Ripon indoor farm leads the state in hydroponics
The pink glow emanating from a former grocery store in downtown Ripon represents the future of farming, according to Bryan Ernst, owner of Ernessi Farms.
His business is the largest hydroponic farm in Wisconsin and supplies microgreens, herbs and mushrooms to 53 Sendiks and Festival Foods stores in Wisconsin. The pink glow is from the lights Ernst designed himself that emit the exact wavelengths needed for optimal plant growth, allowing him to produce tons of food and deliver it fresh the day it is harvested.
“The whole building is a lab,” says Ernst, who also describes Ernessi Foods as a tech company.
Inspiration for the business came from his time serving overseas with the U.S. Marine Corps. He saw firsthand the struggles people in some parts of the world had in finding fresh food to eat. Though he has a degree in geology, he and a friend started tinkering with hydroponics in the basement of his home.
“We killed a remarkable number of plants,” Ernst says.
He built all the equipment himself, and the friends tested various lighting, nutrients, water and growing mediums. It’s a hands-on approach that continues to this day with Ernst writing software, algorithms for inventory, seeding, harvesting and nearly all aspects of the business.
The business continues to build all of its equipment in-house with a few exceptions, such as the lights — but even those are designed to Ernst’s exacting specs.
The growing racks in the former grocery store are vertically stacked with culinary herbs and microgreens, while mushrooms grow in bags of sawdust obtained from a hardwood manufacturer that they then sterilize and inoculate with the spores.
Ernessi Farms uses biomimicry to convince the herbs and microgreens that it is spring and they should leaf out — producing full, bushy plants with more usable stems. Conditions are the opposite for the mushroom grow rooms, which mimic cool, wet fall weather.
Twice a week, the company harvests, packages and delivers food to the stores it serves across Wisconsin. The tightly controlled conditions and rapid harvest and delivery results in a higher-quality, fresh product, Ernst says.
The company is scalable and sustainable. Ernessi uses city water that is tested frequently and adjusted for micronutrients as needed. The only water loss is what is used by the plants.
The company is in the midst of expanding inside its downtown Ripon location and has room for another expansion of about 30%.
“We just keep squeezing out every bit of efficiency we can,” Ernst says.
While he anticipates long-term growth, Ernst says, “We are only expanding as fast as our technology allows.”
Ernst, who grew up in Ripon, is grateful for the support he has received.
“The business community in Ripon has been tremendously helpful,” he says. “Ripon downtown and Ripon Main Street are just terrific.”
Ernst credits his wife Lesley, co-owner and chief financial officer, with encouraging him to launch the business. He admits cashing in retirement savings and borrowing to launch the business was a risk, but he says that’s unavoidable when starting a business.
“You’re never going to have enough money and a strong enough plan,” Ernst says.