Vertical Farms Tried to Compete with Open Field Farming. It Isn't Going Well

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/business/vertical-farms-tried-to-compete-with-open-field-farming-it-isnt-going-well.html

by mistersquid • 4 months ago

4 4 4 months ago

nytimes.com

bluGill2• 4 months ago

I predicted this years ago. Land is cheaper than structures. Light is a limit to plant growth and angles don't work better for vertical and even if it is you shade something else.

it might work for expensive fresh produce if you can reduce harvest to table time to hours but that only applies to a few foods that greenhouses already grow

mgav2• 4 months ago

Given that they're far more water-efficient, they may have a bright future down the road, as solar tech, battery tech, and climate change all advance.

bluGill2• 4 months ago

There is a lot of water. While rainfall patterns may change, it won't go away.

mgav2• 4 months ago

“…Nona Yehia readily admits that her company, Vertical Harvest, which she helped start in 2010, made plenty of mistakes, like how to manage airflow and humidity. But the reason Vertical Harvest is still around is the scale of those mistakes.

“My colleagues and competitors made big mistakes with big money and big farms,” she said. “We made small mistakes with small money and small farms.”

She said the first wave of vertical farms had approached business as if they were huge, established food companies, and not start-ups. Their business plan was “large-scale, commodity lettuce sold into retail at thin margins,” she wrote in an email, a difficult proposition against established competition…”

Vertical Farms Tried to Compete with Open Field Farming. It Isn't Going Well

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