CEA Alliance and Indoor Ag-Con Announce 2025 Partnership
LAS VEGAS (August 13, 2024) — The Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance (CEA Alliance) and the Indoor Ag-Con LLC management group announced today that the Alliance will hold its 2025 annual meeting in conjunction with Indoor Ag-Con and contribute to the educational program at the event in Las Vegas, March 11-12, 2025.
“Indoor Ag-Con has become one of the most important events of the year for CEA growers,” said CEA Alliance Executive Director Tom Stenzel. “We’re excited to hold our annual business meeting at the show, facilitating the participation of our member growers and their business partners in this event.”
The partnership underscores the commitment of both organizations to advancing the field of controlled environment agriculture.
“We are honored to partner with the CEA Alliance,” said Brian Sullivan, CEO of Indoor Ag-Con. “The Alliance’s grower and business service members represent leading innovators and voices in the CEA industry, amplifying the value and impact of our audience. Hosting their annual meeting in conjunction with our event creates a unique opportunity for our exhibitors and attendees to engage directly with even more top-tier growers and industry leaders. The Alliance’s contributions to our educational lineup will be invaluable, bringing critical insights and expertise on the key issues and trends shaping the future of controlled environment agriculture.”
As part of the 2025 Indoor Ag-Con conference program, the CEA Alliance will present a “State of the Industry” report, outlining the growth, challenges, and opportunities for the CEA sector.
“We’re excited to bring our members’ experience and expertise to this presentation at the 2025 conference,” said Alliance Chairman Dan Malech, Senior Vice President, Strategy and General Counsel, Plenty. “Our friends at Indoor Ag-Con have created an essential educational and business destination for our members, and we look forward to continuing to build momentum for the growth of the indoor produce sector.”
Entering its 12th year, Indoor Ag-Con has consistently been a pivotal event for professionals in the CEA sector, experiencing year-on-year growth and providing a comprehensive platform for networking, business development, and education. For the March 11-12, 2025 edition, Indoor Ag-Con moves to its new venue, Westgate Las Vegas, providing space for the event’s expanding exhibit hall, educational offerings, and networking events.
ABOUT THE CEA ALLIANCE
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance is a membership trade association representing and serving vertical farms and greenhouse producers growing fruits and vegetables in a highly controlled indoor production environment. More information is available at www.ceaalliance.com
ABOUT INDOOR AG-CON
Indoor Ag-Con is the premier trade show and conference for the indoor and vertical farming industry, bringing together growers, suppliers, and industry leaders to share knowledge, network, and explore the latest innovations in controlled environment agriculture. More information is available at www.indoor.ag
The new 
The CEA Alliance is pleased to be holding our 2025 annual meeting in conjunction with Indoor Ag-Con. One of the core values of associations like ours is bringing together growers and their business partners, something that trade shows like Indoor Ag-Con do well. Our membership has grown over the past few years and now includes the majority of indoor produce production in North America, including leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers, cukes and berries. We also are finding companies coming aboard from around the world to participate in our food safety and sustainability programs. With that base of experience, we’re pleased to present a “State of the Industry” report at the show, sharing our members’ analysis of the challenges and opportunities for indoor agriculture.
I believe the industry is transforming from a “technology sector growing food” to a “food industry leveraging technology”. It sounds like a subtle difference, but we have to focus first on delivering the freshest, highest quality, most nutritious and best tasting food to consumers. There are many ways companies can use technology to achieve that goal – vertical farms with either horizontal stacks or vertical towers, high-tech greenhouses with hydroponics or soil systems, hybrid combinations of vertical, greenhouse and outdoor, etc.
From Vertical Farm Daily
The concept of Vertical Farming is not as contemporary as it might seem, with roots plunging deep into ancient history, as far back as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 605 BCE. However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that it truly began to blossom as a practical method of farming. The turning point was during WWII, when hydroponics—a subset of Vertical Farming—was employed on a large scale to feed the Allied Forces in the South Pacific, yielding over 8,000 tons of produce. The concept was refined further at Columbia University between 1991 and 1999, under the guidance of Professor Dr. Dickson Despommier. Now hailed as the father of modern Vertical Farming, Despommier and his students successfully devised a way to sustainably feed New York City’s populace via rooftop agriculture, birthing the contemporary approach to multi-story farming.
