Siemens and 80 Acres Collaborate to Scale Vertical Farming

• Siemens technology and capital is aiding 80 Acres Farms and its technology subsidiary, Infinite Acres, in expansion to meet global food supply demands
• Siemens hardware and software solutions provide key technologies for 80 Acres' farm facilities and operations via Infinite Acres' Loop platform

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Siemens is announcing its collaboration with 80 Acres Farms, a leader in the indoor farming industry. With five production farms in southwestern Ohio, a new farm in Florence, Kentucky, a future farm in Covington, Georgia, and R&D facilities in Arkansas and the Netherlands, 80 Acres Farms specializes in growing the next generation of food — food grown in eco-friendly indoor farms closer to consumers' tables. Anchored by Siemens Financial Services' initial investment, the two entities have partnered to apply innovative technology within the agriculture industry — fostering sustainable, healthy, traceable, and more productive farming practices. Utilizing Siemens' robust set of software and hardware solutions, spanning intelligent facility and energy management systems to advanced industrial automation technology, 80 Acres Farms is well positioned to meet its goal to optimize and standardize its operations — with the vision to support food security worldwide.

"We sometimes hear that food is medicine. Vertical farming is an opportunity to turn this concept into a reality, and 80 Acres Farms' use of technology is now modeling the path forward for this transformative approach to food production," said Siemens USA President and CEO Barbara Humpton. "In this moment of change and disruption – and in a world becoming increasingly 'glocal' – what I see at 80 Acres Farms represents both the purpose and the power of the industrial technologies now readily available to us: the capability to invent anywhere, then to scale our world-changing solutions everywhere."   

Siemens' full-scale collaboration involves the optimization, automation and control of 80 Acres' farming facilities and processes. Working with the company's technology subsidiary, Infinite Acres, Siemens supports the industrialization and scaling of the company's proprietary Loop platform – a comprehensive solution that encompasses crop management software and algorithms, environmental controls, robotics, and automation.

"Infinite Acres has built the Loop platform through collaboration with best-in-class technology partners such as Priva, Ocado, and Signify. Our new partnership with Siemens takes our collaboration and technology platform to a new level through the 360° approach across software and connected hardware solutions — from digital twins to advanced controls," says Tisha Livingston, co-founder of 80 Acres Farms and CEO of Infinite Acres.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure is providing power distribution equipment while its energy and building management technologies within the facilities help monitor fire and life safety, security and power distribution systems all from a single interface. Siemens Digital Industries will install a suite of advanced industrial automation technologies and edge devices to help automate the production line, while edge devices and human-machine interfaces monitor and update the farms' control systems. Taking a deeper look into the growth processes, Siemens Digital Industries Software is currently developing a digital twin that simulates the farm, plant growth and the production process to predict plant growth under diverse conditions as well as to optimize future farms for growth and shipping.

"In just seven years, we have scaled from a single R&D facility to a high-tech modular system that we can deploy across the world," says Mike Zelkind, co-founder and CEO of 80 Acres Farms. "Standardizing our technology and infrastructure enables our industry-leading technology to scale worldwide rapidly and effectively. By building a network of committed global partners like Siemens, we can feed tens of millions more people in a matter of years."

Looking towards the future, Siemens' R&D arm, Siemens Technology, is leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop an app that optimizes software to identify irregularities, avoiding adverse conditions within the plants.

For further information on controlled environment agriculture, please see this link.  

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Siemens Corporation is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains, and smarter buildings and grids, to cleaner and more comfortable transportation as well as advanced healthcare, the company creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers its customers to transform their industries and markets, helping them to transform the everyday for billions of people. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a globally leading medical technology provider shaping the future of healthcare. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power. In fiscal 2022, which ended on September 30, 2022, Siemens Group USA generated revenue of $18.6 billion and employs approximately 45,000 people serving customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

80 Acres Farms, a vertical farming leader, operates eight indoor farms built with world-class technology and analytics by the Company's tech-focused subsidiary, Infinite Acres. The Company grows a variety of pesticide-free fresh foods that last longer in consumers' homes and exceed the highest standards in food safety. Its salad blends, microgreens, herbs, tomatoes, and cucumbers are available from retailers including Kroger, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, Jungle Jim's Markets, and Dorothy Lane Market, as well as foodservice distributors including Sysco and US Foods.

SOURCE Siemens USA