Sunshine Coast’s Vertical Farm Systems has signed a $55m contract with a Canadian grower.
The crop grower will leverage their automated technology to grow leafy greens indoors on their multi-level, indoor growing system, also known as XA Warehouse System.
Vertical Farm Systems is the only equipment seller in Australia providing fully automated growing systems to produce nutritious fresh food at scale, indoors, all year.
Without relying on skilled labour, favourable weather, high soil fertility and high water use, the Vertical Farm Systems’ innovative solution comes in very handy for growers.
Vertical Farm Systems set to disrupt crop growing
The vertical farming industry is worth an estimated $5 billion dollars annually in the United States of America alone and it is only just beginning its infancy stage in Australia.
But with news from the Rural Bank Report (2020) showing a 25% increase in land prices in some states of Australia, vertical farming looks like a very astute business decision.
Ashley Thomson and John Leslie founded their innovation, Vertical Farm Systems in 2009.
They saw an opportunity to create a system that would allow producers to grow crops indoors year-round with no need for chemicals or pesticides and significantly lower water use.
The uniquely innovative Vertical Farm Systems’ XA Series Warehouse System was successfully launched after nine years of intensive product development and commercial testing.
The Vertical Farm Systems’ technology helps in facilitating crop producers to grow a wide variety of leafy greens and herbs indoors, 52 weeks a year and it’s mostly automated.
The farming system is seamlessly automated that it can be operated by just a single person. The system facilitates crop growers with more control over their bottom line aspects.
Benefits of leveraging the Vertical Farm Systems
Reliable harvests
No seasonal crops or crop losses. Consistent and reliable harvest times and produce quality.
The system allows commercial growers to commit to delivery schedules and agreements.
Minimal overheads
Vertical Farm Systems offers up to 30% Returns On Investment, achieved with ideal power and building rental costs compared to 3-4% for open field farmers according to CSIRO.
Lower labour costs
The Vertical Farm Systems facilitates crop growers in producing 400 kilograms weekly and requires one worker for six hours a week, thus dramatically reducing labour costs.
Lower water use
The Vertical Farm Systems’ XA Series solution uses 95% less water than open field farming.
Lower Transport costs
The Vertical Farm Systems’ innovative XA Series solution can be installed in any location geographically that offers suitable power and water supplies as a minimal requirement.
Strategic locations close to the point of sale and in distribution hubs helps to decrease the time from harvest to consumers plus costs for refrigerated storage and transport.
Optimum crop yields
Over a time period of a year, a small XA Series system with 500 square metres of building floor space in area can surprisingly produce the same harvest as 8 acres of traditional farming.
Comments from a Vertical Farm Systems executive
John Leslie, the Executive Director of Vertical Farm Systems is excited by this growth.
“It may seem like we’ve come out of nowhere, but we’ve been working on this technology for almost a decade. Now we’re able to take it to market we can see the massive global potential.”
“In addition to our Canadian customer, we have sold units to growers in New Zealand, the UK and we’re currently negotiating multi-million dollar deals in the UAE and the USA.”
It seems the sky is the limit for this Australian success story.
The company offers the potential to tap in the multi billion dollar medical cannabis market.
The system facilitates crop growers to produce medical grade cannabis indoors all year and thus, the development of another leafy greens unit especially for residential use.
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