The Scott family in 2012 proposed to build a state-of-the-art manure gasification system - based on the Fischer–Tropsch process from early 20th century Germany - and to house it in a stand-alone barn. The system would have the capacity to process the manure from their entire herd.
The Fischer–Tropsch technology transforms raw cow manure into synthetic gas, heat, power, biofuel, fertilizer and biochar – and the possibility for potable water as an end product as well.
NRCS helped turn the family's dreams into reality through the agency's Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) - a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to plan and implement conservation practices that improve soil, water, plant, animal, air and related natural resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland. For this project, the agency developed a draft NRCS conservation practice titled 735 for Gasification.