New Industry Report on Greenhouse Produce Sector Launches
June 9, 2025 
CEAg World’s 2025 Industry Report: Greenhouse Produce takes stock of North American greenhouse produce operations and best practices today. The following editorial kicks off the issue; to download the full report, click here.
Long before CEA was a thing, there was the “greenhouse industry.” It took thousands of years before growing methods and technology advanced to the point where we needed a broader term to encompass the evolution. Paul Sellew, founder and CEO of Little Leaf Farms, thinks that history is worth stressing as we set up for what’s next.
The greenhouse industry, he says, “is here now, and it’ll be here in the future. Several billion dollars flowed into CEA over the last 10 years on the idea that you can grow in a brand-new way that had never really been demonstrated before, commercially. But bubbles come and go, and business fundamentals remain unchanged.”
As CEA expectations work their way back to earth, growers of all types must focus on the basics: unit economics, profitability (realistically defined), hiring and maintaining a productive workforce, etc. But on the other hand, there’s so much cool innovation happening, and so much potential around new crops and growing methods. While greenhouses have indeed been around for millennia, what you can accomplish inside them today—and the tools to do so—are astounding. You’ve got to keep up, but more importantly, you have to make smart decisions about the best way forward for your business.
Depending on crop, climate, and overall goals, the range of viable greenhouse operations is vast. Whether you’re working with one low-tech greenhouse or hectares’ worth of futuristic equipment, the business of growing produce requires constant vigilance.
In the CEAg World Industry Report: Greenhouse Produce, we try to cover as many bases as we can. We’ve got up-to-date insight on disease management, right-sizing your equipment, research around efficiency and yield, and alternative energy options. We share a few secrets of success from the CEO of Canadian powerhouse Windset Farms, along with a thoughtful conversation among Vonnie Estes of the International Fresh Produce Association, Vermillion Growers’ co-founder Maria Deschauer, and Little Leaf Farms’ Sellew.
There’s so much to stay on top of, and the good news is that CEAg World is posting new articles daily, which we curate for you weekly via our Greenhouse Produce and Vertical Farming newsletters (sign up at CEAgWorld.com/subscribe). And there will be tons to talk about in November at the CEAgWorld Conference and Expo in Durham, N.C., where you can dig even deeper by asking questions and sharing your own insights with other growers and experts.
To download our full industry reports on greenhouse produce and vertical farming, click here.