By Rachel Nix, Building Kentucky
An innovative Kentucky company continues to expand its footprint in the Commonwealth.
AppHarvest has started construction on two more indoor farms in Somerset and Morehead to grow berries and leafy greens.
The agri-tech company previously announced its goal to operate 12 high-tech indoor farms by the end of 2025. These two new farms bring their current total to five. Construction for both is anticipated to finish by the end of 2022.
What leaders are saying
AppHarvest has positioned Kentucky as a leader in the AgriTech industry, created hundreds of good-paying jobs for our people and pushed through and thrived during some of our most difficult times.
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 ever created. We know the jobs and investments of the future will flow to those who can meet these challenges, so why not us? AppHarvest is making it happen.
Gov. Andy Beshear
What’s next for AppHarvest
AppHarvest, Inc. is focused on farming more sustainably using up to 90% less water than open-field agriculture and only recycled rainwater.
AppHarvest’s newest indoor farms in Morehead and Somerset are preceded by the company’s flagship 2.76-million-square-foot facility growing tomatoes in Morehead; a 15-acre facility in Berea that will grow leafy greens; and a 60-acre facility in Richmond that will grow vine crops.
AppHarvest’s newest facilities will provide hundreds of well-paying jobs to Eastern Kentuckians in and around Somerset-Pulaski and Rowan Counties.
Both the Somerset-Pulaski and Rowan County facilities will produce non-GMO fruits and vegetables free of harsh chemical pesticides, to be distributed to top U.S. grocers and restaurants. Because of the company’s strategic location in Appalachia, AppHarvest can reach nearly 70% of the U.S. population in a day’s drive, with up to 80% less diesel fuel than existing growers in Mexico Southwestern U.S.
