Are Vertical Farms The Future Of Agriculture?
The world requires an area of farmland the size of South America to feed itself. What will we do when we run out of farmland? Craig visits a vertical farm and sees if they could be the future of agriculture.
Special Thanks to:
Green Sense Farms
greensensefarms.com/
Dickson Despommier
www.verticalfarm.com/
Dickson Despommier's Book on Vertical Farms
us.macmillan.com/theverticalfa...
Future Of Food Videos:
Can We Make Meat Out Of Plants? - bit.ly/1hwhYHo
Why You Should Eat Bugs - bit.ly/1Jg4IBf
Are Vertical Farms The Future Of Agriculture? - bit.ly/1hExTE6
Why We Should Be Urban Farming - bit.ly/1VuLlsl
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Oscillator Bug
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Jason Shaw
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Jake Chudnow
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Driftless Pony Club
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Todd Umhoefer (Old Earth)
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Image/Video Credits:
Dickson at podium, By Pop!Tech [CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
Rice Plants, By IRRI Images (originally posted to Flickr as Korea_0001) [CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Rooftop Garden, By Lamiot (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Potato Garden, By BASFPlantScience [CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
flooded corn fields, www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releas..., photo courtesy of Purdue Agricultural Communication photo/Darrin Pack
Pesticide Warning Sign, By Austin Valley, www.flickr.com/photos/austinv...
irrigation system, By Gene Alexander, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov No. NRCSCO87001) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
hardwood forest, By Joshua Mayer, www.flickr.com/photos/wackyba...
dew on clovers, www.flickr.com/photos/cygnus9...
forest floor, By Danny Steaven (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
produce in supermarket, By Dungodung (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Edamame, By Tammy Green (aka Zesmerelda) from Chicago Upscale Dining + Lounge Republic Pan-Asian Restaurant [www.republicrestaurant.us/ in Ontario & Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611] (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Vertical Farm Concept, Vincent Callebaut Architectures, urbanagblog.wordpress.com/201...
Dragonfly Vertical Farm, Vincent Callebaut Architectures, theurbanprospector.files.word...
hydro car, Bbqjunkie at English Wikipedia [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons, upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
Пікірлер: 556
This video is more than 2 years old and it's still suuuuuuuper relevant!
I used to spend summers working on a farm. I wish it could have been indoors with air conditioning lol. That alone makes this worth it.
Wow! What an ingenious idea. I was skeptical, but you were pretty thorough in showing was a great idea this is. This may be the most important series you've made thus far.
@TheGoodStuff
8 жыл бұрын
+PogieJoe Thanks!
@brendanhughes9642
8 жыл бұрын
It's an excellent idea. I was just watching a video yesterday about how the world could feed a large population and a growing concern was the space needed for conventional farming. Vertical farming was never brought up, but I hope it becomes a bigger trend soon.
@TheAAMoy
8 жыл бұрын
Update please!
Why not combine the two and go diagonally?
@wheezywaiter
8 жыл бұрын
MrKlonkie genius
@TheHumbleBeez
8 жыл бұрын
+MrKlonkie Geometrically speaking, diagonal farms wouldn't save as much space as completely vertical farms unless they were also stacked, in which case they might as well just be regular vertical farms. Also water management, harvesting, and simple observation would be made more difficult with stacked vertical farms I imagine, also there's no need to combine the two. We have regular farming which is very space and resource inefficient, and vertical farming which is much better about both of those, there's no need to meet in the middle and be kind of space efficient.
@SafiXXl
8 жыл бұрын
MrKlonkie Let's think outside the box! Aim for the 4th dimension!
@Kram1032
8 жыл бұрын
I'll opt for radial
@benaaronmusic
8 жыл бұрын
MrKlonkie It will look like a Star Trek chess board. Great idea.
Another benefit to this is that manure and other chemicals can be used without the worry of them flowing into rivers and poisoning them.
@geogre512
8 жыл бұрын
ow,I didn't thing of that
@negsurbansports1234
8 жыл бұрын
+Tom Langford Even better is that a lot of chemicals aren't necessary!
@bfbvouabeorbvoaervure963
5 жыл бұрын
Tom Langford We had a small warehouse and moved one of our hives in them, we alternate between hives so each hive is in there for a month at a time. We do have flowers around the warehouse but bees give us a quicker, tastier crops. We’re thinking of experimenting with moving them in permanently, this would mean we could control their health, keeping them healthier, but we don’t know the long term affects of this
Marijuana/Cannabis growers have been doing most of this stuff for decades. Control climate, water, pests, light cycles, carbon dioxide levels, etc, etc.
@timothynicholls8637
6 жыл бұрын
fieldo85 yeah the only problem is getting them from that can crop to this can crop
@darkangel10001000
5 жыл бұрын
The only reason they did that tho is cuz they where forced to. It's hard to grow pot outside.
@ellafournier381
4 жыл бұрын
Nah weeds been making up like 1% of all the green house gas emissions cuz it’s been done pretty inefficiently
@simonbusshart1463
4 жыл бұрын
Finally someone understood
OOHHHHH for some reason I missed this video when it came out last week. Craig read my comment but called me "lover of bernie sanders." I'm in heaven right now!!!!!! :D
This playlist is wonderful. As a recent grad trying to get my foot in the door of a sustainability/environmental science career, it's really cool to see these videos with interviews from current organizations and institutions trying to revolutionize our industries to be better overall. Thank you for keeping us in the loop, and for making me forever curious!
I've been following the Good Stuff since it's creation, but this playlist stands out above the rest. Keep up the great work, guys, I am beyond impressed by the quality you've managed to achieve! This playlist is fascinating and informative.
I am absolutely loving this series! This style of reporting really resonates with me and the content is fascinating. I'm so excited to see more and I'll be sharing it with my friends!
If the economics work out, I can see Vertical Farm architecture changing to no humans buildings. There would be savings in materials and not having to follow safety codes. Robots would be used to move plants on and off growing shelves.
@jessicacathychan2825
7 жыл бұрын
I think there is a farm in Japan starting to do that. Not robots exactly but something to do with automated system. If I remember correctly, they only need humans for harvesting and/or packing.
@KevZen2000
6 жыл бұрын
Vertical farming buildings don't require a lot to maintain. Many warehouses today are empty, and could easily be put into vertical farming facilities.
@cannedmusic
6 жыл бұрын
There are a lot of plain buildings in most cities that are abandoned, can't really be economically refurbished into a building for business use like office or manufacturing but the overall structure is sound enough to reconfigure into a farming utility as this. I hope most cities do this. It would be a really great fresh source for local restaurants and grocery stores, the items grown would qualify as organic and it would lower the cost of organic choices in said grocery stores.
Great job with this playlist. Such an important topic. I'm glad the vertical farmer discussed the economics and practicality. That's a huge part of the equation.
I appreciate the information and all of that good stuff! Also, the soundtrack to your series is fantastic.
Absolutely love this channel! Thanks for the fantastic content so far!
This is awesome! So pleased this is starting to take off.
I haven't heard of vertical farms until now. This is fascinating! I love the sound of them.
Best Video on Vertical Farming I've seen!! Go Vertical Farming!!
"Why don't we put it inside the building?" Because that eliminates the benefit of rooftop gardening (using unused space) requires you to build and own dedicated buildings (huge increase to startup costs), and because plants need, you know, light, meaning you need to use lights, meaning you also increase continual costs. In fact, considering the crop specialty, it seems apparent this is only competitive against high value crops that are already grown in largely similar facilities due to their non-viability in outdoors environments, just in other places.
I read an article about vertical farms, though they called it hydroponic farming, about 15 years ago in a popular mechanics magazine. I thought it was amazing technology with huge implications and it bothered me that it didn't really take off. I am glad that we are slowly coming back to it.
Thank you for that video! I love the concept of vertical farms and I'm certain they will play an important role in the future. The required technology improves more and more while getting cheaper and cheaper. It's just a matter of time until vertical farms are economically a no-brainer for a wide variety of plants, vegetables and fruits.
The basil he is tasting from 8:10 to 8:22, I personally have seen and purchased< in many neighborhood grocery stores for a couple years now. They must be really tackling this vertical indoor farming. With our soil so contaminated nowadays, I believe this is the wave of the future. Thanks for the video. Cheers
Wonderful you guys but definitely would like to learn more about specfic cost-effectiveness/ecological impact of vertical farming vs traditional farming. Off to the interwebz!
when he pulled out that flat of lettuce into the ambient light it looked so surreal
great one!!
great series!
This is the perfect blend of Locally Sourced and Organic style farming that I can get behind... Here's hoping that they get this running for more types of veggies and fruits!
Not gonna lie, I would totally eat cricket puffs. It sounds oddly delicious.
great video
I liked the statement that this will work in the future if they can make the numbers work. If it is sustainable financially, it will find its place in the food industry.
This is technology at it's best. Keep up the good work guys!
I'd LOVE to see this take off. More rooftop and vertical farms will really help a great deal with reducing land use. What would be interesting is to see vertical farms being built underground and even built in commercial buildings that already exist in the city.
Do a video on syntropic agriculture!! It's pretty interesting, and important...
Anything that produces more of something while using less of the stuff used now has to be a good thing. We have to start somewhere, so here and now sounds great! And food security comes fairly high on the list! Given enough R&D growing food should not count on the mileage chart. Talk about locally-grown?
this is great very informative
Aside from the particulars here, I'm always pleased to note how humans are willing and able to think outside the box.While there might be reluctance and some resistance to change, new ideas do still evolve and even crazy ideas get tried out at some level. This gives me faith in the future. Thanks for this series; it's a great example of that.
I think backyard,and patio gardens are going to be a big part of the future. But vertical will also especially in winter. I eat a lot of food I grow witch means my diet changes as different crops come into season I feel that makes me heathier by changing up what I eat.
Very innovative, especially worth a try in combination with aquaponic.. in my opinion.
This is so freaking fascinating! I love it!
Another great video from your team, I want to say that growing in a hydroponic environment can be a great way to grow and harvest. the main issue I see is that most Hydroponic main streamers and large farms use chemical nutrients. I believe that the concept is great and affordable, but the concept of chemicals in the produce does not sound good to most. but with a bit of research there are organic alternatives. I make one of such called Liqui-Dirt.
hey cool, you featured my comment! thanks! also "lover of bernie sanders" lol nice save.
As some one who has grown up on normal farms. tis a very interesting idea and bringing the farm closer to the primary market isnt a bad idea at all.
not only that, vertical farming allows for planting underground, in space stations and other-worldly environments. Even on water-floating buildings or underwater just as underground.
Fantastic video. I've seen vertical farming once in a documentary, but I've always wanted to find out more. Did they have reasons for why they don't think the system could extend to something like soybean? Would have been good to look into that stuff too!
@ZjefVanAcker
8 жыл бұрын
+malcolm moss At the moment it's just not financially profitable to grow soybean, grains, rice and many other crops in this way. Yet, I believe in the future these things will happen, humanity is smart and always finds a way ;-)
Interesting. I've never herd of this and I think we should invest in that. It sounds like a smart thing to do.
I've never been so excited and hopeful thinking about farming.
this is GENIUS!
This is very exciting! This whole series so far demonstrates a positive outlook on the future, and what people are doing to improve our livelihoods. Compared to the usual "doom and gloom" of most new media, it's very refreshing. Also I would love to see a bunch of this vertical farms all over the country/world, so that more cities are able to eat fresher foods. According to an ASAP science video about fresh foods, what we eat is rarely as "fresh" as we would like or think because of all the traveling it takes to get the produce from one place to another. This can be a very viable solution to that problem.
great video! :)
Great video.
That picture, when you mention diesel, lol, you guys might want to update that image.
What type of lettuce was growing in that first tray he pulled out and put under white light to see that it is green, not brown. It looked so good.
@Nphen
8 жыл бұрын
+fireflymoon Looks like perhaps Boston, or Butterhead lettuce
@fireflymoon
8 жыл бұрын
Nathan Phenicie Thank you !
Hi there, horizontal farmhand here. I have to agree with Mr. Colangelo; I think that vertical farms are a great way to grow leafy greens, and vertical farms are a big part of the future of agriculture.
Vertical farming seems like such a good idea that I'm amazed it hasn't already been put into more use. Quick question just how many vertical farms are there in the United States?
Absolutely brilliant. This is the way to go, without doubt. In time there will be other crops that will be done this way. The only issue I can see is the land that will be used, the size of the buildings foot print. Other than that I can't think of any flaws in this. Having to use land to build is no different than the wind turbine farm complaints, I don't want these in my backyard because I don't want to be looking at this monster wind turbine, but I do want the green energy. We can't have it both ways and something has to give, and it has to be the aesthetics of our landscape. Do you want the perfect sight line of the mountain or do you want to eat? You have to pick one and you can't have both. Obviously I pick food, I'm kind of fond of it.
Good idea!
Why is the cold winter good for vertical farms as said in the video? Isn't it necessary to heat the building (requiring more energy than in summer)?
thank you a lot you are really helpful
This should be done in every large city. What a perfect option for the Poor as a job source. Pay and perhaps supplemental food.
@victorthomas5041
8 жыл бұрын
+Vicki Baker I Completely agree.
@victorthomas5041
8 жыл бұрын
"Poor people have no money and therefore can`t afford education" SMH
@saturnGEEK
8 жыл бұрын
Majority of vertical farms are automated. It takes highly skilled people to maintain these farms. Not many jobs available in this field.
@saturnGEEK
8 жыл бұрын
+Mr. D Not all poor people are uneducated. Not all people that design these systems and work/maintain them need to have specialities in biology and bio-engineering. It's like saying to a farmer: "YOU AREN'T A REAL FARMER BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T STUDY BIOLOGY OR BIO-ENGINEERING!"
@saturnGEEK
8 жыл бұрын
***** Starbucks demanding for degrees to be baristas are a joke. As for digitally controlled farms, there are still opportunities for everyone. Has nothing to do with "poor and lack of education". From construction, design, implementation, and maintenance, there is something for everyone.
Wow, those vertical farms looks great. It would be cool if they had multiple colours of LEDs that could be turned on or off at will so that the prefect light spectrum could be produced for each type of crop. I'm sure they are already working on this though.
I'm an old fashioned farmer and think its a great way for people to get fresh food. However I have doubts about scalability and there seem to be additional costs that will hurt feasibility.
wow so fresh look
make a video about the energy it consume to operate that place i mean air circulation alone will be crazy in electricity, not to mention the light and to pump water
My wife and I are on this journey of creating a modern Urban homestead. Thanks for helping us and others on this journey. If I can be of help to you. I do computer aided drafting and 3D modeling. Let's barter.
Growing up in NZ my backyard has always been full of homegrown fruits and veges. Perhaps a part of the solution is making edible gardens a more viable and accessible option. As for vertical farms compared to 'traditional' farms, the vast difference in the ratio of land required to crops produced is surely enough to kick start a change in the way people view farming.
Wow this seems really cool
Mushroom protein can be grown in urban environments vertically without consuming a lot of resources. It also produces CO2 that can be cycled into the plant rooms, so it lends itself to partnering with plants.
@ZjefVanAcker
8 жыл бұрын
+Jack Linton I completely endorse this! ;-)
how much electricity would a vertical farm that size consume? That would determine how sustainable they are.
@chrisshepherd2762
7 жыл бұрын
Has Green Sense gone to solar and wind generated power?
Vertical farming is such a nice idea, it saves time, space, transport costs, etc. It would be nice if we could build more of them though. Btw what is the cost of the water and electricity needed to do this? Is it cheaper or more expensive than a regular farm?
What would be the cost and electricity consumption of one vertical farm?
I genuinely think The Good Stuff is the most underrated channel on KZread. A diamond in the rough.
Nice comment on how agriculture is stratifying. Corn/soy will continue to be grown outdoors, greenhouses work well for straw berries, and vertical works well for leafy greens...
Hi I am a horizontal farmer, vertical farms have huge potential for leafy crops possibly for root crops but for arable, nuts and fruits farming I haven't seen anything to suggest that it would ever work
How much ambient UV is being generated by the blue LEDs? I hope it's not at a level that workers need eye protection. Cataracts and other eye and skin injury can happen over long periods of exposure.
I want to know how effective this is for grass plants, like Wheat and Rye.
I've been thinking about designing an automated (robotic) vertical farm skyscraper that would be positioned in the middle of a city (a source of CO2) but I'm just an electrical engineer. What do I know about growing anything.
Would it be hard to grow other types of plants indoors without a way to pollinate them?
it's really good and useful
Hydro culture is doing fairly well in Lancaster County PA. It's not exactly vertical farming but it could be adapted to it. As far as eating bugs goes, some bugs are kosher, grasshoppers for instance. Insects were a substantial part of the diet of some of the Prophets.
This is so cool! I've seen more efficient systems than even this though, because they have to still fertilize these plants, which isn't cheap or clean to produce or use and they're using electricity as well. I've seen systems that produce fertilizer and meat with the use of fish that feed the plants, and in turn the plants filter the water, making it a complete closed loop system. Sounds weird but they exist, mostly in off grid situations using solar power and passive solar greenhouses. If you're talking about maximizing square footage, with the most yield and the smallest impact, these systems can't be beat
This sounds very good.
Curious on how much of the factory can be run smoothly with solar panels on the roof.
There is a soil-less indoor farm in Minneapolis. How far can the Good Stuff Travel?
This is so awesome. I hope this goes all over the world, I'm happy. Thanks for doing this video =D Breadful!~
Vertical when/ where necessary... horizontal may be more efficient and easier in most applications. LED and new HVAC technologies are opening the way for local indoor farms. I am testing a 24 x 40 facility soon. Being built now
Great episode! Regarding the questions and comments at the end, you said that some plants and nuts require a lot of water for growth, implying that insects don't require much. But how much water does the insects' feed use? That needs to be taken into consideration as well.
@TheGoodStuff
8 жыл бұрын
+Chelsea Conlin Let's take crickets. They'll eat pretty much anything, including table scraps. Since you would've thrown away those scraps anyway, no extra water needs to be used to feed those crickets. If you wanted to feed your crickets their own exclusive food, you could feed them types of lettuce or fruits which don't use up that much water to grow. So you can minimize water usage just by limiting what you feed your crickets. Another thing to take into account is that crickets will metabolize their food pretty efficiently so that when it comes to harvest your crickets, almost all of the food you feed them gets converted into delicious cricket protein. Very little waste.
@cacodaemonia
8 жыл бұрын
Cool, good to know! Thanks for the insight.
@tahaistheboss98
8 жыл бұрын
+The Good Stuff isn't vertical farming bad for the environment because of fossil fuel usage?
This is amazing. Amazing stuff. I want to work in a vertical farm! But I am awful at gardening my balcony plants so maybe I shouldn't try that.
@Milubee
8 жыл бұрын
TheANBart This video left me in such a positive mood, thank you!
I think this is a cool idea but what are the energy cost in order to run this operation? Is there a circular input and output ratio?
I am totally impressed with this idea. Now I know what my next non-profit will be in my community.
This is genius! Love all of this!
this is such a good idea
Rooftops gardens are still a good idea. It would also make cities look more colorful than their dead gray look. The only problem is with cold cities possibly
What if you farm rye, barley and hops in order to make a beer? Or Booz? :D
What is the medium used for the roots to grow?
I have read about this before, but still don't know if tree produce could be grown indoors. Some fruits and nuts would be missed.
what is the price of one of those heads of lettuce compared to what we would buy in the store?
What about energy consumption? How much is their power bill and who can actually afford their greens?
Cost per site settle? profit?
One of the biggest and most important advantages to indoor farming is, the localized food availability. To cut back on having to transport greens by plane, truck or train is HUGE. The savings just in transport costs FAR outweigh the costs in power. Beside the fact that you can utilize vertical space much better anyway, gravity is your friend. I would like to see those farms utilizing sunlight more and cut power even further.
Love Love Love This Do they use Solar Panels on the roof
how much energy consumption do the lights have? Perhaps in KWh/Kg-lattice.