Ag Processing Solutions, Incorporated, or APS, has come a long way in six years. “We started in a pole barn,” said owner Andrew Bishop, who started the company as an engineering firm.
“We're out designing large scale crush plants, large scale cleaning facilities,” said Bishop. “That's how we primarily make money.”
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Their resume includes facilities like Pardue Grain in Cut Bank, Montana Specialty Mills in Great Falls and Bruce Seed in Townsend.
“In the last two years we’ve designed over $100 million worth of agricultural processing facilities,” said Bishop.
As APS grew, their evolution was far from over.
“We came up with some different processing technologies surrounding hemp processing and what really happened in that time frame was we told everyone we had a better way to process hemp,” said Bishop.
That eventually led to becoming a specialty crop processing hub, focusing primarily on Montana grown commodities.
“We processed spelt, we processed millet. Anything that can be grown in Montana, we can figure out a way to add value to it,” said Bishop.
Bishop says Montana agricultures is something he’s extremely passionate about. He says before getting into the specialty crop space he noticed Montana was what he called an export heaven, growing large sections of wheat to export.
“What I saw is there's a real opportunity for specialty crops to be grown here that aren't your traditional winter wheat and figure out a way to add value to it,” said Bishop. “We want people to come here and bring us their Emmer to dehull. We want people to bring their chickpeas to us to make flour. We want people to bring their weeds to us so we can pellet and try to make it fertilizer.”
APS helped Bozeman based Unwaffle process lentils for protein packed waffles.
While they welcome commodities from Big Sky Country, they have used rice straw from the midwestern United States to help another Bozeman based Solum create environmentally friendly footwear.
The expansion continues. Over the last year, APS has added 7,000 square feet and more than a million dollars' worth of equipment.
“Some of the capabilities we have is we can separate wheat from lentils at 60,000 pounds an hour,” said Bishop. “We can pellet your different commodities. Whether it be canola meal, whether it be alfalfa, anywhere from four tons an hour to eight tons an hour.”
Bishop, a dryland farmer from Brady, is even working on innovations for his own farm. He hopes to process the problematic weed and herbicide resistant Kochiainto a fertilizer supplement.
“If I can cut my fertilizer bill in half by utilizing organic matter like Kochia, that is a win for me,” said Bishop.
In a world where commodity prices are always changing, APS is about helping farmers find other financial avenues.
“They're dipping their toe in the water instead of diving headfirst,” said Bishop. “ That's what this facility is all about. Helping people not bite off more than they can chew and leverage their farms too much.”
One of the latest endeavors is processing an ancient grain called Emmer.
“One of our customers, asked us to dehull Emmer, and then they were going to take it and make flour out of it,” said Bishop.
“This is my first time, first week running Emmer, a brand-new commodity for me,” said APS Lead Project Manager Drew Savage-Kottel. “But learning about it and seeing how it reacts and or, or equipment and how we can separate it is very rewarding.”
With a seemingly unlimited field of value-added opportunities, every day at APS is an adventure.
“I kind of look at this place with all this equipment like Charlie's chocolate factory, but without the chocolate,” said Savage-Kottel.
Bishop says rolling with the changes is important because agriculture is cyclical.
“If we're not ready to change, we're going to be left behind,” said Bishop.
He’s simply helping them think outside the box.
“The success of our business is 100% bring us your idea,” said Bishop. “Let's do it together for a while and then let's get you to grow into your own processing line. That's where I want everyone to be.”
On Friday, February 28 at 2:00 p.m., APS will host a ribbon cutting to show off their expanded facility. They’ll be doing demonstrations and answering producer questions.
“We're going to be, dehulling Emmer. We're going to be crushing camelina seed. We're going to be separating wheat from lentils,” said Bishop. “All the demonstrations (will be) showing the really simple equipment that can help people do this.”
Ag Processing Solutions is located just off the Vaughn South Frontage Road at 16 Liberty Lane.
