×

Wright County inks deal with chicken litter facility

ReNewTrient 1 will create organic fertilizer

CLARION — A company that will turn chicken droppings into a more environmentally-friendly organic fertilizer will locate its multi-million-dollar facility in Wright County.

On Monday the Wright County Board of Supervisors entered into a development agreement with ReNewTrient 1.

“We have been working on this agreement for about three years,” Supervisor Karl Helgevold said. “It finally got put together.”

The company plans to break ground on its estimated $20 million facility in the coming weeks. It will be located about 10 miles southeast of Clarion on 20 acres of land.

The site is about a quarter-mile west of the U.S. Highway 69 and 275th Street intersection. The land is owned by Farm Nutrients, of Rembrandt. It will partner with ReNewTrient, according to Cindy Litwiller, Wright County economic development director.

The property has a minimum assessment of $2.6 million. The current assessment on the land is $152,500.

The development will create nine full-time jobs, according to Litwiller.

About 2,000 feet of gravel road will be paved for access to the plant, Litwiller said.

She said the county received a $144,000 RISE grant related to that cost.

ReNewTrient will pay $150,000 for the road improvement over a 10-year period.

The company will receive a 50 percent tax rebate for the first three years, according to Helgevold.

“The property tax on the property is $55,000,” Helgevold said. “We will rebate half of that back for building. After the three years, that goes away.”

The development calls for a new processing facility, administration office, lab, outside containment areas and truck disinfectant bay.

Inside the processing facility, manure would be brought in and sorted before being shipped out as fertilizer.

The company will take raw material from egg laying facilities and convert it to a two-part fertilizer, dry and liquid.

“It takes the raw chicken litter and then makes organic fertilizers out of it,” Helgevold said. “They will make three types of fertilizer, a dry organic fertilizer, a sulfur ammonia fertilizer, and natural stabilized ammonia fertilizer and they will sell that onto a secondary market. They will do about 150,000 tons a year.”

The plant’s processes may cut down on flies in the county by reducing the moisture content of the manure.

Litwiller said the development is a positive one for the county.

“We are very excited about this business and the opportunities it presents for Wright County,” she said. “We are excited to see construction get started.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $3.46/week.

Subscribe Today