Page 28 - Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040 Series

“There’s a lot of optimism with the ability for technology to solve the challenges of
agriculture. In reality, it’s still farming and the most important thing to remember is that
you need to sell the product at a price for more than it cost you to make it,” Albert
advises. “At any scale in agriculture, you must have a strong process and be mindful of how big
the market is and set realistic goals and make realistic assumptions about how you can build a
business in the overall produce market.

Just because it's vertically farmed doesn’t mean all the other vendors aren’t in the market
competing. So, all the marketing hype around vertical farms isn’t going to make the market,
grow the product, or sell the produce. There have already been many failures in this emerging
industry and its frustrating to watch these companies miss the boat when it comes to the core
business, which is still farming.”

The Promise and Pitfalls of Urban Farming

The promise of soil-less indoor Controlled Environment Agriculture has attracted young people
enthused about both high-tech and agriculture to venture into CEA. One ag design, production,
and marketing consultant with broad experience in advising entrepreneurs, investors, cities like
Atlanta, and even countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia about CEA is Henry Gordon-Smith, the
founder and managing director of Agritecture Consulting.

Gordon-Smith is encouraged by his fellow
millennials’ interest in agriculture, hoping it will

solve the problem of the aging U.S. farmer, with

an average age of over 58, too near retirement age

for a vibrant industry. But he cautions eager

beginners that despite the increasing importance of

high-tech precision ag, automation, and data-

driven decision-making to agriculture, these new
tools “won’t allow a non-farmer to run a farm
independent of a true farmer, and I don’t think
we’ll be there by 2040.”

Gordon-Smith also warns that despite vertical
farming’s success in attracting investment as a

Agritecture Consulting Managing Director rapid growth, high-tech play, vertical farming still
Henry Gordon-Smith
faces steep cost hurdles that have caused some
major ventures to fail. “Vertical farming is not the

solution,” he says. “It is part of a toolbox of solutions” that must be sorted through carefully to

pick the combination that’s the right fit for each specific farm venture and each specific market.”

Picking the best new practices is tough, Gordon Smith says, and requires expert coaching. So, he

hopes USDA will offer increasing support for beginning farmers including urban farmers. He
also predicts that “every farm in 2040 will need a clear automation plan.” With labor costs and
availability already major concerns for U.S. agriculture as a whole, he’s advising his clients to
“invest in automation now” and finalize plans for where they need to be with automation within

the next five and 10 years.

26 www.Agri-Pulse.com