GoodLeaf Farms Plants First Test Crops at Calgary Facility

Sep 15, 2023

GoodLeaf Farms has planted the first test crops at its new facility in Calgary, Alta. with full production in Western Canada expected to start in late fall, a Sept. 13 news release said.

“This is a significant milestone for GoodLeaf Farms as we work to establish a truly national footprint of indoor vertical farms that provide fresh leafy greens that are typically imported to Canada,” Barry Murchie, president and CEO of GoodLeaf Farms, said in the release. “As import replacement products, the foods we are providing are critical to our food security and sovereignty. We are excited to begin ramping up production in Calgary to serve markets in Western Canada.”

Construction on the 96,000-square-foot indoor vertical farm facility is almost finished, the release said. The crops of the microgreens and baby greens that were planted will be grown and harvested in Calgary for retail stores and the food service sector in Western Canada. These crops were planted to ensure all of the equipment and infrastructure is working as intended. Once fully operational, GoodLeaf’s Calgary farm will produce more than two million pounds of fresh, local leafy greens each year — with an expected 40 annual harvests of microgreens and 20 annual harvests of baby greens.

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Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.