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Michigan’s new soy processing plant construction on track

A spokesperson for Zeeland Farm Services says their new processing plant is about 15 percent complete and still on track to open next fall.

Grain merchandiser Brian Meeuwsen tells Brownfield the facility plans to start buying some soybeans this winter and, when finished, will process nearly 40 million bushels annually.  “We’ll be buying some limited grain probably January or February of next year for this facility, four million bushels of storage capacity here and we’ll be contracting soybeans for this fall anytime now.”  He says Zealand Farm Services currently processes about 10 percent of soybeans grown in Michigan and the new Ithaca facility will process about half of the state’s beans, providing a 30-50 cent bump to the basis.

On the trade front, Meeuwsen believes China will return as a soybean customer, but it’s difficult to be in caught in the middle of disputes.  “Sometimes that patience to wait and see how it all turns out is difficult to manage or endure.  What goes on in the U.S. really affects people right here in our home state or our home towns.”

He expects as much as a 24 percent increase in Michigan soybean acres to supply the new plant at the expense of dry bean and sugarbeet acres.  Longer-term, their Zealand facility will become a non-GMO and specialty bean processing plant.

The Meeuwsen family also operates processing facilities in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Nebraska.

Meeuwsen spoke to Brownfield during the recent Michigan Soybean See for Yourself Tour.

AUDIO: Interview with Brian Meeuwsen