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EarthOptics Expands State-of-the-Art Soil Lab Operations with New Raleigh-Durham Facility
New 14,500 sq. ft. facility co-locates expanded analytics lab with sensor and automation team to accelerate laboratory automation and scale the company's industry-leading soil library
MINNEAPOLIS, May 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EarthOptics, a leader in soil intelligence and agricultural data insights, today announced the opening of a new laboratory and office facility in the Raleigh-Durham area, significantly expanding the company's analytical footprint and building on its state-of-the-art lab operations in Emeryville, California. The new 14,500-square-foot space combines office, laboratory, and warehouse operations under one roof, representing a major step forward in EarthOptics' mission to bring speed, scale, and precision to soil measurement.
Strategically located just 20 minutes from Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) via I-540, near Triangle Town Center, the facility positions EarthOptics at the heart of one of the nation's most dynamic hubs for science, technology, and agricultural innovation.
The new lab will process the measurements that underpin credible quantification of soil fertility, biology, physical properties, and carbon. The facility has been designed with built-in capacity to expand into additional analysis and analytics as customer demand continues to grow.
Colocation with Sensor and Automation Team Drives Lab Automation Vision
A defining feature of the new facility is the colocation of EarthOptics analytics lab with its Sensor and Automation team, a group recently rebranded to reflect the company's sharpened focus on automation and robotics. Housing these teams together is expected to dramatically accelerate EarthOptics laboratory automation efforts, with the goal of building a world-class lab powered by robotics and automated workflows.
“Bringing our analytics operations and our Sensor and Automation team under the same roof is a force multiplier,” said Lars Dyrud, CEO at EarthOptics. “We’re not just scaling a lab — we’re engineering the future of how soil is measured. The synergy between our scientists and our automation engineers is going to let us move faster, process more samples, and deliver the kind of reliability the market demands as the soil analytics economy grows.”
“This facility was built with automation in mind from day one,” said Hunt Bowers, Senior Vice President of Sensors and Hardware at EarthOptics. “Having my team working side-by-side with our laboratory scientists lets us close the loop between hardware development and lab operations — fundamentally changing how quickly we can scale throughput without sacrificing accuracy.”
A New Home for the EarthOptics Soil Library
The Raleigh-Durham facility will also serve as the primary home for EarthOptics Soil Library, the company's growing archive of soil samples from across North America. The library will complement EarthOptics main laboratory in Emeryville, California, which will retain a smaller on-site inventory to support its ongoing analytical operations. As part of the expansion, EarthOptics is revamping its cataloging system to make the soil library significantly more scalable and accessible for ongoing research and calibration work.
“Our soil library is one of the most valuable assets in the industry, and giving it a purpose-built home allows us to scale it the way our customers and partners need us to,” said Patrick Schwientek, Chief Technology Officer at EarthOptics. “This facility reflects where we're headed as a company — faster, more automated, and built to deliver the soil intelligence the market increasingly depends on.”
About EarthOptics
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, EarthOptics harnesses advances in soil-sensing technologies, genomics, and data science to provide farmers and ranchers with deep, actionable insights into their soil’s chemical, physical, and biological properties. By blending cutting-edge laboratory analysis with industry-leading field-based sensors, we deliver powerful predictive insights that enable producers to optimize input use, improve soil health, increase yields, and unlock new opportunities in sustainable agriculture. EarthOptics is also the leading carbon measurement company in the U.S., supporting the growth of carbon markets with accurate, verifiable soil data. The company has offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Emeryville, California; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Fayetteville, Arkansas, with laboratories in Emeryville, California, Memphis, Tennessee, and Raleigh, North Carolina. Learn more at www.EarthOptics.com.
Media Contact Natalie McCracken Director of Marketing, Earthoptics natalie.mccracken@earthoptics.com
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