Iron Ox Hydroponic Farm Run Entirely by Robots
Iron Ox has built a fully autonomous hydroponic indoor farm
in San Carlos, CA, that relies on two robots to plant, tend,
and harvest produce. One of the robots weighs 1,000 pounds
and is nearly the size of a car. It picks up trays of produce and
transports them around the greenhouse. A second machine,
a robotic arm, is responsible for all the fine manipulation jobs,
like seeding and transplanting. Iron Ox CEO Brandon Alexander
says his company can do the equivalent of 30 acres of outdoor
farming on a single acre in the hydroponic farm. The Iron Ox
robots also use machine learning and AI to detect pests and
diseases. They can remove infected plants before the problem
spreads. “It’s not just that the robots can move plants around …
it’s also that they can help you avoid ever having a plant go bad,”
co-founder and CTO Jon Binney explained.
— cnbc.com
Arizona Launches New Leafy Greens Protocol
to Combat E. Coli
Following a deadly E. Coli outbreak in April, an Arizona leafy
greens association has launched a new set of food safety
requirements for leafy greens growers in the state. The new
protocol for members of the Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing
Agreement went into effect in September and include daily
equipment cleaning, mandatory traceability measures, and
a 1,200-ft minimum buffer zone between
growing fields and feed lots with 1,000 or
more animals (the old buffer was only
400 feet). “Arizona farms take these
food safety practices very seriously
and are committed to doing everything
possible to prevent future outbreaks,” said
Arizona LGMA Food Safety Committee
Administrator Teressa Lopez. In early
April this year, outbreak investigators
pinpointed romaine from the Yuma,
AZ, growing area as a common
denominator for victims in the
E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. At
least 210 people in 36 states
were confirmed infected,
with at least 96 requiring
hospitalization.
Five people died.
— foodsafetynews.com
Maximum Yield
25