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This quarter, Ag Innovation News is highlighting Larry Johnson. When we last spoke to Johnson in April of 2017, he was just getting settled into his new role as a…
Since 2002, AURI has recognized these kinds of businesses with the Ag Innovator of the Year award, presented to a Minnesota company that has shown innovation in the development of an ag-based product or process. The goal is to recognize the accomplishments of one deserving business and draw attention to value-added agriculture’s contributions to the state.
“We present this award to recognize innovation and excellence in Minnesota’s food and agriculture space,” says AURI Executive Director Shannon Schlecht. “AURI sees many great ideas from across the state and the award provides an opportunity to highlight a unique idea and innovative business.”
EarthClean Corporation is being recognized for its innovative approach to utilizing Minnesota’s agricultural commodities for an environmentally friendly firefighting additive and its commitment to expand the product line of natural solutions to difficult problems.
> Listen to a radio segment on this article –By Liz Morrison Hog farmers around the globe are benefiting from AURI-funded research on feeding distillers grains, an important ethanol coproduct.…
–by Liz Morrison A Benson, Minn., ethanol maker hopes a customer loyalty program will encourage owners of flex fuel vehicles to choose the yellow pump. Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC)…
Listen to a radio segement –by Liz Morrison A Benson ethanol maker hopes a customer loyalty program will encourage owners of flex fuel vehicles to choose the yellow pump. Chippewa…
Midwest Ag Enterprises and TechMix highlighted in story about Ag Innovator of the Year Award >Read the story
Midwest Ag Enterprises highlighted in story about Ag Innovator of the Year Award >Read the story
— by Liz Morrison A little more than three years ago, AURI teamed up with the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council and the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council…
While ground-breaking scientific technology is rarely predictable, we do know that there will always be change and innovation. In the area of transportation fuels, there are many developments that will likely have an impact on Minnesota’s agriculture economy. This column gives an overview of the factors that might impact renewable fuels, but the only certainty about future developments is that “the future ain’t what it used to be,” as Yogi Berra noted many years ago.
— by Liz Morrison photos by Rolf Hagberg Improving livestock feed with the coproducts left over during agricultural processing is a win-win for Minnesota’s agricultural industry. Livestock farmers find new…
Ag Innovator of the Year makes news AURI’s Ag Innovator of the Year, Bio-Plastic Solutions of Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, was recently featured in the AgriNews and the Owatonna People’s Press.…
Bio-Plastic Solutions was named AURI’s 2012 Ag Innovator of the Year. This recognition, which has been awarded annually since 2002, recognizes an innovator who has contributed to Minnesota’s economy by creating a unique product or process using agriculture commodities.
–By Liz Morrison Feeding corn distillers grains to beef cattle does not lead to higher levels of a harmful pathogen, E. coli O157:H7, in the animals’ digestive systems. That’s according…
Renewable fuel advocates have high hopes for cellulosic ethanol — made from plant waste rather than corn. Reality may take a little longer.
At AURI, we don’t work alone; we have an expansive network of experts and partners. Recently, I hit the road as part of a year-long “Innovation Tour” to meet up with a few of the important players in our network.
Omega-3 for joint pain United Kingdom researchers have found that a diet rich in omega-3, from fish or flax oil, could significantly reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Guinea pigs fed…
Detroit Lakes, Minn. — Minnesota’s most unique pet litter producer is expanding its Detroit Lakes operation, creating additional space and jobs. Farmers Union Industries says it is pouring $4.25 million…
Benson, Minn. — North American Fertilizer is AURI’s 2011 Ag Innovator of the Year. The award was presented at a June 16 AURI board of directors luncheon in Benson. AURI…
Crookston, Minn. — Like farm animals, anaerobic digesters perform best when fed the right diet. An AURI initiative is giving northwest Minnesota processors a better idea of what’s on the…
Consumers are demanding more environmentally-friendly products; Minnesota plastics manufacturers are paying attention. The recently-released Renewable Materials Report for AURI, conducted by the Russell Herder research and public relations firm in…
A cheese manufacturer loads whey into an oxygen-deprived vessel where microorganisms thrive. Bacteria bugs eat the whey and create methane gas that will power the cheese plant. Entrepreneurial dairy producers…
Corn Plus — a 40-million-gallon corn ethanol plant that runs on biomass power — sells out of its renewable ash fertilizer a year or more in advance. “The product is…
Mankato, Minn. — An effort to bring Swedish clean-energy technology to the United States has led to a Minnesota State University-Mankato research facility intended to boost Minnesota’s renewable-energy industry. The…
Fergus Falls, Minn. — While describing himself as just “a guy with a vote in the United States Senate,” Sen. Al Franken told participants at a June 4 Renewable Energy…
Businesses we work with are developing ag-based products that lead to opportunities, economic activity and jobs. They deserve our recognition.
This year, AURI’s annual Ag Innovator of the Year award goes to Suntava.
Thousands of years ago, the Indians of the Amazon River Basin improved their unproductive tropical soils by mixing in charcoal made from smoldering wood. Ancient terra preta — or “black…
The challenge with biochar is holding it all together. The fine, black soot-like material is a byproduct of biomass gasification. Biochar could be used as a coal substitute if it…
Something old can be made new again. At AURI’s coproducts lab in Waseca, we take what once was called waste — vegetable peels, corn stalks, animal manure, ash, other leftovers…
Isanti, Minn. — Ever Cat Fuels opened a biodiesel processing facility this fall that could eventually turn algae into fuel. Featured in the April 2009 issue of Ag Innovation News,…
Brooten, Minn. — Jerry and Linda Jennissen and their cows are out to prove that large dairies aren’t the only ones with power. A building attached to their dairy barn…
Nothing can be sustained without water, including industry. Once considered a free and unlimited resource, water is now a limited resource in many parts of the United States, forcing communities…
Montevideo, Minn. — David Eid, a former corn farmer who grew up in sugar-beet country, is championing sweet sorghum for fuel. Why advocate growing the nontraditional sugar crop in corn…
Interest in energy independence tends to go up and down with price postings at the gas stations. “When fuel prices went way up, we started to see a lot more…
Marshall, Minn. — It’s not often that removing a key ingredient makes a recipe better, but reducing oil in distiller’s grains may improve swine diets as well as ethanol-plant profits,…
For 20 years, working in the realm of innovation, AURI has seen an endless supply of unique and interesting ideas for agricultural products. Economic times have changed and social influences…