Vertical Farm Yield Projector

Project annual harvest yields for a vertical farm based on grow area, tier count, crop cycles per year, and yield density for indoor farming business planning.

Inputs

Grow Area (floor)

sq ft

Number of Tiers

Crop Cycles per Year

Yield per Cycle

lbs/sq ft

Tab to move between fields

Results

Annual Harvest

10,000 lbs

≈ 9 grand pianos

Total Grow Area (all tiers)

2,000 sq ft

≈ 8 one-car garages

Annual Harvest (metric)4,536 kg

Annual Harvest (tons)5 tons

Annual Yield per Floor Sq Ft20 lbs

Harvest per Cycle1,000 lbs

Days per Cycle37 days

Outdoor Farm Equivalent0.5 acres

Est. Annual Revenue ($3/lb)$30,000.00

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your floor-level grow area in sq ft and the number of vertical growing tiers in your rack system.
Enter the number of crop cycles per year and the expected yield per cycle in lbs/sq ft — lettuce averages ~0.5–1.0 lbs/sq ft/cycle.
Review Annual Harvest (lbs, kg, and tons) and Total Grow Area across all tiers.
Compare Annual Yield per Floor Sq Ft to understand the productivity advantage of vertical stacking versus single-level cultivation.
Use Est. Annual Revenue to evaluate the financial viability of your vertical farm concept.

How the result changes with Grow Area (floor)

Grow Area (floor)	Annual Harvest	Total Grow Area (all tiers)
10,009	200,180 lbs	40,036 sq ft
35,007	700,140 lbs	140,028 sq ft
65,004	1,300,080 lbs	260,016 sq ft
90,001	1,800,020 lbs	360,004 sq ft

What each input means

Grow Area (floor): Floor-level growing area in square feet (single tier footprint). Total growing area is multiplied by the number of tiers.
Number of Tiers: Number of vertical growing levels stacked above each other. Standard shipping container farms use 4-6 tiers; warehouse farms 6-12.
Crop Cycles per Year: Number of complete grow-to-harvest cycles annually. Lettuce: 10-14 cycles (25-35 days each). Basil: 8-10 cycles. Microgreens: 15-20 cycles.
Yield per Cycle: Harvest weight per square foot per crop cycle. Leafy greens: 0.3-0.6 lbs/sq ft. Microgreens: 0.2-0.5 lbs/sq ft. Strawberries: 0.5-1.0 lbs/sq ft.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Grow Area (floor) = 500, Number of Tiers = 4, Crop Cycles per Year = 10, Yield per Cycle = 0.5 = 4 input(s) provided
Calculate Annual Harvest
10000 = 10000
Calculate Total Grow Area
Total Grow Area
2000 = 2000
Calculate Annual Harvest
Annual Harvest
4536 = 4536
Calculate Annual Harvest
Annual Harvest
5 = 5

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