The Floating Farm in Rotterdam, Netherlands, is no longer being sold, and dairy production is continuing after its 28 Dutch MRI cows were moved to several farms about 20 km away, owner Peter van Wingerden has confirmed.
The platform had been put up for sale following a dispute with the local environmental department. The department said a newly fitted floor did not meet regulations. The cows were taken off the farm, and the plan at that stage was to sell them and end milk production.
As it now stands, the farm is not being sold, and the cows are on nearby farms. Milk is brought to the floating facility by a regular dairy truck about twice a week, roughly 1,500 litres per batch. The supplier is about 20 km away, a distance Van Wingerden said keeps transport time short. A stainless steel pipeline runs from the quay to the farm.
Van Wingerden said the farm has the lowest possible emissions because of its modern technology and system, but the rubber floor is German and has no compliance certificate in the Netherlands.
The Floating Farm was the idea of Peter and Minke van Wingerden, who invested €4 million in the project. It opened in May 2019 in the Port of Rotterdam as a project intended to show food could be produced sustainably without the traditional link to land. The site was set up with on-site feeding, milking, slurry handling and dairy production facilities. It produced milk and dairy products for local consumers, who could buy them from vending machines on the farm. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world travelled to the port to see the cows.
The floating structure also contains a vertical growing enterprise in its basement, below the waterline. The unit is a fully controlled, automated growing space with three layers and conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology. It is cooled by the surrounding water.
Four types of crops are grown there. Micro-greens are harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks and edible flowers every four to five weeks. The crops are turned into tea, pesto, Parmigiano cheese, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey. Van Wingerden said the vertical farm is performing well.
The farm will have to leave the port in just over two years because the whole area is due to become residential. Van Wingerden said this is not the vision the project began with, but the operation is adapting to the system.