The floating dairy farm in the Port of Rotterdam, a Dutch project built to show that food can be produced sustainably without tying up agricultural land, has changed direction once more. Its 28 Dutch MRI cows have been moved to a small number of farms about 20km away, and milk production at the floating structure now depends on supplies brought in from those farms.
The shift follows a dispute with the local environmental authority. The owners had put the farm up for sale after the authority ruled that a newly fitted floor did not comply with regulations. Under that plan the herd was removed and was to be sold, and milk production was to cease. That plan has now been reversed: the farm is no longer on the market, and a vertical salad-growing enterprise has been set up in the basement of the floating structure.
How the farm began
Floating Farm was the idea of Peter and Minke van Wingerden, who invested €4 million to create a facility with on-site feeding, milking, slurry handling and dairy production. It opened in May 2019 in the Port of Rotterdam as a futuristic answer to producing food without the traditional link to land. During its operation the farm produced milk and turned it into dairy produce for local consumers, who could buy it from vending machines at the site. The concept drew hundreds of thousands of curious visitors from around the world.
Milk still flows, from nearby farms
Peter van Wingerden confirmed that production of milk and other dairy produce was continuing and that the vertical farm was performing well. "We have another big change of plans here. Our cows have been transported to a few different farms near us," he said. He described the farm as having the lowest possible emissions thanks to its modern technology and system, but said the rubber floor is German and has no certificate of compliance in the Netherlands.
Milk now reaches the site through a stainless steel pipeline installed from the quay to the farm. A regular dairy truck delivers supplies twice a week at roughly 1,500L per batch. "The distance from our milk supplier to us is just 20km, therefore has a really short transportation time," Van Wingerden said.
A deadline in the port
The floating farm will have to leave the port in just over two years, because the entire area is to become residential. "This is not the vision we initially started off with, but we are coping with this system," he said.
The vertical unit below the waterline
The vertical farm is a fully controlled and automated growing space with three layers carried on conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology. Four types of crops are grown there:
- Micro-greens, harvested every two weeks;
- Herbs, harvested every three weeks;
- Leafy greens, harvested every four weeks;
- Edible flowers, harvested every four to five weeks.
Those crops are processed into tea and pesto, and offered alongside Parmigiano cheese, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey. The unit sits below the waterline of the floating structure, so it is cooled by the water around it.