The facility is being built as the next step in Bion’s development of a sustainable grain-finished beef product line
Bion Environmental Technologies, a developer of advanced livestock waste treatment technology that largely mitigates environmental impacts and recovers high-value coproducts, has executed a lease for a site near Fair Oaks, Indiana, where Bion will develop a sustainable and/or organic grain-finished beef production facility that will include its first third-generation waste treatment technology (3G Tech) platform at commercial scale.
The facility is being built as the next step in Bion’s development of a sustainable grain-finished (vs solely ’grass-fed’) beef product line, consisting of both conventional and organic beef products. Bion’s patented 3G Tech platform will provide resource recovery and verified waste treatment, including dramatic reductions in carbon and nutrient/water footprints, as well as pathogens linked to foodborne illnesses and antibiotic resistance.
The facility will be designed to feed approximately 300 head of beef cattle in state-of-the-art covered barns that can be re-configured to house swine when appropriate. Bion’s 3G-Tech system will be sized with the capacity to treat the waste from approximately 1,500 head – large enough to demonstrate engineering commercial scale, but small enough that it can be constructed and commissioned quickly.
The facility is anticipated to produce sufficient ammonium bicarbonate for both commercial testing by potential joint venture partners and university growth trials. The facility will also produce sustainable beef products – conventional and organic – for initial test-marketing efforts. These critical steps must be accomplished to move forward with joint ventures to develop the large-scale projects that will be needed to supply national distribution.
Mike McCloskey, Chairman, Fair Oaks Farms, stated, “Innovation in environmental sustainability is a concept we take very seriously at Fair Oaks Farms. The consumer understands, and we wholeheartedly agree, that sustainability is not a passing trend. In addition to our efforts, we have worked with like-minded producers in the dairy and pork industries to develop sustainable production. It only makes sense to support Bion’s sustainable beef demonstration project, which will be our new neighbour.”
