SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — It’s a chilly, wet and windy day — enough to remind us that winter still isn’t too far in the rearview mirror.
But inside a new six-acre building on West Calvert Street in South Bend, Matt Gura is keeping a close watch over a sea of baby plants that fill a greenhouse about the size of two big-box retailers, or 174,000 square feet.
It’s like a warm day in early summer inside the building, which uses computers and monitors to control light, liquid nutrients, temperature, humidity and even plant-loving carbon dioxide.
Gura, director of operations at Pure Green Farms — a hydroponic indoor farm on the city’s southwest side — touts it as the “most technologically advanced leafy green greenhouse in the world.”
“And it’s in South Bend,” he says.
Though it might seem odd to build a massive indoor farm in northern Indiana — considering the cold weather and the perma-cloud that seemingly hangs over the region each winter — leaders at South Bend-based Ceres Partners, an agricultural investment firm, studied the project for years.
They believe there is an opportunity to disrupt the lettuce trade, which is largely dominated by growers in California who ship products to markets in the Midwest.
There’s more sunlight here than most of us realize, and the fact that it doesn’t get too hot in the summer means that the cost of trying to keep the building cool won’t be out of line, Gura said.
A combination of LED and high-pressure sodium lights will supplement the light needs of the plants, and there’s an automated shade that can be used to cut down on light coming in or out of the greenhouse as needed.
In the winter, the indoor farm will use offal heat from the nearby South Bend Ethanol plant, and discussions are underway to possibly use carbon dioxide produced by the facility if it makes economic sense for both businesses.
Ceres also liked the location because it’s near its headquarters near the University of Notre Dame as well as major transportation links that will be crucial to getting the leafy greens produced by Pure Green Farms to grocers, restaurants and other customers throughout the region, said Brandon Zick, chief investment officer for the firm.
“There’s 55 million people within a 300-mile radius,” said Joe McGuire, a seasoned produce distribution executive who was brought in to serve as CEO of Pure Green Farms. “There’s 75 million people within 400 miles.”
That distance gives Pure Green a significant shipping advantage over traditional leafy green producers that are located in California, Arizona and other far-away locations.
By the time lettuce is harvested and processed in California, for example, it might take 10 days to reach store shelves in the Midwest. Conversely, the romaine, arugula and leaf lettuces grown at Pure Green could be on store shelves in a couple of days or even less.
“We think there’s going to be strong demand for fresher produce that’s grown in the market,” McGuire said.
The first shipments have gone out to Kroger stores in Indiana, and it won’t be long before Pure Green is available at Martin’s Super Markets and other grocers.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is making 12 grants to support nine large-scale projects that seek to address a range of significant challenges and opportunities that many Indiana colleges and universities face. Several of the projects involve collaborations with community organizations, K-12 schools, employers and other colleges and universities.
The grants total nearly $70 million and represent the third and final phase of the Endowment’s initiative, Charting the Future for Indiana’s Colleges and Universities.
The grants, which range from $2.7 million to $10 million, will fund work at 16 Indiana schools to address priorities that their leaders have identified as having the potential to make the most impact on strengthening their institutions’ vitality and how they educate their students. Learn about these projects here.
Through these projects, the colleges and universities will collectively strive to, among other things:
Improve retention and graduation rates for students, especially first-generation college students, students of color and students eligible to receive federal Pell grants.
Engage adult learners and employers to create new approaches to workforce training, entrepreneurship and community service opportunities.
Work with school corporations to enhance the preparation of middle school and high school students for higher education and careers.
Align curricula, advising and experiential learning to improve employment outcomes for graduates and connect students to career exploration and preparation, including training in advanced robotics and data science.
Improve and expand mental health resources for students.
Enhance campus climates by strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, including recruiting and retaining more students of color and working to graduate all students to be culturally competent leaders.
Establish shared administrative services to reduce the cost of finance, payroll, human resources and other business functions.
“Indiana’s colleges and universities face myriad challenges as they work to fulfill their educational missions while adapting to growing financial pressures, rapid demographic and technological changes, and evolving needs and demands of students,” said Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education. “We are pleased with the creative and collaborative approaches the colleges and universities are taking to address these challenges and seize opportunities to better serve their students, institutions, communities and the state of Indiana through these nine projects .”
The grants are the third and final round of funding in Charting the Future. The Endowment launched the initiative in 2019 to help leaders of the state’s 38 colleges and universities engage in thoughtful discernment about the future of their institutions and to advance strategic planning and implementation efforts to address key challenges and opportunities.
Through earlier rounds of the initiative, all 38 schools received planning grants, which were approved in December 2019, and implementation grants approved in June and September 2020. The implementation grants funded strategies to improve efforts to prepare students for successful futures and strengthen the schools’ long-term institutional vitality. Learn more about these grants here.
Through all three rounds of funding in Charting the Future, the Endowment has made grants totaling more than $138 million. Learn more about the entire initiative here.
A liquid biostimulant, designed to promote growth in crops grown in vertical farms, earned the top honors during the 27th annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition on Wednesday night. Two Purdue University sophomores, Cai Chen of Elmont, N.Y., Nate Nauman of West Lafayette, Ind., and graduate student Emmanuel Alagbe of Ibadan, Nigeria, will share the competition’s $20,000 top prize.
The Student Soybean Innovation Competition is sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Purdue University. The awards ceremony was conducted as a virtual event for the second consecutive year due to restrictions for public gatherings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To win this competition, Purdue University students must develop novel applications for soybeans that satisfy a market need. This is among the most popular events each year for Indiana’s soybean checkoff.
“The goal of this contest is to highlight the versatility of soybeans while addressing a need in agriculture or the general public,” said Anngie Steinbarger, who is a farmer from Edinburgh, Ind., and one of the judges for this year’s contest. “ISA is very happy to work with Purdue students in the contest as we look to expand markets for soybeans grown in Indiana. This biostimulant is mostly made of a soybean protein, and it has been developed to help grow crops. This seems like a slam dunk for what we want from this competition.”
Biostimulants help crops germinate rapidly, achieve greater plant mass and yield, and improve nutrient uptake. However, they do not act as fertilizers or pesticides, because they do not add new nutrients like Nitrogen or repel pests. The winning product is 98 percent soy “So when our product is applied to plants, it has the capacity to improve the growth rate and also ease stress,” Alagbe explained.
The winning Purdue students said this biostimulant is unique when compared to products already on the market, because soy protein peptides have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. These properties are significant, because many crops, especially lettuce, are sometimes recalled due to foodborne illnesses such as listeria. Soy protein hydrolysate biostimulants decrease the chances for pathogens to contaminate food. Additionally, this product is entirely composed of organic substances, which may be attractive for customers.
“One of the major successes we saw with our product is how great it worked with lettuce we’ve grown in the greenhouse,” said Chen, who added that when biostimulant was added to lettuce, it was 30 percent larger than standard lettuce.
The biostimulant market, which is mostly in Europe currently, is a $2.4 billion industry with abundant space to grow, especially in North America. This market is projected to be worth $5.69 billion in 2026, according to industry analysts. For now, though, these three students are making plans for spending the $20,000 in prize money.
“We now have enough money to buy our competitors’ products and test them against our own,” Nauman said smiling.
This year, seven teams composed of 22 Purdue University students and 14 faculty advisors, finished the competition. The participating students represent a variety of majors including food science, engineering, animal science and finance. In addition, each team works with two faculty advisors who provide technical and market research support.
The contest introduces Purdue students to the multi-faceted uses and vast potential of soybeans while drawing on students’ creativity to develop products that utilize soy. Following the contest, ISA works to develop the products, evaluate their long-term feasibility and commercial viability.
“Indiana soybean checkoff funds are used to find new uses and new markets for our soybeans; thereby creating demand and helping our farms to be more profitable and sustainable,” said Steinbarger. “This event allows us to create relationships with bright and innovative students and their mentors at Purdue. Some of the products that evolve out of this contest could potentially have a positive impact on our soybean prices.”
Previous contest winners include last year’s HerbiSoy, a non-toxic, soy-based herbicide, and the winner from 2019, Stroy, drinking straws made from soybean plastic. The ever-popular soybean crayons and soy candles are past winners, as well.
Earning second place, and a $10,000 prize, this year is Team Sage 2.0, which developed a soy-based, hypoallergenic athletic tape called Arachnitape. This team consists of four Purdue juniors including Andres Dextre of Lima, Peru, Erick Forkpah of Greensboro, N.C., Sarah Heffner of Indianapolis, Ind., and Jieun (Grace) Lee of Daejon, South Korea. Arachnitape is water resistant but still supportive, which should help athletes, Team Sage 2.0 said.
Finishing third, and earning a $5,000 prize is Team Soykind, which created an eco-friendly and innovative replacement for cosmetic face masks. Team Soykind is made up of three Purdue seniors including Luke DeLong of Sullivan, Ill., Vy (Vee) Le of Sugar Land, Texas, and Shulin Wang of Jining, China. Unlike most cosmetic face masks on the market today, Team Soykind’s product is completely bio-degradable.
This contest also includes a People’s Choice award of $500, which is determined by online votes during a presentation of each product. Team Soyrenity, which created a transdermal patch for patients who suffer from bone density pain or to sooth symptoms related to menopause. Team Soyrentiy members include Purdue seniors Natasha Abraham of New York, N.Y., John Mutter of Grayslake, Ill., and graduate student Diana Ramirez-Gutierrez of Bogota, Colombia.
Indiana soybean farmers’ investment in finding new soybean innovations is not limited to the competition. The state soybean checkoff also funds the Soybean Utilization Endowed Chair at Purdue’s College of Agriculture, Dr. Nathan Mosier, to lead research into new uses for soybeans. At present, ISA is working with companies in the concrete industry to market an innovative soy-based concrete durability enhancer developed through checkoff-funded research at Purdue University. This soy-based product, called PoreShield, is ideal for concrete roadway infrastructure where protecting the environment is a key requirement or consideration.
The Mill, Bloomington’s nonprofit center for entrepreneurship, announced today the start of the second cohort of Flywheel Fund, its member-managed capital fund for early-stage and high-potential startups. Flywheel Fund I launched in the summer of 2020. The first cohort of 11 members planned to make four investments of $25,000 in a year. By January 2021, the fund had exceeded expectations, investing $120,000 across five companies in less than six months. The second cohort has quadrupled membership to 50 investors and grown the investment fund to $640,000—an increase of over 500%.
“We’re seeing a lot of excitement around the opportunities in Indiana right now,” said Mill Executive Director Pat East. “When we launched Flywheel, we knew promising startups existed here. With critical investment at the right time, the opportunities for innovation and investment can increase exponentially. In five years, the startup and investment landscape in southern Indiana in particular is going to look very different. The snowball is starting to roll.”
Flywheel Fund II plans to make six to eight investments of about $50,000 each, double the investment from Fund I. One-third of the fund is reserved for follow-on investments of $50,000 to $150,000 in Fund I’s five companies (Boost, Civic Champs, FloWaste,Qualifi, and Stagetime), as merited by their progress, terms, and opportunity.
Flywheel Fund aims to grow not only the pool of startup funding in the region, but also the pool of experienced investors. Many of Flywheel’s members are first-time investors, East said. The Mill educates them on how the investment process works, what to look for in a pitch, and what to expect in terms of return. “About 80% of the members and total dollars in our second fund are from Bloomington,” East said, “but we’ve also got members from Indianapolis, South Bend, and across the state.” Two-thirds of the investors have contributed $10,000 to Flywheel Fund II, The Mill reports; about 30% of members have contributed $20,000.
As a member-managed fund, Flywheel forms a separate LLC for each investment. The fund seeks early-stage and high-potential companies with an Indiana connection, with special attention to startups based in Bloomington and southern Indiana. Flywheel reserves a minimum of 13% of its funds for Black founding teams and awarded 20% in its first cohort.
East, who is himself a founder of Hanapin Marketing and an experienced angel investor, sources startups for the fund and mentors founding teams after investment. In March, Flywheel brought on Brian Hatton to help manage the fund’s rapid growth. “Brian’s four years of VC experience at the UK firm QVentures are an incredible asset to our fund,” East said, noting that Hatton is also a Flywheel investor. Hatton oversees startup screening and due diligence. The Mill also consults with IU Ventures, IU Angel Network, Vision Tech, and other experienced groups to determine best practice for Flywheel Fund.
Flywheel Fund II will hear its first startup pitch in early April.
The Mill’s mission is to spark Bloomington’s innovation economy by launching and accelerating startups, and its vision is to become Indiana’s center of gravity for entrepreneurship.
The University of Indianapolis today held a dedication ceremony for the new home of the R.B. Annis School of Engineering. The university says the newly-renovated R.B. Annis Hall creates an expanded, state-of-the-art space that will have a major impact on students, industry partners and central Indiana. President Rob Manuel says the facility will help meet growing demand in the school’s engineering program.
“We’ve seen quite a bit of inquiries and applicants and students coming to be interested in these programs and I think once they see the facilities and they meet the now 19 new faculty that we just hired and kind of see what’s going to happen in the connection between them and the faculty and the facility, they’re going to be pretty impressed.”
Manuel and Ken Reid, associate dean and director of the school of engineering, talked about the new facility in an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
Reid says the new facility brings several benefits to the university and its students.
“The thing that this building affords us the opportunity to do is to work with more students, of course, for expansion, but it also gives us some state-of-the-art lab space,” said Reid. “I think the exciting thing is our students have the chance to work with local partners, with our DesignSpine curriculum, and that is where students from their first year all the way to the fourth year are going to work with partners on real, authentic designs.”
“The ability for students to learn about our diverse agricultural systems through a cutting-edge experience like augmented reality is outstanding,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. “The hard work put into these education modules from the State Fairgrounds staff will help capture our children’s minds while also serving as a good representation of our agriculture industries in Indiana.”
Launching March 23, 2021, the augmented reality curriculum is intended to immerse and excite Hoosier students about the practices, products and careers in three distinct Indiana agricultural sectors. Students will utilize their mobile device or school tablet to download an app and activate the experience, which operates by scanning a QR code:
Indiana Crops Experience – An augmented reality exercise where students will operate a combine to harvest a field of corn, learning various facts about crop production along their journey.
Indiana Dairy Experience – An augmented reality exercise where students will have the opportunity to visit a virtual dairy farm, learning about four different areas of the farm used in milk production and cow comfort.
Indiana Hardwoods Experience – An augmented reality exercise where students will navigate a logger around a virtual forest. They will help manage the forest by harvesting four varieties of hardwood trees (ash, hickory, maple and oak) while learning about products made from each type of hardwood.
“These apps help to deliver ag education to students in a unique and engaging way,” said Cindy Hoye, executive director, Indiana State Fair Commission. “We also plan to offer these augmented reality experiences to our guests at the 2021 Indiana State Fair, so that’s exciting as well.”
As an introduction to the augmented reality experience, each of the three apps includes an animated video overview of the industry followed by a narrated quiz for students to complete for comprehension retention. The augmented reality experience in each module ties directly back into career options, and students are provided a variety of resources to learn more about careers in agriculture after completing the experiences.
“These augmented reality learning opportunities are critical for students to see how agriculture products make their way into Hoosier homes,” said Bruce Kettler, Indiana State Department of Agriculture director. “We are looking forward to this curriculum increasing interest in the exciting possibilities of careers in Indiana agriculture.”
On March 23, 2021, all of Indiana’s agriculture teachers will directly receive an invite to register for the newly offered experiences. These apps can also be used by students outside the agricultural classroom and can be downloaded by non-agricultural teachers here. All three apps are available for download at no charge on both Apple and Android devices.
Funding for the development of the apps came from a grant from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. Additional funding, expertise and time was provided by Beck’s Hybrids for the Indiana Crops Experience. Time and expertise were also provided by the Indiana Hardwood Lumberman’s Association and the American Dairy Association of Indiana to develop the Indiana Hardwoods Experience and the Indiana Dairy Experience.
###
ABOUT INDIANA STATE FAIRGROUNDS AND EVENT CENTER The Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center is a modern public event facility that annually hosts more than 400 meetings, shows, sports and agricultural events, including the Indiana State Fair. Laid out over 250 acres, the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center is home to more than 1,000,000 square feet of event space and offers the most flexible event venues in Indiana. The year-round management of the Fairgrounds is overseen by the Indiana State Fair Commission which is a quasi- governmental agency that was established in 1992, with the mission to preserve and enhance the Indiana State Fairgrounds and the annual Indiana State Fair for the benefit of all citizens of Indiana.
The Fairgrounds’ Youth Ag Education Program educates both children and adults about the importance of agriculture to our city, our state, our nation and the world. Annually, the Education Department reaches more than 50,000 children and adults through on-site and virtual programs designed to educate and engage participants in agriculture education. For more information visit, www.indianastatefair.com
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today an $11.5 million research investment to help small and medium-sized farms become more profitable and to improve the quality of life in American farm communities. Purdue University and Indiana University were awarded nearly $500,000 each for their projects.
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded 24 grants to 20 universities and organizations through their Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The department says the research efforts focus on alternative crop enterprises, marketing and scaling up fruit and vegetable production to overcome marketing constraints.
Purdue plans to use the funding for its project, “Taking the Next Step as a Small and Medium Sized Farm: Understanding the Integration of Production, Food Safety and Profitability.” The USDA says the project aims to develop “new models to assist farmer decision making with respect to appropriate scale management strategies and technologies to enhance economic efficiency and sustainability.”
IU will receive funding for its project, “Incentivizing Land Access for Small, Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers: Research, Extension and Community of Practice.” The project is designed to “increase knowledge of the impacts and reach of Land Access Policy Incentives and…to facilitate access to land for a New Generation of farmers and ranchers.”
“Few groups are as resilient and as determined as American farm families,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This investment in innovative research will give these family farms the tools they need to be more sustainable, profitable and productive as they face agricultural and economic challenges. When American farmers have a chance to compete, they have a greater chance at succeeding.”
AgriNovus recently hosted a virtual panel with Forbes to discuss innovation in agtech and how it will transform the food supply chain beyond COVID-19. That panel discussion is below.
Field Atlas is in search of student ambassadors to drive peer discussion, unlock awareness of the agbioscience sector to Indiana’s college students and create a resource that connects the dots on someone’s passion to a placement in our industry.
Our ambassadors are motivated, self-starting college students who believe in our mission and are proud to hold the megaphone and tell the story of Indiana’s agbioscience sector to students on college campuses across the state.
The Field Atlas Ambassador Network allows the AgriNovus Talent Team to have a simultaneous presence on multiple colleges and universities. The ambassador network covers nine regions, determined by AgriNovus, based on geographic locations and enrollment numbers of colleges and universities. Each region has one to two ambassadors with 9-12 ambassadors in total.
Individual Field Atlas Ambassadors serve as the peer to peer connection to students in their region. They work individually or in partners to accomplish the goals of the network. Ambassadors are provided training on topics such as Field Atlas site navigation, the agbioscience sector and its role in the agricultural industry, agbioscience workforce demands and plans of study, networking and building connections, social media engagement, public speaking/classroom presentations, core business skills, mentorship/coaching, and reporting metrics.
Interested? Complete the application below to be contacted by our talent team. To read a full description of the role, click here.
WEST LAFAYETTE and INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University and Purdue University are partnering on a first-of-its-kind dual degree that focuses on agricultural law. Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics and IU’s McKinney School of Law have created the first MJ-MS agricultural economics and law program in the nation.
Students who complete the program will receive a Master of Science in ag econ from Purdue and a Master of Jurisprudence from IU.
“This new program will provide students with a multidisciplinary education in agricultural economics and law and equip them to make creative and significant contributions to their companies, the food and agribusiness industries and food and agriculture policies,” said Karen Plaut, dean of Purdue’s College of Agriculture.
The schools say Purdue provides the economics insight of the food system, while IU provides the understanding of regulatory oversight.
“This unique offering capitalizes on the strengths of both universities to provide an essential foundation in agricultural law,” said Plaut.
Students would first receive an MS degree from Purdue after completing 21 credits from Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics and 15 credits from the IU McKinney School of Law. The student would receive the MJ degree after completing an additional set of 15 law credits from IU McKinney School of Law.
“We are delighted to partner with Purdue on this important initiative as it will distinguish graduates in the dynamic agricultural law industry and equip them with the tools they need to be effective changemakers and leaders in this growing field,” said Cynthia Adams, IU McKinney vice dean and clinical professor of law.
Both programs are now accepting applications for the program. Prospective students must separately apply to and are accepted by both universities.
