Taking a fresh approach
AN INNOVATIVE farming couple have invested their faith and funds into a hi-tech hydroponic production business in their quest to achieve sustainable farming.
Grace Ruberto and Danny Monteleone grow leafy green vegetables and herbs in a state-of-the-art greenhouse at Hanwood near Griffith, in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, for eastern states customers.
The couple manage their products from seed to harvest and beyond in a value-adding processing plant.
They do their own marketing online and employ, on average, 17 harvest staff during the year as well as a greenhouse manager.
Grace and Danny, both in their late 20s, established Fresh Technique in 2015.
For the parents of three-year-old Victoria it was the realisation of a shared dream to continue their families’ farming tradition.
“We started in 2014 with 100 plants. Today we grow 210,000 plants,” Danny said.
The greenhouse, with a retractable roof, is stage one of the young company’s evolving development.
Production is set to double, with a second greenhouse planned.
The family-owned company is located on Danny’s 20ha family farm, where his parents, Vincenzo and Sandra Monteleone, have grown wine grapes for more than 30 years.
“We chose hydroponic growing because it is sustainable,” Danny said.
“The element of risk is taken out from Mother Nature.
“We built everything from scratch.
“We cleared 1ha of wine grapes to make room for the 1200sq m greenhouse. It was made in Canada and arrived on site in six containers.”
Considerable research preceded the hydroponic investment. Grace and Danny talked to agronomists, consultants and hydroponic growers among others.
They joined Protected Cropping Australia, the industry body representing commercial hydroponic and greenhouse growers, attended trade fairs and got involved in social networking with like-minded farmers.
“Those we talked to were very supportive,” Grace said.
They said the industry is competitive, but only at the sales end.
There is support for new chums and growers trialling new plant varieties.
A big plus for Grace and Danny is the enterprise’s minimal water use. Their supply comes from the farm bore and is delivered to the plants by 13 pumps.
“We only use 20–30 megalitres a year. All the water is re-used. There is no evaporation; there is no water lost. All water is contained on site,” Danny said.
“We are saving on fertiliser, carbon emissions and water.”
In keeping with their clean, green growing practices, the couple have embraced solar power. 90 per cent of the power generated by the sun is used to grow the plants.
A back-up generator keeps the greenhouse functioning during electricity outages. The couple plan to install batteries when they become “more advanced and affordable”.
The plants are grown in what is known in the industry as a moving gully “nutrient film technique” system invented in China in the 1920s.
The NFT system involves recirculating a very shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients for plant growth past the bare roots of plants in a watertight gully.
The hi-tech operation has removed many of the manual tasks of conventional vegetable farming.
“We do everything online, whether it is on the computer or a smartphone,” Danny said.
“The program was designed by a New Zealand company and we just log on to their computer, which is connected to ours.”
While Grace and Danny don’t get their hands dirty, they are on their feet for much of the day, monitoring the plants and their growth rates, programming greenhouse functions and checking all is running smoothly.
“We work an eight-day week,” Grace quipped.
“Our aim is to deliver unprecedented results in freshness and productivity, setting a benchmark for quality.”
Every stage of the plants’ production and processing is under constant surveillance.
Harvest is a daily occurrence and done by hand, with the help of an automated system which conveys the plants to the cool room for processing and dispatch the same day.
Delivery of the product to the consumer in a variety of forms is guaranteed in less than 48 hours from harvest, in line with the proprietors’ proud boast of “it’s as fresh as it gets”.
An average of 45,000 plants are produced each week. The range includes leafy green salad varieties, organic kale, wombok, green and purple tatsoi, baby chard and mizuna.
Most of the product is sold to supermarkets and restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, delivered within 13.5 hours, 12.5 hours and 22.5 hours respectively from harvest.
It is then loaded on to trucks and sent to customers from the buyers’ delivery centres.
There is local trade as well, with some of the leafy greens finding their way to Griffith restaurants.
The greenhouse is in operation year round with no downtime.
Every week, after the plants are harvested, the gaps are filled with new seedlings, propagated in vermiculite.
Danny said the retractable roof enabled the plants to be exposed to the natural elements of sunshine and light, enhancing the growing process.
Some plants are sourced from surrounding farms, which together with products raised on site provides Fresh Technique with the opportunity to offer customers whole-head varieties, pre-packs and bulk blends.
For Grace and Danny it is all about “growing more for less” – less water, less land, less intervention – in keeping with their aim to leave as small a footprint as possible on the environment.
They keep well abreast of market and industry trends so they can proactively plan to meet their consumers’ needs.
The couples’ fresh technique has sparked interest in agricultural circles with Department of Primary Industries representatives among visitors to the greenhouse.
School parties and other interested groups have enjoyed tours as well.
Firm believers that hydroponic farming is the way of the future, Grace and Danny are happy to promote their “fresher, cleaner, greener” image.
They said hydroponic production promoted superior quality and achieved consistently higher yields than conventional farming in a comparable growing space.
Exploring export possibilities is on the radar for the future.
Right now though, their focus is on the impending arrival of a new family member to join Victoria in May or thereabouts.
❝ We do everything online, whether it is on the computer or a smartphone. — Danny Monteleone