About 15 miles south of Toledo, Ohio, is Shared Legacy Farms, a certified organic vegetable farm that runs as a community-supported agriculture membership program. Co-owned by Kurt Bench and his wife Corinna, Shared Legacy Farms has met the organic produce needs for 400 people in Elmore and Northwest Ohio for 10 years.

With a total acreage of 25, 10 acres are used to grow vegetables of all kinds. While they primarily produce lettuce-based crops like Asian greens and salad, they also grow tomatoes, peppers, onions and radishes, just to name a few.

As a third-generation farmer, having a green thumb was inevitable for Bench, but his production enhanced once his cooperative, Great River Organics, switched to Proptek’s trays, which are made of reprocessed material and have a lifespan that's often up to 10 years, or even more.

“The plant quality is awesome and out of this world,” Bench says. “The plants grow faster and harden off differently in these trays. They root out faster and there’s a quicker turn so I can move them in the cold frame faster than I would using a 128. I’ve even had to change my soil mix to a heavier soil because it drains so well.”

Shared Legacy Farms uses the trays for about 70 to 80% of its crops. At first, Bench was skeptical about switching from a tray of 128 cells to 231 cells because of the double in size. He was worried about plant health, diseases and the lack of air movement, which according to him, was eased with Proptek’s swift assistance with any questions and concerns he had. Luckily, the transition to their 10x20 trays saves him space and improves production.

“The biggest thing about Proptek is that they help us become more efficient farmers,” Bench says. “We can produce a plant faster in a smaller amount of space, which saves money. And, since the plant health is better, that’s less time worrying about applying certain products.”

For the past 10 years, Lauren Palmer, owner and farmer at Bloomsbury Farms, has combined food and family by growing organic vegetables for restaurants, grocery stores, farmers markets and a 300-member CSA community.

Located in Smyrna, Tennessee, Bloomsbury Farms is the product of Palmer's vegetarian roots, landscaper father and connection to nature. Originally starting off small with no intention of selling crops, her father reserved a booth at their local farmers market and changed everything.

“People were asking me how I did certain things and why I chose that vegetable,” Palmer says. “Some were even requesting vegetables that my grandparents used to grow. That relationship was exactly what I was looking for.”

With 400 acres of land, nine hoop houses and 15 acres of harvesting ground, Palmer grows more than 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables year-round. While heirloom and artisan vegetables are her favorite, strawberries, lettuce, squash, peppers and more are also cultivated and sold.

Once advised to make her greenhouses all the same, Palmer did the complete opposite. At different lengths, sizes and styles, the structures at Bloomsbury Farms differ with unique personalities and are strategically placed where the styles are best suited. This was easily done with Atlas’ line of various structures for different geographic locations and crops.

“Nine years down, no issues and I’ve never tried any other brand,” Palmer says. “I’ve had such great luck; there’s no need to change. They’re so friendly; they’re so nice to me and that’s what it’s all about. That’s how I’ve done business in food and anything else. I have to trust somebody and with Atlas it’s been a good relationship back and forth. I’m good to you if you’re good to me and Atlas has always been that.”

Bowery Farming, a New Jersey-based vertical farming company, considers its mission to democratize access to the high-quality food it grows in its farms. As more and more people move to urban areas, the company wants to make sure it can provide healthy, clean food. By investing in technological improvements, the company can grow better food for its customers and work toward improving efficiencies.

“People are moving to urban areas, but land and water for agriculture is scarce near those areas,” says Henry Sztul, SVP of Science and Technology. “So, Bowery developed a system to deliver 100 times more produce in terms of land productivity and uses 95% less water than a traditional farm.”

In addition to using less water and improving workflow with automation throughout the farm, a key part of Bowery’s technology investments are the LED lights it purchased from Fluence Bioengineering, by Osram. With the LED lighting, Bowery is able to produce crops such as leafy greens, herbs and bok choy year-round.

Currently, through Whole Foods stores and Amazon delivery, Bowery Farming sells its products in the greater New York City metro area, where traditional field agriculture isn’t possible and could limit residents’ access to fresh foods.

“There is a large market for fresh produce in the New York metro area and by growing less than 10 miles from NYC, we are able to deliver the purest produce imaginable within just a few days of harvest,” Sztul says.

“When it comes to LED in our farms, there’s been a lot of great research in academia, but scaling into commercial production has its own set of challenges,” Sztul says. “We value the ability to partner with Fluence to investigate the impact of various light intensities to provide the ideal recipe to grow plants with the best possible yield, flavor and taste. This capability doesn’t normally exist in indoor farming and this allows us to get every last leaf into our consumers’ hand imaginable within just a few days of harvest.”

In addition to offering landscaping services for the past 12 years, Hoen’s Garden Center & Landscaping sells a wide variety of plant products. The Holland, Ohio, operation not only grows vegetables and herbs such as tomatoes, basil and lavender, but also ornamentals, including begonias, pansies, gerbera daisies and an array of houseplants and tropicals.

Bob Hoen credits some of the business’ ongoing success to working with a trusted growing media sales representative. “He is a personal friend of mine,” Hoen says. “That’s what I like — he’s always here. He’s always looking at the crop, observing it, making sure I’ve got all my questions answered.”

In 2018, Hoen was looking for a growing media that he could rely on for his roughly 2 acres of production space. He trialed numerous mixes but wanted to stick to just one. He placed an order through his sales representative for GFM – PC-15 All Purpose Peat-Coir Mix from Lambert Peat Moss.

“I’m using it this year for every crop, which is veggies, flowers, perennials — you name it, I’m growing it,” he says.

Hoen says he has achieved healthy, fast growth of his crops using the product, which contains coconut coir and added micronutrients.

“With the coir, it holds more moisture,” Hoen says. “I think you’re watering a little less.”

With the PC-15, Hoen fertilizes at about 150 parts per million instead of the 100 parts per million he used to use. Plus, he’s been able to raise profits by reducing the amount of time the crops are on his benches.

“The crop is growing almost twice as fast with the extra micronutrients [in the growing media],” he says.

Recently, Hoen’s sales representative visited and the owner showed him Hoen’s herbs, which grow in 4.5-inch pots. Out of the roughly 150 herbs the greenhouse grows, they all performed well.

“They’re the best-growing herbs we’ve ever grown,” Hoen says.