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Re:The rise of the robot farmer by nradov on Monday October 22, 2018 @02:59PM (#18277288)
Vertical farming is a pipe dream for everything but specialized high-margin produce. There's just not enough space to grow staple crops in coastal cities. Those volume crops will always be grown in large open areas and then hauled in to population centers. And no, improvements in solar cell efficiency or whatever won't change that equation.
Re:The rise of the robot farmer by neuromantik8086 on Monday October 22, 2018 @09:09PM (#18280003)
> in coastal cities

I've never heard this being proposed- most vertical farming startups with any true prospects tend to be just outside the cities, but substantially closer than other farms. The chief advantage in vertical farming has nothing to do with actually farming within a city and everything to do with shortening supply lines. Likewise, I've never seen any company propose that they could completely replace conventional farms, but it's worth noting that every crop that can be grown with vertical farms allows another crop to be grown on arable land.

Re:The rise of the robot farmer by nradov on Monday October 22, 2018 @10:39PM (#18280344)
Shortening supply lines is a rather silly goal. It doesn't really save anything.
Re:The rise of the robot farmer by jelliclesfarm on Monday October 22, 2018 @10:48PM (#18280377)
It brings fresher produce. I guess I don’t understand your comment.

Short supply chain: If I harvest in the morning and drop produce off in the afternoon to a restaurant or sell at a farmers market.

Regular supply chain: especially with large corporate farms. Harvested and hydrocooled(in case of greens) within 90 mts. Transported to cooler. Goes to packer and wholesaler. Distributor and broker and then onto shelf space at supermarket. It’s alreadr 3-4 days old. Expensive with fossil fuel based storage. Being transported. Could go into trash as food waste if it isn’t in pristine condition. These are the costs of longer supply chain.

With tomatoes etc that can bruise when ripe, they are picked unripe and then given the ethylene treatment for ripening.its several days old and needs a lot of $$. And energy wasted.

Why would you say short supply chains don’t save anything.

Re:The rise of the robot farmer by neuromantik8086 on Tuesday October 23, 2018 @12:58PM (#18285154)
> It doesn't really save anything.

It doesn't save time? Oil? I don't understand your reasoning here.

Re:The rise of the robot farmer by nradov on Tuesday October 23, 2018 @02:10PM (#18285866)
It doesn't save a significant amount of time or oil. Not enough to count anyway.
Re:The rise of the robot farmer by jelliclesfarm on Monday October 22, 2018 @10:12PM (#18280252)
Indoor soilless farming has possibilities. Higher productivity through benign GMOs is possible. Also I like GMOs grown inside controlled indoor environment ..esp transgenic so they don’t go rogue or feral with the natural habitat and wilderness. There are uses for vertical farming. We need that too.
Re:The rise of the robot farmer by nradov on Monday October 22, 2018 @10:43PM (#18280356)
We don't need vertical farming. We already produce way more food than we need. Up to 40% is just wasted.
Re:The rise of the robot farmer by jelliclesfarm on Monday October 22, 2018 @11:20PM (#18280483)
We import a lot. Vertical farming will grow local food and provide food security. I think it’s valuable in any urban food system.