Turkey Power!

The first poultry-litter power plant in America was built two years ago near Benson, Minnesota. The 55-megawatt renewable energy power plant came online in mid-2007 and annually converts more than 500,000 tons of poultry litter, as well as other biomass, into electricity—enough electricity to power 40,000 homes.

According to the Fibrowatt website, the majority of the fuel is litter supplied by Minnesota turkey growers—a decidedly "green" aspect to the state's turkey industry, profiled in the current Lake Country Journal (November/December 2009, p. 42).

In 2008, the Fibrominn Biomass Power Plant was recognized with the Minnesota Environmental Initiative Green Business and Environmental Management award, for "... sustainable solutions to the challenges of reducing the environmental footprint of business activities, or ... providing solutions to environmental problems through the creation of a successful business."

There are benefits for being number one and Minnesota has definitely capitalized on its status as the number one turkey producer in the country.