If you’re considering making the jump into vertical farming, or you just find the technology fascinating, you probably already know a thing or two about it. You likely know that vertical farming is a method of agriculture that allows farmers to stack plants in trays or towers, allowing for a huge amount of produce to be grown in a tiny footprint, ideal for urban areas. But there’s probably a lot you don’t know, too. 

We’ve curated some fascinating online resources about the ways vertical farming is currently being used, as well as future technologies that are revolutionizing the practice. Keep reading to learn all you ever wanted to know about this fascinating farming method that’s taking the world by storm!

1. Vertical Farming Funding Opportunities 

If you’re looking for a quick article about why the USDA is excited about vertical farming, Vertical Farming for the Future is your best bet. This one also includes info about funding opportunities for those looking to get into vertical farming themselves.

2. Sustainability & Vertical Farming

The Discovery Channel write that Vertical Farming Is Raising Agriculture’s Potential and Lowering its Environmental Impact with an easy to understand, scientific approach to the topic.

3. The Future of the Food Supply Chain

One of the biggest challenges of traditional farming has to do with supply chain and transporting perishable goods across the country or around the world. Forbes explains how Vertical Farming Transforms The Farm-to-Fork Supply Chain with an article focusing on logistics and supply chain management.  

4. Global Hunger & Food Affordability

The Stanford Social Innovation Review is a great publication that covers the convergence of technology and social causes. Their article, Feeding the Future of Agriculture with Vertical Farming, makes the case for vertical farming as the solution to global hunger and rising food costs. 

5. Food Insecurity & Vertical Farming

Food Navigator is a great source for information related to the food and beverage industry. They describe the ways this technology could keep agriculture sustainable and make nutritious food accessible to food-insecure families with their article, Vertical farming: A sustainable solution to food insecurity?

6. What Can Be Grown with Vertical Farming 

Across the pond in Europe, Sifted reports on startups and new business concepts. They explore the trend in Can vertical farming grow beyond herbs and leaves?, and explore the positives, negatives, and future possibilities of vertical farms.

7. Hydroponic R&D

In Britain, The Guardian explored hydroponic vertical farming in their article, entitled 'This is the farming of the future': the rise of hydroponic food labs. They’ll give you all the details on an underground farm in Liverpool. 

8. Vertical Farming in the UAE

The Economist’s Science and Technology section explores the ways in which Dubai and other desert countries are bringing food production home. Vertical farms on the rise: How do you grow salad in Dubai? Indoors is a quick look at how a vertical farm planned to feed visitors at the Dubai Expo 2020.  

If you’re looking for something a bit more technical, there are plenty of scholarly articles being published on the topic too:

9. Vertical Farming & Wheat

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America recently studied Wheat yield potential in controlled-environment vertical farms. The study shows how wheat, one of the most important crops on the planet, could be grown far more efficiently and effectively in such a setting. 

10. The Future of Vertical Farming

One Earth, from ScienceDirect explored the topic of Vertical Farming and Cultured Meat: Immature Technologies for Urgent Problems. Their findings? These technologies “have the potential to contribute to the reduction of negative environmental impacts of agriculture and improve global food security”. 

11. The Benefits of Urban Agriculture

On the social side of things, Australian Social Work journal published a paper entitled Vertical Farming: Social Work and Sustainable Urban Agriculture in an Age of Global Food Crises, from the School of Social Work in Wichita State University. The article explores how sustainable urban agriculture can impact global food crises and help solve chronic food security problems.

12. The Economics of Vertical Farming

In Germany, Macrothink Institute’s Journal of Agricultural Studies gets deep into the numbers with their article, Up, Up and Away! The Economics of Vertical Farming. If you’ve wondered about the costs and benefits of running a vertical farm, this one's for you. 

Happy Reading!