GoodLeaf Signs $2.5-Million Partnership With Toronto AI Firm
BIBLE HILL–A $2.5-million deal with a Toronto-based data analytics firm will help GoodLeaf Farms grow a smarter farm.
Bible Hill-based GoodLeaf has just signed a deal with Adastra to develop an artificial intelligence “smart platform” that will create optimal growing conditions for its crops.
“Innovation and technology are at the heart of vertical farming and we are always looking to take the next step that will help us grow more and better food,” GoodLeaf CEO Barry Murchie said in a news release.
The deal between GoodLeaf and Adastra will see the two entities develop a platform together that will capture measurements and image-based data. That data will be used to optimize crop yields and quality at GoodLeaf’s farms in Bible Hill and Guelph, Ontario.
Murchie said data science and technology are the next step to further agricultural innovation for a company that has aspirations of becoming North America’s largest vertical farm operator.
In a news release from Adastra, CEO Darren Edery said the new AI GoodLeaf and Adastra are developing will also help “upstream partners” develop optimized substrates and seeds to grow better crops.
GoodLeaf is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bedford-based agri-tech company Truleaf. It specializes in growing fresh, environmentally sustainable greens, herbs, and vegetables indoors, using vertical, indoor hydroponic growing systems.
GoodLeaf’s farms rely on LED lights that simulate sunlight, along with fine-tuned climate control systems, to grow its crops entirely indoors, year-round.
Truleaf’s largest shareholder is New Brunswick-based McCain Foods, which bought into the company in 2018. Truleaf specializes in vertical farming technology, creating indoor farms that supply to retailers, food service establishments, and comsumers.
GoodLeaf will also receive $1-million in support from Scale AI–a Montreal-based artificial intelligence supercluster that funds research and development, with federal backing.
That funding is part of $24-million the supercluster is investing in five AI and data science businesses across Canada. Other project partners include the University of Guelph, SunGro, and Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Truleaf, which bills itself as a developer of precision agriculture and a disruptor of the leafy green food supply chain, was founded in 2011. GoodLeaf was launched in 2015.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].