The World's First Floating Farm

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Peter van Wingerden was working on a floating housing project in New York City when the east coast was hit by Hurricane Sandy. He saw first hand what an emergency like that can do to the local food supply. This inspired him to pivot his career into working on the viability of floating farms. And he’s built one in the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Van Wingerden… “Why not design a farm as an integral part of a city design on the water that is climate adaptive, no matter how much rain falls, no matter how high sea level rises, we can always produce a key essential element of life that is healthy food. So that's why we started to design this crazy idea about a farm on the water.”

The 30 meter by 30 meter dairy farm has three levels and supports 40 cows. Most of the feed comes from the city and the manure returns to the city to fertilize local fields, lawns, and parks.

Van Wingerden… “It is an integral part of city design: living, working recreation, and food production. So this farm is an essential element of city design. So we found a word that's called transFARMation. That farm should be part of a transformation of cities towards sustainability and circularity.”

Tune in tomorrow to learn more about the world’s first commercial floating farm.