Utah company builds 'modular farms' that conserve water

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Future Fresh Farms in Utah builds water-efficient modular farms using aquaponics.
The system integrates trout farming, conserving over 90% of water in a closed loop.
CEO Sean Burrows aims for profitability and expansion, supported by a state grant.

PROVO — A Utah County startup is building "modular farms" that founders say waste very little water and double as a trout farm.

From a tower system to the container you'd see at the grocery store, the folks at Future Fresh Farms say they do it while keeping more than 90% of their water inside this closed-loop system.

It begins with the fish. Thousands of trout inside two huge 2,000-gallon tanks. They are living inside the water supply for the farm.

Sean Burrows is the CEO and founder of Future Fresh Farms. It all started as a family hobby.

"It's a really small footprint and you can put it anywhere," Burrows said. "My father and I, about 10 years ago, were doing something similar to this in our backyard."

But they refined it over and over, adding the trout to make an aquaponic system. Now they're building and selling the system in what they call farmtainers.

"This system can grow up to 6,000 plants a month," Burrows said. "Lettuce, basil or anything you want to grow."

But they had to make it all profitable for the farmer for themselves, making sure they could sell the produce at market value.

"There's a lot of power associated if we had to lower the power costs and the lower hours with it," Burrows said.

A trout tank at Future Fresh Farms Thursday. Part of their success comes from fish waste stored in containers used as part of their soil conditioner. (Photo: Mike Anderson, KSL-TV)

A big part of it comes from fish waste stored in the containers. It creates a soil conditioner that Burrows says is more effective than fertilizer.

"Now we've arrived at that point where proving that it's working," Burrows said. "Now, we want to have others adopt the technology and be successful at being aquaponic farmers themselves."

A grant focused on water conservation, through the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, helped them develop it all to be stored in farmtainers, which can be easily expanded into farmplexes that they say can go anywhere.

Because the system is all nicely contained, there are no herbicides or pesticides. They've currently got four of these systems starting up around the state.

"No matter what time of the year, we get fresh produce," Burrows said.

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