The Floating Farm in the Netherlands has entered a new phase after plans to sell the installation were set aside. The Rotterdam project, originally conceived as a way to produce food sustainably on water rather than relying on conventional land-based dairy farming, is now continuing dairy output with cows housed on nearby farms and a vertical crop unit operating inside the floating structure.
The change follows a dispute with the local environmental department. The owners had put the farm up for sale after the department ruled that a newly fitted floor did not meet regulations. The 28 Dutch MRI cows had been removed and were to be sold, and milk production was to stop. That course has not been followed. The farm is not being sold, the cows have been moved to several farms about 20 km away, and a vertical salad-growing enterprise occupies the basement of the floating building.
From port showcase to revised operation
Peter and Minke van Wingerden developed the Floating Farm with a €4 million investment. It opened in May 2019 in the Port of Rotterdam with on-site feeding, milking, slurry handling and dairy production facilities. The project was presented as a futuristic response to the challenge of producing food sustainably without the traditional requirement for farmland. Milk and dairy products were sold to local consumers through vending machines at the farm, and the site attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world.
Peter van Wingerden has confirmed that milk and other dairy production are continuing and that the vertical farm is performing well. He explained that the cows are now on several nearby farms. He said the farm's modern technology and systems give it the lowest possible emissions, but that the rubber floor is German and lacks a Dutch certificate of compliance. A stainless steel pipeline runs from the quay to the farm, and a regular dairy truck brings milk from the dairy for use twice a week, at about 1,500 litres per batch.
Vertical crops below the waterline
The vertical farm is a fully controlled, automated growing space for crops. It has three layers with conveyor belts and combines grow-room and warehouse technology. Four crop types are produced: micro-greens harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks, and edible flowers every four to five weeks. Van Wingerden said the crops are turned into tea, pesto, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey, alongside the farm's Parmigiano cheese. The unit sits in the current floating farm below the waterline, so it is cooled by the water.
The arrangement is not the original vision. Van Wingerden said the farm will have to leave the port in just over two years because the whole area is to become residential. He described the present system as a way of coping rather than the model the founders first envisaged. Even so, the short distance between the milk supplier and the farm, about 20 km, keeps transport time brief, he added.