Punting on planting
Innovative farming model is a ‘game changer’, says CEO
IT is the hanging Garden of Eden that is promising to revolutionise farming and produce production.
And it is nestled in a Burleigh Heads warehouse.
The nine levels of leafy greens, herbs and livestock feed are the brainchild of Stacked Farm, a business led by Conrad Smith and fallen internet tycoon Daniel Tzvetkoff.
The hands-off, machinerun process involves stacking plants on top of each other in the 200sq m facility and using LED lighting 20 hours a day to speed up photosynthesis.
It means produce can be ready for packaging up to 21 days after being planted.
Mr Smith, the CEO, said the revolutionary model used up to 95 per cent less water than conventional farming.
Mr Smith said the business was seeking to commercialise its model, signing on wholesale giants such as Dnata, Crown Resorts and Morco Fresh.
Mr Smith declined to reveal details of its deals with wholesalers but singled out Morco Fresh as being particularly important.
The agreement with Morco, which supplies quickservice retail stores across Australia, starts in January. Mr Smith said it would be the wholesalers who determined what Stacked Farm grew.
“What we have been doing in the past 12 months is trading market data and finding out when stock for particular produce is in short supply and what sort of prices they fetch,” said Mr Smith, the CEO. Mr Tzvetkoff is the chief technology officer.
“So we’ll have the ability to plug some of those holes at certain times of the year where, for example, basil is in real shortage and sells for $50 a kilo. We will be able to grow and reduce that price to a more realistic level.”
Stacked Farm is also testing the growing of strawberries.
Mr Smith calls the growing model “the most socially responsible farm on the planet”.
He said they were able to cut down on waste by recycling water and using other environmentally friendly processes.
“A good crop is not weather dependent and can be grown using up to 95 per cent less water than conventional farming. It eliminates the use of pesticides and other hazardous processes as the growing is fully contained and controlled,” Mr Smith said.
The company has plans to announce the location of its next farm in Queensland in two weeks. This one will be solely for produce and on a larger scale with 16 levels instead of the current nine.
There are also plans to announce a new vertical farm for livestock feed.
Mr Smith said it is talking to large agricultural groups both in NSW and in the Darling Downs.
Mr Smith said his farms complemented traditional agriculture rather than work against it.
“It’s a game-changer for the cattle industry. We have identified that we can grow livestock feed on mass very quickly.
A 1000sq m vertical farm will have enough output to feed hundreds of cattle daily.
“The impact that this could have on farming communities that are suffering through drought is enormous.”
Mr Smith, whose background is in airline catering, said his focus was on the supply chain while Mr Tzvetkoff handled the technology side.
Mr Tzvetkoff founded online payment processing company Intabill and in 2008 was listed as worth $82 million.
His wealth disappeared as his Intabill firm folded in 2009 and he was arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas a year later.
Facing a possible 75-year jail sentence for bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to operate illegal gambling, he turned informant, helping to bring down the poker companies.
He returned to the Gold Coast in 2013.
THE IMPACT THIS COULD HAVE ON FARMING COMMUNITIES THAT ARE SUFFERING THROUGH DROUGHT IS ENORMOUS CONRAD SMITH