Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., a developer of advanced livestock waste treatment technology, has announced a letter of intent with University of Nebraska-Lincoln to collaborate to develop an integrated beef facility. The new, state-of-the-art facility would incorporate innovative barns, an anaerobic digester and a Bion 3G Tech system, to provide waste treatment, generate renewable energy, and capture and upcycle nutrients.

The proposed project would be located at the Feedlot Innovation Center, which is being developed at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center, near Mead, Nebraska. The new facility will be both a working feedlot and a testbed where private companies can see how emerging technologies work in a commercial setting. 

The objective of the collaboration is to support research and development of feedlot and other animal production technologies to advance economic, climate-smart and other environmental goals that will improve livestock production through integration of Bion's technology with other innovative feedlot technologies and practices under development within UNL's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The Feedlot Innovation Center will provide a unique opportunity for private industry to work alongside researchers, scientists, students and producers to develop and evaluate emerging technology used in managing animals in feedlot settings. It will include a complex with cattle comfort and research buildings, a feed technology facility, innovative open lots and an animal handling facility. The expansion will create real-world facilities to test new precision technology, address environmental challenges facing the feeding industry and improve cattle performance and welfare while comparing different environments and housing systems. The expansion will also allow for innovation in manure collection and management that will innovate both new and possible modifications for existing operations.

"The Feedlot Innovation Center presents an incredible opportunity to pull together the best and the brightest minds working in animal agriculture today to create more resilient systems for food animal production," said Mike Boehm, Harlan Vice Chancellor for IANR and University of Nebraska vice president for agriculture and natural resources. "We are thrilled with Bion's plan to be part of this effort, and are excited to welcome other partners, as well."

"We are excited to work with UNL to demonstrate how Bion's unique 3G Tech platform can support climate-smart beef production," said Bill O'Neill, Bion's CEO. "It is critical that climate and clean water technologies and practices be integrated to provide a comprehensive solution to the environmental and economic challenges faced by today's beef industry. The 3G Tech platform was designed to dramatically reduce the environmental impacts of beef finishing operations to both air and water, improve farm economics, and deliver truly sustainable products to the consumer that maintain the grain-finished quality that is the hallmark of U.S. beef."  

Source: Bion, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.