A floating dairy farm in the Netherlands has changed course again: the project is no longer being sold, its 28 Dutch MRI cows have been moved to nearby farms, and a vertical salad-growing enterprise is now operating in the basement of the structure.
The farm was originally designed to promote sustainable farming at a new scale. It was the idea of Peter and Minke van Wingerden, who invested €4 million in on-site feeding, milking, slurry and dairy-production facilities. It opened in May 2019 in the Port of Rotterdam as a futuristic way to produce food without the traditional tie to land.
The sale plan followed a dispute with the local environmental department, which said a newly fitted floor did not comply with regulations. At that stage, the cows had been removed and were due to be sold, and milk production was to stop. That plan has now been reversed: the farm is not being sold, and the cows are on a few farms about 20 km away.
Peter van Wingerden said milk and other dairy production are continuing and the vertical farm is performing well. According to him, a stainless steel pipeline runs from the quay to the farm, and a regular dairy truck brings milk from the dairy about twice a week, roughly 1,500 litres per batch. The milk supplier is about 20 km away, which he described as a short transport distance.
He said the farm has the lowest emissions possible because of its modern technology and system, but that the rubber floor is German and has no certificate of compliance in the Netherlands. The Floating Farm will also have to leave the port in just over two years, he said, because the entire area is to become residential. Van Wingerden said this was not the vision the project began with, but the operation was coping with the system.
The vertical farm is a fully controlled, automated growing space with three layers and conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology. Four crop types are grown: micro-greens harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks and edible flowers every four to five weeks. The crops are made into tea, pesto, Parmigiano cheese, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey, according to van Wingerden.
The growing room sits below the waterline of the floating structure and is cooled by the water. The farm’s earlier operation produced milk and dairy products for local consumers, who could buy them from vending machines at the site. The concept attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world to see the cows.