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CASSELTON, N.D. — The North Dakota Soybean Processors hope to break ground on a soybean crushing plant in mid- to late-June at Casselton.
After getting a permit approved by the Casselton City Council , CGB Enterprises Chief Operating Officer Eric Slater said the plant is still on schedule to be crushing soybeans by the fall 2024.
McGough, a construction firm based in St. Paul, Minnesota, with offices in Fargo, North Dakota, will lead the building of the $400 million project and will be working with KFI Engineers of Fargo.
Randy Kramer, a North Dakota native, was introduced at the May 2 Casselton meeting as the leading “boots on the ground” at Casselton.
Slater said Kramer has been a longtime employee at the Mount Vernon, Indiana, soybean plant operated by CGB and expressed an interest in coming back to North Dakota as plans for the Casselton site developed.
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CGB is partnering with Minnesota Soybean Processors to build what is poised to be North Dakota’s second large-scale crush plant. A crush plant led by ADM is in the works at Spiritwood near Jamestown, North Dakota.
The Casselton plant is expected to draw soybeans from about a 60 mile radius around the plant, including into northwest Minnesota.
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“We’re an agricultural company that has built its foundation upon direct interaction with the producers,” Slater said. “We do strongly, strongly believe that this is going to be so beneficial to the producers of North Dakota and that Cass County area. … It’s really exciting.”
Joe Morken, a farmer north of Casselton and former chairman of the North Dakota Soybean Council, said that while the process for getting the Casselton plant approved wasn’t perfect, he feels good about the outcome.
“The entire Casselton community would have liked to have seen it a few miles west,” Morken said a day after the vote. “But it’s more important to have the plant than the ideal location.”
The close proximity of the crush plant to residential areas drew protests from those neighbors.
“We admire the passion of this community and we admire the integrity of our supporters,” Steve O’Nan, senior vice president of CGB and president of North Dakota Soybean Growers, told the Casselton City Council on May 2.
