As we enter a brave new world for vegetable production, I believe UK farmers should seriously consider vertical growing. It offers many advantages over growing in fields, not least the ability to control production much more effectively than is possible even within glasshouse systems and the elimination of waste for all the inputs required for growth. In addition to these technical advantages, the development of facilities for vertical growing does not need to be placed within agricultural holdings and hence planning permission can be much simpler to acquire.

In America, vertical growing systems are being developed adjacent to retail outlets and distribution depots, reducing both the time and cost of transportation.

Another significant advantage of vertical growing is that the barrier to entry of access to land is removed, which opens the door for entrepreneurs from outside the traditional farmer/grower sector to become involved. In the UK there is interest building in vertical growing among retailers and building fabricators who would normally construct warehouses.

Until now growers have shown interest but little commitment to such systems of growing, but can they afford to stand on the sidelines for much longer? In my opinion, growers must act, as resource availability for agriculture is set to reduce as the demands of the human population rise, taking precedence over food production and as energy costs rise inexorably. Currently the sole vertical growing installation in the UK is in Devon at Paignton Zoo, but we should be looking at this method of growing much more commercially now.

Capital costs are undoubtedly higher than field growing at the moment, but the ability to take weather out of the equation and to eliminate the wastage of inputs is making this alternative attractive to entrepreneurs. Researchers are refining the technologies needed to maximise growth within a warehouse-type environment, but progress could be a lot faster if the industry were to embrace the technology more quickly. At the moment the crops being grown in such facilities are high-value crops such as salads, spinach, herbs and legumes, but it is technically possible to grow a much wider range of crops, including potatoes.

After the summer we have just experienced I believe that growers should look hard at the feasibility of vertical growing as a realistic alternative to traditional methods for higher-value vegetable crops.

Growers who fail to grasp this opportunity run the risk of seeing the business potential taken by entrepreneurs from outside the sector – surely a scenario we want to avoid.—