(US and Canada) Natalia Connolly, Vice President of Data Science at Infinite Acres, speaks with Mark Johnson, Regional VP at Fusion Alliance and Editorial Board Chair, CDO Magazine, about distinctive features of vertical farmers, the role of data science and AI in vertical farming, analytical insights on crop success, and the importance of data and classification of produce.

Connolly states that vertical farming formalizes knowledge in the form of predictive modeling. She affirms that the role of the farm and understanding of crops remain pivotal, with an additional layer of technology that directs the farmers to achieve outstanding results. Considering the nature of farming, these farms can be built anywhere.  She mentions a vertical farm of Infinite Acres that was an abandoned building before being converted into a successful tomato farm.

Connolly then highlights the role data science plays in vertical farming. She states that massive data sets on effective environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, CO2 intake, fertilizer content, and lighting are collected by sensors. With these data sets, machine learning models are trained to understand patterns, and then the predictive models help in understanding the quality of the harvest. 

Next, she states that AI is critical to food safety. The plants grow in a controlled environment, monitored by the sophisticated remote monitoring system and AI algorithms. This reduces human intervention in food production, which stops pathogens from entering the grow zones, ensuring a healthier environment. Moreover, if there should be a pest outbreak, it would be controlled immediately by isolating the outbreak with the help of sensory images from growing zones. She further clarifies that although it is a climate-controlled space, the insect dimension required in the growth process is considered. She mentions having bees in the tomato farms because they are best at pollinating.

Highlighting the advantages of vertical farming, Connolly notes that the quality of harvest remains consistent. With tightly controlled inputs, the outputs are better as well. She then addresses the concept of a constant data loop and how critical it is to vertical farming. She states that Infinite Acres is a big data environment where constant data concerning the environment, nutrients, lighting conditions, etc., is collected. The data is then used as a stream to screen anomalies as well as to develop predictive models for harvest. 

In conclusion, Connolly classifies Infinite Acres’ produce as completely organic because they are free of pesticides, the food is grown naturally, and they are also Kosher certified.