Are you a landowner looking for an innovative option to simplify leasing your land with a long-term commitment from your tenant? As a producer, have the recently rocky agriculture markets and fluctuating input prices caused you to think about diversifying your farm income by seeking a steady cashflow for your operation? At Genera, we have worked with many producers over the years who have had the same concerns. Genera’s crops have provided opportunities for many farms to have a more predictable income stream year after year. We are currently recruiting new landowners and producers as Genera’s sustainable ag fiber manufacturing facility in Vonore, TN is once again expanding due to customer demand for our products!
You have likely seen one of our ads, heard about us via a neighbor, or have been following Genera’s progress over the last couple of years. You may also be asking yourself, “What is an ag fiber manufacturing facility?”. To help answer that question, let’s start with some background information on ag fibers. The market demand for domestic, non-wood fiber is already huge and growing rapidly as more and more communities, states, and even entire countries are banning the use of Styrofoam and single use plastics. Additionally, consumers are looking for more sustainable packaging for food, household, and other products. Agricultural crops provide a sustainable source of fiber for these and many more products. Currently, almost all the ag fiber products available in the U.S. today are imported, primarily from Asia. To address this market demand and create a simpler, more sustainable supply chain, Genera has developed and constructed a facility here in East Tennessee that takes crops grown by local producers or on local farms, converts that material to a useable pulp fiber, and manufactures that fiber into finished consumer products. Genera’s initial production facility produces thousands of tons of Earthable® fiber products annually, including bales of market fiber and finished thermoformed food service and packaging products. Genera’s ag-based Earthable® fiber products are cost-competitive and suitable for making paper, toweling, tissue, packaging and disposable foodservice products like plates, bowls, and take-out containers. All of Genera’s Earthable® fiber products are compostable*/biodegradable, offering locally grown agriculture-based products to a host of markets. At this time, this facility is the largest integrated manufacturer of ag fiber and products in the United States.
What this Means for the Ag Community
Genera’s technology has proven effective with multiple agricultural crops and residues. Genera has selected the initial fiber crops for its East Tennessee facility based on local agronomic factors, balanced with our customer’s quality and performance requirements. Our core crops, known as feedstocks, will initially include switchgrass and miscanthus. We have worked with a multitude of other crops and on-going research is being conducted to determine viability of those crops for use in our Vonore facility. As time goes on, we will continue to seek out new feedstocks that will increase the quality of material we receive as well as increase yield for the producer.
Production of these feedstocks is creating a new market for East Tennessee landowners and agriculture producers. We are offering competitive rates for ground we are leasing, and our production contracts for switchgrass offer set floor pricing, which will help to project future revenue for your operation. If you have not already done so, please click the links below to learn more about the crops we are currently processing in the facility.
We are actively seeking new landowners and producers to partner with us in feedstock production and would love to speak with you about these unique opportunities. You may contact us by filling out and submitting the form below or by giving us a call at 423-884-4119.
* Genera’s molded fiber products meet compostability standards for commercial composting operations as set forth in ASTM D6400.
