Skout Summer Series: USDA, NASA, DOE Workshop Recap - Toledo, OH - June 27 - 28th

Nitschke Hall, University of Toledo - Toledo, OH

Earlier this year, the Skout team was asked to partner with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and leading academic institutes across the country on a Department of Energy (DOE) Lab Funding call that was directed at building a national accelerator focused on advancing the feasibility of controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Although our team did not win the funding call, it gave us a glimpse into the DOE’s ability to leverage its resources to advance the CEA industry. It also gave us exposure within the DOE, leading to an invitation to attend the Workshop on Advancing CEA on Land and In Space in the Next 20 Years at the University of Toledo being hosted by the USDA, DOE, and NASA. I booked my ticket that day, excited to mix it up with some of the most brilliant people in our space ranging from academia, industry, and government.

The workshop did not disappoint. It was opened with Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio’s 9th District, who gave a riveting speech on the history of Ohio grown tomatoes, the importance of soil health and its direct link to our health, and the need to embrace new technologies to build local and regional food systems. Many of my beliefs surrounding automation and energy were validated, new concepts around pests and pathogens and genetics for indoor grown crops left me fascinated and curious, and after hearing a professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s presentation, I questioned the link between CEA and food security.

A week later, after decompressing from the workshop, I told the Skout team that the workshop had fundamentally shifted thinking on CEA, and it has. Here are my biggest takeaways and learning lessons from the conference:

1.     Energy, Energy, Energy – CEA facilities, whether it be greenhouse or indoor vertical, are energy hogs. Whether it is supplemental lighting, HVAC systems, chillers, etc. the energy used to produce crops indoors is far greater than crops grown in the field using “free” sunlight. Energy costs can often make-up 30% - 50% of a farms operating budget on an annual basis. In addition to this, the energy requirements for a CEA facility are generally quite large, usually requiring an energy upgrade able to support the energy draw.

For CEA to continue to grow and become a large part of the resilience behind local and regional food systems, we must find a solution to the energy problem. Innovations at the nexus of food, energy, and water provide significant potential to open new areas of collaboration amongst industry that lend themselves to the emergence of new business models in a rapidly shifting climatic and economic environment.

2.     Pests and disease in CEA – CEA grown produce often touts its pesticide free and use of no chemicals in the production process and while this does ring true, this does not exclude CEA operations from pest and disease pressure. Michael Bledsoe, VP of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs, spoke at length about the tomato brown regose fruit virus (ToBRFV) and the devastating effects it is having on tomato operations across the globe. Cucumber Green Mottle Mosiac virus, which attacks plants of the cucurbit family, continues to provide a constant threat, particularly as more cucurbit crops move in to controlled environments. I can count at least 3 large vertical farming failures that stemmed from pythium or water contamination outbreaks. All of this points back to integrated pest management (IPM) and its importance within CEA.

 All too often, IPM is an afterthought within a CEA facility, yet the risk it poses to an operation could be lethal. Pesticide and chemical free is one of the main value adds of CEA grown produce and so protecting that mote will be paramount for the continued expansion of CEA and consumer acceptance. This was a great reminder that diligence and innovation must continue to occur in the way that we combat pests and pathogens within CEA operations.

3.     Genetics and the need for indoor grown bred seeds – There are many things that can be done to continue to optimize a CEA facility, but there may be none greater than the improvement of seed bred for indoor growth purposes. The vast majority of plant cultivar that currently exist have been bred to be grown under the sun and in soil, yet we are taking these cultivars and growing them in completely artificial environments. Although I do not understand all of the scientific pathways that must be explored to achieve this, I do recognize this as a significant piece that must be addressed within CEA operations. The opportunity to adapt seeds to be grown indoors is one of the great frontiers of this industry, but it may lead to some short-term challenges for operators.

4.     CEA does not always equate too food security – Chuck Nicholson, of Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison gave a great presentation on the challenges faced by CEA specifically as it relates to cost, environment, and consumer acceptance. There were parts of Dr. Nicholson’s presentation/research that needed to be a bit further explored to give a full picture, however at the end of his presentation he made a correlation I had not heard. “CEA does not always equate to food security.” Which, once I begin to think about that, it rings true, particularly as it relates to today’s CEA business model.

CEA companies today claim to be local, but the reality is, the vast majority of CEA companies are building facilities that are in rural or economically depressed areas due to the cost of doing business, which is generally lower in those areas. The food that is then grown in those facilities is shipped out to retail locations hundreds of miles away at price points most of the people working in those farms cannot afford. And so, a paradox ensues. Farms get built in communities that have limited access to food and are sold as solutions to fighting food insecurity, but the food grown in those farms gets shipped to communities where “premium grown produce” can be afforded opposed to being a localized solution.

In conclusion, this conference left me with a lot of food for thought, and as I mentioned at the onset of this piece, it has fundamentally shifted my thoughts on the power and impact of CEA. It has definitely given me a lot to ponder as we think about the future of Skout in regards to where and how we show up for our partners. There are no silver bullets in CEA or any other industry for that fact, but these 4 topics will be at the top of our evaluation for any project moving forward.