Is AppHarvest the Future of Farming?

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are red-hot right now, with investors clamoring to get into promising young companies.

In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Jan. 28, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman discuss AppHarvest, one such SPAC that is looking to disrupt the agriculture industry. Here are the details on what AppHarvest wants to do, and a look at whether the company represents the future of farming.

Nick Sciple: One last company I wanted to talk about, Lou, and this is one I think it's -- you pay attention to, but not one I'm super excited to run in and buy. It was a company called AppHarvest. It's coming public via a [SPAC] this year. This vertical farming space. We talked about Gladstone Land buying traditional farmland. AppHarvest is taking a very different approach, trying to lean into some of the ESG-type movements.

Lou Whiteman: Yeah. Let's look at this. It probably wouldn't surprise you that the U.S. is the biggest global farm exporter as we said, but it might surprise you that the Netherlands, the tiny little country, is No. 2. The way they do that is tech: Greenhouse farm structure. AppHarvest has taken that model and brought it to the U.S. They have, I believe, three farms in Appalachia. The pitches can produce 30x the yields using 90% less water. Right now, it's mostly tomatoes and it is early-stage. I don't own this stock either. I love this idea. There's some reasons that I'm not buying in right now that we can get into. But this is fascinating to me. We talked about making the world a better place. This is the company that we need to be successful to make the world a better place. The warning on it is that it is a SPAC. So it's not public yet. Right now, I believe N-O-V-S. That deal should close soon. [Editor's note: The deal has since closed.] I'm not the only one excited about it. I tend not to like to buy IPOs and new companies anyway. I think the caution around buying into the excitement applies here. There is a Martha Stewart video on their website talking up the company, which I love Martha Stewart, but that's a hype level that makes me want to just watch and see what they produce. This is just three little farms in Appalachia right now and a great idea. This was all over my watchlist. I would imagine I would love to hold it at some point, but just be careful because this is, as we saw SPACs last year in other areas, people are very excited about this.

Sciple: Yeah. I think, like we've said, for a lot of these companies, the prospects are great. I think when you look at the reduced water usage, better, environmentally friendly, all those sorts of things. I like that they are in Appalachia. As someone who is from the South, I like it when more rural areas get some people actually investing money there. But again, there's a lot of execution between now and really getting to a place where this is the future of farming and they're going to reach scale and all those sorts of things. But this is a company I'm definitely going to have my radar on and pay attention to as they continue to report earnings. Because you can tell yourself a story about how this type of vertical farming, indoor farming disrupts this traditional model, can be more efficient, cleaner, etc. Something to continue paying attention to as we have more information, because this company, like you said, Lou, isn't all the way public yet. We still got to have this SPAC deal finalized and then we get all our fun SEC filings and quarterly calls and all those sorts of things. Once we have that, I will be very much looking forward to seeing what the company has to say.

Whiteman: Right. Just to finish up along too, the interesting thing here is that it is a proven concept because it has worked elsewhere. The downside of that is that it needed to work there. Netherlands just doesn't have -- and this is an expensive proposition to get started, to get going. There's potential there, but in a country blessed with almost seemingly unlimited farmland for now, for long term it makes sense. But in the short term, it could be a hard thing to really get up and running. I think you're right, just one to watch.

Re-Nuble Helps Soilless Farms Grow Net Income By Going Closed Loop

New York, NY | July 1, 2020

Re-Nuble has cracked the code on how to help soilless farms grow their net income by going 100% closed loop, through the utilization of food waste. Over the past 5 years, the company has developed technologies that unlock water-soluble nitrates from plant-based food waste streams, producing industrial-grade organic fertilizer for soilless farms. While others with the same vision have found themselves burdened with the obstacle of building an organic fertilizer that is both cost and yield-production competitive with synthetics, Re-Nuble has succeeded.

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The business of food production has produced enormous food waste in its wake. 20.2 million tons in the USA alone go unharvested each year, often left to rot or sent to landfills where valuable nutrients are locked away from ever hoping to rejoin the ecosystem. Re-Nuble’s goal is to reintegrate food waste as an industrial grade, closed-loop fertilizer that is both price and yield competitive with the standard synthetic fertilizers for soilless farms. Their fertilizers are shown, on a grow cost per plant basis, to be 2X more cost-effective than the current dominant market standard, mineral salts.

Re-Nuble selects a proprietary mix of food waste streams which are then processed using similarly proprietary methods in order to kill any pathogens. The food waste is then prepared to become a plug-and-play fertilizer. Re-Nuble funnels this fertilizer through their patent-pending Nutrient Delivery System, an on-site hardware technology suite that rapidly solubilizes provided fertilizers, monitors pH levels, manages EC control, and ensures the long-term recirculation of the same nutrient-rich water for years to come. Part of this technology is available immediately to solubilize products, and the full suite will be available in early 2021.

As an added value, the company also offers client waste integration through an on-site hardware technology suite. The client’s own food waste stream is used as input and converted into a yield-enhancing fertilizer supplement. This enables farms to decrease water loss, enhance food supply chain security, and further decrease their operation’s GHG emissions. This has been of particular interest to farms operating at least 4 acres of production space.

From a net income perspective, Re-Nuble fertilizers are far more cost-effective than mineral salts and deliver a wider micronutrient and microbial profile. These fertilizers align with crop growth at the speed and year-round sowing or harvesting cycles of mineral salt-fertilized soilless farms. Since they are 2x more cost-effective than mineral salts, client farms receive immediate net income improvements. Furthermore, Re-Nuble’s fertilizers unlock organic food production that fetches a long-term, far greater

gross margin increase (at least 20% or more). Combined, the significant savings on the cost side and enhanced earnings enable client farms to become significantly more profitable and viable businesses.

It is Re-Nuble’s philosophy to mirror the processes of our natural food ecosystem, infinitely more complex than human-built food production methods that have hundreds, if not thousands, of discrete, often-invisible ways to re-integrate food waste back into nature. Wind and birds carrying seeds, small mammals burying acorns, yeast protecting the outer layers of fruits for longevity, and so on. Closing the loop on food production is an attempt to industrialize this natural re-integration process. The benefits include net income growth, emission reduction, and enhanced food security. For farms that find this of value, please do reach out to Rahul Bhansali (rahul@re-nuble.com).

ABOUT RE-NUBLE

Re-Nuble is an agriculture technology company that uses organic cycling science to unlock the conversion of food waste into industrial-grade organic fertilizer for soilless farms. We are the world’s enabler of closed loop food, recirculating natural resources from participant waste streams and the greater food system. We divert the valuable resource of food waste from entering landfills, eliminating methane emissions that would have been circulating in our ecosystem. Through our pelletized fertilizer and proprietary “nutrient delivery system”, farms rapidly convert waste streams into soluble nitrates, amongst other nutrients, for quicker plant uptake and yields. The results are comparable to the nitrate availability of industry-dominant fertilizers, synthetic mineral salts, allowing farms to increase their bottom line. Our recirculating nutrient technology enables soilless farms to more competitively grow soil-quality, organic produce with sustainable best practices.

For more information, please visit www.re-nuble.com and follow @Re_Nuble on Twitter and https://www.facebook.com/ReNuble on Facebook.

New York City Startup Called Re-Nuble Turns Food Waste Into Fertilizer

It Can Be Used To Grow Crops in Indoor Hydroponic Farms.

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February 5, 2020

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Re-Nuble CEO and founder Tinia Pina. (Image credit: Re-Nuble video)

A New York City startup is using potato peels, apple cores, and rotten tomatoes to help farmers grow fresh fruits and vegetables.

“We take produce waste from food distributors and food processors – anything that can’t go to a food bank or farm,” says Tinia Pina, founder, and CEO of Re-Nuble.

The company converts food waste into organic fertilizer pellets that can be used in indoor, hydroponic farms.

Pina says when dissolved in water, the pellets make the nutrients immediately available to the plant, mimicking the biological nutrient systems found outdoors.

So she says the technology can help make it easier to grow organic food indoors in urban areas, where fresh local food is often scarce.

And it helps the climate. It keeps food out of landfills, where it would otherwise decompose and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

It also reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers, which create a lot of carbon pollution when they’re manufactured.

So far, the company has facilities in New York City and Rochester, New York, and plans to expand to the West Coast. Pina hopes to eventually help cities across the country use their food scraps to grow local, organic food.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media.

This Urban Pop-Up Farm is Powered by Coffee Grounds

By Audrey Bourget 
17 JAN 2019 - 1:20 PM  UPDATED 17 JAN 2019 - 1:56 PM

The pop-up farm on Cirrus Fine Coffee’s parking lot is a little green oasis in the industrial area of Port Melbourne.

“We have heritage varieties of tomatoes, corn, zucchini, pumpkin, spring onion, beetroot, rainbow chard, spinach, silverbeet, flowers to attract beneficial insects and also a range of herbs like chives, basil, oregano and coriander,” says Brendan Condon. And all of this only takes up two parking spaces.

Condon is the director of sister companies Cirrus Fine Coffee, Biofilta and Australian Ecosystems, which have collaborated to develop super-efficient compact pop-up farms. “We often think that we have overcrowded cities, but if you look at them from the lens of urban farming, we have huge amounts of space. We can flip cities into becoming super-efficient food growers,” he says.

These beans deliver more than a caffeine hit.

From landfill to compost

Each year, caffeine-loving Aussies produce around 75 000 tonnes of coffee waste, most of it ending up in landfill where it contributes to the production of methane, a greenhouse gas. But coffee grounds don’t have to end up there; they can be composted and used to produce food.

Cirrus Fine Coffee’s own pop-up garden uses a mix of composted coffee grounds (rich in minerals and nitrogen), husks from the roastery (a good source of carbon), food scraps and a small amount of manure, to help produce around 300 kilos of food per year. With the World Health Organisation recommending adults consume a minimum of 146 kilos of fresh fruits and veggies per year, it means that one of these pop-up farms could provide enough for two people for a whole year.

The Biofilta wicking (self-watering) garden beds are easy to install and low maintenance. The design holds enough liquid to water the garden for a week in summer and a month in winter.

“We want people to take advantage of the abundant resources for urban farming and to engage with it, so we improve nutrition and health, and divert waste from landfill,” says Condon.

Cirrus Fine Coffee is committed to sustainability in more ways than one. Its coffee beans are ethically sourced, the brand's packaging is biodegradable and its offices run on clean energy.

It's also partnered with Reground, an organisation that goes to cafes to pick up coffee grounds and transport them to community gardens and pop-up farms.

“We all need to work together,” says Ninna K. Larsen, founder of Reground. “We work at changing the system rather than just collecting coffee. Coffee is just a great conversation starter. It’s about getting people talking about what organic waste can do, instead of going to landfill. We can grow food with it.”

Condon would like to see cafes and people around Australia embrace urban farming. “If you have a cafe where you recycle coffee grounds to grow food, people will want to go there and support that business,” he says. “Hopefully, in a few years, it will be common practice.”

Growponics Wins EU Seal of Excellence For Developing Organic Fertilizer

by liat | Nov 1, 2018 | News 

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Growponics’ R&D project for nitrogen fixation has been granted the Seal of Excellence and has passed Phase 1 of the EIC SME Instrument, with a grant of €50,000. The SME Instrument is a part of the EU program Horizon 2020, aimed at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with ground-breaking ideas and innovations.

Our project is focused on developing a process for the production of a sustainable organic hydroponic fertilizer, utilizing nitrogen fixed by cyanobacteria. Nitrogen is one of the key elements required for the growth of any living organism, used for the production of proteins. The majority of organisms cannot use nitrogen from the air. The few organisms who can perform this task, transform nitrogen from air into organic compounds (like ammonia and nitrates), that can be metabolized by the organisms who need it but cannot make these by themselves. Most plants cannot fix nitrogen, and this is why they rely on obtaining it through nutrients found in ground and water. Hydroponically grown plants rely on supplemented fixed nitrogen – fertilizers.

What kind of nitrogen fertilizers are available now?

Current synthetic fertilizers use nitrogen produced in the Haber process. This process requires a large amount of energy, and also emits undesired greenhouse gases. Organic fertilizers that are currently available are expensive, or their nitrogen is of low availability to plants, or they are high in sodium – all are disadvantages which prevent commercial use.

What is our project all about?

We are developing a method for production of nitrogen in-situ by cyanobacteria, from air and water, using the sun as a source of energy. The entire process is efficient and ecologically sustainable, and will allow hydroponic growers to provide their crops with the necessary nitrogen in an environmentally friendly way.

The grant of €50,000 awarded in Phase I will allow us to complete our feasibility study and prepare a business plan ready for scale up. We intend to proceed to Phase II (scale-up and commercial readiness) and Phase III (business acceleration). Hopefully, in ~3 years time we can be in the market with a commercial solution, to be used by our partner greenhouses and proceeding to other projects internationally.

To read more about our project on the EIC SME website click here.

In the photo: cyanobacteria (the blue strings) as caught under microscope in our R&D lab.