By Joe Schulz
The nation’s largest farmer-owned cooperative plans to spend $700 million to build a new soybean processing plant in Evansville.
Minnesota-based CHS and the city of Evansville announced the development on Monday. When up and running, the plant will create more than 80 permanent jobs and will have capacity to process 80 million bushels of soybeans each year into soybean meal and oil.
For context, Wisconsin produces 100 million to 110 million bushels of soybeans per year, according to the state’s soybean association.
The plant will produce soybean meal and oil, and the cooperative says it will help meet demand for soybean meal from livestock producers. According to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, the facility is expected to produce approximately 2 million tons of soybean meal and 1 billion pounds of soybean oil annually.
CHS hopes to begin construction this fall and complete the facility in fall 2028. Brian Schouvieller, senior vice president of trading and risk management for CHS, said the cooperative chose Evansville in Rock County from 10 locations it was considering.
He said CHS liked that Wisconsin produces a lot of soybeans and has strong demand for livestock feed. He said the site has good rail and truck access.
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