Agricultural Utilization Research Institute

What Agricultural Utilization Research Institute does

AURI (Agricultural Utilization Research Institute) is a Minnesota-based nonprofit founded in 1987 that delivers applied agricultural research, pilot-scale product development, and hands-on technical assistance to Minnesota's food entrepreneurs, agricultural producers, and bioindustrial innovators. The organization operates across four focus areas — Food, Biobased Products, Renewable Energy, and Coproducts — and serves primary customer segments including Minnesota food entrepreneurs, bioindustrial and renewable energy innovators, agricultural processors seeking coproduct valorization, and underserved/BIPOC agricultural communities.

AURI's core technical platform is its Bioindustrial Innovation Center in Waseca, Minnesota, a 15,000+ sq ft pilot laboratory with 1,500 sq ft of FDA-certified food-grade lab space and specialized equipment including two 1,250-gallon anaerobic digesters, a 60 HP pellet mill, hammer mill, oil presses, fluidized bed dryer, rotary drum dryer, dewatering presses, and a fiber decorticator. These facilities enable pre-commercial quantity production, testing, and demonstration of biobased and food products at industrial pilot scale. Sub-products include the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Coproducts Utilization Laboratory, Meat Science Services (including a Meat and Poultry Benchmarking Service), the Agriculture Innovation Center (USDA-funded), the Minnesota Renewable Energy Roundtable, and AVA (a virtual assistant for food business questions).

AURI's revenue model combines government grants (federal USDA grants and state appropriations through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's AGRI program), commodity checkoff co-funding (Minnesota Soybean, Minnesota Corn), and fee-based technical services (consulting, applied research, lab testing, pilot-scale production support). Distribution is delivered through direct staff engagement and laboratory access for SMB clients, complemented by content marketing channels (Ag Innovation News newspaper and podcast, YouTube, email newsletter, webinars, and events). Notable strategic initiatives include a 2026 three-year partnership with BPC Instruments for anaerobic digestion, the 2025 MBOLD Protein Catalyst initiative, and the forthcoming July 2026 Minnesota Biogas Roadmap. The organization is governed by a nine-member board and led by Executive Director Shannon M. Schlecht (appointed September 2015).

Name

Agricultural Utilization Research Institute

Legal name

Agricultural Utilization Research Institute

Website

https://auri.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AURI is a Minnesota-based nonprofit that provides applied agricultural research, pilot-scale lab services, and technical assistance to food entrepreneurs, agricultural producers, and bioindustrial innovators across four focus areas: Food, Biobased Products, Renewable Energy, and Coproducts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Crookston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Grants and Federal Funding: AURI receives federal and state government grants to fund its research programs and innovation centers. In 2022, a $500,000 USDA grant established the Agriculture Innovation Center. The organization also receives funding through state programs such as the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's AGRI program.
2. Fee-Based Technical Services: AURI provides consulting, scientific technical assistance, product development, and testing services to agricultural clients. Services include applied research, lab testing, process development, and pilot-scale production support for clients seeking to develop new agricultural products and processes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

AURI is a nonprofit research institute that provides applied research, scientific technical assistance, and pilot-scale product/process development to Minnesota agricultural producers, food entrepreneurs, and bioindustrial businesses. Its core offerings include idea-generating research, hands-on consulting, analytical and pilot laboratory testing, and resource networking across four focus areas: Food, Biobased Products, Renewable Energy, and Coproducts.

Product overview

AURI (Agricultural Utilization Research Institute) is a Minnesota-based nonprofit that provides comprehensive innovation support services across four core focus areas: Food, Biobased Products, Renewable Energy, and Coproducts. The organization offers a platform of interconnected services including applied research, technical assistance, and resource networking to help businesses develop new agricultural products and processes. Key facilities include the Bioindustrial Innovation Center in Waseca, the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, and the Coproducts Utilization Laboratory. AURI also operates specialized programs like the Agriculture Innovation Center, AVA (virtual assistant), Meat Science Services, and the Minnesota Renewable Energy Roundtable. The institute collaborates globally while acting regionally to deliver economic impact for Minnesota agriculture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AVAAURI's Virtual Assistant (AVA): A free virtual assistant for agricultural producers, food entrepreneurs, innovators and founders across the food chain to find answers to common food business questions.
• Protein Catalyst
• Bioindustrial Innovation Center

Products and services

• AURI Innovation Support Services Comprehensive innovation support including applied research, resource networks, and hands-on scientific technical assistance to help Minnesota businesses develop new products and processes using agricultural commodities. Target users are Minnesota food entrepreneurs, agricultural producers, and bioindustrial businesses.
• Food Focus Area Research and development support for food products, including meat science, nutritional analysis, product development, and commercialization assistance for food entrepreneurs.
• Biobased Products Focus Area Support for Minnesota businesses to use agricultural products to replace petroleum-based ingredients in materials such as plastics, films, building materials, lubricants, and sealants.
• Renewable Energy Focus Area Research and development for renewable energy production from agricultural products including transportation fuels, heat, and electricity from bioenergy sources.
• Coproducts Focus Area Creating new uses for agricultural processing waste and byproducts to generate new revenue streams through product and process development.
• Agriculture Innovation Center (AIC) USDA-funded center focused on educating producers, enhancing marketing skills, and supporting value-added product development in Minnesota and nearby states.
• Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Laboratory services providing analytical testing for food and agricultural product development, including physical and chemical characteristics analysis; FDA-certified food-grade lab space.
• Bioindustrial Innovation Center 15,000 sq ft pilot laboratory at the Waseca facility that develops new uses for plant and animal products at industrial scale, including grinding, milling, size reduction, densification, anaerobic digestion, and extraction capabilities.
• Coproducts Utilization Laboratory Pilot laboratory for developing new uses for agricultural byproducts and processing residues, supporting product evaluation, testing, and scale-up.
• Meat Science Services Specialized services including the Meat and Poultry Benchmarking Service and meat science research support for the food industry.
• AVA (AURI Virtual Assistant) Free virtual assistant for agricultural producers, food entrepreneurs, innovators, and founders across the food chain to find answers to common food business questions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Goal of $500 million in economic activity for Minnesota by 2026
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• BPC InstrumentscoreTechnology or Integration · 19 May 2026Three-year strategic collaboration to improve the quality, comparability, and decision-relevance of anaerobic digestion experimentation in the United States. Operating at AURI's Bioindustrial Innovation Center in Waseca, Minnesota, the partnership focuses on applied research, workforce training, and equipment training for agricultural and bioindustrial biogas applications, using BPC Instruments' analytical technologies. AURI will publish the Minnesota Biogas Roadmap in July 2026.
• MBOLD Coalition (Protein Catalyst Initiative)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025AURI participates in the Protein Catalyst initiative, a Minnesota-based coalition to expand private sector role in creating and producing protein products, fueling innovation and market growth through research and mentorship programs. AURI commissioned an assessment on winter camelina as an animal feed ingredient through this initiative.
• General Mills (EPIC Products)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Open innovation challenge managed by AURI to connect General Mills' EPIC 100% Grass-fed bison meat supply chain need with Minnesota ranchers.
• Xcel EnergyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration through the Ag Innovation News Podcast featuring Xcel Energy's Mike Jensen on the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, discussing hydrogen production supporting rural economies and agricultural value chains.
• Clean Energy Resource TeamsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2023Partnered with AURI on the 'Advantages of Wood Heat for Commercial Poultry Production' field study, co-funded by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's AGRI program.
• AgrigrowthminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2019Co-hosted the 'Building an Industrial Hemp Industry in Minnesota' Forum bringing together stakeholders across the hemp value chain.
• Minnesota Department of AgriculturemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2019Partner on multiple research reports including the Minnesota Shared-Use Commercial Kitchen study and co-commissioned the Halal+Kosher Minnesota Meat Market Assessment alongside AURI.
• Hormel FoodsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2019AURI managed an external innovation partnership on behalf of Hormel Foods and Jennie-O Turkey Store to address barn sanitation challenges, seeking new cleaning and disinfection solutions for the farming environment.
• USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2018Partnership on 'Optimization of Denitrifying Bioreactor Performance with Agricultural Residue-Based Filter Media' research study examining the use of agricultural residues (stover, straw, corn cobs) as alternatives to wood chips in denitrifying bioreactors.
• University of MinnesotamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2018Academic research partner on denitrifying bioreactor studies and additional nitrate-N removal research, contributing graduate student expertise and field trial capacity.
• USDA Forest ServiceminorOthers · 1 July 2015USDA Forest Service certified EarthClean's corn-based firefighting product TetraKO, enabling its use in fighting forest fires.
• Minnesota's Initiative FoundationsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2015Funded and collaborated on the 'Economic Contribution of the Agbioscience Industry in Greater Minnesota' study and regional economic impact reports across Minnesota's initiative foundation regions.
• University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community VitalitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2015Conducted the comprehensive economic contribution study of the agbioscience industry in Greater Minnesota and regional impact assessments for each initiative foundation region.
• North Dakota State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2015AURI connected Bio-Plastic Solutions to NDSU researchers, which led to a broader network of resources including the University of Minnesota, state universities in Winona and Mankato, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, and Minnesota manufacturers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• NC State University Food Innovation Lab: NC State's Food Innovation Lab provides product development, pilot processing, and commercialization support to food entrepreneurs, directly comparable to AURI's FDA-certified lab and pilot-scale processing services.
• University of Minnesota Extension: University of Minnesota Extension delivers applied research and education to Minnesota agricultural producers and communities, operating as both a partner and adjacent applied-research provider in the same geographic market as AURI.
• Kansas State University Innovation Partners: K-State Innovation Partners commercializes university research and supports agricultural and food industry innovation in Kansas, paralleling AURI's role bridging agricultural commodities and commercialized products.
• University of Nebraska Food Processing Center: The University of Nebraska's Food Processing Center provides product development, sensory evaluation, and food processing technical assistance to entrepreneurs and food companies, directly comparable to AURI's Food Focus Area and pilot-scale laboratory services.
• Rutgers Food Innovation Center: Rutgers Food Innovation Center offers food business incubation, pilot processing, and product development services to food entrepreneurs, a model closely aligned with AURI's food entrepreneur support and pilot laboratory capabilities.
• Ohio State University Extension / OARDC: Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center deliver applied research and technical assistance to Ohio's agricultural and food industry, comparable to AURI's applied research and pilot-scale services.
• University of Nebraska Industrial Agricultural Products Center: UNL's Industrial Agricultural Products Center focuses on developing new uses for agricultural commodities through research and pilot-scale processing, directly aligned with AURI's Biobased Products and Coproducts focus areas.
• Iowa State University CIRAS: Iowa State University's Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) provides applied research, technical assistance, and industry extension services to Iowa businesses, mirroring AURI's nonprofit/state-affiliated applied research model serving agricultural and food entrepreneurs.

Broad incumbents

• Texas A&M AgriLife Research: Texas A&M AgriLife Research is a much larger state agricultural research enterprise covering food, bioenergy, and natural resources; comparable in mission but operates at a substantially greater scale and scope than AURI.
• Battelle Memorial Institute: Battelle is a large independent nonprofit research organization managing national laboratories and conducting applied R&D across agricultural, energy, and biological sciences, comparable to AURI in nonprofit applied research but vastly larger in scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeauri.org/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agricultural-utilization-research-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Agricultural Utilization Research Institute