DAKOTA PROTEIN SOLUTIONS ‘AN ENTERPRISE TO BE PROUD OF’
Ribbon-cutting at state-of-the-art facility set for next Tuesday
An agricultural-based facility unique to South Dakota — that is, a non-proprietary rendering operation located just outside of Freeman — will celebrate its forthcoming opening next week.
Dakota Protein Solutions is inviting the public to a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a chance to get an up-close look at Freeman’s newest industry Tuesday morning, Sept. 3. Plant tours will take place at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., with the ribbon cutting set for 9:30 a.m. sharp. Distinguished guests will include U.S. Congressman Dusty Johnson, secretary of the DANR Hunter Roberts and Joe Fiala, Commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Also scheduled to attend are South Dakota District 19 Representative Drew Peterson and Freeman Mayor Michael Walter.
Dakota Protein Solutions is located at 27950 440th Ave., which is a mile south/southeast of Freeman.
Plans for the from-the-ground-up project date back to 2019 when local businessman Scott Stern and a group of others with like-minded interests began putting in place a plan to build a rendering facility.
Some of the key players — like Ron Stover, owner of Stony Creek Nutrition out of Elkhorn, Neb., and Scott Darling, an agricultural businessman with an engineering degree already had experience in rendering operations and recognized the opportunity in South Dakota.
“These partners all brought unique experience, skills and capacity to support a project of this scope and they are now part of the DPS family,” said Stern, who eventually became a member of this partnership. “And we all said, ‘Let’s find a way to do this, because the state needs this and the ag production industry can benefit from these outputs.’
“Nebraska has seven of these (non-proprietary operations),” he continued. “South Dakota has none, and we saw this as an opportunity to support the agricultural industry in the state.
“That was the bridge that got us connected.”
And Stern can’t say enough about the “dream team” behind this project.
“We’ve got people who have expertise in all these different areas that makes for a great group,” he said. “They’re just good guys. They say you can’t do a good deal with a bad person, and these are just good people.”
The project entered the local sphere in August of 2021 when the city of Freeman approved a resolution in support of Dakota Protein Solutions, which was required for the operation to receive a state environmental permit, and with that, the ball was rolling.
In the years that have followed, Stern said Dakota Protein Solutions has worked hard to develop a state-of-the-art facility that will both accommodate the needs of the agricultural community while mitigating risks to the environment and surrounding area, including odor and soil and water contamination.
“I can’t say enough about the support we got locally from adjacent landowners, local government agencies, city and counties and townships,” he said. “There has been a high level of collaboration and cooperation.”
And he said Dakota Protein Solutions spared no cost.
Not only will the animals be cooked processed in a controlled environment immediately upon arrival, the ownership went so far as to install a state-of-the-art air scrubber system that will clean and filter every cubic foot of the plant every 15 minutes.
“From a regulatory perspective we weren’t required to do that,” Stern said, “but we made a commitment to the community and the area that said we were going to build an enterprise that was going to mitigate their concerns.
“We want to be good neighbors.”
As for the work of Dakota Protein Solutions itself:
n t will serve South Dakota and a radius of 150 miles to the south and east of the plant where there is approximately 415 million lbs. per year of dead stock — primarily hogs and cattle.
n t will recycle and divert from landfills approximately 1.5 million lbs. per week of rendered material.
n ts direct impact on the economy will be $18M annually.
n he production will generate two primary products: meat and bone meal that will enhance the supply of protein to support the needs of ag producers; and fats and oils, which will be refined and converted into renewal diesel fuel.
n he water generated by the operation will be pumped into an adjacent holding pond and applied as a soil amendments for a neighboring farmer.
n nd Dakota Protein Solutions will employ approximately 12 full-time employees.
“When we started talking, I never envisioned that we would get to this level,” Stern said. “This group is really building a state-of-the-art enterprise that we can be proud of, both here in the community and at the state level.”
