Message from the Director

Welcome to the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute's Web site. We think you will find this site to be interesting and informative.

My name is Teresa Spaeth. I am Executive Director for AURI. We are a nonprofit corporation that works to improve the economy of rural Minnesota through new, value added uses for our farm commodities. AURI is a very diverse organization, offering assistance to Minnesota businesses and cooperatives. Our goal is to improve the long-term health of our state’s economy through new uses for our commodities.

Our assistance comes in many forms. We offer technical assistance to help with product development. We offer food safety training and assistance with nutritional issues. Our staff also does research on fats and oils, they investigate alternative crops like hybrid poplars and find ways to utilize low value items like crop residue and food waste.

We also offer assistance to help move a product from concept to reality. A great idea does little good unless it is able to be used. For this reason, we offer support to help new ag-based products succeed. Those successes help create jobs, open new markets for commodities and keep our economy strong.

AURI also partners with numerous other organizations to help increase our impact. With limited resources it is important to team with others whenever possible. This expands our reach and increases the benefits.

I hope you enjoy our site. It is continually changing, so visit us often.