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According to MANA, the farm pilot is being built for Rotterdam’s Merwe4Haven. The hold of the floating farm is transparent so that its operation can be viewed to boost education about healthy foods.

Production is circular on the farm, with cycles of nutrients, energy, and water closed as much as possible to reduce waste. 

The pasture for the cattle is grown under LED light with seeds germinated on special beds in short cycles. This production can continue throughout the year, enabling the cattle to eat fresh food every day. Their diet can be supplemented with residual flows from the urban food and beverage industry, and, if necessary, with hay and straw from the nearby countryside.

The cows themselves determine when they want to be milked by the milking robot. 

The urine can be used in city farming as a liquid fertilizer. The solid manure can be used, after fermentation and collection of biogas, as compost for soil enrichment and fertilization in city farming and the production of food for the animals. Rain water is collected to supply drinking water.

In the long term, the designers of Floating Farm see it as a solution to changing trade patterns. Currently Rotterdam is an important port city and a container and oil shipment hub. However, with a global change in energy production, energy processing, 3D Printing and IT, Rotterdam cannot continue to solely depend on its harbor, they say.