Grōv Technologies today announced its newest innovation in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) – the Olympus Tower Farm. Combining science and patented technology, Olympus is an automated indoor growing system for commercial-scale production of fresh animal feed, helping dairy and beef producers become more sustainable and economically viable.
Sustainable and Economically Viable
Grōv's team of botanists, animal nutritionists and engineers have spent years developing science and technology-based growing protocols for Olympus that produces unmatched high-density nutrient (HDN) feed and in trials has shown to provide health benefits for the animals and improved feed-to-yield efficiency. These protocols are formulated by combining thousands of operational and environmental data points from micro-sensors in the tower with daily laboratory analysis of each harvest to ensure the best HDN feed possible.
Taking up only 857 square feet of space, just one Olympus Tower can produce from 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of sprouted wheat/barley grass per day using less than 5 percent of the water and replacing between 35 to 50 acres compared to traditional farming. Olympus requires minimal labor by leveraging proprietary, robotic seed-to-harvest technology. Plant growth is constantly analyzed with data collected from integrated tower sensors and testing performed by Grōv's scientists to adjust and optimize tower performance, yield and nutrition.
Grōv Technologies enters the $90 billion global market for dairy and beef cattle feed at a time when the industry is at an inflection point. Indoor vertical farming technology has emerged as a viable solution to help farmers address the challenges of rising feed and labor costs, supply-chain disruptions, water shortages and green-house-gas emissions.
"Increased consumer demand for traceable, local food and the agricultural risks associated with climate change have made it essential for farmers to adopt sustainable technologies," said Steve Lindsley, president of Grōv Technologies. "We believe Olympus holds the promise to help operators meet the challenges they face today. Implementing Grōv technology and science has proven to grow a more nutritious feed and sustainably produced foods, while improving long-term economic viability for farmers."
Olympus in action
As part of its pilot program, Grōv partnered with Utah's largest dairy operation, Bateman Mosida Farms, to implement Olympus Towers and build the world's first commercial scale CEA feed center. Controlled studies of more than 600 animals, that began in 2019 on the Bateman dairy, found that cows fed a ration including Grōv's HDN sprouted wheatgrass more efficiently produced milk on less feed, thus improving the farm's bottom line. Additionally, these independent trials showed that Grōv's feed product also improved meat quality in beef cattle.
"The results we've seen using the feed from Olympus are exciting. It's evident that including Grōv HDN in the cow's diet improves feed production efficiency," said Brad Bateman, owner/partner of Bateman Mosida Farms. "We pride ourselves on our commitment to sustainability and ensuring the best product possible for our customers. Olympus has put us on the path to more efficiently feed our animals year-round and ensure the next generation of Batemans have a sustainable and profitable future."
Due to the success of this collaboration, Bateman has committed to feed up to 5,000 animals in 2021 using the Grōv feed system.
For more information:
Grōv Technologies
www.grovtech.com