Controlled Environment Agriculture

As consumers’ increasing demand for safe, sustainable, locally grown food increases, Virginia provides the ideal home for controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) companies. The Commonwealth offers efficient access to international markets and supply chains through world-class facilities at The Port of Virginia, access to plentiful natural resources, such as water, and the steady flow of talent from Virginia’s many community colleges and universities.

Red Sun Farms, Pulaski County

Controlled Environment Agriculture Companies in Virginia

Agricultural Innovation Helps Controlled-Environment Farms Scale Up (and Up, and Up)

The majority of CEA food production is still done in greenhouses, but an increasing amount of food crops are being grown in vertically stacked layers in indoor vertical farms. While greenhouses have the benefit of growing with natural sunlight, indoor vertical farms have the ability to deliver the exact environmental conditions required by specific plants, including the optimum temperature, humidity, and light levels –– and allow producers to multiply their crop outputs significantly without expanding their physical footprint. CEA operations can produce more food using fewer resources while reducing dependency on arable land.

We have a chance to do something really special with lasting impact across a broad spectrum that won’t just change our company, but has real potential to change the world.

Ken Bryant Director of Marketing, DASCOM Americas

The Nation’s Food Flows through The Port of Virginia

Virginia provides food and beverage manufacturers easy and efficient access to international markets and supply chains through world-class facilities at The Port of Virginia.  The port’s completion of USDA’s Southeast In-Transit Cold Treatment Program, allowing Virginia to accept a broad range of imported perishable cargo, and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) designation that allows exchange-graded coffee to arrive through the port, are both part of The Port of Virginia’s focus on supporting Virginia’s Food and Beverage industry. 

Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth
Virginia International Gateway, Portsmouth

Virginia Companies Going Beyond Traditional Farming

Controlled Environment Agriculture companies have called Virginia home for years, attracted to the Commonwealth's diverse ecosystem of partners and suppliers for food and beverage processors, numerous universities and research centers, and a notable abundance of natural resources.

Plenty Unlimited Inc.

In 2022 Plenty announced plans to invest $300 million to build the world’s largest vertical farming campus in Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park. The company recently secured $400 million in a Series E financing round, the largest investment to date for an indoor farming company. Plenty’s proprietary climate-control, LED lighting, and growing technologies allow for the efficient and sustainable production of a variety of clean, flavorful produce on its 52-foot grow towers year-round. The company’s first farm will be completed by 2024 and will focus on strawberry production.

AeroFarms

AeroFarms uses proprietary aeroponic growing technology to produce highly flavorful leafy greens at a rate 390-times more productive than field-grown plants. A mission-driven company, AeroFarms is committed to growing the best plants possible with processes that use significantly less water and no pesticides, while offering extremely high levels of food safety. By hiring locally and creating year-round employment, AeroFarms is able to grow all year to nourish its communities with high-quality produce that delivers optimal nutrition and flavor.

Greenswell Growers

Greenswell Growers uses a fully automated, indoor system with both natural and artificial light to produce leafy greens year-round, prioritizing food safety, freshness, consistency, and reliability. The company has worked with Dominion Energy to utilize 100 percent of its energy from zero carbon sources. The hydroponic greenhouse is expected to produce nearly 3.7 million pounds of leafy greens for distribution in the mid-Atlantic during its first three years of full production. The facility will be able to produce 28 times more product per acre than a traditional growing operation.

Red Sun Farms

In 2013, Red Sun Farms invested $30 million in its first high-technology greenhouse production operation in Pulaski County. The state-of-the-art, climate-controlled greenhouses on 45 acres of land in the New River Valley Commerce Park grow quality greenhouse-grown, non-GMO, pesticide-free vegetables. With more than 100 employees, this environmentally safe greenhouse ships 200,000 pounds of tomatoes weekly from April to October.

Beanstalk

Herndon-based Beanstalk created a vertical farming technology capable of growing lettuces, spinach, basil, carrots, lavender, and more. The company’s technology is vertically integrated from infrastructure to hardware and software. This deep integration empowers Beanstalk to quickly create, test, and iterate growing environments, robotic automation, and value-added processing – all working together to make produce exciting, tasty, and convenient. Beanstalk currently grows and sells a variety of fresh produce to local customers.

Babylon Farms

Babylon Micro-Farms develops and produces remotely controlled, indoor hydroponic systems for growing fresh herbs, vegetables, and salad greens. Babylon’s location in Richmond’s Scott’s Addition will enable the company to expand its capabilities in manufacturing, software development, and research and development so it can begin distributing nationally and internationally.