Floating Farms – The Future of Farming?

Floating Farms

But where are the cows?

OK, it's a quiet Friday night and I'm casually looking through some Facebook posts and catching up on email. Then I see this; Floating farms that can produce up to 20 tons of vegetables every day. Who knew hydroponics had it in them.

Actually this system would be classified as aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in water without soil) together in one system. The fish waste gives organic food to the plants and the plants filter the water in which the fish live. There are two additional, yet invisible parts of this system, which are the bacteria and composting red worms. Some might call them the Conversion Team. The bacteria convert the ammonia from the fish waste into nitrites and then into nitrates. The nitrates make excellent plant food. Meanwhile, the worms convert the solid waste into compost.

I want one of these floating farms.

Only problem is where do I put the cows? All right, I'm kidding. We could have a barge attached that will hold all the cattle, hogs and sheep, right?

It looks like these are on the drawing boards now, but somewhere there's an entrepreneur who can't wait to build this new farm. You just need to realize that we barely had cell phones 20 years ago to understand the power of imagination and action.

These farms could be built anywhere on earth. They harvest sunlight and rainwater, creating a sustainable farm. Fascinating as well is the fact that floating farms raise not only vegetables and fruit, but also fish. This method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil is certainly not new, but we've never before seen such a hugh, floating farm.

Truth be told, these aren't exactly the wide open spaces. Walk too far and you'll be swimming, but when you are trying to figure out how to feed the people in this world, this could be one of the answers.

Just goes to show you what can happen when you think outside the box. Heck, I don't think these guys even have a box.

Just click this link if you want to see more

Enjoy.