AppHarvest, (NASDAQ: APPH), a sustainable food company in Appalachia building indoor farms to grow affordable fruits and vegetables, has closed a $50 million financing for its high-tech berry farm located  in Somerset, Kentucky.

The farm, which is designed to grow produce using sunshine, rainwater and up to 90% less water than open field growing, is expected to be operational by the end of the year. It will produce yields up to 30 times that of traditional agriculture and prevent pollution from agricultural runoff.

The project is expected to create about 142 jobs for the community. The Somerset farm will consist of a 30-acre greenhouse, cooling and packing room and office that will process strawberries and small cucumbers.

AppHarvest President David Lee stated: “This funding agreement with the USDA allows us to continue to scale operations as we plan to bring the Somerset farm and two additional CEA facilities online before the end of the year, which would quadruple our farm network and diversify our product portfolio to include berries and salad greens."

AppHarvest is a sustainable food company in Appalachia developing and operating some of the world's largest high-tech indoor farms with robotics and artificial intelligence to build a reliable, climate-resilient food system.

Shares of AppHarvest trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol APPH.