Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) provides ample opportunity to meet food security needs of a growing population by 1) maximizing growing space and 2) minimizing resources and inputs.
However, in the past, the industry experienced a wave of investment to new companies, which reduced the level of collaboration across the supply chain. It then became a mad dash to develop systems, technology to ultimately beat the competition and gain investor attention.
But in order for CEA to survive in a world where:
- Producing food outdoors continues to be plagued by climate change, labor costs, available workforce, pest and diseases, and other myriad issues, and
- Investment funds have diminished.
- The needs for local, sustainable, and quality produce is increasing.
We need a renewed focus on strengthened collaboration–and we need it now.
One example of this is the three-way partnership with Local Bounti, Jiffy, and TTA-ISO to build automated and efficient growing systems that supply fresh leafy greens throughout the nation.
In partnering with Jiffy and TTA-ISO, Local Bounti has built a successful model of automation, its patented Stack & Flow Technology®, that they have replicated to new sites as they continue to expand throughout the United States.
Collaboration has been strong between all three companies and has contributed to the quality of operations and yield across Local Bounti’s sites.
“Our communities depend on us to deliver–so we depend on our supplier partners to help us achieve our ambitious goals in indoor farming,” says Seth Swanson, Director of Horticulture of Local Bounti. “Jiffy and TTA-ISO have helped us integrate these technologies into our operations and provided guidance all along the way so we can continue to operate with speed and quality. We wouldn’t be where we are today if not for their expertise and commitment to our business’s success.”
About Local Bounti
Local Bounti is one of the leading indoor leafy green producers in the United States with six greenhouse facilities throughout California, Montana, Washington, Texas, and Georgia.
Their mission is to grow as locally as possible for their communities–using 90% less water and much more limited space than traditional agriculture–while also offering high-quality, nutritious, and delicious produce.
The Local Bounti team grows a variety of greens including: baby leaf lettuce, whole-head living lettuce, organic lettuce, and cress. They’ve also recently expanded into salad kits.
What’s so special about Local Bounti is that they’ve built a best-of-both worlds system in CEA, which it calls Stack & Flow. Their vertical propagation system feeds into the hydroponic greenhouse space, which grows horizontally.
“This model has helped us maximize propagation space growing vertically. We’re harnessing sunlight for production as well as supplemental light so we can keep uniformity while using as little energy as possible,” says Swanson. “Sophisticated automation also helps us keep our costs down–so we can pass those savings onto consumers.”
To reduce crop cycles and increase yields, Local Bounti has adopted a moving gutter system and leveled up their automation by implementing transplanting capabilities.
In order to do this, Local Bounti needed the right selection of transplanting systems and growing media, which led them to TTA’s transplanter and Jiffy’s Preforma plugs.
About TTA-ISO
With offices in the Netherlands, the United States, the Middle East and Australia, TTA-ISO is an innovative and disruptive technology company providing automation solutions to several sectors, including horticulture and indoor farming.
TTA-ISO equipment is expertly crafted to provide maximum efficiency and care to plants, from sticking clonally propagated cuttings to plug transplanting.
Transplanting propagated young plants into the gutters is a labor-intensive task. Therefore, it makes sense to automate this specific job. However, labor is not the only factor driving this automation step. Uniformity, repeatability and quality of the growing medium also play a significant role in automation decisions. Only then can a good transplanting result be guaranteed. The uniformity of the crop is in good hands with Local Bounti and their agronomists. For stable and uniform plugs, TTA-ISO has been confident in relying on Jiffy for this project.
Future trends in transplanting and automation generally revolve around vision and AI. We now have equipment capable of selecting images (both flat and 3D) that assist growers in making decisions on selection parameters and predicting the success rate of young plants. This enables growers to forecast output and saleable produce much more accurately.
So whenever Local Bounti is ready, TTA-ISO has the future-generation transplanters lined up!
About Jiffy Preforma
Jiffy Preforma is the horticulture industry’s leading customized propagation plug solution, which makes use of Jiffy’s proprietary substrate mix.
Jiffy Preforma creates a bonded plug with excellent plant performance and plug stability. The technology enables seedlings to be transplanted at an earlier stage while also maintaining integrity of the substrate and rootzone.
This prevents plugs from crumbling and allows automated transplanters and robotic systems to handle the plugs with little damage.
Transplanters rely on growing media that can withstand actions of grabbing plugs and moving them to their next home. This is why Local Bounti chose Jiffy as their growing media partner.
Preforma also prevents substrate debris from getting into recirculating water systems so filters and equipment are clean. This is essential for maintaining food safety standards that are required for indoor production.
Preforma is produced in Ohio and our newly opened Oregon facility.
Let’s work together
Jiffy is a leading global supplier of premium growing media and solution thinking. We aim to serve you, our customers in plant propagation and cultivation, to achieve better results with fewer worries. We do this by continually improving, innovating, and working toward our common goals, based on scientific research, teamwork, and decades of experience. Let’s develop sustainable plant growing solutions together: Let’s start today!
