After putting the first freight farms in the hands of our customers, we did a whole lot of listening — we had a lot to learn from these pioneers of local food who were spearheading the urban agriculture movement. The insight gained has been used to improve the farming experience and allow for easier integration into a local food supply. 

We spent countless hours testing and developing to make the newest model of the Leafy Green Machine sleeker, more energy efficient, and easier to use. Our goal is to allow anyone who wants to be a farmer to get their operation off the ground and get growing with a freight farm.  

So what’s new with the 2015 LGM?

Fresh new exterior styling with green hardware detailing and white trim to accentuate the iconic shipping container features. The LGM now comes standard with a reflective gloss finish and the white coverage pulls out the lines of the industrial structure, contouring the marks from its former working life. The clean new look isn’t just for show — it also contributes to a larger reflective surface area, reducing the solar load that contributes to the temperature inside farm.

Improved interior climate means upgraded airflow capabilities throughout the system and enhanced intake and exhaust performance. Additional climate controls now sync intake and exhaust with an outdoor sensor that passively balances temperature when the right exterior conditions are available, greatly reducing energy consumption.  New temperature preferences also enable lower operating temperature during day or night cycles, allowing greater crop diversity and optimized plant performance.

Improvements to the germination and seedling station have been made to influence plant physiology. Growers can now create unique spectrum schedules throughout the day to promote desired growth responses.

Through meetings with our farmers we noticed how music became a staple in their growing process. Studies have been done on how plants react to sound and various genres of music, so we hope our farmers continue this research and keep building farming playlists.  Overhead speakers span the entire length of the farm for a fully immersive sound and a bluetooth-enabled audio system is now available as an add-on to any LGM.

As the LGM continues being used as a commercial growing facility, we worked to optimize workflow, most noticeably the streamlined dosing and sensor interactions that are now located in the main work area. We have also re-engineered the irrigation system for more efficient water usage and  to allow for more space and more usable storage.  

To get the most out of transplanting and harvesting we now offer an assisted moving track to transport a group of towers to the transplanting area, allowing a single person of any size to harvest and transplant quickly and efficiently. The new LGM has increased food safety measures with the addition of a work sink.

The LGM is now app-enabled and internet ready - Farmhand connects to your farm without access to the internet - the controller easily joins an existing local network and is free to operators when in proximity to the farm! System efficiency means performance and automatic software updates, as well as compatibility with new apps. Find out more at myfarmhand.com!

And big news for prospective farmers - financing options are available! We work with our farmers to help them acquire loans and grants.