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Rockwell Automation and Feeding America to Launch Hydroponic Facility
Rockwell Automation and Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin establish Clock Tower Farms to address food insecurity through automated hydroponic farming.
www.rockwellautomation.com
Rockwell Automation, Inc. has announced the creation of Clock Tower Farms in collaboration with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, the region’s largest hunger relief organization. This first-of-its-kind facility is located within Rockwell’s Milwaukee headquarters and integrates advanced hydroponic systems with industrial automation to provide year-round access to fresh produce.
Automated Hydroponic Technology
The facility will house 72 Flex Acre hydroponic systems developed by Fork Farms. These systems utilize nutrient-infused, recirculated water to optimize plant root growth. Rockwell’s Plant PAx system provides the automation foundation, monitoring and automatically adjusting:
- Nutrient levels based on specific crop requirements.
- pH and water levels to ensure optimal growing conditions.
Environmental controls, including localized power and dehumidification managed by new Fork Farms technology.
Operational Efficiency and Sustainability
Clock Tower Farms is engineered as a modular, controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) solution designed to maximize yield while minimizing resource consumption. The facility is projected to:
Operational Efficiency and Sustainability
Clock Tower Farms is engineered as a modular, controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) solution designed to maximize yield while minimizing resource consumption. The facility is projected to:
- Produce 200,000 pounds of leafy greens and vegetables annually.
- Save 5.9 million gallons of water compared to conventional soil-based farming methods.
- Conserve 5.5 acres of land by utilizing high-density vertical growing structures.
Addressing Regional Food Insecurity
The partnership comes during a period of high demand for food pantries in Eastern Wisconsin. By locating the farm within Rockwell's headquarters, the initiative streamlines the supply chain; fresh food moves directly from harvest to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s distribution trucks. This model eliminates long-term storage and handling delays, supporting the "NourishRx" approach which treats nutrient-dense food as a critical component of long-term health and medicine.
Additional Context
The development of Clock Tower Farms represents a significant intersection between industrial automation and urban agriculture. Hydroponic systems, while efficient, often require precise chemical balancing and climate control that can be labor-intensive if managed manually. By applying the Plant PAx distributed control system—typically used in large-scale pharmaceutical or food processing plants—Rockwell is treating a vertical farm as a highly tuned industrial process.
Technically, the use of recirculating hydroponics significantly reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture by preventing nutrient runoff, a major cause of water pollution in traditional farming. The integration of sensors for real-time pH and nutrient monitoring allows for "precision dosing," which prevents resource waste and ensures that plants receive the exact mineral profile needed for rapid growth. Furthermore, by moving the "farm" to the distribution hub (the city center), the project addresses the "last mile" logistics of fresh produce, ensuring that highly perishable leafy greens retain their nutritional density and shelf life upon reaching the end consumer.
Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.
The partnership comes during a period of high demand for food pantries in Eastern Wisconsin. By locating the farm within Rockwell's headquarters, the initiative streamlines the supply chain; fresh food moves directly from harvest to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s distribution trucks. This model eliminates long-term storage and handling delays, supporting the "NourishRx" approach which treats nutrient-dense food as a critical component of long-term health and medicine.
Additional Context
The development of Clock Tower Farms represents a significant intersection between industrial automation and urban agriculture. Hydroponic systems, while efficient, often require precise chemical balancing and climate control that can be labor-intensive if managed manually. By applying the Plant PAx distributed control system—typically used in large-scale pharmaceutical or food processing plants—Rockwell is treating a vertical farm as a highly tuned industrial process.
Technically, the use of recirculating hydroponics significantly reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture by preventing nutrient runoff, a major cause of water pollution in traditional farming. The integration of sensors for real-time pH and nutrient monitoring allows for "precision dosing," which prevents resource waste and ensures that plants receive the exact mineral profile needed for rapid growth. Furthermore, by moving the "farm" to the distribution hub (the city center), the project addresses the "last mile" logistics of fresh produce, ensuring that highly perishable leafy greens retain their nutritional density and shelf life upon reaching the end consumer.
Edited by Romila DSilva, Induportals Editor, with AI assistance.
