Can machine-grown lettuce help cut Canada’s reliance on U.S. greens? This
As Canada’s reliance on U.S. produce hits the spotlight, one Ontario farmer has a pitch: locally grown, year-round produce, grown by artificial intelligence and automation.
In a sprawling two-hectare greenhouse, partially tucked inside a wooden red barn in King City, Ont., an animated Jay Willmot, farmer and entrepreneur, shared his vision.
“From sowing and seeding, all the way through to harvest and packing, no one touches this crop,” he said in front of rows and rows of lettuce shoots.
Instead, multimillion-dollar AI and machinery does the work; the whirring and clicking of conveyor belts, hooks and levers, fills the space that was once part of his family’s horse farm.
Willmot built his business, Haven Greens, to tackle the Canadian winter and a laundry list of obstacles that farmers face — from high labour costs to unpredictable weather. He’s not alone; federal and provincial governments have offered incentives to encourage automation.
Some experts do urge caution though — saying widespread adoption could have unintended consequences.
Lettuce close to home
Even without AI, a traditional greenhouse, or a vertical farm, would have addressed the issue of year-round growth. It’s a route many are choosing to take; Canadian greenhouse lettuce production alone has quadrupled over the last decade, according to Statistics Canada.
Willmot said automation and artificial intelligence allows him to maximize the amount of lettuce he can grow, while cutting labour costs, typically a greenhouse grower’s biggest operating expense.
The company also uses solar power, rainwater and other “energy-efficient systems” to keep costs down, he said. And he says the AI cuts out a lot of the waste that comes with guesswork.
A King City, Ont., greenhouse, Haven Greens, is harvesting thousands of kilograms of lettuce daily, all grown with automation and AI. The grower hopes it’s a model that will catch on but experts say the technology is still in its opening act, and deserves closer scrutiny.
“We have sensors that measure temperature, light intensity, humidity levels, and pressure levels. Everything within this greenhouse is automated by that central computer to achieve optimal growth conditions.” he added.
The company says the greenhouse produces more than 4,000 kilograms of lettuce per day. It’s being sold through the Ontario food terminal and directly to a number of independent grocery stores.
For Willmot, the goal is a reliable product that doesn’t need to travel across a continent to hit store shelves.
“I was sick and tired of old, slimy, smelly lettuce,” he said. When California, where most of Ontario’s lettuce comes from, was hit by drought and disease in 2022, lettuce…
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