Bion Environmental Technologies Inc. (BNET:OTCQB) has signed a letter of intent to develop a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation in North Dakota.
Annual production from the facility developed with Dakota Valley Growers near Bathgate is expected to be 42,500 head of premium, sustainable beef cattle, Bion said.
Bion's Gen3Tech technology will transform waste from the animals into renewable natural gas, value-added low-carbon fertilizers, and clean water.
"Bion can help us produce a better, more sustainable product and improve our bottom line at the same time," said Russell Edgar, founder of Dakota Valley Growers. "We have an opportunity to feed cattle right here in North Dakota instead of sending more than 900,000 feeder calves south every year. That will increase local demand for corn and other feeds, services, and jobs. We all win."
After taking some profit on Bion's stock in January, technical analyst Clive Maund of CliveMaund.com said in March that in its six-month chart, the stock "appears to be shaping up to break out above a line of resistance."
"We, therefore, stay long, and it is rated an immediate buy," technical analyst Maund wrote.
"We, therefore, stay long, and it is rated an immediate buy," Maund wrote.
Independent and self-described "disruptive and cleantech investor," PennyQueen called Bion a "great Buy."
"In plain English, they take animal poop and turn it into money," she wrote in January on Streetwise Reports.
Demand for beef remains after the rise and fall of plant-based meat companies. According to a recent survey by Midan Marketing Research, three-quarters of Americans can't imagine giving up the taste of beef, and 62% purchase premium beef.
"I believe the lesson to be learned from it is two-fold, there is a great demand for alternatives to current farming practices, and there is still a massive demand for animal proteins," PennyQueen wrote.
The Catalyst: Manure Into Natural Gas, Fertilizers, Water
Bion said the Dakota Valley Growers project will use indoor barns to make sure the animals are adding protein instead of burning calories to stay warm. The barns will have slatted floors to enable continuous manure removal and processing.
Anaerobic digesters in Bion's Gen3Tech system will recover nearly 84,000 MMBTU of renewable natural gas. The project will also produce about 4,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizer annually, enough to fertilize more than 11,000 acres of local corn.
Other fertilizer products, including organic ones, as well as 9 million gallons of clean water, will also be recovered. The water can be used for irrigation or watering the herd.
Independent and self-described "disruptive and cleantech investor," PennyQueen called Bion a "great Buy."
Recovery of natural gas, nutrients, and water will be transparent and third-party verified and supported by blockchain, Bion said. Along with cattle production history, that data will underpin a sustainable brand certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Process-Verified Program (PVP).
The sustainability will be measured by improvements in resource efficiencies, animal health and welfare, and reduced impacts to air, water, and soil, the company said. That info will be communicated to the consumer at the point of sale.
Another benefit will be keeping more of the development of these products in-state and perhaps, eventually, all of it.
"North Dakota has a long and rich farming and ranching history," said Ed Schafer, a member of Bion's board and former U.S. Agriculture secretary and North Dakota governor. "It may have made sense in the past to ship both our corn and calves south for finishing. No longer."
Showrooms for Farmers
The livestock industry creates more than 1.5 billion tons of manure annually, contributing to climate change and the excess nutrient contamination of surface waters and groundwater aquifers.
Bion's platform uses a specially designed barn and separately housed treatment system that applies biological, thermal, and mechanical processes to animal waste, creating pipeline-quality natural gas, value-added low-carbon fertilizers, clean water, and clean air, and potentially water credits.
But the main product is blockchain-verified, USDA-certified, sustainable meat for the US$66 billion-a-year beef industry.
The company is working with a farming and custom cattle feeding business to develop a 45,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation in Nebraska. It has also signed a letter of intent to a 15,000-head beef cattle feeding operation in Texas.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*
Bion Environmental Technologies Inc. (BNET:OTCQB)
Both projects "will serve as a sort of showroom for other cattle farmers," PennyQueen wrote. "I expect to see significantly increased demand for their systems after a successful launch of either project."
The company is also developing a commercial-scale demonstration and optimization project for its Gen3Tech that will treat the waste of about 1,500 cattle in Fair Oaks, Indiana.
Successful operation there will demonstrate Gen3Tech's scalability and generate data for full-scale project designs and various regulatory agencies.
Ownership and Share Structure
About 44% of the company is held by management and insiders and about 5% by strategic investors, Bion said. The rest is retail.
The stock is covered by several newsletter writers, including Maund, Matt Badiali, and Chris Temple, editor of The National Investor. Click in the data box above to view more of what they are saying.
Bion has a market cap of US$63.26 million and 43.6 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of US$2.30 and US$0.505.
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1) Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
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