Producer Partnerships — Montana, USA

Producer Partnerships: A Global Model for Agricultural Circular Economy

Premier Green Energy's producer partnership programme brings together agricultural producers, waste processors, and waste-to-energy specialists to create circular value from farm-level waste streams. Our work with producer groups in Montana, USA, demonstrates how this model can be applied at scale — and what it could mean for farming communities globally.

The Challenge

Agricultural producers worldwide face a common challenge: managing the biological waste outputs of livestock operations in a way that is both economically viable and environmentally responsible. Cull animals, by-products, and organic processing residues represent significant volumes of organic matter that, if unmanaged, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and pose disposal costs.

At the same time, food insecurity remains a pressing issue in many agricultural communities — including in Montana, where 1 in 9 residents is food insecure, despite the state's vast agricultural output.

The Solution

The Producer Partnership model, as demonstrated in Livingston, Montana, connects livestock producers with processing infrastructure and community food networks. Producers donate animals — including cull or injured livestock — which are processed at a USDA federally inspected facility and the resulting protein distributed to food banks and community organisations across the state.

Since its founding in 2020, the Montana Producer Partnership has:

• Achieved 501(c)3 nonprofit status
• Built Montana and the nation's first federally inspected, owned, and operated nonprofit processing facility
• Donated nearly 250,000 pounds of Montana-raised animal protein to the Montana Food Bank Network and partner charities

PGE's producer partnership work draws on this model, supporting producers in extracting maximum circular value from their waste streams — whether through pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, or biorefinery processing — while ensuring that agricultural communities benefit directly from the energy and material outputs generated.

What This Means for Agricultural Producers

If you are an agricultural producer generating organic waste streams — from livestock, processing, or crop residues — PGE can work with you to design a producer partnership structure that converts those streams into energy, high-value by-products, or community benefit. Our international experience means we can adapt best-practice models to your operational context, whether in Ireland, the EU, or beyond.

About Premier Green Energy

Premier Green Energy (PGE) is an Irish waste-to-energy company specialising in the design, build, and operation of pyrolysis and biorefinery systems. PGE's patented PRIMA 3000 system converts industrial and commercial waste into syngas, carbon char, and recovered heat — creating circular economy value for clients across manufacturing, healthcare, and agri-food sectors.