6 of the Best Online Resources for Aspiring Indoor Farmers
Indoor farming is a difficult business. For every new indoor farming operation that succeeds, there are many more that fail, as studies like Agrilyst’s 2017 State of Indoor Farming report reveal. So what should aspiring indoor farmers do to increase their chances of ending up in the first category rather than the second?
According to many industry insiders, the most important thing that would-be indoor growers need to realize is that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Far too many indoor farming startups silo themselves off and work in isolation, only to repeat many of the same mistakes that other ventures have made before them. But what if, before launching their ventures, they took the time to explore the wealth of knowledge — from plant science to indoor growing best practices — that has been accumulated by industry players over decades?
To encourage this pursuit of education, more and more established indoor farmers have been making efforts to foster a collaborative environment where critical knowledge and best practices can be shared among old and new operations alike for the overall benefit of the entire industry. As a result of these efforts, new indoor farmers can now take advantage of a host of online resources and platforms that are geared toward helping new growers start their agricultural journey on the right foot. The following are just a few examples of these resources:
Upstart University
Developed by Bright Agrotech and targeting savvy entrepreneurs and novice farmers who want to nourish their communities, Upstart University is an excellent one-stop-shop for comprehensive information about indoor farming.
Content is created and maintained by experienced farmers with firsthand knowledge about every step of the process. Subjects range from systems science and design to legal and regulatory issues. Whether you want to take an online course, access online tools, connect with other growers, or get personalized support and guidance from real-life experts, Upstart University has everything you need to get proactive about planning, starting, and running an indoor farm.
State of the Soil
State of the Soil is an online agricultural conference and education platform designed to help smallholder farmers with the business aspects of their operations. Founder Nick Burton runs a profitable salad subscription business from his small farm, and his central mission is to help other farmers succeed in the market. Together with leading farmers and agricultural experts from around the world, Burton provides insider knowledge on key business subjects like advanced marketing and social media techniques and how to create a “farm-life balance.” Visitors to the State of the Soil website can participate in the annual virtual marketing summit, read the Grower’s Coach Blog, or download the Bootstrap Farmer Podcast.
Vertical Farming Academy — Association for Vertical Farming
A rapidly growing nonprofit organization based in Europe, the Association for Vertical Farming works to foster collaboration in the indoor agriculture industry and bring important market innovators together. The Vertical Farming Academy is the Association’s educational arm, offering an open platform where growers can freely access information and teaching materials about vertical farming and exchange stories and ideas. Established farmers who want to share their knowledge and experience can consider volunteering through the AVF Education project group.
AgTech Innovation Center
Greenhouse growing is the focus of this online education platform, which is backed by some of today’s most experienced greenhouse farmers and companies. Dedicated to enhancing food security solutions, building a more robust workforce, and ensuring better support for industry innovation, the AgTech Innovation Center offers a huge range of digital learning and hands-on training opportunities. Module-based courses available through the Center cover all aspects of production, logistics, leadership, business, and personal career paths, while additional content is sourced from and curated by leading industry experts and institutional academics.
Agritecture Workshops
Launched in 2014, this workshop series is all about bringing people from different disciplines together to create collaborative, innovative visions for urban agriculture and vertical farming. Several one- to two-day workshops take place in different host cities every year. At each workshop, agriculture “dream teams” are created by mixing architects, growers, engineers, marketers, entrepreneurs, designers, and sustainability managers; teams are then tasked with developing a viable “agritecture” concept for the workshop’s host city. The idea behind these workshops is to find new ways to creatively, sustainably, and feasibly integrate agriculture into urban environments. For those who can’t directly participate in the workshops, the online recaps make for fascinating and informative reading.
The Vertical Farming Summit
Even in our digital age, live events like conferences are still one of the best ways to learn and share ideas, but not everyone has the time or resources to attend such events. That’s where the Vertical Farming Summit comes in. This virtual initiative makes the power of a live conference accessible to an online audience.
For a full week, the Vertical Farming Summit streams speaker presentations and panel discussions free of charge. Viewers can learn about topics like business methodologies, crop data, farm marketing, legal considerations, and the impacts of digitization on agriculture from some of the indoor farming industry’s most prominent experts and practitioners.
