CASSELTON, NORTH DAKOTA, US — The North Dakota Soybean Processors (NDSP) facility near Casselton, North Dakota, was officially inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 7, nearly two years after construction began on the state’s second soybean crush facility.

The facility, jointly owned and operated by CGB Enterprises, Inc. (CGB) and Minnesota Soybean Processors (MnSP), began accepting soybeans on July 18. During the plant’s first year of operation, it is expected to process up to 42.5 million bushels of soybeans into soybean oil, soybean meal and soybean hull pellets. The facility employs about 75 people.

Local, state and federal officials, and community members were on hand for the ceremony, during which the project was lauded as part of an ongoing shift toward processing more of North Dakota’s agricultural commodities in-state.

“This facility will benefit growers by cutting transportation costs and providing a year-round local market with better prices, while also providing good jobs for the region and making the United States more food and energy independent, which makes our nation more secure,” said North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. 

NDSP is the second soybean crush plant to open in North Dakota in as many years. Green Bison Soy Processing launched operations last September in Spiritwood Energy Park, and Epitome Energy has obtained an air permit for a soybean crush plant in Grand Forks. When all three plants are operational, they will have the combined capacity to process roughly 75% of North Dakota’s soybean crop.

MnSP is a 2,300-member cooperative that owns and operates a soybean crushing and biodiesel refining facility in Brewster, Minnesota, US. MnSP began crushing operations in 2003 and then in 2005 added the biodiesel plant, which expanded in 2017 to produce up to 41 million gallons annually.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Consolidated Grain and Barge Co., CGB operates a network of over 100 grain facilities across the Midwest and owns and operates a soy crushing facility in Mount Vernon, Indiana, US. CGB Soybean Processing has a daily capacity of over 140,000 bushels per day and has been in operation since 1997.