Nebraska Planning to Invest USD 375 million in a New Soybean Plant

Norfolk Crush, LLC intends to invest USD 375 million in developing a new soybean crushing plant in Madison County, Nebraska, near Norfolk. 

Once operational this spring, the plant will crush 38.5 million bushels of soybeans per year or 110,000 bushels per day. Norfolk Crush will produce 847,000 tonnes of soybean meal (2,420 tonnes per day) for livestock feed markets each year, 450 million pounds of crude soybean oil (1.28 million pounds per day), and 77,000 tonnes of pelleted soybean hulls (220 tonnes per day). According to the company, the soymeal and soy hulls (which contain highly digestible fibre) will be used in livestock feed rations.

Meanwhile, Norfolk Crush soybean oil has many applications, including the rapidly expanding renewable diesel industry. This will be Nebraska's first modern soybean processing facility, as per Nick Bowdish, president, and chief executive officer of N Bowdish Company LLC.

Along with leading the development of Norfolk Crush, Bowdish assists in developing Platinum Crush, LLC, which announced plans last fall to build a similar size soybean crushing plant in Buena Vista County near Alta, Iowa, US.

While the new Nebraska plant awaits state and local approvals, Norfolk Crush announced that it had chosen Fagen, Inc. as the company’s engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor. Fagen, Inc. is thrilled to be collaborating with Nick Bowdish on yet another fantastic project, said Chris Howard, president, and CEO of Fagen, Inc.

The Norfolk area is an excellent location for a soybean crushing facility that will have a long-term positive impact on the region. Howard stated that Fagen began engineering efforts in October 2021 and has secured the major equipment needed to meet the planned mobilisation date and bring the plant online in 2024. Norfolk Crush will be served by the Nebraska Central Railroad Co. and the Union Pacific Railroad.

Norfolk Crush will be served by the Nebraska Central Railroad Co. and the Union Pacific Railroad. According to Jason Hess, vice president of marketing and sales bulk at UP, Union Pacific is delighted to support Norfolk Crush to provide service from the new soybean crush facility to Nebraska's ag community.

Our network offers domestic and export markets access, allowing Norfolk Crush to compete globally. The latest in a long line of soybean crushing plant announcements made last year. On January 28, Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) announced plans to build a new soybean processing plant in the United States near David City, Nebraska.

The plant will be able to process more than 50 million bushels of soybeans per year. CGB Enterprises, Inc. and Minnesota Soybean Processors announced a joint venture in December 2021 to construct with the first-year capacity of 42.5 million bushels for a soybean processing plant near Casselton, North Dakota.

ADM had previously announced plans to build Spiritwood, North Dakota's first dedicated soybean crushing and refining plant. The USD 350 million crushes and refining complex will include cutting-edge automation technology and the ability to interpret 150,000 bushels of soybeans per day.