Topcon Talks Agriculture

AppHarvest Plants for the Planet | S07E01

March 23, 2023 Topcon Positioning Systems Season 7 Episode 1
Topcon Talks Agriculture
AppHarvest Plants for the Planet | S07E01
Show Notes Transcript

With the unpredictability of the climate and other challenges, the growth of indoor farming seems inevitable. Hear from Travis Parman, Chief Communications Officer at AppHarvest, a pioneering company in controlled environment agriculture. Discover what helps indoor farming flourish and how it may impact the future. 

Speaker 1:

Hello, and welcome to the Top Con Talks Agriculture podcast. On each episode, we discuss and share topics that are important to farmers, growers, and agribusiness. My name is Dan Hendricks, and I am your host for today. I serve as a business development manager for Topcon Agriculture, and I get to work with an amazing group of people that love agriculture and they love technology, and they strive to help growers and farmers find solutions. Now, they say that farming is local, and I, I wholeheartedly believe that every region of our country and the world does agriculture just a little bit differently. And because of the unique setting and location of the farm and the crop, and the soil and the weather, every farm is just a little bit different. Working for Topcon, uh, it has allowed me to travel to different parts of the United States and witness firsthand the diversity in agriculture. And I live in, uh, the Midwest where the predominant crops are corn and beans. But I love that I get the opportunity to see a wide variety of crops and ways of growing our food across this great country of ours. A few months ago, a coworker sent me a link to a CBS News video about a cutting edge company in Moorehead, Kentucky that blew my mind. Uh, the name of the company is called App Harvest, and they are one of the world's leaders in indoor farming. They currently have 165 acres of indoor farming facilities that are producing a variety of crops. The video is so impressive that our Topcon podcast team said We need to do an episode on indoor farming, and we need to see if we can get someone from App Harvest to tell us about what they are doing. So that's what today's episode is all about, the revolution of indoor farming. And we have a very special guest today from App Harvest. His name is Travis Parman. Travis is the Chief Communications Officer at App Harvest. He's been doing this indoor farming gig for about two and a half years. Interestingly enough, Travis experience before App Harvest was in the automotive industry. And today he is helping App Harvest grow and expand and innovate farming practices in this indoor farming space. Travis, welcome to the Topcon podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thanks, Dan. Happy to be here.

Speaker 1:

Uh, we're glad to have you to set the scene. For our listeners, give us a simple explanation of indoor farming or c t a, the, the controlled environment agriculture.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so in a nutshell, these are giant indoor farms where we can farm, uh, 365 days a year. And so, uh, the controlled environment agriculture means that regardless of the environment outside, we create an internal environment that is optimal for fruit and vegetable production.

Speaker 1:

Most people are familiar with a greenhouse. Would you say, is it fair to say like what you guys are doing is similar to a greenhouse just on a monstrous scale?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, these, we refer to them as high-tech indoor farms, and that's cause greenhouse can cover such a spectrum of different types of facilities from low tech all the way through high tech, uh, that we really emphasized that. But we did a lot of technology transfer from the Netherlands because the Dutch had been doing this for 50 to 70 years. Uh, and so we just did it at a US sized scale with the most current technology. Um, but the style is actually a Venlo greenhouse style because we rely on sunshine first, uh, is where we turn to for energy. And so we've got a glass roof that's diffused glass that really, uh, scatters the light to help each plant get its fair share.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, that's really cool. Uh, when App Harvest was founded in 2017, what was the goal in the vision behind it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that was when our C E O Jonathan Webb was running around with a laptop and a backpack and, you know, maybe two or three employees. Uh, and then it scaled pretty quickly. Uh, he had done, uh, major solar infrastructure for Department of Defense facilities, uh, when they were trying to switch over to do more renewable energy. So all the talk at that point, he was in DC was around, um, uh, energy security. And the more he dug into it, he realized, hey, that's an important issue, but food security increasingly as much more important than that. And so he had been looking for what opportunities can I find that I can take and do something at a large scale and help create industry back in eastern Kentucky, uh, where they really need the jobs, where there's an available workforce, uh, to supply the industry and really create an ecosystem that feeds something larger. Uh, and so that was where the idea for App Harvest started.

Speaker 1:

Uh, it's an amazing idea and he, you guys have done such an amazing job to to launch it. So a three part question here for you. Tell us how many facilities you now have, what crops you're growing, and where does the food that you're growing go?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay. So we've got four farms. Um, so we got, uh, we, we started with our flagship farm in Morehead, Kentucky. And so then we expanded, uh, particularly last year, opening up three more farms. So in Somerset, Kentucky, we've got a strawberry farm that also, uh, seasonally does cucumbers. We've got in Richmond, Kentucky, uh, a farm that basically is a copy paste of our Moorhead farm that focuses on tomatoes. Uh, and so combined Richmond and Moorhead can do about 1.5 million tomato plants at a time. Uh, and then we also have in Berea, Kentucky, a salad greens facility. And so that can do about 30, 35 million lettuce plants, uh, at a time. Uh, and that's a touchless system with autonomous harvesting. And so those are our four, uh, and all of the different types of, uh, crops that we're growing there, we expect to continue to diversify our crop portfolio a little bit more for, um, controlled environment agriculture. Uh, it's vine crops that tend to do best. So, uh, another, another area that we might look at in addition to the, the, the tomatoes. The berries, uh, would be things along the lines of, of peppers, uh, and, and other wine crops like that.

Speaker 1:

And these crops that you're growing, the tomatoes, uh, the lettuce strawberries are, are they going to grocery stores?

Speaker 2:

Yes. So we sell through, we've got a distributor called Master Arti Produce, which is one of the top, um, greenhouse grown producers, um, in the US and distributors. And so we sell through them under a number of their brands under a number of private label brands to a combination of the top 25 grocery stores, uh, restaurants and food service outlets. So a couple of our biggest customers right now are places like Wendy's and Kroger.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So I'm probably eating your tomatoes or have maybe for lunch. And I had no idea that they were grown indoors.

Speaker 2:

Depends on where you are. Um, cause we, that's one of the benefits of being an Appalachia is we are within 70% of the US population in a day's drive. And so that shortens your food miles, which is not only more economical, but it's also more sustainable. Uh, and you're able to pick those, uh, crops when they're riper fresh in some cases have been picked, packed, and on store shelves within 24 hours. So one of the reasons that coal was so popular, uh, was so, uh, successful in Appalachia, wasn't just that they had the coal deposits. There were other areas that had the deposits, but it's cause it, they were so close to major markets. Uh, and so that's a real benefit with perishable goods.

Speaker 1:

So talk to me about some of the main advantages of indoor farming compared to a traditional way of farming or growing these types of vegetables

Speaker 2:

In today's environment. With the climate continuing to change, um, one of the big advantages is having a, a, a climate that you know, that you can rely on, one that you are are controlling. Uh, and so that's a major benefit. Um, also, um, using less water. Um, for a long time we've farmed, uh, as if water really isn't of any consequence because it's always been readily available, uh, basically at a zero cost. And increasingly that's not the case anymore, especially in some of our most traditional growing areas. So, uh, this type of farming lets you use about 90% less water than open field agriculture. You're also, uh, able to do very precision dosing of nutrients. So you're using a fraction of the fertilizer, uh, that would you would use in some other areas. Uh, and so those are some of the key benefits also, um, just using a smaller portion of land. Um, cause we can get about 30 times the productivity per square acre, uh, in our controlled environment versus open field farming. Uh, and so you get, uh, a, a synergy there of just being able to be efficient, these tomato plants.

Speaker 1:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2:

<affirmative>, do you grow tomatoes? Yes. Did you grow up growing tomatoes? Yes. Ok. Your best. How much of a tomato whisperer are you? How tall do your plants get? How many productive, um, trusses do you have on them?

Speaker 1:

Um, not very good. Um, we usually end up buying them from the guy, uh, down the road because we burn ours up and, uh, it, it just ends up being a lot of work.

Speaker 2:

<laugh>. Yeah. So these vines can get to be about 30, 35 feet tall with 2025 productive trusses on them. They're indeterminate and so they grow upward. So we're not a vertical farm, which stacks cause we rely on the sunlight as much as we can. Um, but you do get that benefit of being able to really grow a large quantity in a relatively small area, which can make it really productive for packing and shipping out, uh, harvesting, um, uh, all of the crop care in general in a, in a concentrated area.

Speaker 1:

Well, we've talked in previous episodes of this podcast about, uh, the future of agriculture and the, the need to do more with less. And it sounds like that's exactly what you guys are doing, uh, here. And you, you touched on autonomy a little bit, but, uh, talk to me more about the autonomous farming techniques in your facility and why they're important.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So Berea is our, um, most sophisticated in terms of autonomy, which can help a lot in the area of food safety, especially when it comes to things like lettuces. Um, which, uh, LEDs can be prone in an open field environment, uh, to collecting disease. You have an animal run through or fly across, uh, that can drop, uh, debris, you know, into that, that gets collected. Um, or things that are more waterborne in general, uh, can tend to carry, uh, more, more disease and, and plant issues along with it. Uh, and so the, the less interference you have, um, with being able to pass along, um, certain types of disease or viruses or bacteria, uh, the better that can be. Uh, so in the case of Bria with our leafy greens, um, basically everything from filling the troughs to, to seeding them, to them going into a germination phase, um, the whole crop cycle is about 21 to 28 days for that. So they basically grow toward the guillotine, is what I call it. You remember those, uh, old commercials that, um, where you attached a cutting device to the end of your vacuum cleaner and to, for a haircut called a flowbee?

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Yes. That, that's similar to what happens. The computer knows to do whatever salad mix it needs. I need to pull this trough, this tray from this area. And so it does the mix automatically based on the computer program. And it pulls, uh, like about a 16 foot trough, um, into the guillotine area. And there's a little suction device that pulls it upward, uh, and then snips it, and then puts it on a conveyor, does the mix. We do the washing, uh, and the, the drying and the packaging all on site. So the first time a human really interacts with the product is when it's already been packed, uh, and a, uh, fork truck is going through to put it on the, the, the transportation to get it to the grocery store. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Now, did App Harvest have to develop most of this technology or adapt it from other industries?

Speaker 2:

We have worked to adapt it, but we've tried not to reinvent the wheel, uh, where we didn't have to. Uh, so, um, again, a lot of this we have been able to do technology transfer from the Netherlands, um, and then just really size it, like really scale it up for, for us proportions.

Speaker 1:

So, Travis, tell me, how does this technology play a role in combating the strained food supply chain?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So, uh, increasingly it's difficult for farmers to know what growing season they're going to have, when it's gonna start, when it's gonna end, whether they're gonna be affected by extreme wind events, by extreme heat, by drought, by flooding. So having a controlled environment helps stabilize your ability to produce and it helps to create more reliable quantity and quality.

Speaker 1:

And I watched an interview with your C E o Jonathan Webb and he stated that he believes in producing a product that's good for the people and good for the planet. Is that your mission and the way that you guys are investing in the future of food?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. Um, the United Nation reports suggest we're gonna need to produce 50 to 70% more food to meet the needs of a growing population by 2050. Well, 70% of all fresh water already is dedicated to agriculture. So that means we're gonna have to grow far more with far less. So, absolutely. We believe every form of agriculture is necessary and we're gonna need every tool in the arsenal to meet that challenge. And so this is one way to help produce more food with fewer resources. And it's not good for all crop types, but for vine crops, uh, you can be incredibly efficient with it.

Speaker 1:

Now when I watch the cbs uh, video, uh, it, it was, it was incredible to see all of it working and it was working as a fine oiled machine, but, uh, I'm sure in the early days there were some, uh, hurdles that you had to get over. So can you tell me what were some of the big challenges that you guys ran into when you first started trying to do this?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I would say, um, what we have said is that we estimate that depending on the type of farm it is, uh, it takes about 24 to 36 months for them really to ramp up. So for example, Morehead is now in its third season of harvesting. And so we're seeing that our key performance indicators are looking much more like we want them to, uh, with three seasons of experience. Uh, and so I, it's really, I think ramping up to the scale, uh, and just learning, um, that, you know, we've hired a lot of local folks, uh, and getting them trained so those crop care specialists stay on top of the tasks. Um, cause it's really all about the plant and plant health. And so little things like the de leafing and the pruning and the suffering that are required, staying on top of all of those issues, um, for a plant that is gonna produce for about 10 months outta the year is critical. Cause otherwise you have a cascade effect. And so I think that's one of the big things we've learned is just staying on top of all of the hygiene and care for those plants so that they'll be productive and have optimal health all the way through the season.

Speaker 1:

Speak to the economic benefits of indoor farming, both, both for your company growing it and, and for consumers. How's, how's the economics play out?

Speaker 2:

So there's a lot of demand for us grown. Um, and from the, the our end buyers, uh, the grocery stores, the restaurants, they like the reliability of the quality and the quantity, uh, that they can get. And they like shortening those supply chains. Um, so there's a real benefit there as well. So the reduced amount of spoilage that we chatted a little bit earlier, uh, is helpful. Uh, you wind up with longer shelf life as a result of that too. Uh, so all of those things help margins all around. Uh, and then if you can create a good, reliable product that has a name brand on it, then people can know, uh, that they can go to that and that it's gonna have consistent, reliable, quality, taste, texture, nutrition, uh, and so building that up over time, uh, can be really helpful too.

Speaker 1:

I learned that Martha Stewart is on your board of directors, uh, for App Harvest. So tell us how she serves as a mentor and a resource for your organization.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so Martha, really there's, uh, there there are fewer people that you can throw out there that, that people know, you know better right,

Speaker 1:

Than

Speaker 2:

Her Yeah. As an authority in food, uh, and the home in general. Uh, and you know, she also pulls zero punches. So if you put something in front of her that is not up to her standards or is not the quality that she thinks she's gonna let you know about it. Uh, so she really has helped coach Jonathan, uh, in many regards. He was in his boots the first time, but we had our first harvest and sent her sample tomatoes worried about what she would think about them, but she gave them a thumbs up. She put'em on her Instagram account, she cooked with them. And now when she comes into Kentucky to visit, um, a lot of people don't necessarily want to travel with fresh produce back home, but boy, she does. She will tell every box under and then you'll see them in her Instagram feed on what she has cooked with them over the next week.

Speaker 1:

Uh, that's excellent. So talk to me about what indoor farming means for the future of agriculture. A and let's do that. And then let's talk about what it means for the future of the climate. Tell me where you see this going.

Speaker 2:

So we really see controlled environment agriculture as needing to be the third wave of sustainable infrastructure. If you consider the first one being renewable energy, the second one being the popularization, the mainstreaming of electric vehicles. We see controlled environment agriculture needing to be that third wave. Um, cause we've gotten the point where, um, based on weather changing, it's just too unpredictable, um, for our food supply. And people started to see that a little bit during Covid, uh, when grocery store shelves went empty and they started to see how short those food supply lines really mm-hmm.<affirmative> can be mm-hmm.

Speaker 1:

<affirmative> how fragile they are, I would say. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

We also, um, about a year, year and a half into Covid, we had that, um, ice storm that dipped way into Texas and it prevented a number of transfer trucks from being able to haul produce from Texas across the border. And grocery store shelves went emptier. And so it made it more top of mind for people. So right now, the U S D A estimates that we rely on about two thirds of our fresh fruits and vegetables being imported. So there's a way that we can create US jobs, um, doing this in the us doing it sustainably, doing it economically. Uh, and so that's, that's where we see it headed as increasingly, uh, leveraging more controlled environment agriculture throughout the us Right now it's estimated that the US has about 6,000 acres total of controlled environment agriculture compared to Europe, which has more than 500,000.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So they're, they're ahead of us in, in this realm.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Uh, it really started in the Netherlands, and that's where we transferred a lot of our technology from. And they did it because during World War ii, their supply lines got cut and so they were landlocked and a good portion of their population starved to death. And they made it a national priority and they said, we will always be able to feed our people. Uh, and they developed greenhouse technology to be able to do that.

Speaker 1:

Right, right. Well, it, it's, it's very wise, it's very smart. Now it's my understanding that your company sponsors a high school AgTech education program. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, to have a future of farming, you've gotta have<laugh> what we like to call farmers and futurists. And agriculture doesn't necessarily excite a lot of kids. Uh, and especially where we are in eastern Kentucky, a good number of them come from small family farms where it's really hard to make a living on them. So you ask'em if they wanna do agriculture, if they wanna be a farmer, and they're like, no way. I've seen how difficult it is. I have zero interest in that. So we've sponsored, um, 12 high tech, um, farm classrooms, uh, where we teach'em hydroponics. And so once they learn, Hey, there's a high tech approach to this where I could farm from my iPhone, from my iPad. And so we have these retrofitted shipping containers that they can grow in year round. And just from one shipping container, which is like, you know, roughly the size of like, like half the back of a transfer truck, you can get the equivalent of about three to five open acres, uh, of, uh, of agricultural land there. And so, uh, it really is starting to excite a number of them. And so they're starting to pursue, uh, educations in agriculture. Some of'em have started to come back and intern with us. Uh, and so that's what we're trying to do to build that ecosystem here. Cause we'd really like there to be, uh, an AgTech hub in the US outta Central Appalachia.

Speaker 1:

So you've taken the, the traditional farming, uh, methods and then showing'em how, like you said, with the iPhone generation, how you can merge those two and how you're, you're, you're doing agriculture in a, in a high-tech way. That's fascinating. Now also, tell me about the social mission at App Harvest. You spoke a a little bit to a little bit about that to me earlier.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. App Harvest is organized as a public benefit corporation, and were also certified as a B Corp, uh, which means that there, we, we have a very defined mission and purpose. Uh, and so in addition to farming more sustainably, uh, we also have a goal of providing good jobs in Appalachia. Uh, and so that all works together, um, to, to try to create something that can be long lasting and that really can be generational here, that can provide, uh, a good number of jobs for the region where we're drawing in folks who want to study, do the r and d that's behind controlled environment agriculture, who are interested in doing the software, the robotics that help this industry. So everything from the Crop Care specialists all the way through the business behind AgTech to really become an international resource here out of the us.

Speaker 1:

Well, I commend you guys for, you know, being homegrown and, you know, um, American jobs and American ingenuity and being able to make this, you know, self-sustaining. That's, it's incredible. Let's talk about goals here a little bit. Like what, what are your goals this year at App Harvest? And then tell me, you know, 10 years from now, where do you, where do you guys want to be 20 years from now? Where do you wanna be?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we're transitioning right now from, you know, we've done major investment in infrastructure going from, uh, the first farm to opening three additional farms last year. Now we're with that four Farm Network. We're focused on core operations. And so we've got to make these farms sing, make them as productive as possible, ramp up the production, ramp up the revenue coming from those. Uh, and then we have aspired from the beginning to have a 12 farm network. So once we get these profitable, once we're able to, to get additional investment into expanding the network, that's where we go from here. So eventually we see being able, uh, to just continue to expand that network so that we're continuing to provide a greater portion of us grown fruits and vegetables so that we can decrease that reliance on imports.

Speaker 1:

So efficiency is, is a big focus. Not only is the whole or operation efficiency efficient, but right now what you have, you're trying to just make it like a well-oiled machine and make it work, maximize it as much as you can.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the more reliable, uh, that we can make, uh, fruit and vegetable production, you know, so that it's more like, uh, a manufacturing type environment, um, with that type of reliability and consistency, um, you know, being able to predict your quantity and quality is really the holy grail and agriculture. Um, and that's what's increasingly challenged, given, especially weather changes these days, right?

Speaker 1:

Um, so much is out of your control.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So that's the goal is, is basically to provide, uh, something that, that helps to de-risk the whole, uh, challenge.

Speaker 1:

Well, Travis, I can't thank you enough for joining us today on this podcast episode and helping us to understand all the cool stuff that App Harvest is doing. I mean, this is, this is amazing cutting edge agriculture, and it's very, very cool. And so thank you again for taking the time to join us.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much. We, uh, appreciate any opportunity to spread the word because Yeah, we'll, we'll take all the support we can get.

Speaker 1:

So if anyone's interested in seeing the CBS News video that I was referring to, if you go to Google and just type in App Harvest, CBS News, it, a link will pop up and you'll be able to find it, uh, easily enough. You could find out more about App Harvest on their website, which is@appharvest.com. They're also on social media platforms, Instagram and Twitter. And I want to thank each of our listeners for tuning in today. Uh, Topcon appreciates all of our friends in agriculture who work so tirelessly to put food on our tables. And if you enjoyed this episode, remember to, like, share, subscribe to Topcon Talks Agriculture on Spotify, apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please tell your friends about us. We'd love for you to follow Topcon Agriculture on social media. Thanks again for joining us today. We'll see you next time. Go out and make it a great day.