Big Grower July 2022 - 10

COVER STORY
An automated system packs gutters with peat media and plants them with
lettuce seeds.
Fluence's VYPR series of lighting. Cooling
fans keep the temperatures homogeneous
and help avoiding tip burn on the leaves,
by ensuring the plants continue to
transpire and uptake nutrients.
Both the seeding and harvesting
facilities run parallel to the sides of the
new greenhouse, so upon entering and
leaving the greenhouse, the gutters are
robotically turned 90 degrees - like a
hand on a clock - to line up with the
seeding and harvesting facilities.
At the harvesting line, the heads of
lettuce are chopped off as the gutter
moves through the processing machine.
The lettuce stumps, with peat, go to a
local farmer who feeds them to pigs.
The leafy greens are carried into the
cooled packhouse by a food-safe cloth belt
that weighs the harvest.
" Usually every week, we download
the data, " Serage says. " That's how we
test varieties. "
For best results, Revolution Farms has
also collaborated with top seed-breeding
companies, with representatives from
Enza Zaden and Nunhems, a seed brand
of BASF.
THE PRODUCT
The different production lines allow a
variety of branded products. Revolution
Farms sells cut, whole leaf and whole head
lettuce varieties, as well as the cut lettuce
for ready-to-eat salad kits.
Revolution Farms packages the greens
in eight different SKUs. Meijer customers
can find Revolution Farms branded
Like a hand on a clock, the gutters are robotically swung 90 degrees entering
and exiting conveyor belt systems.
with seedlings that are hand-seeded and
propagated on a bench. The roots reach
down into the water to gather the nutrientrich
water. On a morning in June, much
of the greenhouse was drained for a deep
cleaning that's conducted every two years -
a necessary delay.
" It's a rip-the-Band-Aid-off, get-it-done
solution, " Hartwig says of the cleaning.
The newer section is a more highly
automated mobile gutter system
(MGS) planted with a vacuum-assisted
seeding machine from Finland's Green
Automation. The automated planter packs
10 JULY 2022
peat growing media (from BFG Canada)
into the gutters before seeding each gutter
with 110 seeds - the system can handle
either raw or pelletized seeds.
" It's so versatile, " Serage says. " Once the
gutter leaves, it has a destination ... We can
track them all the way through. "
The gutters are moved in and out of the
new greenhouse by conveyor belt. Each
gutter has a number and the climate
controlled data from the greenhouse is
pulled regularly. Plants in the gutters are fed
using nutrient film techniques (NFT). Both
greenhouses are lit with LEDs that include
products on shelves under three new,
whole-leaf lettuce varieties - Revolution
Farms Lettuce Boats, Revolution Farms
Whole Leaf Romaine, and Revolution
Farms Sweet Crisp Deli Leaf. Whole head
items - Revolution Farms Whole Head
Living Bibb and Revolution Farms Whole
Head Living Sweet Crisp - are also
available at all Meijer stores.
" Supporting local farms and carrying
the freshest, most nutritious ingredients
is important to us and to our customers, "
Meijer produce buyer Sarah Jennings said
in a news release. " As a Michigan, family
company, we are committed to being good
stewards of our community by not only
constantly enhancing our own sustainable
practices, but also by using our shelves as
a platform to promote brands that share
our passion. "
Startup, controlled-environmentagriculture
operations like Revolution
Big Grower July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Grower July 2022
