South Dakota Company Receives International Acclaim For Improving Feed Performance In Aquaculture

COLOGNE, Del., June 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Prairie AquaTech of Brookings, SD (USA) is the 2019 winner of the internationally curated Aquafeed Innovation Award for Ingredients.  The award was presented to the company during the 2019 VICTAM International Feed & Grain event held in Cologne, following the"Aquafeed Horizons" technical conference.

Independent judges from Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the USA selected Prairie AquaTech on the merits of its protein ingredient, "ME-PRO." The ingredient was designed to provide the aquaculture industry an effective and responsible alternative to reliance upon wild-caught stocks of forage fish.  ME-PRO uses a patented process to enhance plant protein.  The result is an exceptionally high quality protein ingredient that's been proven to be responsibly sourced, provide excellent performance in feed mills and on fish and shrimp farms, and have a positive effect on the environment.

Though ME-PRO's source and performance are remarkable, the Aquafeed Innovation Award was ultimately bestowed on account of the ingredient's demonstrated ability to significantly lower phosphorus effluent from aquaculture into ground water, lakes, rivers and the ocean.  Phosphorus discharge is one of the leading contributors to environmental pollution around the world.  Excess phosphorus in the water system contributes to a harmful process called eutrophication, resulting in lower water quality, higher costs, and stagnation of aquaculture growth.

Lucia Barreiro, editor of industry news source aquafeed.com and co-producer of the Aquafeed Horizons event stated, "The aquaculture industry succeeds on the quality and applicability of innovation.  We absolutely must meet and exceed upon the challenges that present themselves to our industry.  Prairie AquaTech's ME-PRO is not only an excellent protein ingredient, it's helping the industry become more successful.  They should be proud of their work and we wish them continued success."

Prairie AquaTech CEO, Mark Luecke, was present at the award ceremony and replied, "Aquafeed is a globally recognized source of industry news and information – their recognition of our work is very important.  This award is the result of our team's passion for developing high quality products that support the aquaculture value chain, and our persistence to achieve production at scale."

Prairie AquaTech has recently completed construction of its first commercial-scale production facility in Volga, South Dakota.  At full production capacity, the facility will produce 30,000 metric tons of ME-PRO from non-GMO soybeans per year. ME-PRO has been successfully used in aqua feed formulations around the world in multiple species, such as salmonids, bass, and shrimp.

ME-PRO was developed by a partnership between South Dakota State University and South Dakota Innovation Partners, an investment company established to start and manage companies dedicated to meeting crucial challenges in health and nutrition.  Prairie AquaTech is part of South Dakota Innovation Partners' portfolio of companies.

For more information on ME-PRO, www.MEPROPowered.com or search "Prairie AquaTech" on YouTube.

SOURCE Prairie AquaTech