Kentucky-based AppHarvest to build indoor berry farm
Morehead, Ky.-based AppHarvest Inc. started building two new high-tech indoor farms: A berry farm in Somerset, Ky., and a leafy greens farm Morehead, Ky.
Known on the NASDAQ as APPH, APPHW, the public benefit corporation and Certified B Corporation is focused on reducing water usage and using only recycled rainwater.
The 30-acre Somerset indoor farm will be AppHarvest’s first go at growing berries.
At about 15 acres, the Morehead farm will be the second AppHarvest farm in Rowan County.
The company’s flagship 2.76-million-square-foot facility grows tomatoes in Morehead. Also preceding the latest two farms under construction are a 15-acre facility in Berea that will grow leafy greens and a 60-acre facility in Richmond that will grow vine crops.
"These new facilities place us exactly where we want to be at the forefront of agtech. With today’s dual announcement, we put ourselves ahead of our development schedule,” founder and CEO Jonathan Webb said in the release.
AppHarvest’s goal is to operate 12 high-tech indoor farms by the end of 2025, and as of June 21, five of those farms are underway. Construction for both the Somerset and Morehead facilities should finish by the end of 2022.
“Even as a pandemic raged, Jonathan Webb and his team built one of the biggest indoor farming operations anywhere using one of the most advanced LED-lighting systems …” Gov. Andy Beshear said in the release.
