Hydroponic, modular indoor farm, Square Roots, opening in Shepherdsville

Matthew Glowicki, Louisville Courier Journal
·2 min read
A Square Roots employee handles leafy greens in an indoor, climate-controlled farm.
A Square Roots employee handles leafy greens in an indoor, climate-controlled farm.

An indoor farming company is expanding to the Louisville area with a facility focused on growing herbs, leafy greens and microgreens.

Brooklyn-based Square Roots announced Tuesday it’s opening an indoor farm in Shepherdsville that is expected to grow enough greens to fill more than 3.1 million packages each year.

The company was founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 2016 by Kimbal Musk (the younger brother of Elon Musk) and Tobias Peggs and has since opened indoor farms in Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Springfield, Ohio.

The Shepherdsville location is the third in a partnership with food distributor Gordon Food Service in which the farms are located at Gordon's distribution centers.

"Working with Gordon Food Service, we’ve tripled our aggregate growing capacity this year while entering three new strategic markets across America’s heartland," said Peggs, co-founder and CEO, in a release. "This rapid expansion is purely driven by customer demand for our locally-grown food."

Spokesman John Kell said employees are preparing the 12,000-square-foot space and readying for first tests of the farming equipment.

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First commercial harvests are expected to start in the spring, with products bound for stores, restaurants and more across the Midwest, according to the company.

The climate-controlled indoor farm is housed in modular containers and uses a hydroponic growing system that grows crops in water instead of soil. The system recirculates water, using less water and land than traditional farming. Automation technology is used for seeding, harvesting and sanitization.

Square Roots locates in or near cities, aiming to shorten supply chains and provide fresh produce year-round. The Kentucky operation will create 25 local jobs, Kell said. He declined to share the investment cost.

Using the company's most advanced "smart-farm" technology platform to date (which helps customize different growing climates in the same facility), the site is expected to yield up to 30% more food than previously-launched farms.

Reach business reporter Matthew Glowicki at mglowicki@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Square Roots, urban farming company, to open in Louisville