Leaders praise efforts to bring new rendering plant to area Dakota Protein Solutions debuts cutting-edge venture

BY ERIK KAUFMAN

Mitchell Republic

FREEMAN, S.D. — The makeshift stage at Dakota Protein Solutions near Freeman was crowded Tuesday morning, Sept. 3, with local and state government officials along with members of the ownership group and a handful of employees for the new enterprise.

After about 20 minutes of remarks from those gathered before an audience of approximately 100 members of the public, the ribbon was cut and the future of Dakota Protein Solutions was underway.

That future was years in the making and a result of dozens of individuals — from private investors to public officials — pitching in to make the new venture and the economic benefits that come with it a reality.

“It started in 2019, and then we went through the permitting process and checked all the boxes for logistics,” Scott Stern, a member of the local ownership group, told the Mitchell Republic following the ceremony. “The investor group all has a lot of experience on the inputs or expertise on the stuff that comes out, so I describe it as kind of a dream team. It’s just a bunch of great guys.”

The results of that partnership between investors, local, county and state government leaders and agriculture industry experts was on display on opening day, while members of the public took part in tours of the facility and heard comments from a number of economic development and agriculture officials.

Dakota Protein Solutions is expected to provide an environmentally secure location to dispose of dead livestock for farmers, which should enhance biosecurity and disease control as well as eliminate the potential for soil and water contamination. The facility will process primarily hogs and cattle and other potential game entrails processed by state-authorized meat processors.

The new plant is expected to inject around $18 million annually into the local economy while also providing 12 new full-time jobs. The plant is expected to begin work in the next few weeks, according to officials.

Recalling a childhood story about a cousin who had to leave his small town for a job in the big city due to a lack of good jobs, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson told the crowd that efforts like the one that brought Dakota

Protein Solutions to Freeman have changed the agriculture industry and rural economic development for the better.

“Let’s be honest, the 1960s, 70s and 80s were not a great era for rural America. But about five years ago, the numbers changed really quickly. Even before COVID it was amazing how many rural areas began to grow,” Johnson told the audience. “And when you dive into the numbers and ask why that is, you find a lot of different answers.”

Rural America has the appeal of low crime rates and low cost of living, and telecommuting has allowed greater flexibility in being able to live in one place and work in another, he said.

Also important is the private investment put into rural development, a factor that had a strong hand in making Dakota Protein Solutions a reality.

“One thing not as talked about is the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been put into rural America during those years, which has created tens of thousands of jobs that otherwise wouldn’t have been there,” Johnson said. “What really makes this work — you have to have people willing to put their own money on the line to create those jobs. And if we ever forget that that’s the straw that stirs the drink in rural government in this country, we’re done for, because there’s not enough government money to do the kind of value-added ag projects that have been done, particularly in our part of the world, over the course of the last 10 to 15 years.”

Stern said it took a village of supporters, ranging from adjacent landowners to officials in Hutchinson County and Turner County, the city of Freeman and state government to make everything come together.

He cited working with the city of Freeman, which helped the plant overcome an unforeseen hurdle, as an example. When the plant first sought out a supply of water

Protein Solutions

CONTINUED FROM 4 to operate the massive boilers on site, it reached out to a pair of local rural water suppliers, both of whom were supportive but did not have the available supply to fit the plant’s needs. Dakota Protein Solutions even tried drilling for water but came up short.

Turning to the city of Freeman, the group learned the community still had unused wells that had at one time supplied water to the city, which lies about a mile west and a mile north of the plant. The city had switched to rural water decades ago, and an arrangement was made to retap those wells and run a line from the city to the plant.

“We actually went to the city of Freeman, which had abandoned wells from when Freeman connected to B-Y Water 25 or 30 years ago. So we put these wells back into production and ran a 4-mile, 6-inch line out to the plant,” Stern said. “And Freeman is getting paid for the water, so it works out well for us and for them.”

The plant will both add value to agricultural products while minimizing its impact on the environment and the residents who call the area home.

Plant officials estimate there is approximately 415 million pounds of renderable dead stock within 150 miles of the plant. There are also several slaughter facilities without their own proprietary rendering capacity that produce 52 million to 80 million pounds of byproducts per year that could be processed by Dakota Protein Solutions. They figure the plant will be able to keep as much as 1.5 million pounds per week of rendered material out of landfills.

Officials said they also invested heavily in a state-of-the-art air scrubber that will clean the entire cubic footage of the plant every 15 minutes and is vented through a stack to maximize odor control.

Stern said Dakota Protein Processing wants to ensure concerns about such plants, odor being a common one, are addressed so that the community that has been so supportive is impacted minimally by its operation.

“You can see how many people were supportive, and the government organizations,” Stern said. “The landowners who were adjacent — we went out and met with them and we spared no expense putting a very sophisticated air scrubber in to make sure that this plant stays clean and that we’re being good neighbors. And I’m one of the closest neighbors.”

Several in attendance lauded the value that would be added to agricultural products. Drew Peterson, a state representative from District 19, said the potential benefits of the plant are evident.

“This is going to have a direct impact on our operation, and it’s so exciting that we get to add value to products that we otherwise wouldn’t be adding value to,” said Peterson, who farms near Salem. “As far as serving our community, there is nothing better than adding value to our ag products.”

Joe Fiala, commissioner for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, agreed. A strong agriculture industry means a strong economy, especially in South Dakota, and facilities like Dakota Protein Solutions help get that done. Fiala was appointed to the GOED commissioner role on Aug. 21.

Though it may have taken a few years to come to fruition, those behind the scenes did well making it happen, he said.

“With every project, there are hurdles to overcome and unforeseen things you have to handle, and they’ve done a great job,” Fiala said. “This facility will make products that are valuable and can be sold and bring new money to South Dakota and to this area in

CONTINUED FROM 5 particular. This is something that will help Freeman and the area for a long time.”

Twelve new jobs may seem like a modest addition to the local workforce, but every new job in rural America makes a difference, Johnson said.

Those new jobs are exactly what rural communities in South Dakota need, he said, and it was exciting to see forward-thinking investors, economic development leadership and local and state government working together to make it all happen.

“I think (12 is) a big number. Obviously in rural America we don’t add jobs 1,000 at a time. We add them one or two at a time. So to get 12 jobs that are going to be good paying and add value to agriculture in every direction for 150 miles, that’s a big success story,” Johnson said. “The millions and millions of dollars that investors put at risk here to make something special? I’m grateful for it. It’s a team sport — state and local government stepped up as well. So it’s a team sport but nothing happens if we don’t have private sector individuals willing to create jobs.”

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek

The South Dakota State Fair celebrated the ground breaking of the new open class sheep facility Aug. 29 with a number of agriculture industry representatives and Gov. Kristi Noem at the South Dakota State Fairgrounds in Huron, South Dakota.