Minnesota and North Dakota farmers are in talks with an unknown company to build a soybean processing facility in either eastern North Dakota or northwest Minnesota.

“There’s been a group of farmers that have been discussing and determining the feasibility of constructing a processing plant in the region,” says Monte Peterson, a North Dakota farmer and North Dakota Soybean Growers Association member who is on the steering committee for the project.

He knows from experience that having talks doesn’t mean anything will come to fruition. In the past, he’s been in these discussions, and the company wanting to build a crush facility moved to a completely different state.

An official statement from the group of farmers lists these benefits:

• An expanded local market for soybean farmers.
• A new, local protein source for livestock farmers.
• Significant economic benefits resulting from facility construction and job creation.
• Decreased reliance on rail transportation needed to export soybeans.

“Agreements will need to be in place before anything official is ever announced,” says Peterson.