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CHS pursues Wisconsin soybean processing plant

The President of the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board is optimistic and excited about a possible soybean crushing facility near Evansville, Wisconsin.

Clinton farmer Patrick Mullooly tells Brownfield it’s early in the process for CHS, as the cooperative moves forward with plans to build a food-grade soybean oil and soybean meal production site. “I know they’re working on their air permits with the DNR and the state. I think what they stated is it would be several months here of a process to get to where they could go to their board and vote on approval.”

Mullooly says their own feasibility study shows an Evansville location would serve soybean farmers well. “They’re talking 70 million bushels annual capacity and I think the State of Wisconsin, the production in 2022 was 160 million. They’ll be able to pull some beans from northern Illinois and possibly a few from Iowa, but the bulk of that should come from the State of Wisconsin.”

Doug Rebout farms near Janesville and is Vice President of the Wisconsin Soybean Association.  He tells Brownfield that having a crush facility in Wisconsin will help bring farmers a better market price. “It’s going to help the farmer that sells to that processing plant, but it will also help the farmer that’s selling to any other local elevator or co-op.” Rebout recently spoke with a CHS official, who told him there is demand for soybean meal and food-grade soybean oil if the facility is built. “They said they have markets at like Frito Lay for oil for making the chips and down in the Chicago area, so down here in southern Wisconsin is a good location central to get to some of these areas that would be buying these oil products.”

Doug Monson with the Wisconsin Soybean Program tells Brownfield if it is built, farmers and the market are ready but there is a series of tasks that need to be done before the CHS board can make the final building decisions.

CHS officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.  The planned soybean processing facility also needs approval from the Evansville, Wisconsin Planning Commission, which meets Tuesday evening, August 1^st.

Interview: Patrick Mullooly with Brownfield’s Larry Lee

Interview: Doug Rebout with Brownfield’s LarryLee