Page 15 - Vol.36-No.8 issue
P. 15

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT & SERVICE

        and scatter seeds into the fields, which re-
        sults to a more efficient and effective farm-  GRŌV TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES
        ing. Discover the latest technology that will
        reduce labor intensive roles and expedite   WORLD’S LARGEST, MOST ADVANCED
        the monitoring process – crucial for a suc-
                                               INDOOR VERTICAL FARMING SYSTEM
        cessful output.
                                             FOR YEAR-ROUND FRESH ANIMAL FEED


                                                                                an  inflection  point.  Indoor  vertical  farm-
                                                                                ing  technology  has  emerged  as  a  viable
                                                                                solution to help farmers address the chal-
                                                                                lenges of rising feed and labor costs, sup-
                                                                                ply-chain disruptions, water shortages and
         Robotics in Green Houses                                               green-house-gas emissions.

          Agri-bots have stepped into greenhous-  Grōv  Technologies  announces  world’s   “Increased consumer demand for trace-
        es around the world, responsible for spray-  largest,  most  advanced  indoor  vertical   able, local food and the agricultural risks
        ing,  planting  and  packing  the  fruit  and   farming  system  for  year-round  fresh  ani-  associated with climate change have made
        vegetables grown in a superficially warm   mal feed                     it  essential  for  farmers  to  adopt  sustain-
        environment. In countries where farms and                               able  technologies,”  said  Steve  Lindsley,
        greenhouses are positioned away from city   Grōv Technologies Tuesday announced   president  of  Grōv Technologies. “We  be-
        infrastructure, and thus away from workers   its  newest  innovation  in  controlled  envi-  lieve Olympus holds the promise to help
        – robots have become vital to the process.   ronment agriculture (CEA) – the Olympus   operators  meet  the  challenges  they  face
        Cost is so important to the producer on the   Tower Farm. Combining science and pat-  today.  Implementing  Grōv  technology
                                            ented technology, Olympus is an automat-  and  science  has  proven  to  grow  a  more
                                            ed indoor growing system for commercial   nutritious  feed  and  sustainably  produced
                                            scale  production  of  fresh  animal  feed,   foods, while improving long-term econom-
                                            helping dairy and beef producers become   ic viability for farmers.”
                                            more sustainable and economically viable.
                                                                                     Olympus in action
                                                   Sustainable and
                                                Economically Viable              As part of its pilot program, Grōv part-
                                                                                nered with Utah’s largest dairy operation,
                                              Grōv’s  team  of  botanists,  animal  nutri-  Bateman  Mosida  Farms,  to  implement
        supply  chain  –  and  despite  initial  outlay
        – 24-hour labor is priceless in this unpre-  tionists  and  engineers  have  spent  years   Olympus Towers and build the world’s first
        dictable  but  essential  industry.  Meet  the   developing science and technology-based   commercial  scale  CEA  feed  center.  Con-
        designers behind the bots at SAUDI AGRI-  growing  protocols  for  Olympus  that  pro-  trolled  studies  of  more  than  600  animals,
        CULTURE.                            duces  unmatched  high-density  nutrient   that began in 2019 on the Bateman dairy,
                                            (HDN) feed and in trials has shown to pro-  found  that  cows  fed  a  ration  including
           Sensors & Applications           vide  health  benefits  for  the  animals  and   Grōv’s HDN sprouted wheatgrass more ef-
                                            improved  feed-to-yield  efficiency.  These
                                                                                ficiently produced milk on less feed, thus
          Soil health is key for successful growth,   protocols  are  formulated  by  combining   improving  the  farm’s  bottom  line.  Addi-
        farmers  have  previously  relied  on  their   thousands  of  operational  and  environ-  tionally,  these  independent  trials  showed
        knowledge  and  time  to  manually  seek   mental data points from micro-sensors in   that  Grōv’s  feed  product  also  improved
        any  crop  issues  but  strategically  placed   the tower with daily laboratory analysis of   meat quality in beef cattle.
        remote  sensors  can  dramatically  reduce   each harvest to ensure the best HDN feed
        hours  spent  on  this  process.  The  sensor   possible.                “The results we’ve seen using the feed
        uses algorithms to decipher its surround-                               from Olympus are exciting. It’s evident that
                                              Taking up only 857 square feet of space,   including Grōv HDN in the cow’s diet im-
                                            just one Olympus Tower can produce from   proves  feed  production  efficiency,”  said
                                            5,000 to 6,000 pounds of sprouted wheat/  Brad Bateman, owner/partner of Bateman
                                            barley grass per day using less than 5 per-  Mosida  Farms.  “We  pride  ourselves  on
                                            cent  of  the  water  and  replacing  between   our commitment to sustainability and en-
                                            35  to  50  acres  compared  to  traditional   suring  the  best  product  possible  for  our
                                            farming. Olympus requires minimal labor   customers. Olympus has put us on the path
                                            by  leveraging  proprietary,  robotic  seed-  to more efficiently feed our animals year-
                                            to-harvest technology. Plant growth is con-  round  and  ensure  the  next  generation  of
        ings and provides readings detailing solu-  stantly analyzed with data collected from   Batemans  have  a  sustainable  and  profit-
        tions to contributing factors such as weath-  integrated tower sensors and testing per-  able future.”
        er or pest invasion. Apps are in abundance   formed by Grōv’s scientists to adjust and   Due to the success of this collaboration,
        for  various  purposes  including  weather   optimize  tower  performance,  yield  and   Bateman has committed to feed up to 5,000
        predictions,  tractor  computer  information   nutrition.               animals in 2021 using the Grōv feed sys-
        sharing,  and  marketplace  for  agri-prod-  Grōv  Technologies  enters  the  $90  bil-  tem.
        ucts and photos for crop analysis.  lion global market for dairy and beef cat-
                                            tle feed at a time when the industry is at
                             Circle 18 on enquiry card                                              Circle 19 on enquiry card
                                                                                                          Vol. 36 No. 8   13
   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20