Turk Stovall, a fifth-generation Montana rancher representing Stovall Ranches and the new company Yellowstone Eco Solutions, told the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee on Jan. 14 that he and partners plan to expand the Shepherd feedlot and install confined-barn feeding, anaerobic digesters and ammonia-recovery systems to capture methane and other byproducts for sale.

Stovall said Yellowstone Eco Solutions intends to collect manure and process it through digesters to produce renewable natural gas (RNG), a renewable CO2 product and a digestate that could be converted into organic fertilizer through ammonia-recovery systems. "We're going to expand our feedlot operations in Shepherd," Stovall told the committee, describing the project as a model that could be replicated elsewhere in the state.

The proposal the presenter described: Shepherd’s existing feedlot holds about 21,000 head; Stovall said the site is permitted for 25,000 head and the immediate plan is to add roughly 40,000 head at Shepherd in a confined-barn design. He said he and partners are also considering two additional Montana locations to replicate the system. Stovall estimated the development would be a large capital project, saying each full project is on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars and could return substantial annual spending to local economies. He told the committee the pro forma for the project does not assume revenue from voluntary carbon credits, even though the operation is measuring carbon and intends to pursue registration later.

Why it matters: Stovall and committee members said the project could create local jobs, infrastructure needs and market incentives for more local finishing and processing of fed cattle. Stovall said each new large facility could create at least 50 full-time jobs and kick-start demand for processors and ancillary businesses. "We think every $200,000,000 project... we can insert another $100,000,000 back into the communities every year," he told the committee when describing the anticipated local economic impact.

Technical and market details Stovall summarized include: use of slotted-floor barns and continuous scraping to reduce volatilization and odors; anaerobic digesters to capture methane for RNG; ammonia-recovery systems (ARS) to convert digestate into marketable fertilizer; and renewable-water recirculation within the feeding and waste system. He said the team is working with NextGen ESG on initial carbon scoring and intends to submit verification to the VERA registry on the voluntary market, a process he estimated could take two to three years. On carbon credits he said, "Our pro forma of our project does not recognize any carbon credit dollars coming in, but we're doing it anyway because we think it's the right thing to do."

Committee members pressed on water use, odor, capital costs and feasibility. Stovall said the system will reuse a portion of water from the digestate processing and that continuous scraping and enclosed handling substantially reduce emissions compared with open lots. He pointed to Fair Oaks Farms (a large Indiana dairy operation) as the technical model they studied and said this would be one of the first efforts applying that closed-digester, nutrient-capture model to beef cattle rather than dairy.

On capital and infrastructure, Stovall said the group already is assembling financing and has offtake agreements for the RNG and CO2, including a 10-year offtake term for RNG. He said bringing a natural-gas pipeline from East Billings to Shepherd was quoted at about $15 million and that economies of scale are important to make the project financeable. On timelines he said the renewable-energy offtake contracts and capital stack are being assembled, and in his view payback for the renewable-energy investment would likely be on the order of 10 to 15 years.

Stovall described the enterprise as a joint venture: "Yellowstone Eco Solutions is owned by myself and those and I've partnered with those two other companies," he said, describing partnerships with firms that specialize in renewable-energy engineering and ammonia-recovery technology.

Other presenters and industry representatives at the hearing — including the Montana Stockgrowers Association president and Montana Wool Growers representatives — described complementary industry efforts such as the Stockgrowers’ Producer Profitability Initiative and predator challenges for sheep producers, but committee members reserved any formal action and did not vote on the project during the hearing. Stovall invited committee members to visit the feedlot and to follow up with the contact information in the handout packet.

Ending: Stovall asked the committee to consider how such projects could help keep more cattle finishing and processing in Montana and said he would provide further briefings and tours to committee members as the project advances.