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Ag Innovation Campus soy crush facility eyes June opening

A new soy crushing facility in northwest Minnesota should be processing soybeans in less than two months.

Ag Innovation Campus CEO Tom Slunecka says the plant in Crookston is on track to open in June.

“You know it’s amazing to see how fast this project has come together, really four and a half years from conception to build out. That’s record time, especially in Minnesota. So we couldn’t be more proud, the contractors have been great, the city has been great.”

Speaking to Brownfield during the AURI New Uses Forum earlier this week, he said once the Ag Innovation Campus is fully operational it will crush more than 60,000 tons of soybean meal a year, equating to about 2.5 million bushels.

“As we go forward and the plant gets more established, I’m sure that we’re going to price competitively, very competitively. And the new markets that are going to come around are going to be very interesting for farmers in the area.”

Slunecka says the plant will support three crushing lines that receive organic, non-GMO, or GM soybeans.