The future is now

The broader controlled environment agriculture industry — covering greenhouses, indoor farms, vertical farms, etc. — is often at the forefront of growing technology. Be it LED lighting to stimulate plant growth, growing systems designed by engineers and new crops never grown in a greenhouse at scale, CEA operations are often pushing boundaries.

Artificial intelligence is the next technology ready to be embraced by the industry. It’s not in the way many people have come to interact with AI in their own lives; ChatGPT is not going to help a greenhouse or vertical farm more efficiently grow produce on a day-to-day basis. Where AI does come in handy is by helping greenhouses and vertical farms operate more efficiently by automating various tasks.

Widespread use is not there yet — nor is the technology developed and tested enough to fully automate a growing cycle at a large commercial scale. (Notably, Wageningen University has run multiple competitions challenging teams from different countries to fully automate leafy greens production. This work indicates that, at some point in the future, a fully automated growing process will be possible.) Where it is applicable and useful is in automating smaller tasks — climate control, lighting schedules, inventory, etc. If labor can be saved on those tasks, labor can be used on other tasks.

Growers appear ready to embrace fully automated tasks, too. According to IUNU’s 2023 State of CEA report, 88% of leafy greens growers and 60% of tomato growers say they would prioritize automated climate control vs. any other possibly automated task. Those are numbers that show people are ready for what is to come. By comparison, 100% of ornamental growers who participated in IUNU’s survey said their first priority would be irrigation control. One would suspect that cucumber, berry and/or pepper growers would have different wants, too.

For more on AI and its possible impact on the broader CEA industry, flip to page 8 for insights from, among others, IUNU Chief Growth Officer Allison Kopf. And if you have your own thoughts or insight into how your operation is utilizing or is considering using AI, drop me a line — we’d love to hear from you.