CHS Leader Explains Decision to Build Soybean Plant in Evansville
Artist rendering of the proposed CHS Evansville, Wisconsin soybean processing plant Image: CHS
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Wisconsin is officially getting its first soybean crushing facility. CHS Cooperative broke ground on the $700 million Evansville project this week. Brian Schouvieller is the Senior Vice President of Product Lines & Ag Business for CHS. He noted the team has worked quietly on the project since acquiring the Evansville property three years ago.
“We are actually beginning construction as we’re talking here, and we expect to have it operational by the end of 2028. This is not a brand new thought. This has been in the hamper, as we call it, for a couple of years now. We finally took it out because of market conditions, and brought it in front of our board, and they passed it,” Schouvieller explained. “But, all along during that time frame, we’ve had engineers working on the project, keeping cost estimates up to speed, filing for the correct permits, so all of that stuff is already done, which would be the beginning stages of the project, so we’re actually literally ready to break ground and start construction.”
With A Tough Economy, Why Now?
Schouvieller spoke with the Mid-West Farm Report about the timing and how shifting market conditions made the project viable despite a tough economy.
“Although we liked the current biofuels policy, it just was missing a certain component, the RVO piece of this,” he explained. “Over the summer now, EPA has set that RVO policy in place and that has increased demand for soybean oil as a feedstock for bio-based diesel. That combined with strong food demands and also feed demand for the meal, we decided this was the time to move forward.”
Location Ideal For CHS
He says, “One of the benefits to having this site in Evansville is its close proximity to Mankato (MN), so we have an agreement with the UP railroad to be able to take some of that oil and feed our refinery in Mankato, Minnesota, where we also have a crushing plant, so that will take up a portion of that oil, but then a big portion of that oil we expect will find its way into the energy markets and also some of our food-related customers.”
Once completed, the Evansville plant will offer farmers a new local buyer. Schouvieller expects this localized demand to boost area soybean prices.
“It’s exciting for Wisconsin because it’s a soybean crush deficit destination or location, so that was one of the reasons we picked that, but there’s also strong meal demand. We expect about 42% of the meal will stay in that local area and be trucked out of the plant,” Schouvieller said. “Additionally, we’ll export some of the balance of that via barge or by rail to the Gulf (of Mexico). We expect this will have a positive effect on soybean prices in the area and also create the opportunity for farmers to produce more soybeans.”
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