December 5, 2018 10.50 am This story is over 63 months old

Lincolnshire’s farm of the future harvests first crop

Leading the way in cutting edge technology
There are few workers at the farm. Photo: Jones Food Company

A futuristic and fluorescent farm, straight out of the movies, is harvesting its first crop in Scunthorpe.

The herbs and salad farm, based in an industrial estate in North Lincolnshire, is the first of its kind in the country.

Fields and tractors might come to mind when you think about farming, but this ‘vertical farm’ looks more like a factory.

Now the farm, run by the Jones Food Company, is harvesting its first crop after just over a month of growth.

Watercress growing in the pink light of the factory. Photo: Jones Food Company

Four people have been working at the farm, bathed in thousands of artificial pink lights, to grow a select few herbs and a leafy salad.

As well as the artificial light, pure carbon dioxide is pumped into the building to make the plants grow 50% more efficient.

Could this be the future of farming? Photo: Jones Food Company

The farm relies only on water and doesn’t need any soil or traditional sunlight, in what is called hydroponic technology.

While a robot, called Frank, is left to do the majority of the work sweeping around the factory.

They’re planning to add to their collection in the near future, but are starting off with a 17 rows of plants stacked to the roof.