Canada: Vertical farming can replace acres of farmland

Racks upon racks of spinach, arugula and kale are stacked high, washed in purple light in an otherwise dimly lit indoor facility. The plants are watered, fed and exposed to LED lights via automation, leaving people in lab coats, plastic shower caps and gloves to mill about, plucking ripe produce from hydroponic growing chambers.

It would take nearly 22 acres – almost a million square feet – of outdoor land to grow the 200,000 pounds of greens produced here at GoodLeaf Farms’ 10,000-square-foot Truro, N.S., facility. And that’s to say nothing of the 50,000-square-foot facility the company is planning in Southern Ontario.

“Vertical farming is a platform to deliver healthy, clean, nutrient-rich food,” says Gregg Curwin, the founder and chief executive officer of TruLeaf, the company behind the GoodLeaf Farms brand.

The problem is, it’s expensive and can take a while to turn a profit. “Vertical farming is capital-intensive, so you have to be ready to scale,” Mr. Curwin says.

Mark Carlson of Alberta-based agriculture-tech venture firm Verdex Capital says there’s a major focus on yield improvement in the agri-tech sector. Although the American agri-tech industry raised $4.6-billion in investment last year, investors have been hesitant to sink cash into indoor farming. Evidence that widespread demand for locally grown produce can be created, met and then replicated across many markets has been hard to come by, stoking fears that funding indoor farming won’t be a good return on investment.

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