80 acres farms has a new strategy to farming. The popular Whole Foods supplier is working on building the first fully automated, indoor, environmentally-controlled farm. The center will be growing greens, like herbs and kale, and will be providing to multiple retailers such as Whole Foods, Food Markets, Jungle Jims, U.S. foods and more.

The farm will be built in three stages. Once completed, it will be 150,000 square feet of a controlled agricultural environment. The farm will be making advancements through its use of renewable energy, very little water, and no pesticides. The controlled environment will be able to grow greens much faster than if it was in a traditional outdoor environment.

You may be asking what will be controlled, as you should. Well, it will be covering ALL factors. From CO2 levels to how much stress each plant gets, to how much water is supplied and taken out for the right level of nutrition and flavor for the greens. The facility will be outfitted with artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors and multiple other tools to monitor the greens 24 hours/day. In addition to all the sensors, it will be outfitted with a vertical farming formation allowing for stacked plants which saves room.

Using a closed-loop hydroponic system, with the vertical farming, the farms will be efficiently recycling water. Its energy-efficient lighting and temperature control will keep grow zones usable all year long. No pesticides will be used, and no bugs will be let in. The hydroponics system will use 95% less water than conventional farming systems. Plants will take what they need and the rest of the water will be recirculated. The reliance on the water system, and the vertical farming, will use up less space while providing much more food per space used.

Currently, it is more of a proof of concept, but 80 acres has even higher plans for their future. One day, we can only hope that all food produced will be from a scientifically perfect indoor farm.