The tours will be operated by two leading container farming equipment suppliers, Indoor Farms of America and Modular Farms. Their staff will be on hand from 8.30am to 5.30pm on each of May 3 and May 4 to walk participants through the farms and answer questions about their equipment. Their farming approaches are quite different from one another, and will allow participants to identify the best fit for their vertical farming needs.
Indoor Farms of America is based in Las Vegas, NV, and utilizes vertical aeroponic technologies in its container farm products, which range from the truck-mounted farm that it will be showcasing at Indoor Ag-Con to a farm specially adapted to meet the needs of disabled veterans. The farms offer 40 plants/ft2 of grow area, are designed to be used in both controlled environment and greenhouse settings and use just 3% of the water of a traditional farm. It recommends that customers grow leafy greens, herbs, chili & sweet peppers, peas, strawberries, cherry tomatoes and beans in its systems, and is continually adding more crops to the list.
Canadian Modular Farms has developed a series of modular units, such as, ones for refrigerated storage and for growing microgreens, that work with its primary unit, a specially designed 40’x10’x10’ composite steel box. The eight unit options can be combined to create the optimal farm for each customer. Its units are based on hydroponic growing and include ZipGrow towers, with over 300 towers packed into its production-only macro farm unit.