Editor’s note: Agtech Seedlings is a weekly roundup of the latest in agriculture technology news, digging into venture funding, product announcements and other innovation milestones. Have news to share? Email us here.
Plenty opens indoor farm for Driscoll’s strawberries
Plenty Unlimited, Inc.,has opened “the world’s first” indoor farming operation for berries in Richmond, Virginia, which will grow over 4 million pounds of strawberries annually for Driscoll’s.
The 40,000-square-foot facility will use 30-foot towers and will exclusively supply Driscoll’s to help the berry seller meet demand in the Northeast. The first strawberries are set to hit markets in early 2025.
While lettuce is the most common cultivar for indoor cultivation, Plenty and its competitors are in a race to develop methods for vertically farming other crops on a large scale.
“This farm is a model for the positive impact climate-agnostic agriculture can have, and proof that vertical farming can deliver the crop diversity, scaled and local production needed to future-proof the global food system,” Plenty CEO Adams Kukutai said in a statement.
The Plenty Richmond Farm uses advanced technologies and proprietary software to precisely control the lights, temperature and humidity for optimal strawberry size, flavor and shape, according to a release. The pollination is also engineered; no bees required.
Ginkgo Bioworks teams with Novus on feed additives
Biotech platform Ginkgo Bioworks is collaborating with Novus International, a Missouri-based animal health and nutrition company, to develop cost-effective feed additives for livestock.
As price volatility and increased costs weigh on agricultural sectors, Novus said it will leverage Ginkgo’s services to build more efficient enzymes that can be produced cost-effectively to support the health of chickens, cows and pigs raised for animal production.
The partnership aims to bring “cutting-edge” technologies to market, with the goal of enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of animal production systems, according to a release.
“Sustaining thriving livestock is a challenge, especially against economic, environmental and regulatory headwinds,” Abishek Shingote, associate vice president of global strategic marketing, technology and innovation at Novus, said in a statement. “We make it our mission to find new and novel ways to support our stakeholders and the industry.”
Ginkgo has expanded partnerships with agriculture as it seeks to use its artificial intelligence solutions to help develop products in a variety of industries. In addition to Novus, the Boston-based group is also working with Syngenta to accelerate biologicals innovations and GreenLab to scale production of a novel sweetener Brazzein.
Minnesota’s Ag Innovation Campus closes
The Ag Innovation Campus closed after operating for less than a year as a small-scale soybean crush facility in Crookston, Minnesota.
The announced closure on Sept. 23, came about a week after the first anniversary of the AIC’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and just over a month after a fire shut down production there.
The campus, which was in development for years, received millions of dollars in funding from the state, private investors and other entities with the goal of producing 240 tons of soybeans, or roughly 8,000 bushels, per day. Additional offices and research labs were also in the works. Gov. Tim Walz had previously recognized the campus as a bold idea.
However, the AIC never reached its full capacity, raising concerns among stakeholders about its future. Attorney Erik Ahlgren, who is listed as the AIC board’s counsel, told AgWeek that there are always inherent risks with startup facilities and more funding would have been needed to meet its production goals. Even before the fire, Alghren said the board was considering selling the center.
A fire broke out in the facility’s bean conditioning system on Aug. 9, effectively ending production. No people were injured and damage was contained to one area of the plant.
“The fire was definitely a factor, but it wasn’t the only factor,” he said in an interview with AgWeek. “The fire was kind of the last nail in the coffin.”