S2:E14 - Farming Goes Indoors, with the Chief Science Officer of Bowery Farming

The hottest trend in agriculture is indoor, controlled farming. Often called “vertical farming”. These are massive warehouses, some as large as football stadiums, that are growing billions of pounds of fresh produce every day.

So what is vertical farming and why is it growing like crazy? The modern concept of indoor farming has been around for over 20 years, but only in recent years have efficiencies in key technologies such as LED lighting, AI, hydroponic systems, and robotics made this concept commercially viable.

There are tons of benefits - less land usage, less water usage, no pesticide usage, and local access to fresh produce in large, dense urban areas - and some limitations as well in terms of what crops are most suitable for this type of system today.

We get into all of this and more with Henry Sztul, Chief Science Officer of Bowery Farming, the leading vertical farming company in the US that recently closed a $300 million fundraising round.

Enjoy!