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FarmTech Society

FTS

INTRODUCTION & TYPOLOGY FarmTech Society (FTS) is an international non-profit industry association for the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, which is a practice in the intensification of yields while upholding ecological principles.

Lobbying Activity

Response to A New European Innovation Agenda

10 May 2022

FarmTech Society represents the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), one of the most innovative sectors of the Agri-Tech industry, an internationally fast-evolving emerging circular principal solution that potentially offers significant improvement in the inclusiveness, sustainability, and competitiveness of all food systems. The innovative technology deployed by CEA imitates natural processes and aims to intensify crop yields, while cutting out pests & diseases, reducing climate and supply chain risks and improving nutrition and quality, in line with the EU twin green and digital transition objectives. FTS highlights here crucial insights for the development of a multidimensional sustainability of food systems while upholding ecological and entrepreneurial principles. As the financial community invests reluctantly into the Agri-Tech startup sector, it would be necessary to provide minimal standards of benchmarking and recognizing system comparisons. FTS advocates for an industry wide initiative of public-private effort to develop a database with verified information and claims with clear and concise categories, standards and criteria, which creates transparency and understanding of the business models for the financial communities and regulators. While agriculture remains one of the pillars of the EU policies, current EU regulations have a blind spot in supporting and rewarding innovative solutions, particularly around circular resource efficiency and digital transformation. We believe that commercial viability requires a concerted effort to allow the maturing of innovation into commercially viable systems especially in key economic sectors such as agriculture, and particularly Agri-Tech, regulators need to use market instruments like tax incentives for existing players to adopt innovation and transform into commercially viable systems. For these reasons it is imperative to foster the growth of more and new innovation ecosystems. Global market leaders in CEA technology are the clusters in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, where there is a mature greenhouse sector. Representing a deep agriculture knowledge base, these EU innovation clusters are critical solution providers and need to be supported to attract and maintain an innovative startup ecosystem, that would ensure a future proof continuation and expansion of technology in hybrid integration for a field based agriculture production in rural communities. At the same time, other European regions could develop similar innovation clusters to expand on this EU potential if there are incentives from green infrastructure and support for the transfer of knowledge would be assisted by investments, and the protection of the commercial assets across different countries and markets. Another bottleneck to overtake is represented by the innovation divide: small scale agricultural practice has been slow to adopt technology innovation as the sector today is still barely digitally integrated. CEA is a significant role model for adoption of technology and digital transformation even in small scale farm operations and could serve as a major provider in hybrid agriculture implementation and the knowledge transfer for diverse and hard to reach rural agriculture communities. Digitised training systems contribute not only to the EU’s competitiveness in the global arena, but also promote adoption into new technologies. Socially sustainable and resilient food systems rely on an attractive agriculture sector and the renewal of the workforce basis, since a third of EU farmers will need successors over the next 15 years. The digitalization of agriculture offers exciting work perspectives for new generations and professionals from STEM backgrounds, particularly those with great interests in agri-food careers but shying away from unsustainable practices and hazardous labor conditions.
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Response to Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan

26 Apr 2022

FTS is an industry association representing the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, a fast-evolving emerging solution that potentially offers great improvement for the inclusiveness, sustainability, and competitiveness of all food systems, in line with the EU policy objectives and Green Deal goals. CEA deploys technology that is based on imitating natural processes (i.e. biomimicry) in a way that intensifies crop yield, while cutting out pests & diseases, reducing climate and supply chain risks, intensifying yield, improving nutrition & quality, and upholding ecological - and entrepreneurial principles. CEA helps to address the dilemma of outdated, unsustainable and economically unviable practices by helping growers to extensify their field practice (restoring soils and biodiversity), by integrating intensive agro-ecological CEA methods on small footprints, achieving higher yields with a fraction of the land, typically in “non agricultural” areas, such brownfields or outdated farming economy buildings spaces. Thanks to its biomimicry applications and technologies, CEA allows growers the complete steering of the growing process and managing all agriculture inputs with circular principles. As policy-makers consider the scope of the proposal and its interlinkages with other policies, FTS highlights several key points, which are crucial for the development for a multidimensional sustainability of food systems and achieve a roadmap towards a resilient and sustainable food system : 1. Circular Resource Efficiencies — CEA based food systems preserve and strengthen the circular and much needed principles for nutrition and irrigation recycling. The EU is currently the market leader in CEA technology thanks to the mature greenhouse technology from the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, alongside a deep knowledge base, innovation clusters in seed development and general superb plant growing experience in CEA. This significant knowledge - and technology base not only needs recognition for its transformation potential, but also recognition as a solution provider to a wider agriculture production in rural communities helping to curb pollution of the waterways by excess nutrients while delivering the yields in clean and healthy nutrition and offering exciting new career opportunities to existing and emerging agriculture communities. FTS calls the EU Commission to consider the exceptional relevance of the CEA industry in shaping and bolstering the sustainability, competitiveness and resilience of EU food systems. 2. Digitalization and Career Creation / Generational Renewal — Digitized food systems contribute not only to the EU’s competitiveness in the global arena, but also increases performance with regards to resource efficiency, land and water usage, crop yield and transparency. Socially sustainable and resilient food systems rely on an attractive agriculture sector and the renewal of the workforce basis, since a third of EU farmers will need successors over the next 15 years. The digitalization of agriculture offers exciting (digital based) work perspectives for new generations and professionals from STEM backgrounds, particularly those with great interests in agri-food careers but shying away from rural isolation and strenuous labor conditions. 3. Decarbonization / Climate Adaptation — CEA systems ensure healthy food for all without exacerbating climate change and polluting ecosystems. Hybrid agri-food systems utilizing CEA integrated into field practices can be designed and implemented with circular practices and based on renewable energy and circular waste streams. Implementation of recycled nutrient waste streams is currently a rapidly needed technology that will allow future food production by reducing the fossil fuel induced pollution while increasingly integrating these systems into green infrastructure.
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Response to Review of Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency

19 Nov 2021

FarmTech Society (FTS) supports the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) aligned with the goals of the Green Deal and in response to current climate and energy emergencies. FarmTech Society (FTS) is an international non-profit industry association for the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, which is a practice in intensification of yields while upholding ecological principles. CEA aims to avoid adverse environmental conditions in order to optimize growth and avert threats to yield and product quality. CEA practice and application (for the last 20 years a EU agri-tech domain), has successfully employed digital tools and basic energy efficiency principles to compete with conventional agriculture practice. Energy inputs in vertical farms & greenhouses, especially lighting, heating & cooling have promoted the integration of digital innovation and technology as the economic means to transition into a highly resource efficient and agile sector, while being profitable and growing more with less as a mantra. CEA is a highly interdisciplinary and innovative sector that deploys technology based hybrid solutions, providing intensive agro-ecological food production systems. As CEA is emerging in scale and scope; in comparison to conventional agri-food production, it is growing rapidly and offers unique opportunities, creating careers, boosting local systems and reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture. It encompasses several high-impact growth sectors in renewable and biomass energies, in both rural and (peri-)urban areas, including the following: Integration of other industries into CEA operations towards locally integrated, energy-efficient and circular-economy synergies. CEA has a unique adaptability in reusing waste energy streams to lower the carbon footprint and increase economic efficiency, such as from power plants, data centers, processing and manufacturing productions, all bioeconomic based productions of all types, etc. The resource-efficiency at the core of CEA operations is synonymous with upstream & downstream energy efficiency. As the resource input is tightly controlled in CEA, it avoids resource waste that would then require additional energy to be treated or recycled, while avoiding pollution. This is important in the case of CEA’s very low water use (up to 95% less compared with outdoor field production) that saves substantial amounts of energy in supply and irrigation, as well as downstream wastewater treatment. Lack of sectoral benchmark metrics and overall market data obscure the benefits of the CEA practice continuing to restrain the industry’s potential for transforming food production towards carbon neutrality. CEA also offers economic opportunities for bioeconomic integration, career development, increased digitalization & overall improvement for rural and peri urban agriculture communities. For the revision of the EED, FTS points out several key contribution about the CEA industry’s exceptional relevance to the stated goals of the EED: It is paramount to measure and regulate the relationships between energy efficiency and agriculture, rewarding sustainable hybrid solutions. The current legislation construes agriculture as relevant only in the case of reduction of transports & shipping. As a significant growth sector, CEA grows local for local and broadens the potential of energy efficiency in agriculture by providing transition models in decarbonized sustainable hybrid solutions. FTS recommends setting up EU-level funding and regulatory frameworks for Member States to incentivize the uptake of energy-efficient solutions and CEA practices in agriculture at large, towards decarbonizing the sector. FTS supports the EED’s sector-specific measures, including promoting the provision of finance for energy efficiency investments under the EU Taxonomy, with which CEA is completely aligned.
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Response to Revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001

18 Nov 2021

FarmTech Society (FTS) supports the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive III (REDIII) aligned with the goals of the Green Deal and in response to current energy emergencies. FarmTech Society (FTS) is an international non-profit industry association for the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, which is a practice in intensification of yields while upholding ecological principles. CEA aims to avoid adverse environmental conditions in order to optimise growth and avert threats to yield and product quality. The integration of green energy infrastructures into CEA operations (vertical farms & greenhouses), and the development of appropriate funding and regulatory frameworks to support its growth, are of great concern to FarmTech Society and the industry sector at large. As an industry association representing CEA, the society and its affiliated partner organizations are involved in advancing novel practices and technologies that help transform food production with the adoption and integration of renewable energies into green infrastructures. CEA is a highly interdisciplinary and innovative sector that deploys technology based hybrid solutions, providing intensive agro-ecological food production systems. As CEA is emerging in scale and scope; in comparison to conventional agri-food production, CEA is growing rapidly and offers unique economic and transition opportunities, creating careers, boosting local systems and reducing the environmental footprint significantly for agriculture. It encompasses several high-impact growth sectors in renewable and biomass energie systems, in both rural and (peri-)urban areas, including the following: Integration of CEA operations into renewable energy grids for balancing energy demand in peak times, while providing additional income streams for growers by helping to balance the grid. Integration of CEA operations into circular organic waste & biomass energy facilities. CEA’s can provide significant CO2 uptake in plant growth (measurable) along the decarbonization efforts in agriculture. Lack of sectoral benchmark metrics and overall market data render the benefits of the CEA practice continuing to restrain the industry’s potential for transforming food production towards carbon neutrality. For the revision of the REDIII, FTS highlights several key points about the CEA sector`s exceptional relevance to the stated goals of the energy transition: 1. CEA provides unique and novel solutions for integrating sustainable electricity generation and storage capacity into integrated green infrastructure with food production. This will lead to numerous benefits such as agriculture’s decarbonization, better energy efficiency, career creation, enhanced agriculture’s attractiveness, and innovation in energy systems and digital solutions. 2. CEA also offers highly interesting partnerships with renewable energy parks and grid-operators helping to create new career opportunities for the green infrastructure sites. CEA operations require multiple professional profiles in mechanical, digital and hydraulic fields, alongside marketing, logistics, automation, compliance jobs; a cluster of 1,000 hectares CEA can generate 10,000 careers. 3. FTS supports sustainability certification schemes allowing for monitoring and assessing on-site energy consumption by power sources (e.g. solar, wind, geothermal, biomass). This would highlight and recognize the sector's ability to transition significant food production segments (produce, alternative proteins and fish farming) towards its needed decarbonization endeavors, since it streamlines benchmarking energy consumption and sources against other facilities, promoting energy efficiency and the reduction of GHG emissions. Moreover, it would highlight the CEA industry’s energy performance as it largely operates on renewable energy sources.
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Response to Food waste reduction targets

29 Oct 2021

FTS is an industry association representing the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, a fast-evolving emerging solution that has the potential to greatly improve and diversify the inclusiveness, sustainability, and competitiveness of all food systems, in line with the EU policy objectives (e.g. Green Deal). CEA deploys technology based on imitating natural processes (i.e. biomimicry) in a way that intensifies crop yield, while cutting out waste, pests & diseases, reducing climate risks, improving nutrition & quality, and upholding ecological and entrepreneurial principles. CEA helps to address the dilemma of outdated unsustainable and economically unviable practices by helping growers to regenerate their field practice (restoring soils and biodiversity), with intensive agro-ecological CEA methods on small footprints, achieving higher yields with a fraction of the land, typically in “non agricultural” areas, such brownfields or outdated farming economy buildings spaces. Thanks to its biomimicry applications and technologies, CEA gives growers access to the complete steering of the growing process and managing all resources with circular principles, hence with great potential for food waste reduction. As policy-makers consider the scope and content of the Revision of the Food Waste Directive, FTS highlights several key points of crucial significance food waste reduction constitutive of resilient and sustainable food systems: 1. The reduction of food mileage and intermediaries from farm to fork lowers the risk of food waste throughout logistics chains as well as lengthens produce’s shelf life. Regional food systems, across rural-urban fabrics, connect stakeholders in a way that builds up their social, economic and infrastructural resilience in case of shocks. 2. Promoting primary producers’ on-site food waste reduction echoes with economic and social opportunities of growing more with less. CEA production systems are less prone to food waste due to the reduction in risks normally encountered by field crops in today's climate emergencies. CEA also allows the integration of circular principles in resource management that can be integrated in green infrastructure like renewable energy parks. 3. Developing benchmarking standards on crops across all the types of growing practices will identify the weaknesses and help identify food waste reduction potential and cross-sectoral synergies. The food production sector would mutually benefit from benchmarking the crops to help attract sustainable investment opportunities into weak practices, transforming the supply chain and allowing for enhanced on-site resource-efficiency and food waste reduction by exchange of complementary waste streams among different food production systems (i.e. Bio-Economy Strategy), sparing nutrients from waste. FTS believes that effective and efficient food waste reduction targets span across the entire supply chain, relying on multi stakeholder cooperation and coordination. The CEA industry’s contribution to this ambitious strategy consists in the reduction of on-site food waste as well as an entrepreneurial spirit keen on cross-sectoral rural and urban synergies, while offering career creation opportunities, bioeconomic-driven technological innovations and solutions for climate adaptation, food security and better nutrition. The EU is currently the market leader in CEA technology thanks to the greenhouse technology from the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, alongside a deep knowledge base in seed development, propagation and general plant growing experience in CEA. This significant knowledge and technology center needs, not only recognition for its transformation potential, but also clear engagement as a solution provider to agri-food systems. FTS calls the EU Commission to consider the exceptional relevance of the CEA industry in shaping food-sparing consciousness and infrastructures toward sustainable, competitive and resilient food systems.
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Response to Sustainable food system – setting up an EU framework

26 Oct 2021

FTS is an industry association representing the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, a fast-evolving emerging solution that has the potential to greatly improve and diversify the inclusiveness, sustainability, and competitiveness of all food systems, in line with the EU policy objectives and Green Deal Goals.CEA deploys technology that is based on imitating natural processes (i.e. biomimicry) in a way that intensifies crop yield, while cutting out pests & diseases, reducing climate risks, intensifying yield, improving nutrition & quality, and upholding ecological - and entrepreneurial principles. CEA helps to address the dilemma of outdated unsustainable and economically unviable practices by helping growers to extensify their field practice (restoring soils and biodiversity), with intensive agro-ecological CEA methods on small footprints, achieving higher yields with a fraction of the land, typically in “non agricultural” areas, such brownfields or outdated farming economy buildings spaces. Thanks to its biomimicry applications and technologies, CEA allows growers the complete steering of the growing process and managing all resources with circular principles.As policy-makers consider the scope of the proposal and its interlinkages with other policies, FTS highlights several key points, which are crucial for the development for a multidimensional sustainability of food systems and achieve a roadmap towards a resilient and sustainable food system : 1. Digitalization and Career Creation / Generational Renewal — Digitized food systems contributes not only to the EU’s competitiveness in the global arena, but also increases performance with regards to resource efficiency, land and water usage, crop yield and transparency. Socially sustainable and resilient food systems rely on an attractive agriculture sector and the renewal of the workforce basis, since a third of EU farmers will need successors over the next 15 years. The digitalization of agriculture offers exciting (digital based) work perspectives for new generations and professionals from STEM backgrounds, particularly those with great interests in agri-food careers but shying away from rural isolation and strenuous labor conditions. 2. Decarbonization / Climate Adaptation — Sustainable food systems should ensure healthy food for all without exacerbating climate change and polluting ecosystems. Sustainable agri-food systems should be designed and implemented in such a way as to eradicate this rising threat, and absolutely guarantee food security by means of future-proof sustainable food production systems like CEA. 3.Healthy diets and food quality — Sustainable food systems preserve and strengthen consumers’ health. The Covid-19 Pandemic has shown that public health should not be taken for granted, and that healthy diets and nutritious food are core aspects of it. It is necessary to reclaim the power of food, as most breeds have lost their nutritional quality over time and the offer for consumers does not favor healthy diets. The EU is currently the market leader in CEA technology thanks to the greenhouse technology from the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, alongside a deep knowledge base in seed development, propagation and general superb plant growing experience in CEA. This significant and important knowledge - and technology center not only needs recognition for its transformation potential, but clear engagement as a solution provider to agriculture production in rural communities helping to complement the push for extensifying field production while delivering the yields in clean and healthy nutrition within the agriculture production systems and offering exciting new career opportunities to existing farming communities. FTS calls the EU Commission to consider the exceptional relevance of the CEA industry in shaping and bolstering the sustainability, competitiveness and resilience of EU food systems.
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Response to European Bioeconomy Policy: Stocktaking and future developments

31 Aug 2021

The FarmTech Society supports the implementation of the updated 2018 EU Bio economy Strategy, its five primary goals, and the fourteen actions outlined in its communications. The cultivation of a robust bio economy, and the development of appropriate funding and regulatory frameworks to support its growth, are of great concern to the membership of FarmTech Society and the industry at large. Furthermore, the rise of the bio economy will be a critical factor in reducing the environmental impact of the global sector, and for Europe’s ability to achieve the broader sustainability goals embodied in the European Green Deal. As an industry association representing the sectors of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), Food and Ag-Tech, the members and its affiliated organizations of the FarmTech Society are involved in advancing new novel methods and technologies that will be of significant importance to global adoption of bio-based solutions. While the field of Controlled Environment Agriculture is still small (but emerging in scale and scope) in comparison to conventional food and agriculture production, it is growing rapidly and offers unique opportunities for localizing productivity and reducing the environmental footprint of many bio-based products. CEA is a highly interdisciplinary industry that deploys digital tools and processes, it encompasses several high-impact growth sectors in the bio economy, including the following: -Crop production in technology-enabled, climate-controlled greenhouses and indoor / vertical farms -Cultivation of microbes, microalgae, and beneficial organisms for diverse applications -Farming of protein sources including insects and aquatic life (recirculating / inland aquaculture) A general lack of awareness and understanding into the benefits of the CEA methods continues to restrain the industry’s potential for accelerating the transition to a thriving bio economy. As policy makers consider the implementation of the fourteen concrete actions articulated in the bioconomy action plan, we would like to highlight several areas in which the Controlled Environment Agriculture industry is of exceptional relevance to the stated goals of the bioeonomy strategy: -Ensuring food and nutrition security Fortifying crop production against climate disruption and loss of agricultural land Enhancing nutritional value greater control of variables such as temperature, light, and inputs Localizing production to improve access to nutrient-rich plants and proteins -Managing natural resources sustainably Reduced water usage and improved water quality through the recapture, purification, and recirculation of irrigation water Radically reducing the land usage and soil consumption required for agriculture CEA operations can enable diversified energy grids through attractive electricity load profiles and can compensate for uneven demand and supply distribution -Reducing dependence on non-renewable, unsustainable resources Controlled, bio-secure environments reduce pesticide and synthetic chemical usage Reduced transportation and distribution through decentralized production Accelerated research and development into the microbiome -Limiting and adapting to climate change Separating agricultural production from limited land a water resources supports biodiversity Controlling the growing environment allows for plant and protein cultivation in any climate Electricity usage patterns for CEA operations are highly compatible with micro-grids and diversified energy sources -Strengthening European competitiveness and creating jobs CEA and Agri-Tech are highly interdisciplinary ‘convergence’ industries with STEM profiles Europe already leads the world in CEA infrastructure, creating opportunities for global knowledge transfer and export Technology-driven food and farming sectors are attracting younger generations with attractive career pathways – creating awareness and attraction to the agriculture profession
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Response to Commission Delegated Regulation on taxonomy-alignment of undertakings reporting non-financial information

2 Jun 2021

The FarmTech Society, an international non-profit industry association that unites and supports the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry, seeking to strengthen the sector through the development and implementation of resilient and future-proof methods and technologies for indoor growing. We are reacting to the EU Taxonomy (non-financial statements) supplementing the Regulation (EU) 2020/852, although the draft report does not yet address the agriculture sector. We want to bring attention to the upcoming articulation of the EU Taxonomy with the Climate Delegated Act (adoption 21st April, 2021) that will provide technical screening criteria for the agriculture sector. We believe that identifying significant differences between conventional “intensive” agriculture, “extensive” agro-ecological, organic practices, and the CEA practice is critical to understand the emerging solution provisions that CEA can offer. Not only to better assess each environmental performance potential (including climate mitigation and adaptation), but also to have a better understanding of how to build more resilient, just and sustainable food systems across the continent (and beyond), helping to bridge the gap between the two most recognized practices The CEA practice currently is a niche sector, however, emerging rapidly, providing tangible solutions in agriculture, which represents an invaluable contribution to the EU’s twin transitions. CEA farmers are deemed to play a major role in the EU’s farming and food landscape, in the JRC’s Farmers of the Future Study. Essentially, CEA grows crops in indoor environments with varying degrees of control, optimizing the growing processes, spanning from horizontal greenhouses to vertical farms (see CEA presentation document). This allows for innovative, engineering, and digital solutions applied to food production, towards enhanced stabilized crop yields, resource efficiency, food predictability, and security, creating jobs without using chemical inputs or occupying large-scale landmass. The energy cost can be offset in various ways, like building urban circular synergies (e.g. GROOF Interreg) or embedding CEA clusters in regional renewable energy grids. More precisely: Climate Adaptation - CEA allows for climate adaptation for the food sector, given that growing indoors does remove major risks and climate volatility, as well as seasonality, towards enhanced food security and quality. Climate Mitigation - CEA goes along with de-fossilized food production capacities and supply chains, smart manufacturing regimens, and green infrastructure integration. Additionally, it has the potential to contribute to biodiversity restoration: directly by preserving crops’ genetic biodiversity in an unstable climate and removing land pressure; and indirectly by (1) building urban ecological corridors thanks to greenhouse-based local food production, and by (2) relocating food productions into CEA units with high yields, hence freeing up agricultural land area for soils restoration for increased carbon sequestration potential (e.g. Biodiversity Strategy for 2030), without undermining the EU’s food security objectives (see our Biodiversity Action Plan). CEA’s is providing the conventional agriculture sector with alternatives with significant income improvement, stability, and adoption of digital technology creating added value by growing more with less. We invite you to read our attached documents backing up our claims, on how this biomimicry-inspired solution applied to food production can help identify extensively food systems’ role and contribution to the EU’s objectives, including agriculture-related financial investments.
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Response to Action plan for the development of EU organic production

23 Oct 2020

The Association of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), FarmTech Society welcomes the Commission’s initiatives taken under the European Green Deal to boost organic farming and innovation therein. As the association represents advanced innovative agricultural practices, the growing CEA community would like to have its position recognised as an important piece of the puzzle in making EU farming policy meet the targets the EU has set for itself. The role of organic farming is vital in making the EU’s agriculture more sustainable, but it is not without its well-known challenges. These include decreasing yields, an increase in water use, carbon emissions, and land use. These challenges need to be addressed in the upcoming action plan with the following innovations: Land Use – The CEA community recognises the struggle for land in Europe today, and the potential aggravation thereof when it would come to expanding organic farming. Considering that organic farming is less resource-efficient and boasts less yield per hectare, the total farmland required would need to be increased to meet current demands, instead of the desired reduction to boost biodiversity. In other words: a 25% increase in organic farmland will not represent a 25% increase in output, risking an even larger agricultural footprint and creating more demand for imported food to meet the rising demand. Considering other goals the EU has set itself too, especially the Biodiversity Strategy of 2030, in which 30% of Europe’s land ought to become protected areas, we see this as an exigent issue that needs clarification and transparency. CEA can provide solutions to this dilemma. By moving a portion of food production, such as fruit and vegetables and the propagation of commodities to ‘marginal or industrial land’, Controlled Environment Farming can offer alleviation of the land-competition and offer the equivalent portion of land to be devoted fully to increasing environmentally protected land and increasing biodiversity. CEA also achieves this in an efficient and safe way: increasing yields, creating jobs beyond low-wage labor, and producing a nutritious, uniform product protected from climate and pests. This might not yet be recognised by the policymakers as a valid resilient and sustainable practice (as confirmed by science), but ought to be framed within EU policymaking as a potential solution and novel form of agriculture using vastly fewer resources ranging from water reduction to pesticides and fertiliser, having zero discharge into the environment, while boosting yield and nutrition. Technology – The initiative recognises from the offset the hope to drive investment and innovation in sustainable farming (explicitly not organic). FTS represents the CEA community therein, promoting innovation to maximise both the sustainability and the economic competitiveness of Europe’s farming ,creating jobs and living wages for the future growers - breaking out of the niche and driving innovation and transforming the entire sector with technology, transparency, and scientific evidence. CEA also offers transparency on the improvement of the nutritional quality of the products while vastly reducing resource use, which it can manifest with digital transparency tools and validation data. Transparency – This brings us to the last point: Controlled Environment Farming is transparent farming. The CEA sector is – more than any other farming sector – able to monitor and control the use of all substances and resources per unit of output. A recognition of CEA practices, and a recognition of its role in making the whole farm-to-fork chain more sustainable, can level the playing field for CEA and overall innovation, keeping the knowledge base in important agriculture practice here in the EU. We ask the EU to start recognising the potential for sustainable transformation that CEA could offer, thereby giving vital breathing space in reaching the sustainablility goals of the EU.
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Response to Farm to Fork Strategy

16 Mar 2020

This ambitious target will require an innovative and commercial framework and regulation that stimulates, fosters and unifies under the new CAP. FTS supports this goal through industry-wide participation in the development of a new certificate for good agricultural practice together with GlobalG.A.P., drawing on wide stakeholder interest. This approach focuses on Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) methods that are carbon-neutral or better even positive, and proactive transparent data exchange across the value chain. The objective is to verify the most resource-efficient and climate-resilient products in the marketplace, through benchmarking and by facilitating consumer trust via real-time data access. The call is upon industry stakeholders and policymakers to create a level playing field for solutions that are proven to achieve the goals set by this ambitious project. This must also take into consideration the limits in technology and the potential gap in public support for technology solutions to tackle challenges, such as improving sustainability. Opportunities based solely on technology need careful management and moderation with respect to the various policy instruments. The public, the consumer and growers are asked to participate in comprehensive open discussions, workshops and public hearings with an encouraging feedback mechanism. Being a complex process, mediation and integrative stakeholder outreach by an independent umbrella organization such as FTS will help to effectively realise these goals. The EC roadmap needs to be measured, rated and shaped by engagement with all stakeholders; small and large, experts and specialists, innovators and proven independent academic experts in applied sciences. Carbon neutral practice in agriculture from Farm to Fork is an important development for which solutions are available. Transformation of the sector will be disruptive and these innovations are generally initially too expensive to implement. This requires policy incentives that support the transformation. FTS understands the difficulties of industry-wide adoption across the food production ecosystem and can take a leading role in providing showcases of resource-efficient and climate-resilient systems in CEA. Intensive CEA production will free up significant land parcels for extensive agro-ecology and full restoration of biodiversity while ensuring the production of plant and protein products in climate-neutral or even carbon positive systems. FTS and its network can inform and consult about the latest achievements in science and business. We are asking the EC to allow FTS to actively contribute in the development of the Farm to Fork strategy and roadmap, meeting demands from consumers and citizens, while providing security, safety, nutritional value, and quality of food. CEA production has a proven track record of significant reduction or elimination of synthetic pesticide inputs as well as fertilizer. This will lead to the implementation and testing of novel scientific experiments in applied commercial operations with transformation potential. CEA is currently a leading example of carbon-neutral production. It takes an integrative approach to circular practice - as it has always been a goal of growers to never waste anything - and guarantees current cycles remain closed while protecting the environment. FTS promotes the development of innovation for agriculture in general and specifically in the emerging CEA industry. Farmers and Fishermen run businesses and depend on the economic value of their efforts. Providing a superior quality product, certified and verified by the new GlobalG.A.P. certificate communicating to the end consumer in terms of nutritional quality as well as sustainable production, supports a differentiated positioning in the marketplace with a matching price level.
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Response to EU agricultural policy : Evaluation of its impact on knowledge exchange and advisory activities

19 Jun 2019

The Farm Tech Society (FTS) is a new international non-profit industry association based on existing expert networks, formed in late 2018 that unites and supports the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry, seeking to strengthen the sector through the development and implementation of resilient and future proof methods and technologies for indoor growing. We welcome the evaluation on the impact of the CAP on knowledge exchange and advisory activities and would like to emphasize important contributions by the CEA stakeholders which are not included in the roadmap. In the future, farmers in rural areas need to be informed and instructed about all potential options based on high resource efficient systems and applications. CEA solutions are based on advanced technology with integrative practices utilizing circular economy principles. With a special focus on pesticides and other chemical inputs, FTS regrets that the public consultation does not explicitly mention that it is mandatory for the Member States to inform farmers about “alternatives” to the current practice of using pesticides and other chemical inputs in their field systems. FTS stakeholders and its members can contribute as system advisors, planners, and consultants in workshops and community interviews. FTS will help to collect, develop and inform on advanced technology and systems which would reduce the farmer's dependency on pesticides and chemical inputs. In addition, CEA will substantially improve their water efficiency and overall CO2 output. This will allow farmers to keep control over their own economic success in the form of high yields and intensive outputs without being overregulated and help them improve their environmental footprint. Today a number of improvements can be done with what is currently known as “precision agriculture” to some degree. Unfortunately, this system has limitations on the declared goals achievable. With the emerging new controlled environment agriculture applications, a significant reduction in the use of pesticide, chemical inputs and watershed loads will be successfully applied under the principals of the circular economy. Concerning the three general objectives of the evaluation: “viable food production", “sustainable management of natural resources and climate action” and “balanced territorial development” FTS stakeholders and its members have developed distinct climate resilient, future proofs and resource efficient solutions for farmers in rural areas based on CEA. One of the several focus points going forward is the vocational training with ECVET system under Erasmus +, secondly, FarmTech Society has focused on dissemination activities on the advantages of CEA with policymakers and planners in the form of workshops, conferences, and seminars. Thirdly we engage in cross-sectoral work under the BBI JU partnership with our members and stakeholders, including, livestock farming, forestry, and other biomass relevant systems.
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