Earth's Small Happiness Series AZ, Part S.
Smart farm.
How did a husband who was an architect and a wife who was a lecturer end up starting the second act of their lives with a smart farm?

A site of ups and downs, where LEDs replaced sunlight, water replaced soil, and even days when 'feeling' was more accurate than data.
As I read the stories of the first works that I thought were doomed, and the ones that persevered in the end, I find myself cheering them on and laughing.
This book is not a 'smart farm manual', but a reality show about farmer growth that will make you laugh without realizing it and cheer for the farmer at some point.
It's okay if you don't know what a smart farm is.
It's just fun.
And about halfway through, you might think:
“Uh… Should I try it too?”

This book doesn't teach you professional smart farm technology or secrets to making a fortune through farm management.
However, we focus on helping you have the courage to jump in.
We were also complete beginners who didn't even know the 'n' in farming.
But now, I've grown to the point where I've been interviewed by agricultural magazines, been on the cover, appeared on the news, and even provided consulting and training to other farms.
I believe that I was able to achieve this in just two years of running the farm because I worked hard, learned, studied, and thought hard.


For those of you who are just starting out, this isn't something grand to tell them.
A starting mindset.
We'll teach you how to set a vision for your farm and how to reduce the trial and error that beginners often face.

--- From "Entering"

LED is sunlight, water is soil
A smart farm is an advanced agricultural system that applies ICT (information and communication technology) to agriculture to automatically control the growing environment of crops, increase productivity, and reduce labor.
It can be introduced to open fields or houses, but our farm is an indoor factory-type smart farm.
So, the first thing that people who visit say in surprise is, “Is this space?”
In the previous chapter, we talked about the movie 'The Martian', and you will be surprised to see the LEDs and vertical towers standing tall, just like a scene from the movie, and the fragrant basil growing luxuriantly through the facilities.
But there is one crucial difference between movies and reality.
It is 'soil'.
In the movies, they grow potatoes in Martian soil, but we grow plants without a single grain of soil.
What makes this possible is the hydroponic system.

--- From "Growing Basil Without a Fistful of Soil?"

To start a smart farm
What do you think after watching our tumultuous growth journey? Man, smart farm farming must be tough.
Are you thinking, "Why not?" or "It's worth a try?" or "Should I give it a try?" If you're considering smart farming, please refer to the following essential considerations and preparations we'll share with you when getting started.


Farming in fields or paddies only requires land and crops.
Farm machinery is also necessary.
On the other hand, smart farms require quite a bit of equipment cost.
The LEDs must be placed in a 1:1 match with the plant tower, and sufficient space is required to control the light by adjusting the distance between the crops and the LEDs.
Of course, more intensive facilities are possible compared to fields or paddies, but as the saying goes, agriculture is about economies of scale, so the more space you have, the better if you want to make enough money.


So when starting a smart farm, we recommend starting as large as possible within your available budget.
Among those who inquire, there are some who say they will start small and expand if things go well, but if they do expand, the additional equipment costs are not small, and if you want to take the basic expenses + profit, it is difficult to guarantee profit if the scale is small.
So we're also preparing for expansion right now, and what we always say is, "We should have started bigger from the beginning."

--- From "Chapter 4: For those who want to start a smart farm"