A brand new hydroponics farm is coming to Boone County.
80 Acres is a farm that doesn’t need sun, soil, or favorable weather to do its thing and where pesticides have no place because everything’s indoors, monitored and controlled, twenty-four seven. They are opening their largest facility in Boone County.
“The farm is being opened in phases,” Jed Portman, 80 Acres communication manager told LINK nky. “Phase one is in progress. The remaining phases should be completed this year.”
The farm is located in an existing 200,000-square-foot building on more than 22 acres, where everything is grown indoors, year-round and with renewable energy. This Florence farm will create roughly 125 new NKY jobs when it’s fully operational.
Their next largest farm is in Hamilton, Ohio near their headquarters and is around 70,000 square feet.
“That farm is still capable of producing about 10 million servings of produce per year,” Portman stated.
This is the first time 80 Acres has started a farm outside of Ohio.
“Kentucky is centrally located, which allows us to get our fresh produce to more people within our 24-48-hour window,” Portman said. “We wanted to place it somewhere far enough from our Hamilton headquarters that we could reach new customers and consumers, but close enough that we could keep a close eye on it.”
Portman also alluded to the immense support local leaders have provided relating to the new farm saying, “Kentucky understands the value of agritech, and we have been impressed by the support we’ve received at the state and local levels, from the governor’s office to local economic development officials including Tri-ED.”
“80 Acres is on an impressive growth trajectory, and we are thrilled to have their first location in Kentucky in Boone County,” Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore said. “We welcome the 125 new, high-paying agribusiness jobs and the first high-tech, vertical indoor farm in Northern Kentucky.”
Kentucky’s agritech, food and beverage sector continues to grow with more than 350 facilities that employ 52,000 people.
80 Acres emphasized the importance of what exactly they can grow and not the amount of land they have to grow it on. By use of vertical farming techniques, 80 Acres can grow a lot without a lot of land.
They do not use soil, instead, they grow hydroponically. This means the plant’s roots hang in nutrient-rich water which allows 80 Acres to see which nutrients the plants are soaking up. This results in less consumption of fertilizer.
They also do not add to agricultural runoff which is the number one polluter of rivers and streams.
Since their farm is located inside, sunlight isn’t present. But don’t they need that light to photosynthesize? According to 80 Acres website, “…they (plants) really only need the red and blue light spectrums.”
The growers create the red light “recipe” for each specific plant type. This optimizes plant growth, flavor and nutrition.
80 Acres uses robots and AI to do the heavy lifting, while the humans focus on growing the freshest food possible.
The produce grown at the facility in Boone County can be found at Kroger, according to Portman. For a full list of stores carrying 80 Acres greens, herbs, and tomatoes, check their product locator.