Plenty granted $20m to build vertical farming research centre

Plenty Unlimited has announced plans to build a vertical farming research centre in Laramie, Wyoming, backed by a $20 million grant.

The grant, gifted by the state through the Wyoming Business Council to the City of Laramie, will help with construction and infrastructure costs.

Plenty CEO Arama Kukutai said: “Creating this new centre of excellence greatly expands Plenty’s ability to transform indoor agriculture. We’ve already built one of the top indoor farming research ecosystems in the world in Wyoming.”

He continued: “Our new facility will expand our capability to grow the widest variety of crops, which is key to unlocking the potential of this category and addresses a major limitation for the industry today. This continued commitment to innovation is what’s needed to push indoor farming forward and make fresh food accessible to everyone.”

The new research centre is projected to span more than 60,000 square feet, built on 16 acres of land in Laramie. The site will double Plenty’s research space compared to the existing Laramie facility it has occupied since 2016. Additionally, Plenty says the R&D centre will diversify its research environments and support the transition of new crops to commercial farms by incorporating areas that more closely mirror Plenty farm environments.

Wyoming governor Mark Gordon said: “Wyoming is proud to invest in the continued success of a business that was first innovated right here in the state. The level at which Plenty will be operating in this new facility will truly advance Wyoming’s pre-eminence as a global centre of indoor agricultural research. This centre gives us a tremendous opportunity to promote a state-of-the-art R&D cluster and further diversify our state’s economy.”

Plenty plans to add 125 jobs at the new facility over the next six years across various fields, including science, research, engineering and data analysis.

Nate Storey, Plenty co-founder and chief science officer, said: “Our research and development has already driven Plenty to achieve industry-leading yields in our core crops of leafy greens, strawberries and tomatoes. With this new, state-of-the-art facility, we will accelerate our pipeline, further increasing yields and bringing more diverse crops to market sooner.”

The project will enter the design phase with plans to begin construction later this year and open the facility in early 2025.