May 17, 2023

It’s easy for many of us to look at unused space and envision it becoming something else, such as a playground or a swimming pool.

When Brandon Hebor looks at unused space, his mind immediately pictures just one thing: a farm.

Mr. Hebor is at the forefront of the emerging industry of vertical farming. Shortly after graduating from the Sustainable Business Management (SMB) program, he entered the HELIX incubator and co-developed Ripple Farms, the award-winning company behind the first urban farm at Newnham Campus.

Since then, he’s founded Boreal Greens, an enterprise that produces crops and leverages his expertise in vertical farming to offer consulting and innovation services to other aspiring farmers.

“I’m very passionate about empowering the next generation of farmers,” said Mr. Hebor. I believe agricultural technology can support farmers and communities around the world to achieve both sustainability and profitability with their farms.”

To help push the boundaries of what’s possible with vertical farming, Boreal Greens recently partnered with the Seneca Centre for Health and Social Innovation on applied research to identify ways to run an effective vertical farm in Canada.

As part of the research, Erika Ponce, an SMB student, and Dr. West Suhanic, Professor, School of Accounting & Financial Services, explored various crops and equipment that could lead to viable operations. This is an important step as vertical farming has yet to take off in the way its proponents believe it can – meaning there is still a lack of information about best practices that can be used industry-wide. 

“The vertical farming industry raised a lot of venture capital, but the initial boom turned into a bit of a bust,” said Dr. Suhanic. “Ultimately, though, controlled-environment agriculture will be with us in some form.”

The project had two dimensions: identifying which crops make sense from a market perspective and looking at how new technology could help with profitability.

If profitability can be proven viable, then vertical farming will become a much more in-demand operation. Mr. Hebor envisions a future in which even small-scale vertical farms are considered an important part of any community’s public facilities.

“My goal is to look at food and farming systems as infrastructure for sustainable community development,” he said.

Thanks to this applied research initiative with Seneca Polytechnic, Boreal Greens is now armed with recommendations that can help its clients better develop their own farms. Mr. Hebor is even growing some of the crops identified through the project at the Boreal Greens facility in King Township.

Seneca employees have benefitted from this collaboration too: Ms. Ponce graduated and is now an environmental, social and governance analyst for a major investment research firm. And Dr. Suhanic recently started a project to construct a small vertical farm on the top level of the parking garage at Newnham Campus.

“We should always be asking how we can get additional uses out of our infrastructure,” said. Dr. Suhanic.

“Now, when I see a flat roof, I see farmland.”