Insect farm to make animal feed in North Dakota

Chapul Farms goes from ‘Shark Tank’ to working with ethanol plant

BY JEFF BEACH | NORTH DAKOTA MONITOR

NORTH DAKOTA — North Dakota is a leading producer in many ag specialty crops, such as sunflowers, pinto beans and honeybees.

Get ready to add black soldier fly larvae to that list.

With state grants and Mark Cuban of “Shark Tank” as an investor, Oregon-based Chapul Farms is on schedule to break ground in the spring on its first facility to create high-protein animal feed from insects.

The bug farm in the Spiritwood Energy Park east of Jamestown, will use the byproduct from a neighboring ethanol plant to feed the larvae of black soldier flies, then process that larvae into a protein powder for pet food or livestock feed. Waste from the larvae can be used as fertilizer.

Todd Severson is the head of project management for Chapul Farms.

“We’re just trying to replicate nature and doing it in a way that keeps the bugs happy and keeps the humans and our soil happy,” Severson said.

Severson said Chapul Farms will be using a byproduct of turning corn into ethanol from the Dakota Spirit ethanol plant, part of Harvestone, to feed and grow the black soldier fly larvae.

It also will be using wet pulp from sugar beets processed by American Crystal Sugar to feed the larvae.

Severson called it a tray system, where the wet feed is placed on a tray; the young larvae are added and feed for about seven days. Then, the “frass,” or bug poop, is sifted out for fertilizer and the larvae are dried and ground into high protein powder.

In one week, the larvae can convert 1 ton of food waste into 200 pounds of animal feed and 400 pounds of fertilizer, according to Chapul Farms.

Severson said they have commitments for buyers on both the protein powder and the fertilizer but are still finalizing contracts.

“The majority of the adoption in the market is in the pet and aqua markets and where the price point is holding a little higher,” Severson said, but the backyard chickens and poultry market also shows promise.

Ethanol plant benefits

The operation will also benefit Dakota Spirit, which typically has to dry the byproducts, known as distillers grains, to be able to ship them off by rail to be used as livestock feed.

Jeff Zueger, the CEO of Harvestone, said having a business next door that can use the grains while they are still wet will cut the ethanol plant’s energy use. That will lower the plant’s carbon intensity score, helping it potentially sell fuel for a premium price in markets, such as California, that have set a low-carbon fuel standard.

“We think that it’s a nice addition to the energy park,” Zueger said. “It’s a good use of some of the existing products that are produced to do additional value-added agriculture and produce a unique product.”

Dakota Spirit sells some distillers grains to livestock operations in the area, but Zueger said about 90% of the feed byproduct is shipped out by rail and needs to be dried to be shipped. The drying process accounts for about half of the energy used by the plant.

“So it’s sort of a win-win for us not having to expend energy and then also allowing us to lower the carbon intensity for the ethanol that we’re producing,” Zueger said.

Construction and jobs

Chapul Farms plans to break ground as soon as the weather allows in 2024 and then it will be about 18 months before it will be up and running.

Severson estimates the plant will create 50 to 60 jobs.

“And these will be more like ag tech jobs,” Severson said. “We’ll have a handful of biologists, entomologists and some plant managers, and then some shift workers dealing with all the equipment.”

May the spirit of the season bless you and your family beyond measure. May we all be aware of those less fortunate around us this season and may the gi of the Savior ll your heart and home with all the joys this season brings.