The Floating Farm in Rotterdam has revised its operating model after a dispute over a floor installation, moving its cows to nearby farms while continuing dairy production with milk supplied from outside the site.
The project was developed by Peter and Minke van Wingerden with a €4 million investment and opened in May 2019 in the Port of Rotterdam. It was designed to produce food in an urban port setting without relying on conventional farmland, combining on-site feeding, milking, slurry handling and dairy processing. Its 28 Dutch MRI cows became a visitor attraction, with hundreds of thousands of people travelling to the port to see the operation.
The farm was recently offered for sale after the local environmental department said a newly fitted floor did not meet regulations. The cows were removed and were due to be sold, and milk production was set to stop. That plan has since changed: the farm is not being sold, and the animals have been moved to several farms about 20 km away.
Peter van Wingerden said milk and other dairy products are still being made and the vertical farm is performing well. He said the farm has very low emissions because of its technology and systems, but the rubber floor is German and lacks a Dutch compliance certificate. A stainless steel pipeline now runs from the quay to the farm, and a regular dairy truck brings milk from the dairy twice a week, at about 1,500 litres per batch. The milk supplier is about 20 km away, keeping transport time short.
Vertical production below the waterline
The floating structure also houses a vertical farm below the waterline, where the surrounding water provides cooling. The unit is a fully controlled, automated growing space with three layers and conveyor belts, combining grow-room and warehouse technology.
Four crop groups are grown there. Microgreens are harvested every two weeks, herbs every three weeks, leafy greens every four weeks and edible flowers every four to five weeks. The produce is used to make tea, pesto, herb-infused salts and herb-infused whey, alongside Parmigiano cheese.
The farm’s future location is also uncertain. Van Wingerden said the Floating Farm will have to leave the port in just over two years because the entire area is scheduled to become residential. He acknowledged that the current setup is not the vision the project began with, but said the operation is adapting to it.
The changes show how a high-profile urban agriculture project is being reshaped by regulatory and planning constraints. The dairy side now depends on animals kept elsewhere and milk moved a short distance to the floating site, while the vertical crop unit continues within the same structure. The farm is no longer presented as a self-contained milk-producing facility in its original form, but as a mixed operation combining brought-in dairy supplies with controlled-environment horticulture.