S1E2: 002 Louisa Burwood-Taylor - The Biggest Challenges Facing Indoor Agriculture

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show AgTech journalist, Louisa Burwood-Taylor. As a journalist and editor, Louisa covers foodtech, agriculture, venture capital investment and corporate innovation within the indoor agriculture industry. In this episode, Harry and Louisa discuss the societal impact of indoor agriculture and vertical farming, the emergence of competition, and biggest threats and challenges currently facing this niche industry.

Special thanks to our Season 1 Sponsor

IGS – https://intelligentgrowthsolutions.com/

Key Takeaways

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• 02:00 – Louisa’s background in AgTech journalism and how she became passionate about this topic
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• 07:06 – The origin story behind AgFunder News
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• 09:35 – Louisa shares her thoughts on the developments being made in vertical farming
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• 15:24 – Harry and Louisa discuss the emergence of competition and other players entering the indoor agriculture industry
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• 20:28 – Louisa speaks to why the timing is right for our society to embrace vertical farming and best practices companies are putting into place
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• 22:51 – The three biggest challenges facing indoor agriculture and what has Louisa excited about the future of the industry
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• 28:01 – Concerns with Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) foods
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• 31:03 – Where listeners can follow Louisa and AgFunder News
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Tweetables

“It’s hard to ignore the impact of climate change and the impact that humans have on this planet.” (05:59)

“I think that the use of software programs, robotics – all of that technology which has, in itself, improved over the last couple of years – it’s now come to a point where I think it’s becoming effective indoors.” (11:30)

“I think there’s absolutely potential for people to build new farms in smaller locations in more niche areas or products.” (16:19)

“A lot of times a valuation of a company is dependent on their access to capital and not necessarily the stage at which their company is in terms of bringing in revenues and being a sustainable business.” (18:17)

“I think we’ve proven that we do have enough food to feed the world. It’s not necessarily reaching the right places and the right people.” (27:28)

Links Mentioned:

AgFunder News

Louisa Burwood-Taylor on LinkedIn

Louisa Burwood-Taylor on Twitter

Intelligent Growth Solutions

Website | Twitter | YouTube

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Mentioned in this episode:

2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews

2025 Precision Ag Report

2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews

2025 Precision Ag Report