Ara Infrastructure takes majority stake in US crop residue firm Pacific Ag
What's the deal? Ara Infrastructure has acquired a majority interest in Pacific Ag, the Oregon-based company it calls North America's largest crop residue supply and logistics firm. Terms were undisclosed. The equity fund, part of Houston-based Ara PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, also owns organics processor Divert IncDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What does Pacific Ag do? Founded nearly three decades ago, it harvests and transports crop byproducts — corn stover, wheat straw — left over after grain harvest. It upcycles them into feedstocks for dairies, animal protein markets, and mushroom growers.
What's the endgame? The deal fits Ara's waste-to-value strategy, turning agricultural residue into income for farmers. Pacific Ag's PAR unit is also developing an anaerobic digestion facility in Sunnyside, Washington, that will convert dairy manure into renewable natural gas.
The planned plant will take in up to 30% of the dairy manure generated in Washington's Yakima Valley. It adds to Ara's footprint in the state, where Divert already runs an anaerobic digestion facility in Longview, about 200 miles away.
Why it matters: "U.S. farms generate hundreds of millions of tons of crop residue each year," Ara Partners said, noting that managing it is a costly agronomic challenge for growers. George Yong, partner and co-head of Ara Infrastructure, said Pacific Ag has "a national network of scale, differentiated access to essential end markets, and resilient underlying project economics."
Founder and chief executive officer Bill Levy said the company "started nearly three decades ago with a simple idea: crop harvests leave behind byproducts too valuable to waste."
The signal: Infrastructure capital is flowing into agricultural waste and biogas assets. In October, 3i-backed Future BiogasDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → agreed to buy Foresight's remaining 49% stake in six UK gas-to-grid plants for £104 million. Ara's bet, by contrast, pairs an operating logistics business with a still-to-be-built digestion plant — carrying development, permitting, and construction risks that mature assets do not.
Read more: wastetodaymagazine.com
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