High Point startup Poulterra targets 2026 for NC facility recycling chicken poop into poultry fertilizer

Rob Tripp, CEO of Poulterra

Courtesy of Rob Tripp

By Lillian Johnson - Reporter

July 04, 2024, 08:51pm EDT

A Triad startup has a deal for poultry farmers: We’ll give you a better bedding solution and in return, we’ll take your manure and process it into something else.

Founded in 2022, High Point’s Poulterra launched its "Manure-as-a-Service" model in May. In conjunction, it's now expecting to launch two litter processing facilities, one in the state and other in Maryland, that could together employ up to 100 people full time.

The MaaS model works like this: Poulterra will plant miscanthus grass at or near one of its contracted poultry farms, which can use the grass as a sustainable bedding for its poultry. The poultry farms then provide Poulterra with the previous years’ worth of poultry litter – which is the mixture of poultry manure, bedding, feathers and other waste – so that the startup can process the litter into renewable natural gas, industrial biogenic carbon dioxide and commercial-grade fertilizers.

“At a high level, what we’re trying to do is create an agricultural supply chain solution that’s nature-based and circular in its approach and that solves a lot of challenges for the key stakeholders within the poultry industry,” said CEO Rob Tripp.

In May, Poulterra’s new model was validated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The government agency awarded Poulterra a $2.9 million grant from its Fertilizer Production and Expansion Program to enable the company to produce fertilizer from poultry litter.

Tripp declined to disclose how much the company raised in its first round in 2023, although SEC filings show that the raise would have been capped at $50 million.

High Point-based Poulterra will plant miscanthus grass at or near one of its contracted poultry farms, which can then use the grass as a sustainable bedding for its poultry.

Coty Jones Photography

A big part of Poulterra’s value-add is its sustainability. Tripp explained that poultry litter had been largely “untapped” when it came to upcycling the waste into high-quality fertilizers and other materials. Traditional poultry bedding contains wood shavings, which Tripp said prevent it from being reused. But miscanthus is all natural.

Miscanthus grass is also essentially a carbon negative feedstock, as it is a perennial plant, produces a lot of fiber per acre and requires little water, nutrients or herbicide, explained Travis Hedrick, CEO of High Point’s AgGrow Tech. AgGrow Tech commercialized miscanthus grass and has partnered with Poulterra on the Manure-as-a-Service model.

Currently, Poulterra is developing two MaaS systems and corresponding litter-processing facilities. One will be in North Carolina through a partnership with poultry producer Mountaire Farmsand the other will be in Maryland, Tripp said.

Tripp expects the first production facility will be up and running in 2026. Each facility will generate between 35 and 50 full-time jobs as well as other ancillary roles and contracted jobs. Poulterra currently employs six.

High Point-based Poulterra will plant miscanthus grass at or near one of its contracted poultry farms, which can then use the grass as a sustainable bedding for its poultry.

Coty Jones Photography