“This is the only advancement in manure utilization since the manure spreader — that’s 100-year-old technology,” said Greg Langmo, a third-generation turkey farmer who lobbied for the plant, where he now works as a field manager.

Minnesota produces more turkeys than any other state, some 44.5 million birds in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available. It follows that the turkeys leave behind a lot of waste in their pens, where most are confined to gobble and peck until they are robust enough for slaughter. The Benson plant, then, has been of considerable help for farmers with a disposal problem.

The plant was built by Fibrowatt, a Philadelphia-based company, with financial incentives from the State of Minnesota. And, without precedent in the United States, it is largely a test case, watched carefully because Fibrowatt has plans to expand its operation to other big poultry states.

Officials at the company did not expect a perfectly smooth start but are surprised by the level of debate over the plant.

“We are completely puzzled by why people would make such a major effort to denigrate what we’re doing,” said Rupert J. Fraser, the chief executive, whose father pioneered manure-burning technology decades ago in Britain. Fibrowatt ran three such plants there before moving to Philadelphia to enter the American market.

Image A view of the plants exterior. Credit... Ben Garvin for The New York Times

“We’re seeking to provide an environmentally sustainable service to the industry which produces renewable energy,” Mr. Fraser said. “We’re not claiming to be the only solution, but we think we are environmentally responsible and are doing everything to the highest possible standard.”