CHS, the largest farmer-owned cooperative in the United States, has announced plans to build a soybean processing facility near Evansville, Wisconsin, an investment of about US$700 million. The plant will be able to process 80 million bushels of US-grown soybeans a year; construction is to begin within weeks and finish in autumn 2028.

'Strong demand across food, feed and renewable fuel markets, coupled with policies that encourage domestic processing, manufacturing and energy production, reinforce the need for additional soybean processing capacity in the United States,' said John Griffith, executive vice-president of agriculture business and CHS Hedging. The facility is expected to employ about 80 people and produce roughly a billion pounds of oil and two million tons of meal a year, in a region with strong soybean production and heavy demand for meal from livestock producers, with rail and road links to domestic and export markets.

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers called the announcement 'a win-win for our farmers and our state', and Wisconsin Soybean Association president Doug Rebout said it was 'something we have been working toward for years: stronger demand for the crop we grow right here at home', giving growers another reliable market close to the farm. Construction is expected to support hundreds of contractor and skilled-trade positions.

The plant complements CHS's existing oilseed operations — 525,000 tonnes of canola a year at Hallock, Minnesota, and about 119 million bushels of soybeans at Fairmont and Mankato, Minnesota — and once running will raise the cooperative's soybean processing capacity by more than two-thirds.

'CHS is committed to being a long-term partner in the communities where we operate,' Griffith said, describing the investment as support for rural economic development and the agricultural supply chain across the region.

Source: CropLife