AGP Opens $300M Soybean Processing Plant in South Dakota
Agricultural cooperative Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) has officially opened its 10th location - a $300 million soybean processing plant located in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The project represents the largest investment in the Idaho-based company’s history. The facility will source soybeans from farmers within a 100 mile radius, and will have the capacity to process between 50 and 60 million bushels per year. This reflects a significant increase in capacity for the state, which has a total annual processing capacity of 250 million bushels.
AGP states that the Aberdeen site offered multiple advantages - a reliable supply of soybeans, a stable and available workforce, reliable infrastructure, and established transportation capabilities - and the company finally built at the location after strategically considering it for 20 years. In addition, the site would be one of the most westerly soybean plants in the U.S. and is geographically close to the company’s port at Aberdeen, Washington.
Plans include for the plant to ship soybean meal from Aberdeen South Dakota to Aberdeen, Washington, for end markets in the Pacific Rim including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Expectations are that the existence of the plant will spark further development of South Dakota’s livestock industry.
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