Canada invests $5 million in Haven Greens
Source: VFD.com
By enabling year-round cultivation of fresh produce while offering greater control over growing conditions, reducing vulnerability to external environmental factors, and enhancing food security, Canada is reducing reliance on imported produce and strengthening its domestic food supply. Today, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced $5 million for Kinghaven Farms through the AgriInnovate Program to adopt and customize automation and climate control technologies at the company's newly built CEA greenhouse, capable of producing up to 2 million kilograms of baby leafy greens annually.
Building on the recently announced $3.2 billion National Food Security Strategy and its $750 million dedicated to CEA, this funding supported the adoption of an innovative end-to-end mobile gully system that enables higher precision and faster cultivation, reducing labour costs and improving efficiency. The project supports new to Canada, fully automated greenhouse technology that enables year-round production of local, high-quality leafy greens with the objective of reducing imported greens and carbon emissions, and eliminate long-haul transportation.
This investment in Kinghaven Farms' innovative greenhouse technology will boost local production, reduce reliance on imports and ensure Canadians have reliable access to high-quality, locally grown greens year-round. © Haven Greens "We're honoured to receive support through the AgriInnovate Program as we continue advancing the automation and climate-control technologies behind Haven Greens.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
