Roland Vandermeer is CEO of UpTerra, a revolutionary Ag Tech company, He has over 20 years of experience investing in early-stage technology companies with over 5 multi-billion dollar exits and 15 years helping build 3 sustainable and regenerative real asset investment firms in agriculture, water, waste, and energy. Vandermeer is an investor and entrepreneur with experience in managing over $2.5 billion in combined assets in both venture capital and real asset financing.
Russ Alan Prince: Can you tell us about UpTerra?
Roland Vandermeer: The goal of UpTerra is to feed the world more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Today the world is facing global systemic droughts that have no end in sight, and monsoon-type rains in parts of the world that have never experienced these. Aquifers and reservoirs are running catastrophically low and may have reached a point of no return. This coupled with a global doubling and tripling of prices in fertilizer and other agriculture inputs with no end in sight, have made for the most challenging times for agriculture ever.
After over five years of experimentation and research and two years of large-scale farm trials,
UpTerra is delivering a much-needed revolutionary solution to help solve this emerging crisis of water scarcity and escalating fertilizer costs by enhancing yield. UpTerra has trialed its technology on large-scale farms and now the technology is deployed on over 75 farms and over 13,000 acres and expects to be on 500 farms and 100,000 acres by next year. UpTerra technology works with any irrigation system as it is installed seamlessly inline and its remote Bio Signaling solution works in connection with any field, farm, or greenhouse.
Prince: What kind of results are you getting in the field?
Vandermeer: UpTerra’s deployments have seen yield enhancements from 10% to 40% in the field and higher in controlled environments. While showing reductions of up to 30% in water usage as well as a decrease of 30% in most inputs.
To date crop studies confirm the product solutions work in peanuts, soy, cotton, wheat, rye, almonds, sod, Bermuda grass, and cannabis as well as livestock and poultry. The payback on the cost of UpTerra technology is well under a year.
Prince: What is the “secret” behind Up Terra?
Vandermeer: The intellectual property that drives UpTerra is locked down with patent protection and trade secrets. To date, we have eight patents, 120 claims, a database of over 100 digital fertilizers inputs, crop-specific treatment programs, and a custom farmer field management system. Furthermore, the UpTerra software and hardware can be all controlled by the farmer with a smartphone!
The UpTerra technology conditions the water to bring it to its natural energetic state like that of mountain spring water using Bio-Mimicry Technology that can process water from 30 to 1,500 gallons a minute. This water is much more bioavailable to plants or any living cell compared to tap or irrigation water.
We also mimic the bio-signals of fertilizer or any input and using tesla-like coils we imprint this signature into the water as water has a memory. This provides the same nourishment of the “physical” input. The plant recognizes the bio-signal and is happy to take it on. The results speak for themselves. Less water, less fertilizer, and higher yields, all while having a positive environmental impact as there is no wasted material or input.
Prince: How are you expanding the impact of UpTerra Technology?
Vandermeer: We are in discussions with some major strategic partners. There are two global informatics players that wish to help provide the networking to bring a digital input solution to the agricultural sectors. This will completely change the industry. Meanwhile, a major European company wants to partner and bring the technology all over to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. We are also working and trialing the technology with the largest irrigation company in the US.
At the same time, we are currently starting to work with leading agricultural schools to evaluate how the technology works with all crops and farms. We are currently soliciting proposals from the University of Oklahoma, the University of Arkansas, the University of Kentucky, Texas A&M, UC Davis, and the University of Iowa. In the commercial sector, we are working with Bolthouse Farms, VineLand Research, and several cannabis operations.
Prince: What do you see as the future for UpTerra?
Vandermeer: UpTerra is the beginning of a revolution in agriculture. It is only the beginning. The current industrial system has run its course. We cannot hope to continue to beat nature with chemicals and artificial methods. UpTerra works in resonance with nature as it aligns with what nature wants for the growing of food, and provides the prevention of issues at a much-reduced cost and environmental impact.
As UpTerra solves an increasingly severe social need—feeding the world—the future is extremely promising. To maintain our competitive advantage, we are following the business model of Google, Qualcomm, and others, by being first and having deep intellectual property.
Russ Alan Prince is the executive director of Private Wealth magazine and chief content officer for High-Net-Worth Genius. He consults with family offices, the wealthy, fast-tracking entrepreneurs and select professionals.