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CEA is often pitched as a tool to address food deserts and swamps, and data from the 2022 USDA AgCensus supports that story.On August 7, RII presented some of the main food-related CEA trends found in the USDA Census of Agriculture. RII’s Carmen Azzaretti and USDA’s James Altland, a Research Leader in the Application Technology…

The CEA market is evolving to meet shifting retail and commercial demands, and is experiencing great overall growth.In a recent webinar, RII and CEA industry experts Rob Eddy and Carmen Azzaretti offered a deep dive into RII’s "CEA in The Census of Agriculture" report, sharing insights on the blooming U.S. floriculture market. The July 9…

Reducing energy usage and understanding your CO2 sourcing can increase profitability and reduce your operation’s carbon footprint.Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an essential building block to all plant life. Plants absorb CO2 from the ambient air, and through the photosynthetic process build plant cells that allow them to grow. In indoor farming environments, especially vertical farms,…

In 2017, utilities and energy experts noticed a spike in electric demand. After 20 or so years of stable low growth, it was first posited that the increase in electric vehicles on U.S. roads and building electrification (e.g. swapping out fossil fuel-burning furnaces for electric heat pumps) was driving this boom. As Wesley Whited, a…

The vertical farming company received nearly $49 million in USDA loan guarantees. Here, the company shares some of the work that went into the process.   The process Vertical Harvest Farms, a hydroponic, vertical farming company with facilities in Wyoming and Maine, went through to get a USDA loan guarantee was a months-long affair full…