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Large aquaponics farm opens in St. Paul

A nearly 90,000 square foot aquaponics farm is opening in St. Paul.

Pentair, a global sustainable water solutions company, is partnering with Twin Cities-based Urban Organics to produce 125 metric tons of fish and 200 metric tons of organic produce annually.

Urban Organics president and co-founder Dave Haider says consumers are driving expansion.

“Some of the things our consumers are really after (are) organic produce (and) sustainably farm-raised fish.  We can cut down on these food miles, so everything is kept fairly local.  And we’re raising these fish and growing this produce in a densely-populated area where a lot of this food is consumed.”

Alongside Atlantic salmon and arctic char, Urban Organics is growing a variety of greens including kale and romaine lettuce.

Haider tells Brownfield the new facility features Pentair technology that decouples fish water from the plant water.

“What we end up with after feeding (the fish) and filtering out the solid waste is a nitrate-rich water solution, and it’s that solution that provides all the nitrogen for our produce.”

The Urban Organics aquaponics farm, in the Schmidt’s Brewery location, is expected to be at full capacity early in 2018.

 

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