Through the Overbeck family's donation of two large shipping containers, students at the Purdue Student Farm are learning agricultural and horticultural practices. The Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility now provides valuable hands-on learning experiences and paves the way for new research opportunities.
"The mission of the farm has grown tremendously in recent years, and we are literally bursting at the seams with all the great work happening here. The Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility is poised to take the Farm to even greater heights and is quickly becoming integral to everything the Student Farm does." says Linda Prokopy, department head and professor of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.
For the mission
The change of seasons is in the air, which means the end of many traditional gardening and growing efforts in the Midwest. However, with controlled environment agriculture (CEA), lettuce and other greens are being grown at the Purdue Student Farm managed by the Department of Horticultural and Landscape Architecture,
This spring, two shipping containers designed to be vertical farms were delivered to Purdue University to offer students, staff, faculty, and the community to learn and experiment with new horticulture and agricultural practices.
The student farm is all about offering our students experiences in many angles to production. So, the Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility project was a great fit. We are excited to educate our students how to operate a container farm. With many students excited by new technology, we have seen great interest in these container farms and the learning opportunities they can provide." adds Petrus Langenhoven, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and director of the Purdue Student Farm.
For the students
Brittany Weerts, hydroponic research operations administrator, manages the students at the Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility and is proud of the "A to Z" growing experience that container gardening provides for them. Students monitor the health of the farm and the container, check fertilizer levels, read sensors, clean and complete production tasks.
"We have found that students are really into new technology in farming. There is a large component of computer work within our container farm because you manage everything through the computer. I think there are a lot of possibilities, even from the agricultural and biological engineering side. It is exciting to see the students take ownership and learn." explains Brittany Weerts, research hydroponic research operations administrator, Purdue Student Farm.
Isaac Damer, a junior in horticulture with a concentration in plant science, took his lifelong dream to grow plants in space and jumped at the opportunity for some hands-on learning in this new growing environment.
"During my time at Purdue, I have enjoyed learning about various soilless hydroponic systems, listening to professors talk about their NASA-backed projects, and furthering my knowledge in the area. When I heard about the container farms being donated to the student farm, I knew I had to join the team. Getting the chance to work in a state-of-the-art indoor plant production facility is an opportunity that I could not pass up. This opportunity is allowing me to see similar technologies to the ones used in the production of plants in space right here on Purdue's campus, all while producing fresh produce for the local West Lafayette community." says Issac Damer, Purdue Student.
For the community
The two containers are designed to grow vegetables and herbs on vertical, suspended, moving walls using a technology system and specialized lights. This technology continues to evolve. Currently, the containers have plantings that consist primarily of lettuce and greens. While production is still ramping up, the end goal would be to produce around 250 heads of lettuce each week per container. This would provide lettuce for the Purdue Student Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes and other connections around campus.
Produce from the Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility is currently being served on campus by Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) students in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Chief instructor and department chef Dawn Sieber is excited to have HTM students working with the Purdue Student Farm to select lettuces and greens that will best suit the meals they want to serve.
"As an industry chef accustomed to working with food sourced directly from the people who grow, I have always been very excited to work with the Purdue Student Farm to create hyper-local and incredibly fresh salads and vegetable dishes over the years. The new container farm offers even more, and Brittany and I have been working on using even more varieties as we continuously develop menu items. This is a great partnership between the College of Ag and my students to learn about sourcing food and how to prepare delicious and safe foods to eat." tells Chef Dawn Sieber, MaEd Chef Instructor / Department ChefWhite Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
For the future
With education at the forefront of this project, Langenhoven hopes not only to use the Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility to train and prepare students, but also to provide faculty and staff with research opportunities. The end goal, according to Langenhoven and Weerts, would be to share their new insights with the community through an Extension program.
"A gift like this can put us on the map and help us step into the future of farming and technology. We want to continue to provide opportunities for hands-on learning and growth across all aspects of agricultural production for our students. The Overbeck Controlled Environment Agriculture Facility gives us a wonderful tool to explore a new area of smart vegetable production and share the lessons learned with our stakeholders to help them grow. We are grateful." shares Petrus Langenhoven
Source Purdue University