Key Takeaways
- GreenTech North America is launching a dedicated two-day conference on September 23–24 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, running alongside the Expo.
- The conference programme covers controlled environment agriculture topics including energy costs, human capital, digital growing, AI technologies, and market-driven crop production.
- Day 1 speakers include executives from Little Leaf Farms, Bright Farms, Mucci, Mastronardi, Nature Fresh, and the CEA Alliance, covering industry outlook, lighting management, labour challenges, and data centre energy competition.
- Day 2 sessions address hydroponic leafy greens design for efficiency and profitability, innovative produce crops, and ecosystem development, with speakers from Gotham Greens, Taylor Farms, Wageningen University, and the University of Kentucky.
- Visitor registration allows attendance at both the Conference and Expo, or the Expo only, with details available at greentech.nl/north-america/registration.
GreenTech North America Unveils Two-Day Conference Programme for Philadelphia
GreenTech North America has announced the full two-day conference programme running alongside its Expo on September 23 and 24 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The conference brings together greenhouse and CEA industry leaders for high-level sessions covering the innovations and challenges shaping horticulture across the continent, with a particular focus on energy costs, human capital, digital growing, and AI technologies.
Day 1: Industry Outlook, Lighting, Labour, and Energy
Wednesday 23 September opens at 9:45 AM with a panel on the state of the CEA greenhouse industry in North America, featuring Paul Sellew of Little Leaf Farms, Abby Prior of Bright Farms and Mucci, David Einstandig of Mastronardi, and Tom Stenzel of the CEA Alliance. The session covers current trends, challenges, and the outlook for the sector from a grower's perspective.
Two concurrent sessions follow at 10:20 AM. The first, led by Aad van den Berg of Delphy and Octavio Perez of Nature Fresh, addresses greenhouse artificial lighting management and strategies for improving yields. The second, presented by Jonathan Grode of Green & Spiegel, examines labour and talent acquisition challenges in the CEA greenhouse and vertical farming sector, including the development of domestic expertise.
At 12:40 PM, Derek Smith of the Resource Innovation Institute leads a session on data centres as either a competitor or opportunity for greenhouse energy costs — a topic of growing relevance as power demand from the technology sector intersects with agricultural energy infrastructure.
Day 2: Crops, Leafy Greens, and Ecosystem Development
Thursday 24 September opens at 9:00 AM with Peter Ravensbergen of Wageningen University & Research and Qinglu Ying of the University of Kentucky presenting on growing the CEA greenhouse ecosystem in North America, covering technology advancement, operational scaling, and talent development.
At 10:40 AM, two sessions run in parallel. Cole Mucci of Kingsone presents on innovative produce crops and growing what the market demands. Separately, a longer session running through 1:30 PM covers hydroponic leafy greens in North America, with Sonny Moerenhout of Cultivators, Laura Batista of Wageningen University and Research, John McMahon of Taylor Farms, and Jenn Frymark of Gotham Greens addressing efficiency, profitability, and scalable production design.
Visitor registration provides the option to attend both the Conference and the Expo, or the Expo only. Full registration details are available on the website.
