$500 Million Soybean Processing Plant Opens in Mitchell, SD

By Joshua Haiar

MITCHELL — As China boycotts U.S. soybean purchases, a $500 million processing plant south of Mitchell that will turn more of the state’s crop into oils and livestock meal opened its doors Tuesday.

Tom Kersting, the CEO of South Dakota Soybean Processors, which manages the plant, said it will help stabilize prices and create local demand.

“If it wasn’t for demand sources like this facility, it’d be very, very tough out there,” Kersting said, calling China, until now, the No. 1 buyer of South Dakota’s exported soybeans.

China is avoiding U.S. soybeans this fall in response to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

The High Plains Processing Plant is designed to crush about 35 million bushels of soybeans per year. South Dakota farmers produced about 238 million bushels last year. Kersting said the facility will produce soybean meal (animal feed) and soybean oil. The oil can be refined on-site into vegetable oil or a soybean-based diesel fuel, called renewable diesel.

“There’s great demand for soybean oil from the renewable fuels industry,” he said. “And soybean meal is the preferred high-protein feed additive for hogs, poultry, dairy — you name it.” 

Craig Weber is the president of the South Dakota Soybean Processors board. He said the project’s impact will be most immediate on the gap between the soybean price and what farmers actually receive. That gap is significantly impacted by transportation costs, and the new plant being in Mitchell reduces those costs for farmers in the region.

Still, farm advocates cautioned that one facility cannot fully offset the loss of the world’s largest soybean buyer. 

“No, it’s not going to be enough,” said Doug Sombke, president of South Dakota Farmers Union. 

Sombke and a delegation of about 40 farmers were in Washington, D.C., earlier this week to express their concerns to Congress. 

“It helps, yeah, but it’s going to take a lot more,” Sombke said. “Farmers are in a lot of trouble. We’re going to lose farmers if we don’t do something quick.”

Governor Larry Rhoden, who spoke at the opening, called the project an example of the kind of value-added agriculture South Dakota should pursue. 

“We’re talking about enhancing our number one industry, which is agriculture,” he said. 

He also praised the plant’s ability to process other oilseeds, such as sunflowers, offering farmers more flexibility depending on circumstances in the crop markets. 

South Dakota Searchlight launched in 2022. The Searchlight is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. The staff of the Searchlight retains full editorial independence.