James Dyson: From Vacuums to a Strawberry Vertical Farming Operation in England

There were vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, heaters, hair dryers, hand dryers, washing machines, and ventilators. Now, there are strawberries. And those strawberries grow in an 18-foot-tall rotating wheel on an English countryside. Dyson, the company that may be best known for its design that allowed centrifugal force to separate dirt from the airflow of the vacuum, is now working on refining its vertical farming operations that are part of 36,000 acres in the United Kingdom.

“There is a real opportunity for agriculture to drive a revolution in technology,” company founder James Dyson told Fast Company, “And vice versa.”

James Dyson’s Farming Background

Farming is not foreign to Dyson, who grew up in rural England. He hauled potatoes early in his working career.

Dyson Farming prioritizes sustainability and food quality by using crop rotation, planting wildflowers to benefit pollinators, and incorporating technological assistance through sensors and drones.

Dyson claimed that his farming system that uses rotating wheels for the strawberry plants maximizes the glasshouse’s vertical space, increases the number of plants that can be grown, and boosts overall yields by 250%.