MON AM News: Planned $120M Hayward facility would convert wood biomass into jet fuel; Brown County officials warning of shipping disruption

May 4, 2026

— The chief executive of a German biofuel company told WisPolitics that Hayward will be the site of its first U.S. sustainable aviation fuel plant after a $120 million tax incentive package was signed into law.

The news comes as business and economic development officials have expressed hope the $1.5 billion project could boost the region’s economy.

Mattis Mueller, CEO of Synthec Fuels AG and its Wisconsin subsidiary, said in a phone interview the company plans multiple sustainable aviation fuel plants to meet the airline industry’s needs.

“It’s about supply security and being independent from geopolitically exposed regions of the world,” Mueller said Friday. “Energy independence is a very important topic these days and this is what we can provide.”

Gov. Tony Evers earlier this month signed the $120 million tax incentive package in a bid to land the Synthec Fuels plant in Hayward. The facility will convert low-grade timber into tens of millions of gallons of synthetic jet fuel.

Officials hope it will serve as a boon to the flagging timber industry, boost incomes and maybe even address larger issues like housing and daycare, though developers still need to complete a feasibility study and permitting before they can break ground.

Tax benefits will not flow to the facility until several requirements have been met, including significant capital investment.

“Bills like this we haven’t seen in northern Wisconsin,” said Adam Lamoreaux, the former executive director of the Sawyer County Economic Development Corporation. “We haven’t had something like this affect our economy, so it’s a pretty big deal for us to get this much money coming into this part of the state.”

Logging has long been an important part of Sawyer County’s economy: Hayward has hosted the Lumberjack World Championship annually since 1960.

But the industry has fallen into decline as the market for print media has shrunk and paper mills across northern Wisconsin have shuttered.

The last 10 to 15 years have been particularly rough, said Henry Schienebeck, executive director of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, with three paper mills closing since 2020 and one shifting to using recycled pulp.

In 1995, some 2.42% of Sawyer County’s population worked in the logging industry; today, it’s only 0.4%.

Tourism makes up an increasing share of Sawyer County’s economy. Its two largest industries by employment are accommodation and food service and retail trade, followed by manufacturing, healthcare and social assistance, according to Department of Workforce Development economist Tom Michels.

“There’s lower wages when you’re talking about tourism-based employment. It’s not as steady,” Michels said.

Enter the biofuel plant. The planned facility, a partnership between the German Synthec Fuels and the local Johnson Timber, would convert some 900,000 green tons of woody biomass into 50 million gallons of jet fuel annually.

That fuel is largely expected to go to European markets, according to Johnson Timber President Bill Johnson, Jr., though he said the developers were also in conversation with “a few” domestic airlines.

United Kingdom and European Union regulations increasingly require airlines to use sustainable fuel.

The war in Iran has also made the synthetic fuel more attractive, Johnson says, as the price of petroleum continues to climb and airlines look to diversify their fuel sources.

See the full story.

— Brown County officials are petitioning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to adjust water flow at dams in Neenah and Menasha to allow vessels to dock.

After recent heavy rainfalls over the Fox-Wolf watershed in northeastern Wisconsin, the Port of Green Bay is seeing “significant and continuous high water flow levels” on the Fox River that are making it unsafe for vessels to navigate the waterway, according to a release from port officials.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened up dam gates to release water from Lake Winnebago, causing the increased flow through the Fox River and preventing ships from docking in Green Bay.

In a release Friday, officials said the resulting closure of the port is costing millions of dollars, as vessels are being redirected to other ports where cargo is unloaded and transported back to Green Bay by truck. Port officials warn this “could have devastating impacts” on northeastern Wisconsin’s economy.

While Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach is seeking alternatives through contact with federal lawmakers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the port and terminal operators are calling for periods of reduced flow at Neenah and Menasha dams. This would create weekly safe navigation windows for ships to dock in Green Bay, officials say.

See more in the release.

— The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers have rolled out a new sustainable agriculture research agenda for the region, identifying priorities such as crop diversification and supply chains.

The organization, which includes Gov. Tony Evers and the leaders of other U.S. states and Canadian provinces in the region, says producers in the region are facing extreme weather, rising costs, labor shortages, unpredictable markets and other hurdles.

The research agenda, released Friday, aims to help the ag sector meet these challenges while “laying the groundwork for a regional framework” to spread the impact of related discoveries.

Priority areas include: supporting tech innovation and crop diversification; strengthening ag supply chains; assessing environmental impacts of conservation practices; understanding why producers adopt sustainable practices; and addressing “contaminants of emerging concern” to coordinate regional responses.

DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski says the research agenda “strengthens our collective ability to support farmers, protect our land and water resources, and build a resilient regional food system.”

See the release.

— Wisconsin Congress members split along party lines on a key federal agriculture bill that had long been stalled in the GOP-controlled House.

The House passed the farm bill 224-200 late last week, with each of Wisconsin’s Republican members voting in favor. U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, and Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, voted against it.

The Farm, Food and National Security Act would reauthorize programs across a slew of areas, such as conservation, rural development, research, trade, forestry, energy, and specialty crop programs, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation analysis.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President Brad Olson called the House passage an important step forward for the “long overdue” farm bill.

“Wisconsin farmers appreciate the bipartisan effort to move this legislation after years of uncertainty,” he said in a statement. “This progress comes at a critical moment for agriculture. For Wisconsin, the stakes are especially high as our state is the center of the nation’s dairy industry. The risk of the ‘dairy cliff’ remains very real for our farmers and we urge the U.S. Senate to act fast.”

Green Bay’s Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, one of the largest dairy co-ops in the country, is also cheering the legislation’s passage. The group notes it extends the Dairy Forward Pricing Program, calling it a “key priority” for the group’s advocacy efforts on the bill.

Heidi Fischer, president of the board for Edge, says farmers have been waiting on a comprehensive farm bill and the House passage is a step in that direction.

“Updated farm bill legislation is more important than ever to provide certainty for farmers during these challenging economic times,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Moore had sought an amendment to bring back work requirement exceptions for foster youth, veterans and homeless people on SNAP, also known as food stamps. In a post on X, she blasted Republicans for failing to restore billions in cuts to the program.

“20,000 Wisconsinites had their SNAP benefits taken by President Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’” she said. “Now Congressional Republicans shoved through a Farm Bill that does nothing to rectify that harm.”

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who sits on the Agriculture Committee, said with the House passage of the legislation, “we are delivering real certainty for producers while strengthening the farm safety net and reinforcing America’s long-term food security at a critical time.”

“Wisconsin farmers don’t ask for handouts. This farm bill is another step toward strengthening stability and ensuring our farmers have the opportunity to compete,” the Prairie du Chien Republican said. “I came to Washington to be a champion for rural communities and our farmers, and I’m proud to support this bill as it passes the House. I look forward to the Senate taking up the farm bill without delay.”

— UW-Stout grad students are using AI to design custom nutrition products for patients on GLP-1 anti-obesity drugs such as Ozempic.

As part of the Nutraceutical/Functional Food course taught by Prof. Eun Joo Lee, students seeking master’s degrees in the university’s food science and technology program were tasked with this project.

They relied on AI tools including ChatGPT and Claude to identify possible customers, identify their unique nutritional needs, review other scientific literature and evaluate potential ingredients for their product concepts. They also used Google’s Gemini platform to create images for communicating their research.

Lee said she came up with the project after learning about the growing number of patients relying on these weight loss products, as well as seeing food companies eyeing this expanding population as a developing market for custom nutrition products.

While students all used AI in their projects, Lee stresses that “final scientific judgment and strategy decisions” were their responsibility.

“Students were required to verify all scientific and market information using peer-reviewed literature, actual product information and other credible sources,” Lee said in the release.

Individual research projects included chewables aimed at improving digestion and bowel movements while helping with weight loss, a protein-rich and non-animal-based “hydrogel” for pre- and post-menopausal women, and a “nutrient shot” with pea protein and probiotics to improve gut health.

Dathu Ramvath, a student who worked on the third project, says the team’s idea would help GLP-1 users feel more full during meals to reduce hunger and help with weight loss — while also being more affordable than alternatives on the market.

These and other student groups will present their findings Tuesday at UW-Stout’s annual Research Day, which will feature more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.

See the release.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— A panel of experts will discuss the role of AI in addressing healthcare workforce shortages tomorrow at the Medical College of Wisconsin’s new Center for Cancer Discovery.

Panelists include: Dr. John Raymond, the outgoing president and CEO of MCW; Nick Myers, director of AI innovation for Recovery.com; UW-Milwaukee Prof. Lu He; and Ann Zenk, the senior vice president of workforce and clinical practice for the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

WisPolitics-State Affairs and the Wisconsin Technology Council are partnering on the event. See more details and register here.

Meanwhile, check out AI-related news stories, opinion columns and podcasts from WisBusiness at the new AI in Wisconsin page.

UW Health struggles with high demand, as new patients wait for slots

Drone, dirt and wire cams: Inside Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts

TOPICS

CONSTRUCTION

– Developers finalize $8.3M land buy in Oak Creek for housing project

ECONOMY

– Port of Green Bay closure costs mount as cargo diverted, ship stranded

ENVIRONMENT

– Smith: Wolf River fishing raft culture going strong

FOOD & BEVERAGE