The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
The only way is up for new vertical farming enterprise
Using the latest technology, Vertegrow aims to provide a sustainable solution to growing produce which usually has to be imported, cutting down on food miles and lengthy supply chains while improving food security.
Based at Waterside Farm, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, this vertical farming system has been established through Steadman Partners, the private investment office set up by Brewdog co-founder Martin Dickie. It is overseen by CEO Graeme Warren, who is also responsible for the decisions on the 300 acres of conventional arable land at the holding, currently growing mostly spring barley and rye crops.
Graeme explained: “We began looking at ways in which to produce good quality food in Scotland sustainably and economically, specifically targeting produce not normally grown here. Vertegrow focusses on leafy greens, herbs and microherbs, which require a controlled environment.”
The first 10-metre-tall tower was commissioned a couple of months ago, but the journey started about two years ago when the company started operating out of a shipping container. Local restaurants and hotels were excited to put locally grown, freshly harvested salad and herbs on the menu, while wholesale outlets were also established.
Now leafy greens, pea shoots, rocket, micro-kale and a host of herbs such as basil and coriander are grown from seed to harvest. Plant scientist Dr Iain Place and operations manager Rudy Cialucco run the plant from day to day.
The tower is attached to a fairly standard agricultural shed where seeds are sown into germination trays. They spend three to four days in a room at 24 degrees before being thinned out into sixmetre-square trays and stacked in the tower. Graeme explained: “Fullsize basil plants will take three weeks in the towers but micro-herbs just one week. Once we are up to full capacity the tower will produce 200kg of produce per week or ten tonnes per annum.”
The tower was supplied by Intelligent Growth Solutions, the Edinburghbased agritech company responsible for the research and development towers at the James Hutton Institute, and represents an investment of seven figures. The biggest cost is, not surprisingly, electricity, which is currently on a green tariff but Graeme said the firm is looking at ways of generating its own power supply.
The tower is kept at a constant 24 degrees by the LED lights. Rainwater is collected from shed roofs for irrigation, to which tiny amounts of fertiliser is added, and any excess drains away and is returned to the tank. The plants are handled as little as possible and are completely pestand disease-free.
This type of agriculture is not covered by the Basic Payment Scheme so all the capital expenditure has been privately funded barring a £10,000 local grant. Earlier this month however, Vertegrow secured just over £32,000 from the Scottish Government’s Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation grant scheme to improve speed and efficiency of the process.
This money will be targeted towards the harvesting end of the process, which is timeconsuming and labourintensive. Currently everything is cut and packed by hand, but Graeme said they would use the grant to invest in a salad bagging line and better scales so they can more accurately measure produce and improve speed and efficiency.
This new technology has been well-received by local chefs and also the public who have shown a lot of interest when they have had the chance to buy produce from Aberdeenshire farmers’ markets.
Plans for the future are to not only expand the facility at Waterside, but also to create Vertegrow sites across Scotland providing locally grown, quality produce. They are also in talks with some retailers and the ambition is to have Scottish-grown leaves and herbs available for everyone to buy in supermarkets.