Photo courtesy of Floating Garden Aquaponics
Bonny and Tim Goodenough’s farm, Floating Gardens Aquaponics, has gone through several changes since Tim’s family started it as a dairy farm three generations ago. In 2017, they switched to aquaponics farming, an indoor growing system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment, to grow lettuce, Swiss chard, herbs and mixed greens.
But could aquaponics work for growing hemp? The Goodenoughs were about to find out. “We were looking for other options that were more economically feasible,” Bonny recalls. When they struck up a conversation with a neighbor who is a hemp farmer, they were inspired to try hemp in their aquaponics system. Through the neighbor, and with the guidance of an aquaponics consultant, they started trailing a small quantity of hemp plants to how hemp would work in their greenhouse aquaponics setting.
Challenges included how and where to position blackout curtains to precisely control light. They were also limited to certain strains that wouldn’t grow too tall and would not be susceptible to molds or mildew. They also had to figure out ways to trellis the plants. They started with the winner variety, an indoor grow strain bred for high quality, smokable flower.
Within the past year, the plants yielded a steady supply of cannabidiol (CBD) that they processed into smokable flower, prerolls and capsules, available for sale on their website. So far, all flower is the winner strain, although Bonny notes they began experimenting with other strains such as honey badger, a quick growing, sativa-dominant hybrid known for producing dense flowers.
Agriculture experts have touted indoor farming such as aquaponics, along with hydroponics and micro greens, as the future of farming, due to the ability to grow indoors, year-round. Can it be the future of hemp farming, as well?
“One huge advantage of growing in a greenhouse is that we’re not susceptible to traditional pests that outdoor faming brings,” Bonny says. “Our environment is more controlled, so we don’t encounter a lot of issues outdoor growers have.” Wisconsin’s recent wet springs presented challenges for all farmers, but aquaponic greenhouse growing allows farmers to precisely control the elements. Bonny adds that their aquaponics system is an organic way to farm; commercial fertilizers aren’t needed because fish produce waste, which is broken down by microbes into fertilizer for the plants. Bonny and Tim raise tilapia, which they also sell locally near their farm in Mindoro, Wis., in La Crosse County.
They harvest about every three weeks, year-round. They average about 900 plants at any given time. Because they have a smaller volume of plants harvested more frequently, the drying, tiering and trimming processes are still laborious, but not as cumbersome as having to harvest and dry an entire crop all at once in autumn.
Bonny says that since launching online sales of their CBD flower, prerolls and capsules, they’ve had consistent buyers and had grown a customer base. She points out that due to lack or regulation, the realm of CBD products is still a buyer beware marketplace. “We harvest our flower and process it ourselves, so what we have on our website is what we actually grow,” she emphasizes.
Medical or recreational marijuana legalization is still a political football in Wisconsin, but Bonny says that when Wisconsin does legalize marijuana, they would probably dedicate a part of their facility to trying that, but they will likely stick with hemp. “I think the majority of the public does not want to get high off products, but they just want relief from pain and anxiety,” she says. “I truly feel that hemp will continue to find its niche in the market, even as more states legalize marijuana.”
For more information, visit floatinggardens.farm.
