SHEPHERD — The owner of Yellowstone Cattle Feeders in Shepherd has plans to construct a barn to house cattle indoors, aiming to enhance efficiency for the livestock by facilitating methane collection and fertilizer management.
This facility will be the first of its kind for cattle in the United States, bringing added value to the operation.
“The manure waste is really our sweet spot,” stated Craig Scott, business development director at Bion Environmental Technologies. “We like to say that we’re turning that manure into gold.”
Yellowstone Cattle Feeders is leveraging the potential of manure by partnering with Bion to improve waste collection and transform it into high-quality fertilizer.
“It’s a new technology approach to feeding cattle, transitioning to a barn setup where we can efficiently collect manure through slots leading to a digester,” explained Turk Stovall, owner of Yellowstone Cattle Feeders. “Bion Technologies will then process the digester output into value-added fertilizers resembling organic fertilizer.”
Stovall, who also heads Stovall Ranching Companies, intends to start by constructing a large indoor facility capable of housing up to 15,000 cattle.
This facility will enable indoor manure collection, processing into fertilizer, utilization of methane gas for energy, and production of clean water.
“We’re cleaning our pens by removing the manure and then collaborating with local farmers to use it as fertilizer,” Stovall explained about the current practice.
“The key point is producing methane in the anaerobic digester and our proprietary technology addresses the valuable ammonia component,” added Scott. “Ammonia is the primary driver of value here.”
Bion has successfully applied this process in the hog, poultry, and dairy sectors, resulting in healthier, happier, and more productive animals.
The barns will help contain ammonia instead of letting it escape into the environment.
“It presents a business opportunity while also advancing our commitment to sustainable land stewardship,” Stovall concluded.
