Prairie AquaTech is a small company now, but developers say if it can help farmers in the Dakotas and Minnesota capitalize as a substitute for high-demand fishmeal on the world’s fish farms, it could bloom into something bigger.
Created in 2012 as DAST LLC, Prairie AquaTech is developing an enhanced microbial conversion to produce high-protein feed that is converted into pellets for aquaculture. The same processes can be used to make feeds for other farm animals, pets and humans.
Prairie AquaTech lives in a $2 million, three-pilot production facility and a research-scale pilot facility. The plant includes a mini-version of a full feed mill for making whole feed pellets, an analytical lab for testing raw materials and a 7,500 square-foot recirculating aquaculture facility lab. It has tanks ranging from 30 gallons to 1,000 gallons in various configurations, for replicated feeding trials.
The company is raising funds for a $40 million facility that would produce 30,000 tons of feed pellets per year, which would start construction in April 2017 and take 10 months to build. Brookings, S.D., or Volga, S.D., are likely locations, although that announcement is anticipated this fall.
Source: Prarie Business Magazine
