Vertical Farming

Investment Analysis Clubs Saul’s Investing Discussions
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Hi all

I am looking for some direction on how to invest in this sector and I think after reading this post it will be on your radar as well.

This may not be the best place for this post, I have searched the fool and well you know how that works out… So if this thread needs to move elsewhere lets move it.

OTOH is an investment board and this is an investment post

I have become increasingly interested in and convinced that vertical farming is the wave of the future and further it is going to fundamentally change the dynamics of certain sectors of the agriculture industry and the world.

What is Vertical Farming? Essentially it is growing crops indoors with hydroponics.

This article which contains a number of pertinent points you will come across whenever you read about vertical farming

http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/19/nations-largest-vertical-farm…

- 97 percent of fresh water is reused and plants are grown without the use of herbicides or pesticides

- LED lighting system mimics outdoor conditions, meaning plants don’t need natural sunlight to grow.

- up to 15 times as many crop cycles a year compared to traditional farming

- reduce energy use, travel time and costs tremendously, making this model one of the most sustainable ways to guarantee access to fresh, healthy produce in city centers, in any season

So what we are looking at here is a staggering increase in productivity, per area under cultivation, using less resources of every type per item produced. This has the potential to be just as transformational, as IT, fracking, 3D printing etc…

Lets live the dream.

What chance does farmer Joe have against an indoor farm that can do 15 crop cycles a year(for some crops at least) and that’s if farmer Joe is not hit by drought, floods and other acts of God.

The farm in this article is only two stories high so say 7 times the yield per area compared to farmer Joe. Just say the building is 50 stories high? That would be the same as farmer Joe having 350 acres under cultivation. Lets not be too pendantic with my math I am sure you get my point. Truly staggering increases in crop yields that is cleaner and greener.

Moreover, who said that you cannot grow food in Saudi Arabia or the sahara desert because its too hot, too sandy… No more. The whole dynamics of the industry will change as will any countries ability to grow crops at least of certain types. Those farmers growing lettuce in their paddock, well they are finished.

So where to invest in this sector? Green Sense and Farmed Here appear to be private for now at least.

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Village Farms is public. VFF. However, it does not meet the metrics for a YPEG investment.

I have a small,“Send me the annual report position.” As it goes up,and down with the U.S dollar, it moves around a lot with no material change.

I do not recommend as an investment.

Cheers
Qazulight

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It’s an interesting question. One way to play vertical farming is by growing your own. Singapore (obviously) has made a move in this direction. It has a role to play in terms of food supply chain security, as well as crop yield productivity.

I would think the other revolutionary play in this farming space is using robotics on farms. Japan is going to really push this since the average age of farmers is something like 80 years old and they have a declining population which badly needs productivity enhancements.

If you cannot go long on vertical farming - maybe go short on arable land REITs in Russia?

Ant

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Hi again

Village Farms is not really the go as it is more of a greenhouse operation, which was recently impacted by bad weather… which vertical farming is meant to negate

Nevetherless I have found an entity called Indoor Harvest a solution provider ndoor Harvest Corp (OTCQB: INQD)

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/indoor-harvest-corp-…

You are really going to like their numbers with a market cap of $5m

There is Farmed Here and a few others all private.

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Err - so forget about profitable it is pre-revenue? Saul’s going to love this one.
Ant

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It must have been around 1995 or so that I visited EPCOT Center where Kraft had the most marvelous hydroponic farming exhibit.

Attraction history

While “The Land” pavilion has existed since 1982, it has gone through three significant phases. The pavilion’s first incarnation involved a ten-year sponsorship under Kraft Foods Inc. from 1982–1992. Kraft played a vital role in co-financing the everyday functions of the attractions, restaurants, and shops inside the pavilion. The pavilion’s interior and exterior design featured earth tone colors and exotic plant life.

In 1993, plans were made to update and modernize the overall tone of EPCOT Center, including a major refurbishment of “The Land” pavilion. Kraft withdrew its sponsorship on September 26, 1993, with Nestle taking its place. Co-financed by Nestle and the Walt Disney World Resort, a gradual refurbishment of the pavilion began on September 27, 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Land_(Epcot)

Back in the 1980s Kraft was interested enough in hydroponic farming to have acquired patents for it

Method and apparatus for hydroponic farming
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4513533.html

Thirty five years later Kraft does not do indoor farming that I can find on Google. But this Japanese fellow does

World’s Largest Indoor Farm is 100 Times More Productive
http://weburbanist.com/2015/01/11/worlds-largest-indoor-farm…

One has to wonder why Kraft gave up when it’s so grand an idea. Maybe the future has not yet arrived. :wink:

Often the problem is complexity, the enemy of adoption. Look for the causes that have stopped the widespread adoption of such a great idea.

Denny Schlesinger

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Hydroponics are heavily utilized in high population density or farmland scarce locations e.g. Netherlands. Hydroponics is also used in Malaysia extensively (Cameron Highlands) as well as Japan where they are really into artificial stuff.

Unfortunately like growing flowers in hydroponics which look great and last long but have no smell, hydroponic food tastes of nothing but water.

Ant

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hydroponic food tastes of nothing but water.

So that’s the problem! Great to know the mystery of failed hydroponics.

Denny Schlesinger

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… hydroponic food tastes of nothing but water.

Ant, I’m not sure what you’re basing your statement on, but I’m going to have to disagree with you on it, although I don’t have the science handy to back up my own opinion.

The vast majority of the growth of any plant comes from just the water and air … that’s how you can grow a potted plant and the soil doesn’t disappear in a matter of weeks. Only the trace nutrients are pulled from the soil that might otherwise be missing in a simplistic hydroponic system, which is why even an amateur hydroponic gardener can easily find nutrient mixes for sale that include not only the basic NPK nutrients but also trace minerals and such.

</off topic>

as always, i am full of carp

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Based on experience - in Asia you get fed too much hydroponics (and in Netherlands and low cost supermarkets too). When you go to the US and shop in Whole Foods or go to France and have traditionally grown fruit and vegetables then you realize how much difference there is in taste - the difference is unbelievable. In particular tomatoes and peppers (or capsicums or whatever Americans call them) as well as strawberries - colour looks fine but totally tasteless.
Ant

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Often the problem is complexity, the enemy of adoption. Look for the causes that have stopped the widespread adoption of such a great idea.

Ahhh Denny,
It has taken off finally in Colorado. It is all the rage and other states will be getting into also.

Andy

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Based on experience - in Asia you get fed too much hydroponics (and in Netherlands and low cost supermarkets too).

Ant,
I wonder if that is from when they are picking the vegetables and fruit. I grow some of my own vegetables, especially tomatoes, always taste best than any store bought tomatoes. Even WFM can’t match my tomatoes.

Andy

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I grow some of my own vegetables, especially tomatoes, always taste best than any store bought tomatoes.

Virtually all store-bought tomatoes are harvested green, or at least mostly green, and if you let your home-grown tomatoes ripen properly on the vine they will sweeten up/mature properly, rather than merely looking reddish-colored (but not actually ripe in the real sense of the word). Tomatoes are probably the worst/most extreme case of this phenomenon, partially supported as well by the types of hybrids that are grown commercially, where they’ve been bred for ease of shipping to market and not for flavor (or even for nutritional value). But to a lesser extent, the same is true for most (but not all) other vegetables and fruits as well.

Given a choice between fresh-picked, local-and-ripened-on-the-vine versus week-old, shipped from far away, the fresh ones will virtually always be better (although I generally try to buy organic as well, so I’m not slowly poisoning myself). But don’t be fooled by “on the vine” tomatoes, which aren’t actually measurably better, they’re really mostly a gimmick. Farmers markets are practically the only reasonable alternative to homegrown, IMHO.

as always, i am full of carp

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Ahhh Denny,
It has taken off finally in Colorado. It is all the rage and other states will be getting into also.

I was highly impressed when I visited EPCOT Center but it’s one thing to like a product and another making money on it as an investment. As far back as 1776 Adam Smith explained why farmers and fishermen will never be rich. Food is and will always be a commodity. Supplying farmers can be a better business. I wouldn’t know how to predict which Vertical Farming suppliers will make it rich and there is very little if any stock price history to use as a guide.

About five years ago I started changing my diet. Today I eat almost no packaged or highly processed foods. I buy fresh vegetables and lots of fruit and eat home cooking using only olive oil. The effect has been marvelous, I’ve shed 35 pounds and lost a few inches of waist not to mention improved health. I applaud hydroponic farming and wish it the best of luck. My closest approach is sprouting mung beans.

Homemade Economy Sprouter
http://softwaretimes.com/recipes/homemade+economy+sprouter.h…

Tree ripened is always better than picked green but us, city dwellers, mostly get the latter. You also notice the difference between fresh caught fish and store bought or frozen. Civilization does have its disadvantages. :frowning:

Denny Schlesinger

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Yes Indoor Harvest is not the go for the moment at least if ever

But there are some real businesses out there like this one

http://aerofarms.com/

And there are others but none have listed yet nor have I got a handle on the financials.

As for the taste of the product well the companies says it’s great and of course they would, as for others even in this thread it may be no more than pontification.

Regardless prima facie the economics appear compelling and so far with no apparent opportunities for listed investment all I can do is keep it on the radar.

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Hey there !

We raised 4 acres of U-pik strawberries for 18 years. There were a number of customers that would pick large green berries saying that they would “ripen them in a window.” Upon questioning, what they were saying was that ‘the berries would get red(ripen).’ Then I would present them with this: Yes, they will get red but not “ripe” as the ripening comes from drawing sugars from the roots and those in the window are not connected to any roots and there is no sugar in the air. So, how are they going to “ripen?”

It’s a common misconception that ripe is connected to color.

Rich (haywool)

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Rich, I don’t know about strawberries but I do know about bananas and plantains. You pick them green and they are very starchy with no sweetness at all. You keep them in the house for a few days and they turn very sugary and sweet. By the time plantains turn black they are perfect for frying. While in the US I tried to buy ripe plantains, as soon as they started showing black they were thrown out by the supermarket! I asked to have some, they refused saying they were rotten. Beautiful ripe plantains trashed! :frowning:

http://www.sigavenezuela.com.ve/fnsv/img/gastronomia/pabello…

Hydrolysis, the process by which starches are converted to sugars, acts fastest in fruit of higher moisture content, so bananas easily lap plantains.

http://www.raw-food-health.net/RipenPlantains.html

Denny Schlesinger

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I don’t know about strawberries but I do know about bananas and plantains. You pick them green and they are very starchy with no sweetness at all. You keep them in the house for a few days and they turn very sugary and sweet. By the time plantains turn black they are perfect for frying. While in the US I tried to buy ripe plantains, as soon as they started showing black they were thrown out by the supermarket! I asked to have some, they refused saying they were rotten. Beautiful ripe plantains trashed! :frowning:

I lived in Panama and Puerto Rico for about 5 1/2 years early in my adult life. I loved planting banana and plantain trees.

I now live in Virginia. I got a hardy banana tree last spring and it grew nicely this summer. It should come back next spring. It’s pretty, but odds of it producing any fruit is very slim.

I’m trying my hand at growing apple and pear trees. I have 8 blueberry bushes in and they are doing great. Blueberries are great to grow. I garden as well. I may have to cut one of my pear trees down though.

Fool on,

mazske

Long fruits and veggies of all types

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