MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) – The New Uses Forum is an annual meeting hosted by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, a research organization founded by the state legislature more than 30 years ago.
The summit focuses on developing technologies in the ag industry and implementing them to support the ag economy across the state.
Chief topic around the summit was innovations in bioindustry and feedstocks, renewable energy sources that aim to make production cleaner and more sustainable than traditional fossil fuel sources.
“I think we’ve seen a lot of success in bio-industrials, right, from the ethanol and the biodiesel industry, and what’s next is really what we’re focused on today like biomolecules and different building blocks that we can replace petroleum with and create new markets for our producers here across the state,” said Shannon Schlecht.
The summit has happened every year since 2017, but this is the first year outside of the twin cities.
Organizers say that Mankato was chosen as host in an attempt to branch out away from the metro area.
Mankato is also close to AURI’s new Waseca facility that opened at the start of the year.
The Institute ran a facility in Waseca since its inception, but outgrew that old facility.
The summit’s proximity to the new facility ties right in to the topics at hand, as bioindustry and new technology is the focus of Waseca’s new lab.
“Anyone that has an idea in this area can come to us and that is our mission, supporting them and we are very cost effective, and we see that as an asset for, obviously we’re in Waseca so southwestern Minnesota if you want, but certainly it’s an asset for the whole state,” said Luca Zullo, Ph.D.
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