FRANKFORT, Ky- Gov. Andy Beshear (D) campaigned on bringing AgriTech to Kentucky and now he has revealed a plan to deliver on that promise. 

What You Need To Know


  • Governor wants Kentucky to be Agritech capital

  • International agreement signed

  • New task force created

Beshear announced several things relating to the AgriTech industry on Wednesday including a new international public-private partnership signed with the Dutch government to begin bringing the industry to Kentucky. 

The deal was brought together by AppHarvest, an AgriTech company based out of Morehead, and features 17 organizations including universities, privates companies, and governments. The agreement will create research programs and construction of AgriTech centers. The Netherlands has one of the most successful AgriTech industries in the world. 

“It means we don’t have to invent the wheel, that we have partners that have done this, that have created what we are looking to create,” Beshear said about the agreement. 

Beshear touted AgriTech as an economy of the future. 

“It’s an opportunity to build our economy in a way where we never have to worry about whether there's going to be food on the shelves of our grocery stores,” Beshear said, "I don't know about you but I never want to live through that anxiety ever again.”

AppHarvest is working to build the largest greenhouse in North America where the plan to grow tomatoes in the 2.76 square-foot farm in Morehead.

“It’s a part of country that's been known for powering the US, Eastern Kentucky is now going to be an area of the country that's going to be known for building the future of farming and feeding us,” said CEO & Founder Jonathan Webb. "We’re going to bring production back that's been pushed from outside of the US we're going to bring it back home.”

Webb says the geographic location of Kentucky makes it ideal for an AgriTech facility noting the tomatoes from the Morehead farm will be able to reach 70% of America in a day's drive. 

The creation of AppHarvest in Eastern Kentucky brings 285 much-needed jobs to the area. 

“To wee a greenhouse, the largest of its kind, maybe in the world, to grow enough tomatoes to feed the eastern seaboard, but to create 285 jobs, the types of jobs we never thought about five years ago, 10 years ago or even two years ago, It's an exciting time to see AgTech, a new economy,” said Rocky Adkins, Senior Advisor to Gov. Beshear. 

Entry-level jobs at AppHarvest will start at $13/hr and all include health insurance. 

That was not the only announcement made Wednesday however, Beshear also signed an executive order creating the Governor’s AgriTech Advisory Council, which he will chair and will include several other leaders of state and local government, business, and education. 

Finally, Beshear announced the creation of a website to help people learn about opportunities in AgriTech. The website can be found at agritech.ky.gov