🍅 AppHarvest's Big Week & India's Ag Showdown

It’s public knowledge. AppHarvest is officially a member of the NASDAQ family.

The ‘APPH’ ticker soared 44% on opening day, bringing lots of attention to acronyms such as CEA and SPAC. Let’s go there.

CEA: Controlled-environment agriculture. Newsflash folks, this ain’t your average greenhouse.

The Kentucky-based indoor farming startup is making waves in the agrifood value chain. Some highlights of their 60-acre facility include:
45 million pounds of tomatoes produced a year and shipped to folks like Kroger, Walmart, and Publix. Berries, leafy greens, and cucumbers are in the future.
90% less water usage than traditional open-field production via a powerful hydroponic system.
Location, location, location. The site sits within a one day drive of 70% of the U.S. population.

And let’s not forget SPAC: Special Purpose Acquisition Company.

In order to bypass the complications of an initial public offering [IPO], AppHarvest chose the cheaper, faster, yet riskier route. Novus Capital Corp, an existing holding business on the NASDAQ, bought the agtech firm, and then they reverse-merged, leaving AppHarvest as the actual public company.

AppHarvest’s vision: Grow more food, and fast. The team has already cleaned the confetti and is back to work, with plans for 12 more farms to be built by 2025.

→ Farmers feel...unsure. The Ag Economy Barometer dropped 7 points to November levels as producers worry about policy concerns and potential regulatory pressure.

→ Bayer is tired. Ready to ‘Roundup’ all legacy Monsanto litigation issues, Bayer has proposed a $2 billion commitment to support current and future qualifying claims and cases.

→ Chasing a grade A report. American Farm Bureau urged more transparency and better use of technology for the USDA’s crop reports to improve accuracy and farmer trust in the data.

→ Subtract that additive, please. The Center for Food Safety filed a legal challenge to the FDA on their 2019 approval of soy leghemoglobin, the reddish color additive that gives the Impossible Burger its ‘bleeding’ effect.

→ Cash in on that carbon. Land O’Lakes plans to facilitate the selling of 100,000 metrics tons of carbon credits from its farmers to Microsoft Crop.

Last week on India’s Republic Day, tens of thousands of Indian farmers driving tractors entered New Delhi protesting recent changes in agricultural policies.

How we got here: In November, India passed laws that changed the decades-long practice of farmers selling certain price-guaranteed crops to government-run markets. Prime Minister Modi hoped to open the sector to private investments and stir growth.

But farmers saw it differently. Fearful of greedy corporations exploiting laborers and driving down prices, producers decided to protest.

And with 60% of India’s 1.3 billion people relying on farming for their livelihood, the government found itself a subcontinent-sized problem.

Farmers had been peacefully camped outside the city since November. But when tractor parades began on pre-approved routes last week, several farmers veered off their row-markers…

Then it got dicey.

Protesters and police clashed, leaving one dead and dozens injured. The government has now fortified the city and blocked the highways leading into it. And with the government shutting down the internet, water, and electricity in certain areas, civil and human rights activists are now concerned. Even Rihanna gave her two cents...

Where this goes: Prime Minister Modi has offered to postpone implementing the law, but farmers are pushing for a full repeal. For now, it looks like solving this big-wheeled, wide-load of an issue ain’t going any faster.

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Network with professional peers/classmates pursuing similar goals

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Rewind ten months and you may remember (or maybe you’ve blocked those memories) when U.S. meatpackers were drowning in COVID-19 cases. Now, Congress wants a peek behind the curtain of what really went down.

Why now? Based on “public reports”, Rep. James Clyburn, chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, argues that OSHA and the packers didn’t do enough to stop the outbreaks and protect their employees. He’s adamant to determine if everything was on the up and up.

The numbers: Nearly 54,000 workers across 569 facilities tested positive for the virus. At least 270 died.

In letters sent to OSHA, JBS, Smithfield Foods, and Tyson Foods, the committee noted that the outbreaks not only impacted employees but contributed to further spread in the surrounding communities.

The response: All three companies have issued statements welcoming the chance to set the record straight. Collectively they have spent over $1.5 billion in response to the pandemic in the form of worker protections, pay increases, and donations to support their communities.