PULLMAN, Wash.
September 27, 2022 – Agricultural biotechnology company Qualterra, Inc. purchased a research and demonstration facility in Spangle, WA on 9/9/2022, which it will use to demonstrate its innovative agricultural and sustainability technologies to growers, producers, and partners worldwide.
The 77-acre property currently features a 2,500 square foot greenhouse, a 4,700 square foot warehouse with machine shop, and 1,500 square feet of corporate offices. Qualterra will expand its plant propagation and molecular diagnostic lab and locate its Biomass Process Unit (BPU) division to the property. Qualterra’s BPU technology converts agricultural waste into valuable biochar soil amendments along with renewable energy that will be utilized at the facility.
The site will also be home to a research farm, showcasing both greenhouse-finished plant products from Qualterra’s micropropagation-based plant production laboratory and field trials of biochar generated in the BPUs. “We will demonstrate the circular nature of our technologies: biomass from the farm can be processed in the BPU and then used as a soil amendment for the plants. The entire process reduces waste, conserves water, sequesters carbon, and produces renewable energy,” explains CEO Mike Werner.
Additionally, Qualterra has received a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce through their Industrial Symbiosis Program to set up a pilot Agricultural Regeneration Center (ARC) on the property and demonstrate the integration of BPU’s with other operations such as a biomass feed module and energy usage by the existing greenhouse. “This expansion increases our capacity for plant propagation, research, and biomass processing. And it will serve as an opportunity to partner with other companies and institutions to enhance innovation for agriculture and sustainability,” said Werner.
“This facility will allow us to showcase our state-of-the-art horticultural technologies. Growers and the public will be welcome to come on tours and see the technologies that are ready to be implemented alongside innovations that we are still developing,” said Professor Amit Dhingra, Qualterra Chief Science Officer (CSO) and Head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University.
Previously a Syngenta field station, the site will undergo renovation and improvements before becoming operational January 1, 2023.
About Qualterra
Qualterra’s platform of technologies that have been developed for over a decade, ensure accelerated production for true-to-type plants and tree fruits, increase yields and plant quality based on unique formulations of biochar that can sequester significant amounts of carbon and responsibly eliminate crop waste, and provide robust genetic and disease testing and other analytical services for growers and producers. Qualterra’s lab is listed by the CPCNW as capable of testing for Little Cherry Virus 2 and X-Disease. Qualterra is a combination of two recently joined companies. NuPhY Inc. founded in 2011, and Ag Energy Solutions founded in 2010.