A new indoor aquaponic vertical farm, said to be the world’s largest, is set to open in the US early next year.
Upward Farms is building the new 250,000m2 facility in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to provide sustainable, BAP-certified hybrid striped bass and locally sourced microgreens to consumers throughout the Northeast.
Sustainability and climate resilience are key considerations in building the new facility, which is said to be 2-4 times larger than the next largest vertical farm. “Farming is one of the sectors that’s both highly exposed to the perils of climate change and one of its key drivers,” said Jason Green, chief executive and co-founder of Upward Farms.
“Solutions for food production that are good for people and the planet are solely needed,” he added.
Upward Farms’ facilities reduce water and land use by a reported 95%. The new farm will conserve nearly 500 million litres of water and more than 485,000m2 of land, eliminating 1.7 million food miles per year.
Ecological Intelligence
Whilst indoor farming is one of the more automated sectors within aquaculture and agriculture, scaling up productivity remains a challenge. What is increasingly understood is the importance of biodiversity in the productivity and stability of ecosystems. Upward Farms deploys ‘Ecological Intelligence’ to ensure a diverse microbiome which in turn increases commercial yields and eliminates 99% of crop disease.
