The Floating Farm in the Port of Rotterdam has changed direction again: the herd has been moved to conventional farms, milk processing is continuing with milk brought in from nearby suppliers, and a vertical salad-growing unit now operates in the basement of the floating structure.
The farm opened in May 2019 and was the idea of Peter and Minke van Wingerden, who invested €4 million in a facility with on-site feeding, milking, slurry handling and dairy production. It was presented as a way to produce food sustainably without the traditional tie-up with land, and drew hundreds of thousands of curious visitors from around the world to the port.
Sale plan set aside
Recently the owners put the farm up for sale after a fall-out with the local environmental department, which said a new floor fitted in the building did not comply with regulations. The 28 Dutch MRI cows living on the farm were taken off and were to be sold, and milk production was to stop.
That plan has now been dropped. The farm is not being sold, the cows have been moved to a few other farms around 20 km away, and a vertical salad-growing enterprise occupies the basement of the floating structure.
Peter van Wingerden said milk and other dairy production were continuing. He said the operation had another big change of plans, with the cows transported to several farms near the site. According to him, the farm has the lowest emissions possible because of its modern technology and system, but the rubber floor is German and has no certificate of compliance in the Netherlands.
Milk delivered twice a week
Milk now reaches the platform by road. A stainless steel pipeline runs from the quay to the farm, and the regular dairy truck brings milk from the dairy twice a week, about 1,500 L per batch. Van Wingerden said the distance from the milk supplier is just 20 km, so transport time is very short.
The longer-term timetable is already fixed: the Floating Farm will have to leave the port in just over two years because the entire area is to become residential. “This is not the vision we initially started off with, but we are coping with this system,” he said.
Three growing layers below the waterline
The vertical farm is a fully controlled and automated growing space with three layers carried on conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology. Four types of crops are grown there: micro-greens harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks and edible flowers every four to five weeks.
Those crops are turned into tea and pesto and sold alongside Parmigiano cheese, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey. The unit sits below the waterline of the floating structure, which means it is cooled by the surrounding water. Van Wingerden said it was going really well.
Under the original model, the farm's milk and dairy produce were sold to local consumers through vending machines on site, an approach that attracted international attention to the idea of producing food in a city port without occupying farmland. With the animals now off the platform and the site facing relocation, the operation rests on both milk delivered from nearby farms and the crops grown in its basement.