80 Acres Farms Plans Fully-Automated Indoor Farm in Hamilton, Ohio

Area Development ^ | September 25, 2018 | Staff

[2ndDivisionVet]

80 Acres Farms, a Cincinnati-based firm focused on the indoor vertical farming industry, is building the first fully-automated indoor farm in the U.S. in Hamilton, Ohio.

The initial phase, expected to be completed later this year, will feature state-of-the-art grow centers to produce specialty greens that include microgreens, culinary herbs, leafy greens and kale. According to company officials, the company plans three additional phases at the Hamilton site. When completed, the project will comprise over 150,000 square feet of fully-automated indoor farming, also known as controlled environmental agriculture.

The full-phase expansion will allow 80 Acres Farms to provide more product to serve its customers with just-picked, year-round produce. Produce grown at the Hamilton site will supply Whole Foods Markets, Dorothy Lane Markets, Jungle Jims, U.S. Foods, and other retailers and foodservice distributors.

80 Acres Farms currently serves Cincinnati-area customers from its facility in the Cincinnati community where it grows microgreens, culinary herbs, leafy lettuce, kale, vine crops like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

"We already have demonstrated that we can provide to our customers the freshest, best-tasting and nutritious locally-grown produce, while using renewable energy, very little water, and no pesticides," said Mike Zelkind, co-Founder & CEO of 80 Acres Farms. "With the Hamilton facility we will achieve the next-generation of indoor vertical farming using best of breed technology. This project will deliver our proof of concept that indoor farming can be fully-automated, commercially scalable, higher-yielding, and profitable. It will serve as a prototype for our ambitious plans to co-locate similar facilities with commercial customers in other parts of the country.''

Zelkind said the Hamilton site will be automated from seeding to growing to harvesting for highest quality and food safety standards. 80 Acres Farms personnel will manage the Hamilton facility, which will feature robotics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and around-the-clock monitoring sensors and control systems to optimize every aspect of growing produce indoors.

"The City of Hamilton is very excited about the expansion of 80 Acres in our community," said Joshua Smith, City Manager. "This is a first-in-class company, whose innovations will improve access of fresh foods to areas that need them the most."

Mayor Pat Moeller said, "Hamilton thanks 80 Acres Farms for its investment in our City. 80 Acres' high-tech indoor farm efficiently grows fresh produce that will continue to be sold locally. I have had the opportunity to purchase 80 Acres produce and really enjoyed the fresh, flavorful taste."

80 Acres Farms is headquartered in the Spring Grove community of Cincinnati, where the company was founded in 2015 by Zelkind and Livingston, both veteran food industry executives. It now employs more than 60 people in Cincinnati and other company R&D, engineering and production facilities in three other states.

[dangus]

By “light” you evidently mean “wide-spectrum electromagnetic energy, including infrared,” because of course LEDs are light. The most common plant-growth LEDs have spikes in the blue and yellow-to-red range, because why spend energy creating green light or infrared radiation when plants don’t use it? The electromagnetic radiation issued by moderate heat is infra-red. Visible light is actually hotter. But you certainly CAN create infra-red with LEDs. In fact, your TV remote control does. The infra-red lamps you see used to generate heat would be incredibly intense if they were in the visible spectrum.