Auburn alums looking to change world one seed at a time

Dale and Angela Speetjens are working to change the world.

The Auburn University graduates form a talented and motivated husband-wife tandem that is on the cutting edge of vertical farming and sustainable food production with designs on fundamentally changing the ways in which food is produced and distributed in Alabama and beyond. Through their Birmingham-based Shipshape Urban Farms, the Speetjens are looking to streamline farming practices, reduce food production costs, improve operational efficiency and provide high-quality food across the state and, eventually, the nation, internationally and even among the stars.

And they’re looking to the skies for answers.

In March, Shipshape teamed with ABOVE Space, with support from the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and startup accelerator Gener8tor, to send a payload of lettuce and tomato seeds to the International Space Station (ISS) in an attempt to better understand plant biology and “reshape the future of agriculture.” The mission, titled the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSIE-19), sent the seeds to the ISS to expose them to microgravity and radiation so their growth patterns, genetic expressions and resilience can be measured and tested in hopes of gleaning insight into potentially innovative procedures that can be replicated on earth.

The groundbreaking research is part of an experiment known as Microgravity Investigation of Seedling Systems in Extraterrestrial Environments (MISSIE) aimed at revolutionizing crop production. Flown on the SpaceX Dragon resupply mission SPX-30, the seeds were transported to the ISS and then attached to panels on the station’s exterior to test several durability factors in space’s harsh environment. Shipshape and its partners approached the experiment looking to collect crucial data and measurements that can be utilized to improve food production procedures.

“We went into this knowing that the seeds would have a 5-10% genetic variation or mutation due to the conditions of space,” said Dale Speetjens, CEO of Shipshape who holds a Bachelor of Science in environmental design, a master’s in Community Planning and a master’s in landscape architecture from the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. “The seeds will be back in our possession soon, and we plan to begin testing once they return to our farm at the Innovation Depot.”

Big dreams, lofty goals

Speetjens and his team hope to use data gathered from the ISS experiment to inform a number of Shipshape’s modes of operation, procedural improvements that can yield substantial advancements and impact in the vertical farming and regenerative agriculture scene.

“If we can boost our growth rate by 20%, we’ll see significant improvements in our production timeline, far surpassing traditional in-ground farming,” Speetjens said. “In-ground production takes about 12 weeks, and greenhouse production takes around six to eight.

“At our test facility, we’ve already reduced the growth time to five weeks using our current technology. A 20% increase would shave off an entire week from that cycle. This means more food, feeding more people and generating more revenue in the same amount of space.”

Speetjens believes the lessons learned from the ISS mission can enhance Shipshape’s food production efforts.

“Growth rate is the key factor,” Speetjens said. “Accelerating food production is central to what we’re aiming to achieve, and it’s why we’re pursuing these missions. Based on our initial calculations and data, we believe we can reduce power consumption by 60-70% compared to a traditional vertical farm of similar size, thanks to the strategies we’re using to grow our crops. This means our systems can provide clean water, clean food and clean energy year-round in any climate and environment.”

The Speetjens hope to use innovative vertical farming designs to enhance the efficiency of food production in Alabama, while cutting expenses and shortening transportation time.

“The other major aspect of our vision is utilizing our patents and partnerships to implement our farms across the state,” said Dale, a native of Daphne/Fairhope. “We’re collaborating with several groups to identify strategic locations for training organizations, training facilities and food production hubs throughout the state. Our goal is to establish these systems in multiple locations, unlike many of the other vertical farming operations around the world."

By creating self-sustaining regional vertical farming locations, Speetjens says they can streamline operations while also empowering local communities.

“We design our systems to fit the needs of the communities or regions they serve, typically covering a 50- to 100-mile radius,” Speetjens said. “Whether we own the farms ourselves or partner with nonprofits, municipalities, universities and other groups, our goal is to build hyper-sustainable farms. We leverage the expertise and what we have learned from Techstars, Gener8tor and other tech companies to create vertical farming systems that eliminate the need to ship food 1,500-2,000 miles while at the same time reduces power and water use. Instead, we focus on producing food locally, within a 50-mile radius, using clean energy rather than traditional power sources.

“That’s the core idea behind creating this distribution network — growing food locally instead of sourcing it from distant locations. Our mission is to bring food production back to communities by utilizing technology like automation, visual recognition software and AI to simplify the growing process. This way, food can be grown closer to where people live—right in our cities and neighborhoods.”

By implementing its procedures, Shipshape can help fight food insecurity and do so in an environmentally friendly way.

“Bringing food closer to where people live is a core part of our mission,” Speetjens said. “As a company, reducing food miles and minimizing the challenges that other vertical farms and traditional models face is incredibly important to us. By focusing on a network of vertical farms instead of single, massive mega-warehouses and by growing a diverse range of crops instead of relying on monoculture, we can prioritize sustainability and environmental stewardship.

“This includes reusing water and producing clean energy. This approach is essential to addressing the challenges we face, both in the U.S. and globally.”

Sustainability is at the heart of Shipshape’s approach.

“Sustainability is a core principle guiding everything we do, and it’s incredibly important,” Dale said. “Our patents focus on an energy capture system that essentially turns the hydroponic farm into a micro hydroelectric dam. This innovation allows us to reduce energy demand significantly, which is how we've been able to cut power consumption so dramatically. Our goal is to make sustainability central to all of our operations.

“If we can't grow food sustainably here on Earth, how are we going to feed people as we expand into space, whether in low Earth orbit, on the gateway station at the moon or beyond? We have to figure out how to grow food sustainably and efficiently — not as a hobby, but as a meaningful solution for indoor food production. If we don’t solve this now, we’ll continue to face major challenges with food security and accessibility in the future.”

The seeds of romance, Shipshape

Dale and Angela met on the first day of college at what was then called Faulkner Community College, were paired as lab partners and eventually became inseparable. They found they shared a love of plants, as well as a desire to help others and cultivate their own experiments and goals of revolutionizing sustainable farming.

After Auburn, they founded Shipshape in 2016 with five core values: justice, innovation, resilience, inclusion and camaraderie. Dale, who served as a satellite communications specialist in the U.S. Army from 2000-06, earned an environmental design undergraduate degree and dual master’s in landscape architecture and community planning from Auburn, while Angela graduated with a horticulture degree and an expertise in hydroponics. Their pairing has blossomed both in and out of the workplace, and Speetjens are propelled by a shared mission of making the world a better place.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Onward and upward

Shipshape has finalized a contract with a launch team for a new mission in March, with involvement on several additional launches in the works for 2025 and beyond.

In addition, the Speetjens plan to add a substantial facility and are designing a 12-acre regenerative farm in the Birmingham area. Shipshape is raising $3 million to fund these expansions, as well as add staff and dedicate efforts to submit grant proposals for funding. To that end, the company has partnered with East Alabama Rural Innovation and Training Hub (EARTH) on a sustainable agriculture project to revolutionize the region’s agricultural landscape by integrating advanced farming techniques, renewable energy and regenerative agriculture practices.

For a company that lost a facility to Hurricane Sally and was stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Shipshape has persevered and now is riding a wave of momentum that has taken it into outer space.

“Every little win and every step we take gets more people around the state and the country excited about what we are doing,” Dale said. “We’re not the first vertical farm, and we probably won’t be the last, but we’re definitely trying to be the most sustainable in the way we think a lot about what we’re doing and creative in the way we’re utilizing energy and what we can produce out of the systems.

“The last two years have been pretty big for us, and the next two years will be even bigger. There’s a lot of good stuff coming down the pipeline that I think can make a big impact around our state and region. Hopefully, in two or three years, we’ll be saying around the world, too.”