Young Farmer Returns to the Family Land and Converts a Chicken Barn to an Indoor Hydroponic Veggie Farm

FRANKFORD, Del.—Amanda Owens has left her off-farm job and returned to the family farm in Delaware where she’s teaming up with her father Bill Owens to convert a chicken house to an indoor hydroponic growing system for veggies. The newly launched A&B Indoor Farms will provide fresh, clean, leafy greens and other crops to members of the local community even during the short, cold days of winter.    

A&B Indoor Farms has received a Convert to Crops grant from the Physicians Committee, a nonprofit health advocacy group with 17,000 doctor members nationwide including 68 physicians in Delaware. One goal of the Convert to Crops program is to assist the younger members of farming families if they wish to return to the family land and become full-time farmers. This addresses the current crisis with one-third of American farmers older than 65 years of age, according to Farm Week, and fewer young farmers entering this challenging profession to grow our food.

“Young farmers like Amanda Owens are needed to continue growing greens, beans, berries, and other health-promoting foods,” says Anna Herby, DHSc, RD, CDE, Nutrition Education Specialist for the Physicians Committee. “Veggies that are grown indoors during the winter are an important part of a plant-based diet that can help people lower blood pressure, prevent diabetes, and maintain a healthy weight among other benefits.” Fueled by plant protein, Dr. Herby is a long-distance hiker who has completed the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.

The chicken house on the Owens family farm is being cleaned out and the machinery, such as fans and heaters, will be repurposed for growing plants rather than raising chickens. Once the hydoponic growing system is installed, Amanda and Bill will grow fresh greens for local buyers. If they participate in Delaware’s Farm to School program, the greens could arrive in school kitchens the same day they are harvested, rather than being trucked in from hundreds of miles away. The Farm Transitions project of a national nonprofit, Animal Outlook, is providing expert assistance and is connecting the farmers to buyers.

For fresh produce, taste is important, and when Bill Owens grew cherry tomatoes hydroponically, the sugar content was very high—and the yield was high as well.  Amanda and Bill would eventually like to open up the indoor farm and welcome nearby families who will be invited to pick their own strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and other fresh produce. It will be an especially memorable activity for families in winter.

There are many advantages to growing food in a clean, controlled indoor environment. For example, good bugs will be used to control bad bugs, according to Bill Owens, so there’s no need for chemical pesticides. It seems contradictory, but hydroponic farming uses less water. According to the peer-reviewed journal Materials Today, hydroponic farming can reduce water usage by more than 70% to 80%. Raising live animals, including chickens, is very water-intensive because water is used to grow the animals’ feed, and then more water is used for processing the animals.

Launched in November 2024, the Physicians Committee’s Convert to Crops program is modeled on a program established by lawmakers in Vermont who provided grants to farmers who wished to diversify or transition from one type of farming to another.

A recent grant recipient is the Whitcomb family farm in Vermont, which was featured in the Burlington Free Press. The Whitcombs have phased out the dairy operation, but the sixth-and seventh-generation farmers are finding success growing crops including pumpkins, butternut squash, apples, corn, and Christmas trees. The three young farmers, Cale, Dane, and Max Whitcomb, all have off-farm jobs, but they spend a significant amount of time on the family farm as their parents begin to think about retirement. “My brothers and I always had an interest in continuing to farm,” Max told the Essex Reporter.

Another Convert to Crops grant recipient is Riley Creek Farms in Alabama where the Ferguson family farmers are growing hydroponic leafy greens in a retrofitted chicken barn, as reported by the Dothan Eagle, Farms, AgFarmNews, WTVY-TV, and other news outlets. When the farming patriarch passed away, his daughter and son-in-law took over the day-to-day operations of the hydroponic farm.

As reported by the Omaha World Herald, Nebraska Public Media, KOLN-TV, and many other news outlets, the Physicians Committee has given a farm transition grant to a fourth-generation Nebraska farmer who is rewilding her family’s former cattle ranch. Since the farm borders the Middle Loup River, and flooding is a concern, she is stabilizing the riverbanks with native plants including buffalo berries, raspberries, and elderberries. The riparian berry thickets will provide food and cover to birds, butterflies, and other wildlife.