CONRAD, IOWA, US — The board of directors of Mid-Iowa Cooperative (MIC) said it has approved the sale of the cooperative’s shares in Shell Rock Soy Processing, LLC (SRSP). MIC did not disclose who is buying the shares, noting only that it was presented with a “significant offer” for its ownership and that the offer “validates the initial investment made two years ago to develop this modern soybean processing plant.”

“Selling MIC’s shares was no easy decision,” said Ben Bader, president of the MIC board. “We thought long and hard on this. MIC’s board and leadership have spent significant time on this project and anticipated keeping MIC’s ownership long term. When we were presented with a high rate of return on our initial investment, we knew we’d succeeded in creating a new market that will generate significant returns for our members long-term.”

MIC joined AGR Partners in the spring of 2021 in providing financing to SRSP to complete the construction of the latter’s soybean crushing plant in Shell Rock, Iowa, US. The plant became operational earlier this year and currently crushes about 40 million bushels of soybeans annual, or 110,000 bushels daily. In addition to the soybean oil, SRSP produces roughly 900,000 tonnes per year of soybean meal, along with soy hulls for livestock feed. SRSP also produces soy oil that may be used for a variety of applications, including livestock feed, fuel and the human food industry.

“Shell Rock Soy Processing owes a lot to Mid Iowa Cooperative for their forward thinking and early efforts on this successful project,” said Corey Jorgenson, chief executive officer and general manager of Shell Rock. “We thank them for the great work, which ultimately created a compelling story for the rest of the investors in the project. This is a great win-win for everyone, as existing investors were able to grow their ownership share while Mid-Iowa achieved their return objectives.”

Bruce Kempf, chief executive officer of MIC, said the sale of its shares will allow MIC “to accelerate improvements to its current assets, create new end-user opportunities, and return equity back to members.”

MIC is a progressive, farmer-owned company with significant investments in feed, grain and grain-processing assets. MIC has 92 employees and 13 locations spanning five central Iowa counties.