What is Next Generation Agribusiness?

Next Generation Agribusiness ("NGA") is about growing perennial crops and turning those crops into finished products in the same community. It combines the two powerful economic drivers of agriculture and manufacturing. 

NGA is about creating U.S. based sustainable raw material supply chains that improve product quality, economics, as well as the sustainability profile.

Perennial crops are critical to NGA and our use of Miscanthus is a perfect example.  This high yielding crop only needs to be planted once every 15-20 years, can be grown on poor soils, is non-invasive, reduces soil erosion, and uses significantly less fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides than annual crops.  This enables Aloterra to generate a high quality raw material that is both sustainable and economic.  

This video about our food service packaging operation brings each of these elements together and brings the concept of NGA to life.

Commercial Farming

Aloterra farms 4,000 acres in NE Ohio and NW Pennsylvania.  We are now expanding to 7,000 acres and are seeking landowners or farmers that want to Help Create Jobs.

It is critical to have a stable, consistent, and sustainable biomass supply system to justify the investment necessary to build a manufacturing facility.  Aloterra believes that only dedicated perennial crops can meet each of these key criteria.

We assess soil, weather, land values, infrastructure, and more to determine the ideal regions that can support NGA.

Next, Aloterra works with landowners and farmers to develop the entire supply chain necessary to make a perennial crop based NGA project possible. We focus on planting technologies, crop care, harvesting, storage, and logistics and transportation challenges to ensure 24/7/365 sustainable raw material delivery.

Research & Development

Consumers are becoming increasingly loyal to companies that produce quality products from sustainable ingredients. In fact, many customers are demanding that their products are made from sustainable raw materials.

Aloterra's R&D is focused on developing new and better markets for perennial crops.  We have developed reliable and consistent raw material supplies that are both high quality and uniquely sustainable.  The result has been the opening of two manufacturing facilities since 2014 that are making several product lines. 

Similar to how corn and soybean markets developed, we are aggressively researching and developing new opportunities for our crops.  We are confident our crops will be used in hundreds of products in the coming years.

In partnership with the U.S. farmer, we can help grow the U.S. economy at the same time that we move it towards sustainability and ensuring quality products and pricing for U.S. consumers.

Manufacturing

We farm in rural America.  Just as important, we also manufacture in rural America. 

Our R&D efforts don't stop at product development, but also include assessing new manufacturing technologies and processes that can improve market opportunities for perennial crops. 
  
Because the NGA economy is just developing, Aloterra de-risks projects by being vertically integrated and controlling our entire supply chain. 

As a result, we not only develop crops and products, but we also purchase the crop and manufacture the finished product within miles of the field where the crop was grown.  ​