USDA To Double CEA Research Center Footprint with New AmplifiedAg Integrated Vertical Farming Research Labs
CHARLESTON, SC, October 12, 2022: AmplifiedAg, an agricultural technology company focused on the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) category, announces the awarding of a new contract by the USDA Agricultural Research Service to supply additional integrated vertical farming research labs to support the agency’s CEA research initiatives. The additional labs effectively double the capacity of the USDA’s CEA Center of Excellence, where the agency is conducting its first project for the indoor agriculture industry.
“We’re extremely proud that the USDA has once again selected AmplifiedAg’s technology to advance and expand its category-defining CEA research,” said Don Taylor, CEO of AmplifiedAg. “This first-of-its-kind scientific research will lead to greater transparency, innovation, and adoption of indoor agriculture technology and indoor-grown produce, while addressing the challenges that impact our global food and agricultural systems.”
To initiate the study, the USDA-ARS first contracted AmplifiedAg in October 2021 to provide fully integrated container farming research labs. This most recent award is the third time in the last 11 months that the agency has selected AmplifiedAg technology to support and scale the center’s mission.
Prior to launching the study, the USDA received letters of confirmation from vertical farming leaders across the country to further validate the necessity of the research project.
The public research will help standardize growing methods for indoor farming operators across the country. Some of the key areas of research include:
- Comprehensive CEA growing applications including hydroponic and vertical farming
- LED Light spectrum impact analysis on plant growth
- Renewable energy
- Nutrient optimization
- Plant pathology
- Plant breeding and selection
- Pollinator experiments
- New automation processes
USDA-ARS has the flexibility to conduct its research and development at scale with AmplifiedAg’s fully integrated farms and multi-tenant SaaS architecture.
- Robust data collection in software application for USDA scientists to analyze, correlate, and share comprehensive research with its global partners
- Resilient, modular growing environments for versatile growing experiments for CEA crop diversity
- Ability to quickly scale research operations at the CEA Center of Excellence and other ARS locations across the country