has become quite advanced, too, as Dr. Silke Hemming, also from Wageningen, highlighted the results of the
Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge that’s been going on for several years and the challenge involving cherry tomatoes had all autonomous teams beating the standard of manual growers with 20% less energy usage.
The afternoon featured two segments of four 20-minute research presentations by a variety of university and private company researchers on a cross-section of technology and crop management topics.
One item of note here is a biostimulant designed to control lettuce tipburn in hydroponic production presented by Dr. Qingwu “William” Meng from the University of Delaware. This chemical biostimulant is codenamed "CC US-2105," which is already commercially available from Croda. He talked about the product’s calcium-mobilizing abilities, which resulted in up to 88% reduction in tipburn. He worked in partnership with Croda on multiple trials for the biostimulant. Since that’s where my hort abilities begin and end, I'll direct you to the research paper on the topic and to Dr. Meng directly if you’d like to know more.
Just a final note: I can barely scratch the surface here, so I highly encourage you to spend an extra day after Cultivate (or make a plan to go to Cultivate and the conference) next year, or at least jump onto the online session. The talks are available to review online, too, for a month or so after the in-person event.
Stay curious, ask questions and let me know how it goes at scampbell@ballpublishing.com.
Dr. Sean Campbell
Editor-at-Large
Inside Grower
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