The Floating Farm in Rotterdam, a project that combines dairy production with vertical crop growing on a floating structure, is no longer being sold, according to co-founder Peter van Wingerden. The decision is the latest change for a facility opened in May 2019 as an attempt to produce food sustainably without the traditional requirement for land.
The farm had recently been put up for sale after a disagreement with the local environmental department, which said a newly fitted floor did not comply with regulations. Its 28 resident Dutch MRI cows had been taken off the farm and were due to be sold, while milk production was expected to stop. Under the current arrangement, however, the farm is not being sold. The cows have been moved to several farms about 20 km away, and a vertical salad-growing enterprise is located in the basement of the floating structure.
Van Wingerden, who founded the project with Minke van Wingerden, said milk and other dairy production were continuing and that the vertical farm was performing well. Milk is now brought to the farm by a regular dairy truck from a dairy about 20 km away, at about 1,500 litres per batch, twice a week, he said. A stainless steel pipeline runs from the quay to the farm.
The founders originally invested €4 million in the Floating Farm, which includes on-site feeding, milking, slurry and dairy production facilities. Located in the Port of Rotterdam, the farm produced milk and dairy products for local consumers, who could buy them from vending machines at the site. The project attracted hundreds of thousands of curious visitors from around the world to see the cows in action.
Van Wingerden said the farm has the lowest possible emissions because of its modern technology and system, but the rubber floor is German and has no certificate of compliance in the Netherlands. The floor was at the centre of the earlier regulatory dispute.
He said the Floating Farm will have to leave the port in just over two years because the entire area is to become residential. The arrangement is not the vision the founders initially started with, he said, but the operation is coping with the system. The distance from the milk supplier to the farm is just 20 km, giving a short transport time.
The vertical farm is a fully controlled and automated growing space with three layers and conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology. Four types of crops are grown there: micro-greens harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks, and edible flowers every four to five weeks. The products are turned into tea, pesto, Parmigiano cheese, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey, according to van Wingerden.
The vertical unit is located below the waterline of the floating farm, so it is cooled by the water, he said. He added that it was going really well.