FOA 213: CoverCress is Reinventing the Cover Crop

<p>The Story of <a href="http://covercress.com">CoverCress</a> isn’t just as straightforward as bringing a new crop to the market. Their ambitions also represent a new feed, a new cover crop, genetic engineering, a low carbon intensity feedstock and a new revenue source for farmers among others. <a href= "http://www.fgcvc.com">Fulcrum Global Capital</a> saw the potential in CoverCress and return to the show this week to share the excitement surrounding this company. If you missed <a href= "https://aggrad.libsyn.com">episode 208</a> where we first introduced Fulcrum Global be sure to go listen to it. The CoverCress new crop will not compete with current midwestern crops and should provide farmers with a new marketable product.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>“They’re going to create this new revenue source for the midwestern farmer. It’s going to go in on the corn soy rotation and you’re going to get the traditional cover crop benefits of which there are numerous but you’re going to get increased profitability.” - John Peryam, Venture Partner and General Counsel for Fulcrum Global</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Fulcrum Managing Partner, Duane Cantrell, shares that this new product will “change the economic dynamic” for the farmer. “There are multiple pathways of product lines there” including oil for cooking and bio-based fuels and a seed crop that can be used as a high protein meal for feed additives.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>“We have built this business off of I’ll call it the chassis of the native plant, pennycress. But because we have used genome editing to improve the quality, both with oil and the meal, it's a little different crop when we’re done. That's what we call CoverCress. - Jerry Steiner, CEO of CoverCress</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>CoverCress has the advantage of having a better grain than the agronomy and quality of its pennycress counterpart. The CoverCress “business plan is based on having really a partnership on both ends. One end with the farmer and another end with the end user” according to