Bowery Farming launches Farm X

Bowery Farming, in a press release, announced the opening of Farm X, its newest state-of-the-art innovation hub for plant science in Kearny, New Jersey - adjacent to Bowery’s original R&D Center of Excellence and first commercial farm.

Farm X, per the company, “is one of the largest and most sophisticated vertical farming R&D facilities in the world, and will further accelerate the commercialization of products specifically designed for Bowery’s indoor system.” From the cultivation of strawberries, root vegetables, tomatoes, peppers and beyond, to the discovery of the next generation of wildly flavorful leafy greens, Farm X expands Bowery’s R&D capacity by nearly 300%. 

“We’re proud to be the largest vertical farming company in the United States that is consistently and reliably delivering our customers a wide variety of high quality, flavorful produce that’s local, safe and sustainable,” said Irving Fain, founder and CEO of Bowery Farming. “From day one, our R&D team has been working tirelessly to unlock the next frontier in agriculture, and Farm X enables us to expedite the discovery of new vibrant crops and pioneering technological advancements that will further accelerate our momentum as the category leader.”  

Bowery’s team of plant breeders, plant physiologists, biochemists, and more, are constantly innovating from seed-to-shelf. At Farm X, they will be able to test more, faster — ultimately accelerating the discovery of new crops, growing recipes, and efficiency improvements that can be replicated at scale across the company’s network of commercial farms. Featuring proprietary, highly-customizable, modular growing environments managed and monitored by new technology developed in-house, Farm X will further unlock the next phase of Bowery’s growth.  

Farm X also features a sensory lab where Bowery will continue its quest for the “perfect cultivars for indoor growing, as well as launch the first-ever on-site breeding program at a vertical farming company.” Under the new breeding program, Bowery’s team will be able to develop varieties that thrive in its unique growing conditions, and evaluate each one for optimal taste, quality and yield, rather than to survive outdoors, pest-resistance and long-haul transportation. While a traditional breeding program takes up to ten years, Bowery’s controlled indoor environment and 24/7 monitoring of crops will enable the company to bring new groundbreaking products to market at scale in a fraction of the time.

Farm X also serves as an experimental space for innovation in farm design, data science, computer vision, autonomous robotics, hardware and software that can be deployed in Bowery’s growing network of commercial farms.