August 2, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Bion Environmental Technologies Inc. (Bion), the developer of an advanced 3G Tech platform that dramatically reduces the environmental impacts of livestock production and recovers valuable resources through advanced waste treatment, has partnered with Ribbonwire Ranch to build a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feed operation in Dalhart, Texas. 

Joining Bion in this endeavor is Ribbonwire Ranch, a cattle ranch in the Texas panhandle operating on approximately 40,000 acres of certified organic grazing land. Likewise, its affiliate Lathen Farms, operates on approximately 10,000 acres of farmland, of which about 70 percent is certified organic, making the entity the largest organic cow/calf operation in the state.

The facility planned for Dalhart will be designed to produce blockchain-verified sustainable beef via production systems that reduce stress on the cattle caused by extreme weather and temperatures, while also remediating the environmental impacts associated with cattle Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

The numbers are difficult to fully grasp. The U.S. has nine million dairy cows, 90 million head of beef cattle, 60 million swine, and poultry that numbers in the billions that together produce in excess of 100 times more organic waste than humans, noted Bion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) labels the waste generated by livestock to be “one of the greatest water quality problems in the U.S. today”. The industry is the largest source of nitrogen and phosphorus in the majority of U.S. watersheds, fueling ever-more harmful algae blooms in fresh, estuary, and coastal salt waters, while manure in groundwater is contaminating drinking water sources, and runoff is creating dead zones in large bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay.  

Bion’s patented technology platform integrates several systems into one unified waste collection, treatment, and recycling platform that processes the waste stream of an operation into valuable co-products including clean water, renewable natural gas (RNG), and organic fertilizer products. The added revenue streams generated by these product lines will serve to transform what would have been a marginally profitable business into a lucrative one.

“We are excited to be partnered with Bion for this initial system,” said Chad Schoonover, co-founder, Ribbonwire Ranch. “This could change the industry. This new approach allows us to capture what has otherwise been lost, while still providing a humane environment that doesn’t pollute the air, water or land.”

Bion and Ribbonwire plan to create a definitive joint venture this fall, which would create a path forward for the construction of the Dalhart sustainable beef facility to begin in 2023. In the meantime, Bion expects to secure formal agreements with foodservice and retail customers in the coming months.

In the longer term, the letter of intent (LOI) includes a provision to allow for the expansion of the project in four phases, representing a jump to 60,000-head capacity, or annual production of 180,000 head.

“We are fortunate to be working with a forward-thinker like Ribbonwire Ranch,” said Bill O’Neill, CEO Bion. “We realize that this announcement is just a first step in making sustainable beef a reality. However, it is an important step to giving the consumer the sustainable beef they want and helping cattle feeders and producers create more value for their cattle.  And equally important is the fact we are keeping the waste stream from polluting the air, land, and water, and verifying those improvements in the process.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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