Jul–Sep, 2002

As Webster puts it, innovation is the “introduction of something new.” Sounds simple enough, but being truly innovative is an arduous task. In business, it’s not enough to introduce something…

Detroit Lakes, Minn. — One of Minnesota’s premiere pet product companies was awarded the inaugural AURI Ag Innovator Award at a luncheon here June 19. Pet Care Systems, Inc. of…

Montrose, Minn. — Dan Conroy and Gary Sterner prefer to eat their barbecue bare naked. The two entrepreneurs market smoked pork ribs sans barbecue sauce. Their product, deBarbeque, is finding…

Editor’s note: This is the third installment in a series exploring AURI services to Minnesota. The first segment surveyed AURI’s mission and projects; the second overviewed the application process. In…

Got a new product? Let it prove itself. Todd Sisson, who manages AURI’s pilot plant in Crookston, runs trial batches of food and ag-based industrial products for refining and market…

Jack Johnson and Al Doering know how to use leftovers. Turning vegetable peels into fertilizer, wood fibers into mulch, and cow manure into electricity are just a few of their…

Forget the fat-free craze. Max Norris likes fats and he likes oils. Not only are they essential to our diets (who hasn’t heard of Omega-3s?), they can be refined into…

Morris, Minn. — A Minnesota ethanol company is making a new energy product, but it’s for cows, not cars. Golden Lyk, a subsidiary of Diversified Energy Company (DENCO), is turning…

St. Paul, Minn. — In a typical week, Paul Hansen may field questions from Minnesota producers on organic potatoes, soybeans, livestock feed, dairy products, poultry processing and ethanol. The callers…

New Prague, Minn. — Sometimes little things make the biggest differences. For Dave and Florence Minar, it was letting their cows eat grass. That grass-fed beginning led to an on-farm…

Crookston, Minn. — Keeping a close watch on a costly potato pest has saved growers up to $6 million so far, says Duane Maatz of the Northern Plains Potato Growers.…

Looking for ways to reduce on-farm pesticide applications, AURI’s PRO grant recipients will continue work begun in 2001 on a variety of agricultural products, including barley, pumpkins, bees, greenhouse plants…

Antlers in demand Alberta rancher Don Bamber has built a second plant on his elk ranch to process antler powder into health products. Demand for his elk-antler powder, sold in…

What’s going on in world trade? If you’re running a business, work for a business involved in foreign markets, or just want to know about exporting, we’ve pulled together some…

Cook, Minn. — Minnesota forestry and agricultural industries are helping the state’s steel industry process taconite. As an alternative to oil, natural gas and coal, Hill Wood Products produces dry…

Marshall, Minn. — When the state legislature passed a bill this spring requiring that biodiesel be blended with all diesel fuel sold in Minnesota, it was a big victory for…