ORGANIZATION, NATURE OF BUSINESS, GOING CONCERN AND MANAGEMENT’S PLANS:

6 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

ORGANIZATION, NATURE OF BUSINESS, GOING CONCERN AND MANAGEMENT’S PLANS:

1.       ORGANIZATION, NATURE OF BUSINESS, GOING CONCERN AND MANAGEMENT’S PLANS:

Organization and nature of business:

DUE TO THE RECENT DEATH (FOLLOWING EXTENDED ILLNESS) OF DOMINIC BASSANI (WHO MOST RECENTLY SERVED AS OUR COO (FROM MAY 2022) AFTER SERVING AS OUR CEO FOR THE PRIOR DECADE) AND DIFFICULTIES IN RAISING NEEDED FUNDS (WHICH RE-EMERGED DURING THE 2023 FISCAL YEAR AND HAVE CONTINUED THROUGH THE CURRENT QUARTER TO DATE), THE COMPANY IS FACING INCREASED CAPITAL NEEDS AND THE NEED TO TRANSITION TO A YOUNGER MANAGEMENT TEAM (MARK A. SMITH, THE COMPANY’S PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, PROVIDED NOTICE DURING EARLY 2023 OF HIS INTENT TO PHASE OUT HIS MANAGEMENT ROLES EARLY THIS CALENDAR YEAR). THESE ITEMS HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY DISCLOSED BUT THE COMPANY BELIEVES IT IS IMPORTANT TO FEATURE THEM ‘UPFRONT’ AT THIS POINT. PLEASE NOTE:

A: The Company is not generating any significant revenues. Further, the Company’s anticipated revenues, if any, from existing Projects, JVs and proposed Projects will not be sufficient to meet the Company’s anticipated operational and capital expenditure needs for many years. See “Going Concern and Management’s Plans” below. Current liabilities were approximately $4.2 million at December 31, 2023. There was an increase of approximately $2.6 million from a year earlier (which was largely due to an increase in ‘accounts payable and accrued expenses’ totaling approximately $2.0 million and an increase in ‘deferred compensation’ of approximately $.35 million) as a result of the Company’s limited success in raising new financing (equity and/or debt) during the recent period in combination with continued expenses (including those related to the Initial Project); and

B: On September 28, 2023 the Company entered into an agreement for a $1,500,000 bridge loan and executed documents including a convertible promissory note (“Note”) and a binding subscription agreement (“Subscription”) (collectively the Note and the Subscription are the “Bridge Loan Agreements”) with SEB LLC, a non-affiliated party (“Lender”). The Bridge Loan Agreements require the Lender to loan the Company $1,500,000 in six monthly tranches of $250,000 commencing October 2023. All sums advanced under the Bridge Loan Agreements (and accrued interest thereon) would due and payable (with interest accrued at 9% per annum) on October 1, 2024 if not previously converted into securities of the Company. The Note is convertible at $1.00 per unit, at the sole election of the Lender, into units consisting of one share of the Company’s common stock and a warrant to purchase one half share. The initial $250,000 tranche was received by the Company on October 5, 2023. However, no further funds were received by the Company from the Lender. During early November 2023 the Lender informed the Company verbally that it did not intend to fulfill its obligations pursuant to the Bridge Loan Agreements and since such time the Lender has been in default (“Default”). The Default (which is continuing) has exacerbated the Company’s exiting problems and materially damaged the Company and rendered the Company unable to meet its creditor obligations on a timely basis. The Company is currently evaluating its rights regarding the Default by the Lender. See Notes re Bridge Loan/Default. This situation has contributed to the substantial increase in the Company’s ‘Current Liabilities’ including ‘accounts payable’ over recent periods. See Consolidated Financial Statements and ‘Management’s Discussion and Analysis’. The Company is in discussion/negotiation with its larger creditors (including its largest creditor--- the primary contractor on the Initial Project) and anticipates reaching agreements re payments during the current quarter (or soon thereafter).

Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc.'s ("Bion," "Company," "We," "Us," or "Our") was incorporated in 1987 in the State of Colorado. Bion’s mission is to make livestock production more sustainable, profitable and transparent. We intend to accomplish this by deploying our Gen3Tech platform/business model (discussed below) in ventures focused on the ‘feeder’ space of the livestock production/value chain to provide the consumer with verifiably sustainable premium meat products (together with environmentally friendly, sustainable and/or organic co-products from the production process).  Bion believes this approach can create extraordinary value for our shareholders and employees (all of whom own securities in the Company) and for livestock/agriculture industry ‘partners’ who join us in our ventures. We anticipate pursuing the opportunity created by our third generation technology (“Gen3Tech”) and business/technology platform in conjunction with other industry practices (“Gen3Tech Platform” or “Platform”) utilizing a joint venture/strategic partner model. We believe our approach will improve the well-being of farmers, ranchers, feeders, etc. that we work with and create value for our shareholders while improving the environment.  

Our patented and proprietary technology provides advanced waste treatment and resource recovery for large-scale livestock production facilities (also known as “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations” or “CAFOs"). Livestock production and its waste, particularly from CAFOs, has been identified as one of the greatest soil, air, and water quality problems in the U.S. today.  Application of our Gen3Tech” can largely mitigate these environmental problems, while simultaneously improving operational/ resource efficiencies by recovering high-value co-products from the CAFOs’ waste stream. These waste ‘assets’ – nutrients and methane – have traditionally been wasted or underutilized and are the same ‘pollutants’ that today fuel harmful algae blooms, contaminate surface groundwater, and exacerbate climate change.

Bion’s business model and technology platform can create the opportunity for joint ventures (in various contractual forms) (“JVs”) between the Company and large livestock/food/fertilizer industry participants based upon the supplemental cash flow generated by implementation of our Gen3Tech business model, which cash flows will support the costs of technology implementation (including servicing related debt). To accomplish Bion’s goals, we anticipate the we will ‘partner’ with other technology companies who provide solutions for different links of the beef (and other livestock) value chain and with strategic partners up and down the supply chain. We anticipate this will result in substantial long-term value for Bion. In the context of such JVs, we believe that the verifiable sustainable branding opportunities (conventional and organic) in meat will represent one of the largest enhanced revenue contributors provided by Bion to the JVs (and Bion licensees). The Company believes that the largest portion of its business with be conducted through such JVs, but a material portion may involve licensing and or other approaches.

Bion’s Gen3Tech was designed to capture and stabilize these assets and produce renewable energy, fertilizer products, and clean water as part of the process of raising verifiably sustainable livestock. All steps and stages in the animal raising and waste treatment process will be third-party verified, providing the basis for additional revenues, including carbon and/or renewable energy-related credits and, eventually, payment for a range of ecosystem services, including nutrient credits as described below. The same verified data will be used to substantiate the claims of a USDA-certified sustainable brand that will support premium pricing for the meat/ animal protein products that are produced in Bion facilities.

During the first half of calendar 2022 Bion began pre-marketing our sustainable beef opportunity to retailers, food service distributors and the meat industry in the U.S.  In general, the response has been favorable. During our 2023 fiscal year, Bion entered into three (3) letters of intent (“LOIs”): a) July 2022 letter of intent to develop a large-scale commercial project - a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation together with the Ribbonwire Ranch (“Ribbonwire LOI”), in Dalhart, Texas (with a provision to expand to 60,000 head) (“Dalhart Project”), (b) January 2023 letter of intent to develop a large-scale commercial project - a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation together with the Olson Feeders and TD Angus (“Olson LOI”), near North Platte, Nebraska (with a provision to expand to 45,000 head or more) (“Olson Project”) and c)April 2023 letter of intent to develop a large-scale commercial project - a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation together with Dakota Valley Growers (“DVG LOI”) near Bathgate, North Dakota (“DVG Project”). The Company is in discussions with additional parties regarding potential further LOIs. Based on our experience to date, we believe we will not have difficulty in securing participation in our Projects from additional feeders/cattlemen. The Olson, Dalhart and DVG Projects (and subsequent Projects) will be developed to produce blockchain-verified, sustainable beef in customized covered barns (resulting in reduced stress on cattle caused by extreme weather and temperatures and resulting higher feed/weight gain efficiency) with ongoing manure transfer (through slatted floors) to anaerobic digesters (AD) to capture nitrogen from the manure stream before loss to the atmosphere and generate renewable natural gas (RNG) for sale while remediating the environmental/carbon impacts usually associated with cattle feedlots and CAFOs. Bion’s patented Gen3Tech platform will refine the waste stream into valuable coproducts that include clean water, RNG, photovoltaic solar electricity and fertilizer (‘climate smart’ and/or organic) products. We anticipate converting tone or more of these LOIs into definitive JV agreements and creating related distribution agreements with key retailers and food service distributors during the current calendar year.

Our business plan is focused on executing multiple agreements and letters of intent related to additional sustainable beef JV projects over the next twenty-four (24) months while continuing our work at the Initial Project (see below) and commencing development of one or more of the Dalhart/Olson/DVG Projects (“LOI Projects”)(and/or other Gen3Tech beef JV projects) while pursuing other opportunities in the livestock industry enabled by our Gen3Tech business model.  The LOI announcements have generated significant interest within the livestock industry (among ranchers, feedlot operators, farmers and other AG industry parties) and has led to and assisted our discussions with many major of the larger agriculture/livestock industry companies (including those involved with distribution and/or sales of meat products) in the country which are ongoing at this date. We believe that this interest, combined with consumer interest in ‘sustainable products’ and growing enthusiasm among some livestock industry parties for environmental/sustainable/regenerative practices, may provide Bion (and its partners/venturers) with an opportunity to move forward with a truly sustainable solution in this industry segment at a rapid pace. 

During the 2023 calendar year, the Company has constructed (construction is largely completed) our 3GTech Ammonia Recovery System (‘ARS’) located near Fair Oaks, Indiana and begun operations of phase 1 of our Initial Project (our commercial scale demonstration facility) located near Fair Oaks, Indiana. The Initial Project has been deemed ‘placed in service’ effective January 1, 2024. Operating results to date at Fair Oaks indicate ARS performance will exceed initial expectations for ammonia recovery and related economics. The Company recently announced that we have achieved key objectives in the optimization of its ARS and will now begin the final design process for full-scale systems based on results to date (and testing over the remainder of this fiscal year) at the Initial Project. The ARS has achieved and maintained controlled steady-state operations under a variety of conditions. When operated at steady state, the system produces an ammonium distillate (solution), the base of Bion’s nitrogen fertilizer products. Bion has begun optimizing the ARS’s operating parameters with the goal of meeting and/or exceeding the results needed for Bion’s economic models for large-scale commercial projects. The Company expects the current optimization phase will continue during the next quarter (or longer) and provide data required to support final design/engineering for commercial project modules. We believe this data will also provide additional potential stakeholders (cattle producers, cattle feeders, packers, distributors, retailers and financial institutions) with the information they need to proceed with confidence in collaborating with Bion on multiple new projects (see below). Final economic and energy efficiency models will be validated during the final design process. The Company intends to engage a third party engineering firm during the next quarter to prepare a third-party evaluation of the ARS while also moving forward on final commercial design process.

The patented ARS is the core of Bion’s Gen3Tech platform. It recovers and upcycles problem ammonia contained in the effluent from anaerobic digestion (where methane is captured and more ammonia is released) of the livestock manure waste stream. The ARS captures the ammonia, minimizing its environmental impacts and creating low-carbon and/or organic nitrogen fertilizer products with it. During the last three (3) months,, the Company has produced ammonium distillate and ammonium bicarbonate solutions at the Initial Project in several concentrations and plans to initiate the application process for organic certification for each concentration of liquid fertilizer product. Multiple applications to OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) and CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) are being prepared for listing/certification of new organic products. Bion received an OMRI-Listing in 2020 for its initial product. Bion will continue producing liquid and crystal fertilizers at the Initial Project to support testing and life-cycle analysis, product trials, and ongoing organic initiatives. Bion will produce a solid/granular nitrogen fertilizer product at the Initial Project (when the crystalizer module is ready for operation) which we believe will be both ‘Climate-Smart’ and ‘Water-Smart’ – a pure nitrogen fertilizer with a low carbon footprint, that is water soluble and readily available to plants. Samples of the granular product will also be utilized to support organic certification applications. See Fertilizer---Organic and ‘ClimateSmart’ below.

 Bion expects the Initial Project data will document the effectiveness of our Gen3Tech in a commercial-scale setting during the current fiscal year and support development of one or more of the LOI Projects (and/or other Gen3Tech beef JV projects) commencing later this fiscal year.  We do not presently know the order in which the JV Projects will be developed as that decision will be made based on many factors not yet in place. We believe the Initial Project data will also provide additional potential stakeholders (cattle producers, cattle feeders, packers, food distributors and retailers and financial institutions) with the information they need to proceed with confidence in collaborating with Bion on multiple new projects (see below).

Note that Bion recently announced its intention to establish strategic partnerships to market the ARS as a stand-alone addition to anaerobic digestion (“AD”) nitrogen control solution in two sectors:

A)     INDUSTRIAL AND MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER. AD is now used at 1,269 water resource recovery facilities in the U.S., with another 102 stand-alone systems that digest food waste. The American Biogas Council estimates an additional 8,600 sites with development potential. Germany, by comparison, has almost 10,000 operating AD sites. In the U.S., wastewater and AD digestate from industrial and municipal sources is already regulated for ammonia and nitrates. The EPA recently proposed tougher standards for slaughter facilities. Bion believes ARS ammonia treatment costs will be competitive in these markets and that its unique premium fertilizer byproducts will create an advantage, especially with waste streams that are still considered ‘organic’, like slaughter and food waste.

B)     ANIMAL WASTE. According to the American Biogas Council here are 473 animal waste digesters operating in the U.S. today, most on dairy operations. The American Biogas Council and USDA’s AgSTAR program estimate more than 8,000 additional sites with development potential. The ARS was designed specifically for this purpose: control ammonia from livestock waste and produce the highest value byproducts with it. Digestate from animal waste AD has enjoyed the same reduced regulatory requirements as land applying raw manure. Recent trends in Michigan and California indicate they will treat animal waste digestate as any industrial source, subject to groundwater permitting requirements. Bion believes its proven technology and value-added fertilizers will give it a significant competitive advantage in this evolving market.

Bion is now focused primarily on: i) operation and further testing at the Initial Project, our initial commercial-scale Gen3Tech installation, for support of design/feasibility studies/reports related to our initial JV Projects (and further optimization of its operational parameters), ii) pre-development planning of the LOI Projects (and/or other Gen3Tech beef JV projects) including steps toward distribution agreements, iii) developing applications and markets for its low carbon ‘ClimateSmart’ and organic fertilizer products (including listings/certifications of multiple liquid and solid products) and its sustainable (conventional and organic) animal protein products, and iv) discussions regarding initiation and development of agreements and joint ventures (“JVs” as discussed herein) (and related Projects) based on the augmented capabilities of our Gen3Tech business platform (in the sustainable beef and other livestock segments), (v) exploring JVs re stand-alone ARS markets, while (vi) continuing to pursue business opportunities related to large retrofit projects (such as the Kreider poultry project JV described below) and vi) ongoing R&D activities.

HISTORY, BACKGROUND AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Since the Company’s inception, Bion has designed and developed advanced waste treatment systems for livestock. The first and second generations of Bion’s technology platform were biological systems, primarily focused on nutrient control. Over 30 of these systems were deployed at New York dairies, Florida food processing facilities and dairies, North Carolina hog farms, a Texas dairy and a Pennsylvania dairy (“Kreider 1 Project”). The systems were highly effective at their intended purpose: capturing nitrogen and phosphorus. They produced BionSoil as a byproduct, which was a remarkably effective soil amendment/ fertilizer product, but whose value was not enough to support a viable business model. As such, these early technology iterations were entirely dependent on either implementation of new regulations requiring waste treatment, or subsidy/ incentive programs that would provide ‘payment for ecosystem services’. By the mid-2010’s, it became apparent that neither of these options were imminent or even assured, so the Company initiated the steps to reimagine and redesign its technology.

From 2016 to 2021 fiscal years, the Company focused most of its activities and resources on developing, testing and demonstrating the third generation of its technology and technology platform (“Gen3Tech”) that was developed with an emphasis producing more valuable co-products from the waste treatment process, including renewable natural gas and ammonium bicarbonate, a low-carbon, organic ’pure’ nitrogen fertilizer product, while raising sustainable livestock.

The $175 billion U.S. livestock industry is under intense scrutiny for its environmental and public health impacts – its ‘environmental sustainability’-- at the same time it is struggling with declining revenues and margins (derived in part from clinging to its historic practices and resulting limitations and impacts) which threaten its ‘economic sustainability’. Its failure to adequately respond to consumer concerns including food safety, environmental impacts, and inhumane treatment of animals have provided impetus for plant-based alternatives such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger (and many others) being marketed as “sustainable” alternatives for this growing consumer segment of the market (despite the lack of verifiably sustainable attributes).

The Company believes that its Gen3Tech, in addition to providing superior environmental remediation, creates opportunities for large scale production of i) verifiably sustainable-branded conventional livestock products and ii) verifiably sustainable organic-branded livestock products, both of which will command premium pricing (in part due to ongoing monitoring and third-party verification of environmental performance which will provide meaningful assurances to both consumers and regulatory agencies). Each of these two distinct market segments (which the Company intends to pursue in parallel) presents a production/marketing opportunity for Bion (but the former is far larger). Our Gen3Tech will also produce (as co-products) biogas, solar photovoltaic electricity in appropriate locations, and valuable low carbon/organic fertilizer products, which can be utilized in the production of organic grains for use as feed for raising organic livestock (some of which may be utilized in the Company’s JV projects) and/or marketed to the growing organic fertilizer market.

During 2022-23, the Company entered into 3 LOIs setting forth the parties’ intention to negotiate joint venture agreement (“JVA”) and enter into joint ventures (“JV”) to develop and operate 15,000 head integrated, sustainable beef facilities (with future expansion under consideration) including:

a) innovative cattle barns (with slatted floors to facilitate movement of manure to the anaerobic digester and potentially solar PV generation on the rooftops which barns will improve the living conditions of the animals while increasing feeding/weight gain efficiency,

b) ‘customized’ anaerobic digestion systems (including pretreatment to increase renewable natural gas (‘RNG’) production and an RNG cleaning system (which will include capture/recycling of the CO2) to allow pipeline sales and monetization of related environmental credits,

c) a Bion Gen3Tech module (which will utilize the recycled CO2 to increase ammonia nitrogen/ammonium bicarbonate recovery) for the production of ammonia nitrogen fertilizer for use in organic and/or ‘ClimateSmart’ low carbon crop production (plus residual organic solids and clean water),

d) which will produce verifiably sustainable beef products with USDA certified branding.

The opportunity presented by the LOIs to commercialize the Company’s Gen3Tech and business model matured more quickly than anticipated (reflecting strong industry and public momentum in favor of verifiably sustainable food ventures). As a result, we have shifted our plans to focus resources and make our initial 15,000 head operation a reality as soon as possible.

To place the LOI Projects in the context of Company’s business plan (and our prior public disclosure), if the contemplated ventures move forward on the timelines currently contemplated, active development of the initial LOI Project will commence during 2024.

As a pre-cursor to such activity, the Company has constructed and commenced operations of the initial phase of our previously discussed Gen3Tech demonstration project near Fair Oaks, Indiana (“Initial Project”): i) to validate our existing data and modeling at commercial scale and ii) to optimize the Bion Gen3Tech module for finalization of design parameters and fabrication details of our planned 15,000 head commercial facilities (including the LOI Projects). For the purposes of this initial phase, the Company, in order to accelerate the data acquisition phase, is utilizing anaerobic digester effluent from the nearby/contiguous Fair Oaks dairy. Thereafter, the Company will evaluate what, if any, additional facilities and testing will take place at that location.

The Initial Project is not being developed at economic commercial scale or with an expectation of profitability due to its limited scale. However, successful installation, commissioning, and operations will demonstrate scalability, determine operating parameters at scale, and provide ongoing production and engineering capabilities, all being critical steps that must be accomplished before developing large projects with JV partners.

During late September 2021, Bion entered into a lease for the development site of the Initial Project, our initial commercial scale Gen3Tech project, which Initial Project will be located on approximately four (4) acres of leased land near Fair Oaks, Indiana, and a related agreement regarding disposal of certain manure effluent with the Curtis Creek Dairy unit of Fair Oaks Farms (“FOF”). Design and pre-development work commenced during August 2021 and preliminary surveying, site engineering and other work is now underway along with site-specific engineering and design work. The Initial Project was initially planned to be an environmentally sustainable beef cattle feeding facility, equipped with state-of-the-art housing and Bion’s 3G-Tech platform to provide waste treatment and resource recovery. Bion has designed the project to house and feed approximately 300 head of beef cattle. If all phases of the Initial Project are constructed, the facility will include Bion’s Gen3Tech platform including: i) covered barns (possibly including roof top solar photovoltaic generation), ii) anaerobic digestion for renewable energy recovery, iii) livestock waste treatment and resource recovery technology, iv) Bion’s ammonium bicarbonate recovery and crystallization technology and iv) data collection software to document system efficiencies and environmental benefits (with the Bion Gen3Tech facilities capable of treating the waste from approximately 1,500 head). The facility is large enough to demonstrate engineering capabilities of Bion’s Gen3Tech at commercial scale, but small enough that it can be constructed and commissioned relatively quickly. Originally, construction and onsite assembly operations were targeted to commence sometime late in 2022, however, supply chain backlogs (many pandemic-associated) delayed delivery dates for core modules of the Bion system to the site until during January 2023. Construction has been substantially completed related to Phase 1 of the Initial Project, shakedown operations undertaken and the operation is now focused on optimization of operation parameters. See Note 3 “Property and Equipment” and Note 12 “Subsequent Events” (for activities since the start of the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year).

The Initial Project is not being developed at economic commercial scale or with an expectation of profitability due to its limited scale. However, successful installation, commissioning, and operations will demonstrate scalability, determine operating parameters at scale, and provide ongoing production and engineering capabilities, all being critical steps that must be accomplished before developing large projects with JV partners.

Specifically, the Initial Project was designed/developed to provide and/or accomplish the following:

i. Proof of Gen3Tech platform scalability

- Document system efficiency and environmental benefits and enable final engineering modifications to optimize each unit process within the Bion Gen3Technology platform.

- Environmental benefits will include (without limitation) renewable energy production (natural gas recovery from AD and solar electric from integrated roof top photovoltaic generation); nutrient recovery and conversion to stable organic fertilizer; pathogen destruction; water recovery and reuse; air emission reductions.

ii. Use Bion’s data collection system to support 3^rd party verified system efficiency requirement to qualify for USDA Process-Verified-Program (PVP): certification of sustainable branded beef (and potentially pork) product metrics.

iii. Produce sufficient ammonium bicarbonate nitrogen fertilizer (“AD Nitrogen”) in liquid and solid forms for commercial testing by potential joint venture partners and/or purchasers, for university growth trials and to provide samples (and related documentation) to support applications for organic and/or ‘ClimateSmart’ certifications.

iv. Produce sustainable beef products for initial test marketing efforts.

On January 28, 2022 Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (‘Bion’), on behalf of Bion 3G1 LLC (‘3G1’), a wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a Purchase Order Agreement with Buflovak and Hebeler Process Solutions (collectively ‘Buflovak’) in the amount of $2,665,500 (and made the initial 25% payment ($666,375) for the core of the ‘Bion System’ portion (without the crystallization modules which will be ordered and fabricated pursuant to subsequent agreements) of the previously announced 3G Tech Initial Project. This Purchase Order encompasses the core of Bion’s 3G Technology. The Company received progress billing in March 2022 and June 2022 for the second and third 25% installments, both of which have been paid as of the filing date. On January 17, 2023 the Company received an invoice from Buflovak for $533,100 which was paid on March 1, 2023 and on April 24, 2023 the Company received an invoice from Buflovak for $83,275 which was paid on May 2, 2023 bringing the aggregate payments to $2,615,500 as of the date of this filing. There remains $50,000 open on the Purchase Order has been billed on July 26, 2023. In addition to the Purchase Order, through December 31, 2023 the Company has incurred additional costs of $6,442,812 on the Initial Project for capitalized interest and costs, non-cash compensation, equipment and consulting fees. $6,983954 has been paid and $1,750,170 has been billed and not yet paid.

Buflovak has worked with the Company on design and testing of its 3G Tech over several years. The basic design for the Initial Project’s Bion System is complete, fabrication and delivery of equipment from Buflovak from the Purchase Order Agreement has been largely completed and assembly/construction is in process.  3G1 is working in concert with Integrated Engineering Services, the primary site engineering firm for the facility, on the integration of all project components/modules at the Initial Project site. Additional agreements have been entered into various professional services providers (engineers, surveyors, utilities, etc.) for work related to the Initial Project. The Company has incurred costs of $8,177,452 on the Initial Project, not including capitalized labor and interest.

The Initial Project will be carried out in stages with phase one focused largely on portions of items i. and iii. set forth above.

Upon completing the primary goals of phase 1 of the Initial Project (coupled with obtaining organic certifications(s) for our liquid and/or solid ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer product lines), Bion expects to be ready to move forward with its plans for development of much larger facilities including the LOI Projects, including final design of its Gen3Tech modules. The Company anticipates that discussions and negotiations it has begun (together with additional opportunities that will be generated over the next 12-24 months) regarding potential JVs with strategic partners in the financial, livestock and food distribution industries to develop large scale projects will continue during the optimization operations of the Initial Project with a 2024 goal of establishing multiple JV’s for large scale projects that will produce sustainable and/or sustainable-organic corn-fed beef. These products will be supported by a USDA PVP-certified sustainable brand that will, initially, highlight reductions in carbon and nutrient footprint, as well as pathogen reductions associated with foodborne illness and antibiotic resistance, along with the organic designation where appropriate. Bion has successfully navigated the USDA PVP application process previously, having received conditional approval of its 2G Tech platform (pending resubmission and final site audits), and is confident it will be successful in qualifying its Gen3Tech platform.

After the basic technology start-up milestones of the Initial Project (primarily optimization and steady-state operations of the core modules of our Gen3Tech platform) have been met, the Company will determine whether to complete the entire Initial Project as originally designed at that location or the relocate the core modules to an alternative permanent location. The Company has engaged in discussion with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to jointly develop an integrated beef facility based on Bion’s Gen3Tech and business model at its Klosterman Feedyard Innovation Center (“KFIC”) (or other mutually agreed upon location) which facility would include innovative barns, an anaerobic digester and a Bion Gen3Tech system to conduct ongoing research and development related thereto and the KFIC is a possible site for the long-term re-location of the core modules. This venture, if it moves forward, is anticipated to include joint preparation of applications for grants and other funding from the USDA (‘climate smart’ program, rural development, etc.) and other sources. The Company will also evaluate re-locating the core module of the Initial Project to Dalhart, Texas, where it might be integrated into the first phases of the Dalhart Project and/or other locations. 

The Company’s initial ammonium bicarbonate liquid product completed its Organic Materials Review Institute (“OMRI”) application and review process with approval during May 2020. Applications for our first solid ammonium bicarbonate product line have been filed with OMRI and the California Department of Food & Agriculture (“CDFA”) without success to date , in part due to the novel nature of our Gen3Tech in the context of organic certifications). The Company anticipates filing multiple new applications with OMRI and CDFA (and possible others) for higher concentration liquid products and solid products based on production from the Initial Project over the next several months. See “Fertilizer– Organic and ‘ClimateSmart’” below.

Additionally, the Company believes there will also be opportunities to proceed with selected ‘retrofit projects’ of existing facilities (see ‘Gen3Tech Kreider 2 Poultry Project’ below as an example) in the swine, dairy and poultry industries utilizing our Gen3Tech.

Bion believes that substantial unmet demand currently exists– potentially very large – for ‘real’ meat/dairy/egg products that offer the verifiable/believable sustainability consumers seek, but with the taste and texture they have come to expect from American beef and pork, dairy and poultry. Numerous studies demonstrate the U.S. consumers’ preferences for sustainability. For example, 2019 NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business study found that ‘products marketed as sustainable grew 5.6 times faster than those that were not…’ and that ‘…in more than 90 percent of consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) categories, sustainability-marketed products grew faster than their conventional counterparts.’ Sales growth of plant-based alternatives, including both dairy and more recently ground meat (Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, etc.) have shown that a large, but apparently limited, segment of consumers is choosing seemingly sustainable offering, and are also willing to pay a premium for it. Tyson Foods, in the context of launching its Brazen beef initiative, recently said, “consumers would be willing to pay at least 24 percent more for environmentally friendly, sustainable options at retail.” Numerous studies also support the consumers’ ‘willingness-to-pay’ (WTP) for sustainable choices, including a recent meta-analysis of 80 worldwide studies with results that calculate the overall WTP premium for sustainability is 29.5 percent on average.

As one of the largest contributors to some of the greatest air and water quality problems in America, it is clear that livestock waste cleanup, at scale, represents one of the greatest opportunities we have to reduce negative environmental impacts of the food supply chain on air and water quality. Bion’s Gen3Tech platform, along with its business model, will enable the cleanup of one of the ‘dirtiest’ parts of the food supply chain: animal protein production and creates the opportunity to produce and market verifiably sustainable organic and conventional ‘real meat’ products that can participate in the growth and premium pricing that appears to be readily available for the ‘right’ products.

Bion believes that at least a premium segment of the U.S. beef industry (and potentially other livestock industry groups) is at the doorstep of a transformative opportunity to address the growing demand for sustainable food product offerings, while pushing back against today’s anti-meat messaging. At $66 billion/year (2021 wholesale/farmgate value), the beef industry is a fragmented, commodity industry whose practices date back decades. In 1935 inflation-adjusted terms, beef was 63% more expensive in 2021, while pork and chicken, which are now primarily raised in covered barns at CAFOs with highly integrated supply chains, were 12% and 62% cheaper, respectively. In recent years, the beef industry has come under increasing fire from advocacy groups, regulatory agencies, institutional investors, and ultimately, their own consumers, over concerns that include climate change, water pollution, food safety, and the treatment of animals and workers.

Advocacy groups targeting livestock and the beef industry have recently been joined by competitors that produce animal protein alternatives in seeking to exploit the industry’s environmental and economic weaknesses. Their global anti-meat messaging has had a substantial chilling effect on the relationships the beef industry has with its institutional investors; retail distributors, such as fast-food restaurants; and mostly, its consumers. Led by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, a coordinated anti-meat messaging campaign has targeted consumers worldwide, primarily focused on the industry’s impacts on climate change. A 2018 NielsenIQ Homescan survey last year found that 39% of Americans are actively trying to eat more plant-based foods. Some of the recent growth in plant-based proteins results from increasing lactose intolerance and other health concerns; however, most of that growth is attributed to consumers’ growing concerns for the environmental impacts of real meat and dairy. Several large US companies that have traditionally focused on livestock production, including Cargill, ADM, Perdue Foods, and Tyson, have also recently entered the plant protein space. While meat alternatives, especially plant-based protein producers like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, have been heavily promoted (by themselves and the media) and enjoyed remarkable initial sales growth, recently, sales have flattened and/or declined over the past 18 months. It should be noted that these plant-based protein producers are primarily expected to be able to serve the ground/ processed meat market, which represents only about 10 percent of the overall animal protein market. Further, there has recently been pushback to these plant-based products, focusing on their highly processed nature and unproven health benefits, scalability/ pricing, and their uncertain carbon footprint---and market growth rates have substantially slowed and may have already plateaued and/or peaked. There have also been several companies recently enter the cellular and 3D-printed meat arena. While facing myriad challenges and further out on the development timeline, some people believe cellular agriculture (aka cultured, clean, lab-grown, cultivated) meat may have the potential to service a much larger percentage of the market than plant-based protein, including cuts like steaks, chops and roasts, but the likely cost remains very uncertain at this point.

In terms of changing customer preferences, ‘saving the planet’ has proven to be a more compelling argument than the traditional animal activism/ welfare pitch. To date, the primary beef ‘industry response’ to this has been grass-fed beef, which is regarded as a generally more sustainable offering than grain-fed (largely without empirical evidence). However grass-fed beef has had only limited acceptance in U.S. markets, because it is less flavorful and tougher than the traditional corn-fed beef consumers have grown to enjoy. Sustainability initiatives have been launched by large US livestock producers (including Tyson’s very recent ‘Brazen’ program), but it is not yet possible to determine the extent the attributes of such products will be substantive and verifiable rather than completely ‘modeled’ and largely public relations ‘greenwashing’.

Each of these items supports Bion’s belief that there is a potentially very large opportunity to supply premium sustainable beef products that satisfy consumer concerns. We believe that the real meat/beef products that can be cost-effectively produced today using our Gen3Tech platform, both sustainable and/or organic, can provide an affordable product that satisfies the consumer’s desire for sustainability, but with the superior taste and texture those consumers have grown to prefer.

Sustainable Beef

Bion’s goal is to be one of the ‘first to market’ with meaningfully verified sustainable beef products that can be produced at sufficient scale to service national market demand. The cattle produced at Bion facilities will have a substantially lower carbon footprint, dramatically reduced nutrient impacts to water, and an almost total pathogen kill in the waste stream. Further, the economics of producing these cattle (including the cost of the facility/technology upgrade) will be greatly enhanced by the revenue realized from the recovery of valuable resources, including renewable energy, high-value fertilizer products, and clean water.

A Bion sustainable beef facility will be comprised of covered barns with slotted floors (allowing the waste to pass through) which will reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas volatilization and loss, as well as odors, thereby improving animal health and human working conditions while preventing air/soil pollution. The manure will be collected and moved directly to anaerobic digestion facilities which will produce renewable natural gas (and re-cycle CO2 from the gas cleaning process). Covered barns will reduce weather impacts on the livestock and have been demonstrated to promote improved general health and weight gain in the cattle housed in them. The barns’ very large roof surface area will be utilized (in geographical locations with adequate sunshine and appropriate ‘tariffs’) for the installation of photovoltaic solar generation systems to produce electricity for the facility, as well as export to the grid. The barn roofs will also be configured to capture rainwater, which, coupled with the water recovered from the treatment process, will reduce the projects’ reliance on current water supplies.

Waste treatment and resource recovery will be provided by Bion’s advanced Gen3Tech platform, which Bion believes offers the most comprehensive solution for livestock waste available today. In addition to direct environmental benefits, every pound of nitrogen that is captured, upcycled, and returned to the agricultural nitrogen cycle as high-quality fertilizer (vs lost to contaminate downstream waters), is also a pound of nitrogen that will not have to be produced as synthetic urea or anhydrous ammonia, with their tremendous carbon cost. System performance and environmental benefits will be monitored and verified through third parties, with USDA PVP certification of the sustainable brand that Bion also believes will be the most comprehensive available in the market.

Recently there have been efforts to establish sustainable brands (including USDA PVP certification) for a number of small-scale livestock producers (largely in the grass-fed beef category). To date, the reach and extent of such efforts is limited and it is difficult to determine their effectiveness. Additionally, there have been public announcements of initiatives related to beef sustainability (largely focused on the ‘cow-calf’ segment of the livestock chain) in procurement by major beef processing companies (including Tyson’s very recent ‘Brazen’ program), but a closer look finds that many have consisted largely of ‘green washing’ public proclamations in the wake of environmental and social criticism that re-package prior initiatives and lack any significant new substance.

Sustainable Organic Beef

Bion also believes it may also have a unique opportunity to produce, at scale, affordable corn-fed organic beef that is also certified as sustainable. In addition to the sustainable practices described above, organic-sourced beef cows would be finished on organic corn, which would be produced using the ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer captured by the Gen3Tech platform. Bion believes its meat products will meet consumer demands with respect to sustainability and safety (organic) and provide the tenderness and taste American consumers have come to expect from premium conventional American beef. Such products are largely unavailable in the market today. We believe Bion’s unique ability to produce the fertilizer needed to grow a supply of relatively low-cost organic corn, and the resulting opportunity to produce organic beef, will dramatically differentiate us from potential competitors. This organic opportunity is dependent on successfully establishing Bion’s fertilizer products as acceptable for use in organic grain production.

Today, organic beef demand is limited and mostly supplied with grass-fed cattle. While organic ground/ chopped meat has enjoyed success in U.S. markets, grass-fed steaks have seen limited acceptance, mostly resulting from consumer issues with taste and texture. In other words, it’s tough. Regardless, such steaks sell for a significant premium over conventional beef. A grain-finished organic beef product is largely unavailable in the marketplace today due to the higher costs of producing organic corn and grain. The exception is offerings that are very expensive from small ‘boutique’ beef producers. Like all plants, corn requires nitrogen to grow. Corn is especially sensitive to a late-season application of readily available nitrogen – the key to maximizing yields. With non-organic field corn, this nitrogen is supplied by an application of a low-cost synthetic fertilizer, such as urea or anhydrous ammonia. However, the cost for suitable nitrogen fertilizer that can be applied late-season in organic corn production is so high that the late-season application becomes uneconomical, resulting in substantially lower yields – a widely recognized phenomena known as the ‘yield gap’ in organic production. The yield gap results in higher costs for organic corn that, in turn, make it uneconomical to feed that corn to livestock. As is the case for sustainable but not organic beef, Bion believes there is a potentially large unmet demand for affordable beef products that are both sustainable AND organic, but with the taste and texture consumers have come to expect from American beef. Bion’s ability to produce the low-cost nitrogen fertilizer that can close the organic yield (and affordability) gap puts the Company in a unique, if not exclusive at this time, position to participate in JV’s that will benefit from this opportunity starting next year.

The demonstrated willingness of consumers to purchase sustainable products (along with numerous research and marketing studies confirming consumers are seeking, and are willing to pay a premium for, sustainable products)---in combination with the threat to the livestock industry market (primarily beef and pork) posed by plant-based alternatives (heightened by pandemic conditions)--- has succeeded in focusing the large scale livestock industry on how to meet the plant-based market challenge by addressing the consumer sustainability issues. The consumer demand for sustainability appears to be a real and lasting trend, but consumers remain skeptical of generalized claims of ‘sustainability’. To date, a large portion of the industry responses to this trend have been at a superficial level or consist of ‘green washing’, a deceptive marketing practice where companies promote non-substantive initiatives. Real sustainability for the livestock industry will require implementation of advanced waste treatment technology at or near the CAFOs – where most of the negative environmental impacts take place.

Fertilizer: Organic and ‘Climate Smart’

The Company has focused a large portion of its activities on developing, testing and demonstrating the 3rd generation of its technology and technology platform (“Gen3Tech”) with emphasis on increasing the efficiency of production of valuable co-products from the waste treatment process, including ammonia nitrogen in the form of low carbon and/or organically certified soluble nitrogen fertilizer products. The Company’s low concentration ammonium bicarbonate liquid product successfully completed its Organic Materials Review Institute (“OMRI”) application and review process with listing approval during May 2020. During the next 2 months the Company intends to file applications with OMRI and the California Department of Food & Agriculture (“CDFA”) for a line of higher concentration liquid ammonium nitrogen products (ranging from 4% up to 16% (or higher)) based on production of liquid samples during operation of the Initial Project. The Company anticipates applying for and obtaining one or more listings/certifications for higher concentration products in our liquid ammonium nitrogen fertilizer line well prior to operational dates for the Company’s initial large-scale JV Gen3Tech Sustainable Beef Projects.

Additionally, the Company intends to explore the market potential for its fertilizer (in liquid and/or solid forms) to be a verifiably ‘ClimateSmart’ product (potentially a much larger market than the organic market) with focus on higher value specialty crops. This will require working with industry and academic entities to develop appropriate metrics and producing a ‘life cycle assessment’ (LCA) for Bion’s ammonium nitrogen fertilizer product which can be compared to conventional nitrogen fertilizer products. Bion’s processes will capture and utilize CO2 in the waste stream (including CO2 produced with the renewable natural gas (RNG) by anaerobic digestion that is usually vented to the atmosphere) as stabilizing agent thereby potentially creating carbon offsets compared to natural gas utilized as feedstock in chemical ammonia production which reduction will be reflected in the LCA. This LCA will assess environmental impacts associated with fertilizer production in support of the beef cattle supply chain for both the existing conventional approach (primarily fossil fuel-based Haber-Bosch production methods) and the largely decarbonized Bion production approach. We believe a series of coincident yet significant LCA benefits accrue from Bion’s patented fertilizer production approach including the reduced loss of ammonia to the environment via air (volatilized) and water (nitrate in groundwater) pathways, recycled/reused water, elimination of pathogens, the production of renewable natural gas, the production solar energy from photovoltaic panels on barn roofs, enhanced animal welfare practices and reduced animal husbandry risks from extreme weather events. Bion believes that current evaluations of the carbon impact from feedlot operations materially underestimate the negative impacts because existing models do not properly include significant ‘downstream’ carbon impacts of required energy intensive waste water treatment for re-deposited ammonia nitrogen. If the Company determines there is a significant ‘ClimateSmart’ opportunity for our fertilizer products, such an LCA can be completed (based in part on data from the Initial Project) and support marketing efforts well prior to operational dates for the Company’s initial large scale JV Gen3Tech projects.

Ammonium bicarbonate, manufactured using thermal and mechanical processes, has a long history of use as a fertilizer. In addition to liquid ammonium nitrogen fertilizer, Bion’s Gen3Tech is capable of recovering nitrogen in the form of solid ammonium bicarbonate products containing up to 18%-22% (or higher) nitrogen in a crystalline form that is easily transported (while producing liquids with various percentages of ammonium bicarbonate nitrogen during interim stages of the process). This solid product is water soluble and provides a readily available nitrogen source for crops. It will contain virtually none of the other salt, iron and mineral constituents of the livestock waste stream that often accompany other organic fertilizers. This product is being developed to fertilizer industry standards so that it that can be precision-applied to crops using existing equipment. Bion believes that this product will potentially have broad applications in the production of organic and/or ClimateSmart grains for livestock feed, row crops, horticulture, greenhouse and hydroponic production, and potentially retail lawn and garden products.

The ammonium bicarbonate products (liquid and solid) produced by Bion’s Gen3Tech platform will enjoy a dramatically lower carbon footprint than synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Much of the reactive nitrogen captured and upcycled into our fertilizer products was going to be lost through volatilization and runoff, and that loss would generally need to be offset with a synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, such as anhydrous ammonia or urea. These synthetic nitrogen products are produced through the Haber-Bosch (and other) synthetic processes, which converts hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, with methane from fossil fuels as the energy source. It is an extremely energy-intensive process with a carbon footprint that, while not yet fully understood, is widely accepted to by very large. While a complete Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of carbon impacts from synthetic fertilizer production is not yet available, according to the Institute for Industrial Productivity, its production alone is responsible for approximately 1 percent of total global CO2 emissions. To the extent that Bion can capture and repurpose the nitrogen traditionally lost from livestock waste, that carbon cost will no longer need to be paid by the environment/climate.

Applications for our first solid form of concentrated ammonia, soluble nitrogen fertilizer product line were filed with OMRI (filed during May 2021) and CDFA (filed during May 2022) without success to date. After an extended review processes (which was largely opaque), the OMRI application proceeded through multiple stages without receiving a positive result. We have initiated an informal dialogue with CDFA regarding the basis for and re-consideration of its initial determination and have submitted additional supplemental supporting materials to CDFA. The Company’s solid product line is novel (in the context of organic certification) in part due to the fact that no formal listing category currently in the organic space for a solid form of concentrated ammonia, soluble nitrogen fertilizers and there is no clear guidance at present from internal policy manuals on how to categorize this product and the process that produces it. There is also no clear guidance at present from either the NOP or the National Organic Standards Board (“NOSB”) (which is currently involved in a related review and recommendations process regarding ‘high nitrogen liquid fertilizers’ derived from ammonia from manure). The Company and its representatives, along with a number of other organic fertilizer stakeholders, are involved in discussions regarding resolution of these matters at all three levels. The Company intends to continue efforts to obtain listing/certification for its solid nitrogen fertilizer line over the course of this fiscal year.

Gen3Tech Kreider 2 Poultry Project

Bion has done extensive pre-development work related to a waste treatment/renewable energy production facility to treat the waste from KF’s approximately 6+ million chickens (planned to expand to approximately 9-10 million) (and potentially other poultry operations and/or other waste streams) (‘Kreider Renewable Energy Facility’ or ‘Kreider 2 Project’). On May 5, 2016, the Company executed a stand-alone joint venture agreement (“JVA”) with Kreider Farms covering all matters related to development and operation of Kreider 2 system to treat the waste streams from Kreider’s poultry facilities in Bion PA2 LLC (“PA2”). Now that development of the Company’s Gen3Tech is being deployed, the Company has commenced discussions with KF regarding updating and amending the JV agreement and anticipates executing an amended joint venture agreement during 2023. During May 2011 the PADEP certified a smaller version of the Kreider 2 Project (utilizing our 2^nd generation technology) under the old EPA’s Chesapeake Bay model. The Company anticipates that if and when new designs are finalized utilizing our Gen3Tech, a larger Kreider 2 Project will be re-certified for a far larger number of credits (management’s current estimates are between 2-4 million (or more) nutrient reduction credits for treatment of the waste stream from Kreider’s poultry pursuant to the amended EPA Chesapeake Bay model and agreements between the EPA and PA). Note that this Project may also be expanded in the future to treat wastes from other local and regional CAFOs (poultry and/or dairy---including the Kreider Dairy) and/or additional Kreider poultry expansion (some of which may not qualify for nutrient reduction credits). The Company anticipates if and when PA2 re-commences work on the Kreider 2 Project, it will submit a new application based on our Gen3Tech. Site specific design and engineering work for this facility have not commenced, and the Company does not yet have financing in place for the Kreider 2 Project. This opportunity is being pursued through PA2. If there are positive developments related to the market for nutrient reductions in Pennsylvania, of which there is no assurance, the Company intends to pursue development, design and construction of the Kreider 2 Project with a goal of achieving operational status for its initial modules during the following calendar year. The economics (potential revenues and profitability) of the Kreider 2 Project, despite its proposed use of Bion’s Gen3Tech for increased recovery of marketable by-products and sustainable branding, are based in material part the long-term sale of nutrient (nitrogen and/or phosphorus) reduction credits to meet the requirements of the Chesapeake Bay environmental clean-up. However, liquidity in the Pennsylvania nutrient credit market has not yet developed significant breadth and depth, which lack of liquidity has negatively impacted Bion’s business plans and will most likely delay PA2’s Kreider 2 Project and other proposed projects in Pennsylvania.

Note that while Bion believes that the Kreider 2 Project and/or subsequent Bion Projects in PA and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed will eventually generate revenue from the sale of: a) nutrient reductions (credits or in other form), b) renewable energy (and related credits), c) sales of fertilizer products, and/or d) potentially, in time, credits for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, plus e) license fees/premiums related to a ‘sustainable brand’, the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed legislative efforts needed to commence its development. However, the Company is currently engaged in dialogue with the regional EPA office and the Chesapeake Bay Program Office regarding the potential of the Company’s Gen3Tech Kreider2 Project (and other potential projects) to enable Pennsylvania to move forward toward meeting its Chesapeake Bay clean-up goals. We believe that the potential market is very large, but it is not possible to predict the exact timing and/or magnitude of these potential markets at this time.

Technology Deployment: Bion Gen3Tech

In the absence of firm regulatory mandates, widespread deployment of waste treatment technology, and the sustainability it enables, is largely dependent upon generating sufficient additional revenues to offset the capital and operating costs associated with technology adoption. Bion’s Gen3Tech business platform has been developed to create opportunities for such augmented revenue streams, while providing third party verification of sustainability claims. The Gen3Tech platform has been designed to maximize the value of co-products produced during the waste treatment/recovery processes, including pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (biogas) and commercial fertilizer products approved for organic production and/or certified as ‘ClimateSmart’. All processes will be verifiable by third parties (including regulatory authorities and certifying boards) to comply with environmental regulations and trading programs and meet the requirements for: a) renewable energy and carbon credits, b) organic certification of the fertilizer coproducts and c) USDA PVP certification of an ‘Environmentally Sustainable’ brand (see discussion above and below), and d) payment for verified ecosystem services. The Company’s first patent on its Gen3Tech was issued during 2018. In August 2020, the Company received a Notice of Allowance on its third patent which significantly expands the breadth and depth of the Company’s Gen3Tech coverage. The Company has additional applications pending and/or planned. 

Bion’s business model and technology platform can create the opportunity for joint ventures (in various contractual forms)(“JVs”) between the Company and large livestock/food/fertilizer industry participants based upon the supplemental cash flow generated by implementation of our Gen3Tech business model, which cash flows will support the costs of technology implementation (including servicing related debt). We anticipate this will result in substantial long term value for Bion. In the context of such JVs, we believe that the verifiable sustainable branding opportunities (conventional and organic) in meat will represent the single largest enhanced revenue contributor provided by Bion to the JVs (and Bion licensees). The Company believes that the largest portion of its business with be conducted through such JVs, but a material portion may involve licensing and or other approaches.

In parallel with technology development, Bion has worked (which work continues) to implement market-driven strategies designed to stimulate private-sector participation in the overall U.S. nutrient and carbon reduction strategy. These market-driven strategies can generate “payment for ecosystem services”, in which farmers or landowners are rewarded for managing their land and operations to provide environmental benefits that will generate additional revenues. Existing renewable energy credits for the production and use of biogas are an example of payment for ecosystem services. Another such strategy is nutrient trading (or water quality trading), which will potentially create markets (in Pennsylvania and other states) that will utilize taxpayer funding for the purchase of verified pollution reductions from agriculture (“nutrient credits”) by the state (or others) through competitively-bid procurement programs. Such credits can then be used as a ‘qualified offset’ by an individual state (or municipality) to meet its federal clean water mandates at significantly lower cost to the taxpayer. Market-driven strategies, including competitive procurement of verified credits, is supported by U.S. EPA, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, national livestock interests, and other key stakeholders. Legislation in Pennsylvania to establish the first such state competitive procurement program passed the Pennsylvania Senate by a bi-partisan majority during March 2019 but has not yet crossed the hurdles required for actual adoption. The Covid-19 pandemic and related financial/budgetary crises have slowed progress for this and other policy initiatives and, as a result, it is not currently possible to project the timeline for completion (or meaningful progress) of this and other similar initiatives (see discussion below).

The livestock industry and its markets are already changing. With our commercial-ready technology and business model, Bion believes it has a ‘first-mover advantage’ over others that will seek to exploit the opportunities that will arise from the industry’s inevitable transformation. Bion anticipates moving forward with the development process of its initial commercial installations utilizing its Gen3Tech, during the current 2024 fiscal year. We believe that Bion’s Gen3Tech platform and business model can provide a pathway to true economic and environmental sustainability with ‘win-win’ benefits for at least a premium sector of the livestock industry, the environment, and the consumer, an opportunity which the Company intends to pursue.

The Livestock Problem

The livestock industry is under tremendous pressure from regulatory agencies, a wide range of advocacy groups, institutional investors and the industry’s own consumers, to adopt sustainable practices. Environmental cleanup is inevitable and has already begun — and policies have already begun to change, as well. Bion’s Gen3Tech was developed for implementation on large scale livestock production facilities, where scale drives both lower treatment costs and efficient co-products production, as well as dramatic environmental improvements. We believe that scale, coupled with Bion’s verifiable treatment technology platform, will create a transformational opportunity to integrate clean production practices at (or close to) the point of production—the primary source of the industry’s environmental impacts. Bion intends to assist the forward-looking segment of the livestock industry to bring animal protein production in line with 21^st Century consumer demands for meaningful sustainability.

In the U.S. (according to the USDA’s 2017 agricultural census) there are over 9 million dairy cows, 90 million beef cattle, 60 million swine and more than 2 billion poultry which provides an indication of both the scope of the problem addressed by Bion’s technology, as well as the size of Bion’s opportunity. Environmental impacts from livestock production include surface and groundwater pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, ammonia, and other air pollution, excess water use, and pathogens related to foodborne illnesses and antibiotic resistance. While the most visible and immediate problems are related to nutrient runoff and its effects on water quality, the industry has recently been targeted by various stakeholder groups for its impacts on climate change.

Estimates of total annual U.S. livestock manure waste vary widely, but start around a billion tons, between 100 and 130 times greater than human waste. However, while human waste is generally treated by septic or municipal wastewater plants, livestock waste – raw manure – is spread on our nation’s croplands for its fertilizer value. Large portions of U.S. feed crop production (and most organic crop production) are fertilized, in part, in this manner. Under current manure management practices, 80% or more of total nitrogen from manure, much of it in the form of ammonia, escapes during storage, transportation, and during and after soil application, representing both substantial lost value and environmental costs.

More than half of the nitrogen impacts from livestock waste come from airborne ammonia emissions, which are extremely volatile, reactive and mobile. Airborne ammonia nitrogen eventually settles back to the ground through atmospheric deposition — it ‘rains’ everywhere. While some of this nitrogen is captured and used by plants, most of it runs off and enters surface waters or percolates down to groundwater. It is now well-established that most of the voluntary conservation practices, such as vegetated buffers that ‘filter’ runoff (often referred to as “BMPs” or “Best Management Practices” that have traditionally been implemented to attempt to mitigate nutrient runoff), are considerably less effective than was previously believed to be the case. This is especially true with regard to addressing the volatile and mobile nitrogen from ammonia emissions, because BMPs are primarily focused on surface water runoff, directly from farm fields in current production, versus the re-deposition that takes place everywhere or groundwater flow.

Runoff from livestock waste has been identified in most of our major watersheds as a primary source of excess nutrients that fuel algae blooms in both fresh and saltwater. Over the last several years, algae blooms have become increasingly toxic to both humans and animals, such as the Red Tides on the Florida and California coasts, and the Lake Erie algae bloom that cut off the water supply to Toledo, Ohio, residents in 2014. When the nutrient runoff subsides, it leaves the algae blooms with no more ‘food’ and the blooms die. The algae’s decomposition takes oxygen from the water, leading to ‘dead zones’ in local ponds, lakes, and ultimately, the Great Lakes, as well as the Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico, and other estuary waters. Both the toxic algae blooms and the low/no-oxygen dead zones devastate marine life, from shrimp and fish to higher mammals, including dolphins and manatees. U.S. EPA already considers excess nutrients “one of America’s most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems”. Nutrient runoff is expected to worsen dramatically in the coming decades due to rising temperatures and increasing rainstorm intensity as a result of climate change.

Nitrate-contaminated groundwater is of growing concern in agricultural regions nationwide, where it has been directly correlated with nutrient runoff from upstream agricultural operations using raw manure as fertilizer. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California and Washington, and others, now have regions where groundwater nitrate levels exceed EPA standards for safe drinking water. High levels of nitrate can cause blue baby syndrome (methemoglobinemia) in infants and affect women who are or may become pregnant, and it has been linked to thyroid disease and colon cancer. EPA has set an enforceable standard called a maximum contaminant level (MCL) in water for nitrates at 10 parts per million (ppm) (10 mg/L) and for nitrites at 1 ppm (1 mg/L). Federal regulations require expensive pretreatment for community water sources that exceed the MCL; however, private drinking water wells are not regulated, and it is the owners’ responsibility to test and treat their wells. Additionally, groundwater flows also transport this volatile nitrogen downstream where, along its way, it intermixes with surface water, further exacerbating the runoff problem. Like atmospheric deposition, the current conservation practices we rely on to reduce agricultural runoff are largely bypassed by this subsurface flow.

Additionally, in arid climates, such as California, airborne ammonia emissions from livestock manure contribute to air pollution as a precursor to PM2.5 formation, small inhalable particulate matter that is a regulated air pollutant with significant public health risks. Whether airborne or dissolved in water, ammonia can only be cost-effectively controlled and treated at the source—before it has a chance to escape into the environment where it becomes extremely expensive to ‘chase’, capture, and treat.

High phosphorus concentrations in soils fertilized with raw manure are another growing problem. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in livestock waste is fixed, and because manure application rates are calculated based on nitrogen requirements, often phosphorus is overapplied as an unintended consequence. Phosphorus accumulation in agricultural soils reduces its productivity, increases the risk of phosphorus runoff, and represents a waste of a finite resource. Decoupling the nitrogen from the phosphorus would allow them to be precision-applied, independently of each other, when and where needed.

The livestock industry has recently come under heavy fire for its impacts on climate change, which has become a rallying cry for the anti-meat campaign discussed above. Estimates of the magnitude of those impacts vary widely, but the general consensus is that globally, livestock account for 14.5 percent of greenhouse emissions. In the U.S. however, that number drops to 4.2 percent, due to the increased efficiencies of American beef production. The greatest impacts come from direct emissions of methane from enteric fermentation (belches), methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the manure, with arguably the largest being the massive carbon footprint of the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers used to grow the grains to feed the livestock.

For decades the livestock industry has overlooked and/or socialized its environmental problems and costs. Today, the impacts of livestock production on public health and the environment can no longer be ignored and are coming under increasing scrutiny from environmental groups and health organizations, regulatory agencies and the courts, the media, consumers, and activist institutional investors. The result has been a significant and alarming loss of market share to plant-based protein and other alternative products. Bion’s Gen3Tech platform was designed to resolve these environmental issues and bring the industry in line with twenty-first century consumer expectations.

Going Concern and Management’s Plans:

The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company incurred a net loss of $1,464,000 and $1,649,000 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. At December 31, 2023, the Company has a working deficit and a stockholders’ equity of approximately $3,806,000 and $3,593,000, respectively. The Company has not generated significant revenues (even though it earned a net income of $8,291,000 for the year ended June 30, 2022) and incurred a net loss of approximately ($3,189,000) during the year ended June 30, 2023. The net income for the year ended June 30, 2022 was largely due to a one-time, non-cash event of the dissolution of Bion PA-1, LLC (“PA-1”) resulting in a gain of approximately $10,235,000 as well as a one-time gain of $902,000 from the sale of the Company’s ‘biontech.com’ domain pursuant to a purchase agreement during the period. During the year ended June 30, 2023 the Company had debt modifications that resulted in a reduction of debt of $3,516,000 and an increase in equity. The Company’s lack of revenue and/or operating profits, together with the low likelihood of generating positive cash flow and/or net income during the next 12-24 months, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Company is not currently generating any significant revenues. Further, the Company’s anticipated revenues, if any, from existing projects, JVs and proposed projects will not be sufficient to meet the Company’s anticipated operational and capital expenditure needs for many years. As previously noted, the Company is currently not generating significant revenue and accordingly has not generated cash flows from operations. The Company does not anticipate generating sufficient revenues to offset operating and capital costs (for Projects) for a minimum of two to five years. While there are no assurances that the Company will be successful in its efforts to develop and construct its Projects and market its Systems, it is certain that the Company will require substantial funding from external sources. Given the unsettled state of the current credit and capital markets for companies such as Bion, there is no assurance the Company will be able to raise the funds it needs on reasonable terms. The aggregate effect of these factors raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability or classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern. The following paragraphs describe management’s plans with regard to these conditions.

Current liabilities were approximately $4.2 million and $1.6 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. There was an increase of approximately $2.6 million (which was largely due to an increase in ‘accounts payable and accrued expenses’ totaling approximately $2.0 million and an increase in ‘deferred compensation’ of approximately $.35 million) as a result of the Company’s limited success in raising new financing (equity and/or debt) during the recent period combined with continued expenses (including those related to the Initial Project).

The Company continues to explore sources of additional financing to satisfy its current operating requirements as it is not currently generating any significant revenues. During fiscal years 2023 and 2022 (as a whole), the Company faced less difficulty in raising equity funding (but was subject to substantial equity dilution from the larger amounts of equity financing during the periods) than was experienced in the prior 3 years. However, this positive trend did not continue during the last quarter of the 2023 fiscal year and first and second quarters of the current fiscal year (and the third quarter through the date of this report). The Company raised only raised very limited equity funds during such periods to meet its some of its immediate needs, and therefore, the Company needs to raise substantial additional funds in the upcoming periods. The Company has faced substantial increases in demand for capital and operating expenditures for the fiscal year 2024 to date (and we anticipate such increased demands will continue during the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year and periods thereafter) as it moves toward commercial implementation of its 3G Tech and development of JVs (including costs associated with additions of personnel to carry out the business activities of the Company) and, therefore, is likely to continue to face, significant cash flow management issues due to limited capital resources and working capital constraints which had only recently begun to be alleviated. As a result, the Company has faced, and continues to face, significant cash flow management challenges due to material working capital constraints. To partially mitigate these working capital constraints, the Company's core senior management and some key employees and consultants have been deferring most of their cash compensation and/or are accepting compensation in the form of securities of the Company and members of the Company's senior management have from time-to-time made loans to the Company in the past and may do so in future periods. The Company continues to explore sources of additional financing (including potential agreements with strategic partners – both financial and ag-industry) to satisfy its current and future operating and capital expenditure requirements as it is not currently generating any significant revenues.

During the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company received gross proceeds of approximately $4,038,000 and $1,737,000, respectively, from the sale of its debt and equity securities. The Company paid commissions on the exercise of warrants in the amount of $86,000 and $19,000 in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

During the six months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 the Company received total proceeds of approximately $443,000 and $602,000, respectively, from the sale of its debt and equity securities. During the six months ended December 31, 2023 the Company received proceeds of $250,000 from a convertible bridge loan but the provider of the bridge loan breached its contractual obligation/binding subscription agreement to fund an additional $1,250,000 to the Company during November 2023 (and on an ongoing basis since such time), which breach (combined with management stresses related to the final illness and passing of Dominic Bassani, Bion’s COO and former CEO, and required management transitions) has created a substantial cash flow difficulties for the Company which are ongoing. See Note 6 and Note 9, E4) Bridge Loan/Default below.

The Company anticipates substantial increases in demand for capital and operating expenditures for the balance of fiscal year 2024 (and we anticipate such increased demands will continue during the 2025 fiscal year and periods thereafter) as it moves toward commercial implementation of its 3G Tech and development of JVs (including costs associated with additions of personnel to carry out the business activities of the Company) and, therefore, is likely to continue to face, significant cash flow management issues due to limited capital resources and working capital constraints which had only recently begun to be alleviated during the 2023 fiscal year. As a result, the Company has faced, and continues to face, significant cash flow management challenges due to material working capital constraints. To partially mitigate these working capital constraints, the Company's core senior management and some key employees and consultants have been deferring most of their cash compensation and/or are accepting compensation in the form of securities of the Company and members of the Company's senior management have from time-to-time made loans to the year ended June 30, 2018, senior management and certain core employees and consultants agreed to a one-time extinguishment of liabilities owed by the Company which in aggregate totaled $2,404,000. Additionally, the Company made reductions in its personnel during the years ended June 30, 2014 and 2015 and again during the year ended June 30, 2018. As set forth in detail elsewhere herein, during the year ended June 30, 2023 senior management (and family members) who held convertible obligations of the Company adjusted the terms of their outstanding notes and agreed to debt modifications that reduced of the Company’s debt by $3,516,000 and increased shareholders equity by the same amount.

The constraints on available resources have had, and continue to have, negative effects on the pace and scope of the Company’s efforts to operate and develop its business. The Company has had to delay payment of trade obligations and has had to economize in many ways that have potentially negative consequences. If the Company is able to raise needed funds during the remainder of the current fiscal year (and subsequent periods), of which there is no assurance, management will not need to consider deeper cuts (including additional personnel cuts) and/or curtailment of ongoing activities including research and development activities. The Company will need to obtain additional capital to fund its operations and technology development, to satisfy existing creditors, to develop Projects (including the Initial Project, JV Projects (including the Dalhart, Olson and DVG Projects), and the Kreider 2 facility) and CAFO Retrofit waste remediation systems. The Company anticipates that it will seek to raise from $20,000,000 to $80,000,000 or more debt and/or equity through joint ventures, strategic partnerships and/or sale of its equity securities (common, preferred and/or hybrid) and/or debt (including convertible) securities, and/or through use of ‘rights’ and/or warrants (new and/or existing) and/or through other means during the next twelve months. However, as discussed above, there is no assurance, especially in light of the difficulties the Company has experienced in many recent years and the extremely unsettled capital markets that presently exist for small companies like us, that the Company will be able to obtain the funds that it needs to stay in business, complete its technology development or to successfully develop its business and Projects.

There is no realistic likelihood that funds required during the next twelve months (or in the periods immediately thereafter) for the Company’s basic operations, the Initial Project and/or proposed JVs and/or Projects will be generated from operations. Therefore, the Company will need to raise sufficient funds from external sources such as debt or equity financings or other potential sources. The lack of sufficient additional capital resulting from the inability to generate cash flow from operations and/or to raise capital from external sources would force the Company to substantially curtail or cease operations and would, therefore, have a material adverse effect on its business. Further, there can be no assurance that any such required funds, if available, will be available on attractive terms or that they will not have a significantly dilutive effect on the Company’s existing shareholders. All of these factors have been exacerbated by the extremely limited and unsettled credit and capital markets presently existing for small companies like Bion.

Covid-19 pandemic related matters:

 The Company faces risks and uncertainties and factors beyond our control that are magnified during the current Covid-19 pandemic and the unique economic, financial, governmental and health-related conditions in which the Company, the country and the entire world now reside. To date the Company has experienced direct impacts in various areas including but without limitation: i) government ordered shutdowns which have slowed the Company’s research and development projects and other initiatives, ii) shifted focus of state and federal governments which is likely to negatively impact the Company’s legislative initiatives in Pennsylvania and Washington D. C., iii) strains and uncertainties in both the equity and debt markets which have made discussion and planning of funding of the Company and its initiatives and projects with investment bankers, banks and potential strategic partners more tenuous, iv) strains and uncertainties in the agricultural sector and markets have made discussion and planning more difficult as future industry conditions are now more difficult to assess and predict, v) constraints due to problems experienced in the global industrial supply chain since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which have delayed certain research and development testing and have delayed and/or increased the cost of construction of the Company’s initial 3G Tech installation as equipment/services remain difficult to acquire in a timely manner, vi) due to the age and health of our core management team, many of whom are age 70 or older and have had one or more existing health issues (including brief periods of Covid-19 infection), the Covid-19 pandemic places the Company at greater risk than was previously the case (to a higher degree than would be the case if the Company had a larger, deeper and/or younger core management team), and vii) there almost certainly will be other unanticipated consequences for the Company as a result of the current pandemic emergency and its aftermath.