BROKEN BOW, NE - Adams Land & Cattle (ALCC) of Broken Bow has announced plans for a $200 million roller compacted concrete and anaerobic digestion project that is expected to start early next summer. Conveyed benefits of the project include on-site production of renewable natural gas and fertilizer products, reduced smell and dust, less truck traffic, and improved cattle health.
Roller Compacted Concrete, a complete rebuild of the lot
At the base of the project is roller compacted concrete (RCC), a drier mix than conventional concrete that is compacted with a roller while it is still soft. Often used for large areas like roads, dams, and parking lots, RCC does not use rebar and can be poured at a rate of around 80,000 square feet a day. With concrete rather than dirt as the base of cattle pens, the most visible difference is a reduction in dust.
Adams Land & Cattle started pouring their first RCC in 2023, in order to prepare for the benefits on a larger scale. When utilized in the cattle industry for pens, it has several benefits according to Settje Agri-Services and Engineering, the company working with Adams Land & Cattle on the project.
1. Improved cattle health and cleanliness
2. Improved feed conversion
3. Simplified pen maintenance
4. More cattle, smaller footprint
5. Quick construction
6. Ability to do anaerobic digestion
7. Cost
Anaerobic digester, renewable natural gas/farming products producer
An anaerobic digester is the second half of the project, slated to be placed on 40 acres of land south of the lot where a third party will lease the land while owning and operating the digester. In anaerobic digestion, bacteria break down organic matter, like manure, in the absence of oxygen. A reactor breaks down the waste and produces biogas (renewable natural gas) and digestate (organic fertilizer, animal bedding, crop irrigation products).
"Basically we have signed an agreement that says 'Hey, we are going to deliver you all of our manure, you're going to use that manure to create renewable natural gas'," said Abram Babcock, President of Adams Land & Cattle. "Once the nutrients come out of the back of the digester, we will take those nutrients back and we'll use them from a farming and bedding perspective on the feed lot. So really, what we're responsible to do is get manure to the digester and then take nutrients away from the digester."
The anaerobic digestion, a 30 to 40 day process, will be overseen by 8 to 9 full-time employees, including three engineers. Babcock estimated about eight trucks a day would be transporting renewable natural gas south of the feedyard, on Highway 21. The underground natural gas infrastructure in the area is not built to handle the amount expected to be produced.
In addition to renewable natural gas and bedding, two additional products will be produced by the process. One is a nitrogen product that can be used on the 3,000 acres ALCC has around their lot, eliminating synthetic nitrogen use. The other, Babcock said, can benefit farmers.
"This other product is about three percent total solids. It has a good balance of nitrogen and phosphorus and will be a really good product for local farmers. The economics would suggest that we could haul this water product to farmers that they could either apply through their center pivots or they could knife it in, they could do a lot of different things with it," said Babcock.
Approved permitting is allowing ALCC to raise their head count from 85,000 to 150,400, which won't require more space thanks to the concrete project. Babcock said even with that many more cattle at the south lot, he estimates only a 5% increase in cattle trucks because cattle come in at lighter weights and are on feed longer days. The number of trucks hauling manure/material will drop sharply due to the on-site digester, with zero trucks leaving the south lot with manure. The head increase will also mean ALCC will be purchasing more corn from farmers.
Estimated project timeline
Financing is being secured for the project right now, which Babcock estimates is 2/3 of the way complete. If secured, the RCC project and digester project will likely begin in early summer of 2025 with an estimated completion by the end of 2026.
"We have the project kind of broken up into six different phases. So a couple of objectives there: we want to make sure we can maintain 85 thousand head at the feed lot through the two year construction period," Babcock explained, "Secondly, when we're doing dirt work within a phase, we want the dirt to balance from a cut and fill perspective. So each of those phases allows us to keep a capacity but also allows us to minimize the amount of dirt moving that we have to have. Pretty aggressive timelines here, project completion by the end of 2026."
"We're excited for a project of this magnitude for not only our company, but for the community and our commitment to sustainability," said Babcock.