WINCHESTER — An early morning fire at Sevita International’s Inkerman IP soybean-processing plant on February 22 destroyed a warehouse and 50 % of processing capacity.
Sevita will rely on third-party partners to fill the gap in the short term.
The surrounding grain and elevator systems remain mostly operational and the company will resume bringing in Sevita soybeans currently stored on-farm with local growers “relatively soon,” Sevita marketing co-ordinator Anna Stubbings said.
The cause of the fire is not known, and the value of the fully insured loss has yet to be determined. One part of the affected facility recently underwent a $7-million renovation and survived because of a built-in fire suppression system. No one was injured.
Sevita contracts with local farmers to grow food-grade, identity-preserved soybeans for export. Fortunately, the seed supply for this year’s planting was unscathed and the company expects no significant obstacles delivering existing and new orders for the 2024 planting season.
Source : Farmersforum