A floating dairy farm in the Netherlands has changed direction once more. The owners have dropped a planned sale, moved the herd to other farms and are continuing to process dairy produce on board, while a vertical salad-growing enterprise runs in the basement of the floating structure.
Sale dropped after regulatory dispute
The farm, moored in the Port of Rotterdam, was designed to promote sustainable farming on a new scale. It was recently put up for sale following a fall-out with the local environmental department, which ruled that a newly fitted floor did not comply with regulations. The 28 Dutch MRI cows living on the platform had been taken off and were due to be sold, and milk production was set to cease.
That plan has now been reversed. The farm is not being sold, and the animals have been moved to a few other farms about 20 km away.
A €4 million project opened in 2019
The Floating Farm was the idea of Peter and Minke van Wingerden, who invested €4 million in the project and equipped it with on-site feeding, milking, slurry handling and dairy production facilities. It opened in May 2019 as a futuristic attempt to produce food sustainably without the traditional tie to land. Milk and dairy produce were sold to local consumers through vending machines at the farm, and the concept drew hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world.
Milk brought in from nearby farms
Peter van Wingerden confirmed that production of milk and other dairy produce is continuing and that the vertical farm is performing well. He described the relocation of the cows as another big change of plans, adding that the platform's modern technology and systems give it the lowest emissions possible, but that the rubber floor is German-made and has no certificate of compliance in the Netherlands.
He said a stainless steel pipeline has been installed from the quay to the farm, and that a regular dairy truck brings milk to the site about twice a week, roughly 1,500 litres per batch. The supplier is around 20 km away, which keeps transport time short.
Three-layer growing unit below the waterline
The vertical farm occupies a fully controlled, automated growing space with three layers on conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology. Four types of crops are grown: micro-greens harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks and edible flowers every four to five weeks. The produce is turned into tea, pesto, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey, alongside Parmigiano cheese.
Because the unit sits below the waterline of the floating structure, it is cooled by the water. “It is going really well,” van Wingerden said.
Port departure within two years
The farm will have to leave the port in just over two years, when the whole area is due to become residential. Van Wingerden said the current arrangement is not the vision the project started with, but that the operation is coping with the system.