Rotterdam Floating Farm reprieved: milk flows again, salads grow below waterline

The world's first floating dairy farm in Rotterdam will not be sold after all, and milk processing has resumed — roughly 1,500L per batch, delivered twice a week through a stainless steel pipeline from the quay.

The reversal follows weeks of uncertainty. Owners Peter and Minke van Wingerden had put the Floating Farm up for sale after a dispute with the local environmental department, which ruled that a newly fitted floor did not comply with regulations. The 28 resident Dutch MRI cows were removed and faced being sold, with milk production set to cease.

That has changed. The cows have been relocated to several farms around 20km away rather than slaughtered, milk and dairy processing continue, and a vertical salad-growing enterprise has opened in the basement of the floating structure.

Why were the cows moved?

Peter van Wingerden blamed what he called outdated city rules on emissions. "We have another big change of plans here. Our cows have been transported to a few different farms near us," he said.

"We had to move them due to outdated city regulations regarding emissions.

"Our farm has the lowest emissions possible due to our modern technology and system, but the rubber floor is German and has no certificate of compliance in The Netherlands."

The floor's German origin, not its performance, triggered the compliance problem: the material simply lacks Dutch certification. The farm now receives milk by conventional dairy truck instead. "The regular dairy truck brings our milk from the dairy to use twice a week, which is approximately 1,500L per batch," van Wingerden said.

A €4 million concept under pressure

The van Wingerdens invested €4 million to build the Floating Farm, which opened in May 2019 in the Port of Rotterdam as a showcase for land-independent, sustainable food production. It carried on-site feeding, milking, slurry and dairy production facilities.

Throughout its operation the farm sold milk and dairy produce to local consumers through on-site vending machines. The concept drew hundreds of thousands of curious visitors from around the world.

The immediate crisis has passed, but the site's lifespan is now fixed. According to Peter van Wingerden, the Floating Farm must leave the port in just over two years because the entire area will be redeveloped as residential housing.

"This is not the vision we initially started off with, but we are coping with this system," he said. "The distance from our milk supplier to us is just 20km, therefore has a really short transportation time."

What grows below the waterline?

The new vertical farm occupies the basement of the floating structure, below the waterline, and is cooled by the surrounding harbour water. It is a fully controlled, automated growing space combining grow-room and warehouse technology, with three layers of crops on conveyor belts.

Four crop types are in production, each on its own harvest cycle:

• Micro-greens, harvested every two weeks
• Herbs, harvested every three weeks
• Leafy greens, harvested every four weeks
• Edible flowers, harvested every four to five weeks

The output feeds a processed range. "We turn these products into tea, pesto, together with our famous Parmigiano cheese, herb infused salts, herb infused whey," van Wingerden explained.

The basement location gives the growers a free cooling advantage: harbour water does the work that refrigeration plant would otherwise perform. "It is going really well," Peter added.

What happens next?

The farm's remaining window in the port is roughly two years. With the sale called off, milk processing running at two deliveries per week and the vertical unit in full production, the van Wingerdens must now find a new home for the entire operation before the site converts to housing. Farmers watching urban-adjacent innovation should look out for relocation plans and any new site announcement over the coming months.