hometownsource. com / heartland / Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, September 20, 2026 Page 31
“ We have everything sold to a voluntary buyer on a 10-year contract at a fixed price,” Evens said.
Keeping the project entirely on the dairy also proved beneficial.
“ Everything is local, everything’ s here,” Evens said.“ Manure doesn’ t leave the site... only the gas.”
That approach reduced truck traffic, minimized odor concerns and helped streamline permitting.
Evens said Stearns and Pope counties, along with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, were supportive throughout the permitting process.
“ The MPCA was very welcoming, as long as we ticked all the boxes,” Evens said.
The required 30-day public comment period for the facility’ s air permit generated no public comments.
Todd credited that success to careful planning and experienced consultants.
“ We dotted the i’ s, crossed the t’ s,” he said.“ There was a lot of collaboration, a lot of planning that took place.”
During the June tour, BioGasCo Chief Operating Officer Mitchell Torborg guided visitors through the renewable natural gas system.
The company designed the project specifically for dairies with 1,000 to 3,000 cows rather than constructing a large centralized facility. The plant consists of three major components: a digester, an upgrader and a compressor. The process begins with a 1.1-million-gallon, oxy-
Jeffrey Hage / Stories of the Heartland
A flexible membrane covers the anaerobic digester at Biogasco’ s renewable natural gas operation at Malecha Dairy near Villard. The dome captures biogas produced as manure decomposes inside the sealed tank.
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