2022 SPECIALTY CROP AUTOMATION REPORT
LEAFY GREENS: VERTICAL FARM vs. OPEN-FIELD
To compare outdoor and indoor growing economics, a typical open-field farm with 250 acres dedicated to growing organic romaine hearts in the Salinas Valley, California, is considered. It is assumed that the crop is planted in an 80-inch, six-row configuration. Annual yield is assumed to be 750 cartons/acre where one carton weighs 17 pounds consisting of 12 three-count bags. The entire operation uses 31 gallons/lb of water and 0.14 kWh/lb of electricity to produce 12,375 lb/acre of romaine hearts in a year. Transportation costs have been estimated assuming demand center locations at Chicago and NYC. For the vertical farm, a 69,000 sq. ft cultivation footprint with a total of eight levels is considered. Growing technology employed in the farm is a hydroponic ebb & flow system with coco-noir substrate. The farm uses industry standard LED lighting, with a photosynthetic
photon efficacy (PPE) of 2.6 mmol/j. The farm is expected to produce approximately 426,888 lb/acre per year, consuming four gallons/lb of water and 10.5 kWh/lb of electricity. Transportation costs have been assigned an industry standard assuming the farm is local – within 300 miles – to the urban demand center. Result: Per pound of produce, total landed costs of vertical farm-grown lettuce are 3 times more expensive than open-field lettuce (see Figure 5). Electricity, labor, substrate costs and overhead costs are the main drivers of the cost difference, constituting almost 80% of the total landed costs. Vertical farms perform significantly better than open-field growing in terms of resource utilization, however, with 35 times the annual yield per acre, 90% less water use and 70% less transportation costs per pound of produce. However, they require 75 times more electricity per pound of lettuce grown.
TOTAL LANDED COSTS FOR VERTICALLY GROWN LEAFY GREENS ARE 3 TIMES MORE THAN ORGANIC OPEN-FIELD GROWN LEAFY GREENS
Total landed costs [USD/lb, 2022]
Annual yield [lb/acre]
Open-field 250 acres California
Vertical farm 69,000 sq.ft <300 miles of Chicago/NYC
426,888
35 X
Size of farm Location
12,375
Open-field
Vertical Farm
Total landed costs [USD/lb, 2022]
6.0
Water use [Gal/lb]
0.2 1.0 0.7 4.1
31
-90%
4
3 X
Open-field
Vertical Farm
2.0
0.6 0.1 0.6 0.7
Electricity use [kWh/lb]
10
Open-field
Vertical Farm
75X
Growing costs Overhead costs
Packaging costs Transport Cost
0
Open-field
Vertical Farm
Source: UC Davis costs studies, Agriculture Consulting,Roland Berger Figure 5: Overview of leafy green cost structure – Open-field farming vs vertical farms
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