Are we in a vertical farming winter? The 2027 calendar lists 37 events, while private conversations turn to tight budgets and missing orders. How does the industry really feel?
In this article4 sections
When I finished putting together our 2027 events calendar, I counted 37 dated entries. I expected to come away thinking about which ones I wanted to attend. Instead, I found myself wondering what people would go there hoping to find. Vertical Farming Events 2027
Some of those dates are provisional. And the list covers a much wider field than stacked indoor farms. It includes greenhouse technology, hydroponics, research meetings and agricultural trade shows. Still, 37 entries give us something worth asking about. Who is booking a stand? Who can still afford to travel? And when people go home, what would make them say the trip was worth it?
What I hear away from the stage
I’ve been connected to this industry for more than ten years. I more or less fell into it, at a time when the people I met were ambitious and eager to see how far they could take the technology. I’ve kept in touch with people across the sector ever since. I see it from the second or third row. Other people spend their days at the racks, harvesting, packing and getting the product sold. I spend mine talking to people, following projects and trying to understand what happens between an announcement and a working business.
In public, I still see plenty of confidence. Companies have products to launch and projects to talk about. In direct conversations, I hear more about budgets that have been cut and projects that aren’t moving. One supplier told me that, at the time we spoke, it had gone roughly six months without a new vertical farming order. It was also supplying customers in other industries. I don’t know what its order book looks like today. What stayed with me was how matter-of-fact the conversation was. The company had people and equipment to keep busy, and it could do that elsewhere.
I’ve also noticed fewer visible advertisers on some of the trade media I follow. I can see what’s on a page, but I can’t see the contracts behind it. I take that observation as one more reason to ask what companies are spending money on now.
What would we do differently if the money came back?
My own view is that some companies made a serious mistake when they built capacity before they had a convincing answer to who would buy the crop, how much they would take every week and what price they would pay. I can understand why an investor who backed that kind of expansion would want better answers before writing another cheque.
The capital to build a farm and the money it earns once it opens are two different things. An operator can have customers and still struggle to finance a new site. An operator can also raise enough to open a site and then struggle to sell enough produce at a price that covers wages, electricity, packing and delivery. A difficult funding market puts pressure on both. It also reaches suppliers, who need to find other buyers when fewer farms are being built.
So here’s the question I keep coming back to. If the money were available tomorrow, what would we actually do differently? Would we start with a smaller farm? Grow a different crop? Secure repeat orders before adding capacity? Would we still expect the same price from the same buyers? I’m especially interested in what growers who already pay those bills would say.
What are people going to these events for?
I can imagine several answers. An operator may be looking for a cheaper way to run an existing farm. A supplier may be looking for customers in greenhouses. An investor may be looking for a business with repeat sales and a clear idea of what it costs to deliver. All three can make for a busy trade show. They tell us different things about the prospects for new vertical farms.
I’d like to hear what organisers are seeing as bookings come in, both at dedicated vertical farming events and at shows that draw on the wider controlled environment agriculture market.
How does it feel from where you sit?
Maybe you’re seeing a different side of the industry from the one I hear about. I’d like to hear from you either way. We’re opening a short, multilingual survey alongside this article, and it will run through 31 December 2026.
We’ll publish only combined results, such as how sentiment varies across the industry and where people see room for growth. Individual responses, comments and identifying details will stay privatePlease share the survey with colleagues and others working in the industry.
If you’re heading to one of those 37 events next year, I’m still curious what you’re hoping to find there. Maybe that’s where we’ll get our first sense of whether spring is coming.