Rockwell Automation Partnering with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin and Fork Farms to Create Clock Tower Farms

Key Terms

hydroponic technical

Growing plants without traditional soil, using water or lightweight support materials and a carefully mixed nutrient solution that supplies everything the plants need. For investors, hydroponic systems can mean faster growth, higher yields per square foot, lower water use and the ability to produce food closer to cities—factors that can reduce costs, improve supply reliability and create new business models in agriculture and indoor farming.

controlled environment technical

A controlled environment is a physical space where key conditions—such as temperature, humidity, air purity, and lighting—are deliberately regulated to keep production, testing, or storage consistent and safe. Think of it like a greenhouse or a climate‑controlled kitchen: keeping variables steady reduces defects, ensures regulatory compliance, and protects product quality, which directly affects manufacturing yields, costs, and investment risk.

Fresh food will be grown and distributed from Rockwell’s Milwaukee headquarters

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced the creation of Clock Tower Farms with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, the largest hunger relief organization in Wisconsin. Clock Tower Farms will combine hydroponic farming technology from Fork Farms and automation technology from Rockwell to grow and provide fresh, nutritious food that will help address hunger in our community. Clock Tower Farms is a first-of-its-kind facility, located in Rockwell’s Milwaukee headquarters. It is currently under construction and will be fully operational later this year.

Rockwell Automation is working with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin and Fork Farms to create Clock Tower Farms.

“Clock Tower Farms demonstrates how industrial automation can solve real-world challenges at scale and meaningfully impact our communities,” said Patricia Contreras, vice president, Community Impact at Rockwell Automation. “Working with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin and Fork Farms allows us to combine our strengths to address hunger and ensure more families have access to fresh, healthy produce year round.”

Using smart technology to grow healthy food

Clock Tower Farms will house 72 Fork Farms Flex Acre hydroponic systems that use nutrient-infused, recirculated water to nourish plant roots and optimize growth. Rockwell’s Plant PAx system will monitor and automatically adjust nutrient, pH, and water levels based on the crops being grown. New technology developed by Fork Farms enables localized power, dehumidification, and water and nutrient management for growing in a controlled environment. The modular design lowers costs, simplifies installation, and maximizes crop yields.

Clock Tower Farms is designed to:

• Grow 200,000 pounds of leafy greens and other produce for harvest each year
• Save 5.9 million gallons of water compared to traditional farming
• Conserve 5.5 acres of conventional crop land

Addressing food insecurity in our communities

Rockwell is donating the space and growing systems for Clock Tower Farms to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin at a critical time. Food pantries across Eastern Wisconsin are experiencing some of the highest demand in over a decade. For neighbors facing hunger, the impact of this collaboration will be immediate and tangible. Fresh food will move directly from harvest to distribution, traveling from the Clock Tower Farms dock to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s trucks with no long-term storage, delays, or unnecessary handling.

“Reliable access to fresh, nutritious food is critical to health and well-being,” said Patti Dew, Interim President and CEO of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. “Clock Tower Farms strengthens our ability to deliver high-quality produce efficiently to pantry partners across our network, expanding access to foods that support long-term health for neighbors throughout Eastern Wisconsin.”

Clock Tower Farms will strengthen Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s hunger relief network by expanding access to nutrient-dense food that supports long-term health, dignity, and choice, which are core priorities of the organization’s NourishRx approach to food as medicine.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 26,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries as of fiscal year end 2025. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

About Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin:

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin is the largest hunger relief organization in Wisconsin, with food banks in Milwaukee and Appleton. Founded in 1982 by the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, the organization is a locally led and independently operated member of the national Feeding America network of food banks. In collaboration with nearly 600 hunger relief partners and trusted community-based programs, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin provides healthy, nutritious food to neighbors facing hunger across 35 counties in Eastern Wisconsin. Committed to building stronger, healthier communities, the organization works to address the root causes of hunger through education, strategic partnerships, and innovative community-centered solutions. Learn more at FeedingAmericaWI.org.

About Fork Farms

Fork Farms is a food access technology company helping build the future of fresh food infrastructure. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Fork Farms develops indoor hydroponic farming technology and digital tools that enable schools, healthcare systems, businesses, and communities to grow fresh, nutritious food year-round in almost any environment. Its solutions help organizations expand food access, support wellness, and strengthen local food resilience by bringing food production closer to where people live, learn, work, and heal. For the third consecutive year, Fork Farms was named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies and ranked #1 in the Agriculture and Natural Resources sector. To learn more, visit www.forkfarms.com.

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Rockwell Automation media contact:
Ed Moreland
Head of Government Affairs and Corporate Communications
+1 571-296-0391
Edward.Moreland@RockwellAutomation.com

Rockwell Automation Investor Relations contact:
Aijana Zellner
Head of Investor Relations and Market Strategy
+1 440-289-8439
azellner@rockwellautomation.com

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin media contact:
Cameron Wengrzyn
Director of Marketing and Communications
+1 920-238-2755
cwengrzyn@feedingamericawi.org

Source: Rockwell Automation, Inc.