Climate change issues: Is vertical farming the answer?

Carys

Member
Replacing soil, natural rainfall and sunlight from open sky with concrete, steel, glass, tarmac, plastic and the required massive infrastructure for heat, light, water storage, mechanisation, housing development for intensive cheap exploited labour etc etc.

Of course it will all be done in the name of 'climate change and the environment', but ultimately it will end up as more Green Washed corporate greed, exploiting 'the many' to benefit the 'absentee few'.

Your futuristic dream is my darkest dystopian nightmare. Please be careful what you wish for.


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Interesting opinion. Great to see a different perspective and definitely one I'll take into account :)
 

Boysground

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Wiltshire
I really have no idea what we are going to have to do, I am not convinced that vertical farming is really a solution for the planet.

I was out on my bike last weekend and went by a friends maize fields. It was the first time I have been past a field and wondered about the environmental impact of covering acres with plastic. I have never got it to add up financially for myself. Each to their own I suppose.

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Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Replacing soil, natural rainfall and sunlight from open sky with concrete, steel, glass, tarmac, plastic and the required massive infrastructure for heat, light, water storage, mechanisation, housing development for intensive cheap exploited labour etc etc.

Of course it will all be done in the name of 'climate change and the environment', but ultimately it will end up as more Green Washed corporate greed, exploiting 'the many' to benefit the 'absentee few'.

Your futuristic dream is my darkest dystopian nightmare. Please be careful what you wish for.


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What a terrible future the article shows, far better to eat pasture fed meat from local regen farms and we should eat tomatoes when they grow and ripen in the UK etc
 

Bogweevil

Member
Replacing soil, natural rainfall and sunlight from open sky with concrete, steel, glass, tarmac, plastic and the required massive infrastructure for heat, light, water storage, mechanisation, housing development for intensive cheap exploited labour etc etc.

Of course it will all be done in the name of 'climate change and the environment', but ultimately it will end up as more Green Washed corporate greed, exploiting 'the many' to benefit the 'absentee few'.

Your futuristic dream is my darkest dystopian nightmare. Please be careful what you wish for.


All of this will go as climate change makes Morocco and Almeria too hot and dry, being replaced by vertical farming units on supermarket roofs where consumers will cut and pick their own salads. No long distance lorries, no plastic, no pesticides, much less water use, no organic claptrap, renewable energy...

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I don't think broad acre farming need worry too much though.
 

Carys

Member
What is actually grown vertically at the moment? All I've seen is really high value crops like Wasabi and micro green salads.
Yes. Currently, UK companies tend to produce microgreens and salad leaves. There are some evident limitations; perhaps as the industry grows companies will be able to diversify in what they are producing.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Yes. Currently, UK companies tend to produce microgreens and salad leaves. There are some evident limitations; perhaps as the industry grows companies will be able to diversify in what they are producing.

Presumably, as the sector grows, the costs will fall as it becomes more competitive? That will hit producer margins too.
 

Carys

Member
Presumably, as the sector grows, the costs will fall as it becomes more competitive? That will hit producer margins too.
That is what is predicted. However, at the minute start-up costs and running costs are quite high. I think building consumer trust and engagement is a key next step and vital for future industry growth. Without, I believe scaling up and reducing costs will be difficult.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Yes. Currently, UK companies tend to produce microgreens and salad leaves. There are some evident limitations; perhaps as the industry grows companies will be able to diversify in what they are producing.
my gut instinct is that food, is more than just NPK, water, light and trace elements, there is a synergy of everything that produces a nutrient dense and rich product that nourishes us (and our micro biome), and that hydroponically produced food will keep us alive for a while but all the "usual" western diseases will proliferate as a result.
 

C.J

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Devon
my gut instinct is that food, is more than just NPK, water, light and trace elements,

That's right it needs Carbon dioxide and warmth aswell.

Strange isn't it that vertical farming , will keep plants at 20-25 centigrade and CO2 at 1200-1500 ppm ,so that they grow faster.

Mean while , there are people that believe if CO2 rises above 400 ppm and temperatures rise above 15 centigrade , there will be crop failures and famine.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • Up to 25%

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  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.3%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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