Dec. 16—GRAND FORKS — With the announcement that Epitome Energy plans to build a soybean crush plant in Grand Forks, the state of North Dakota could have three new soybean processing plants over the next three years.

The flurry of economic activity is fueled by a demand for soybean oil in the biodiesel industry, said Chris Brossart, chairman of the North Dakota Soybean Council and Wolford, North Dakota, farmer.

"There's such a demand for it that we can't produce enough soybean oil for the biofuel demand," said Brossart.

Soybean oil can be used to make biodiesel, which can be blended with traditional petroleum diesel.

The new plants are good news for North Dakota, said Brossart, which is a state with a status as a growing producer of soybeans, but no soybean processing plants.

"It's going to be good for agriculture within the state, good for the soybean industry, good for the livestock industry," said Brossart. "I don't really see any downfalls to that."

According to the North Daktoa Soybean Council, the state was the 10th largest soybean producer in the United States in 2021, producing 181.56 million bushels.

Most of the soybeans produced in North Dakota leave the state, according to NDSC, with 23% shipped to other states and 71% exported globally. Only 6% of soybeans produced in North Dakota stay in the state.

Epitome Energy's proposed $400 million Grand Forks plant would crush 42 million bushels of soybeans per year into soybean oil, meal and hulls. According to CEO Dennis Egan, the

oil could either go to the renewable diesel industry

or be refined a second time and go toward food. The meal will go into the livestock industry.

Egan hopes to break ground on the plant in 2023 and begin operations in 2025.

Construction is already underway on the other two soybean processing plants in North Dakota.

The

Green Bison Soy Processing facility

near Spiritwood broke ground in June 2022 and is expected to open by harvest in 2023. The plant will process 54 million bushels of soybeans per year into oil, meal and fiber. The oil from this plant will be sent to the Marathon refinery in Dickinson to be refined into renewable diesel at the Marathon refinery.

The Marathon refinery in Dickinson was converted from a petroleum refinery to a renewable diesel facility that became fully operational in 2021, according to Marathon.

Near Casselton, the

North Dakota Soybean Processors

crush plant, which broke ground in August, is expected to open in 2024. The plant could crush 42.5 million bushels of soybeans in its first year, producing food grade soybean oil and meal. The oil could go into the food industry or renewable food industry, while the meal would likely be used to feed livestock.

With Epitome aiming to bring its plant online in 2025, North Dakota could have a new soybean processing plant each year for the next three years if plants are built according to schedule. Combined, the plants could process an estimated 138.5 million bushels of soybeans per year.

In the past, soybean processing has primarily been focused on soybean meal for livestock production, said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, which he has

identified as an area in need of improvement

in North Dakota. With animal agriculture lacking in the state, there was little need for soybean meal. He talked about the Epitome plant and other soybean processing plants in an editorial meeting with the Grand Forks Herald on Dec. 8.

"Meal was always the driver," Burgum said. "The oil markets and the interest that we have in sustainable fuels and biofuels made the economics of building a soybean crush plant work."

After the soybean oil produced at the Green Bison plant is processed into biodiesel in Dickinson, it will get sold to markets like California, said Burgum. He expects other plants built in North Dakota to follow a similar model.

"Once one company figures out the economics, then the others can too, and basically it's the same business model for the plant in Casselton," Burgum said.

Brossart said meal byproducts of soybean oil produced for biofuels could help attract more livestock production to the state. Meal produced in Grand Forks could also be shipped north.

"There is a lot of hog production that goes on in Canada, so I see that as a good outlet for that soybean meal," he said. "It should be able to go right up to Canada, right on the interstate."

For producers, a local market could mean a higher return on soybeans. Brossart estimates farmers will have a 20-cent increase per bushel in the value of their product. He sees the crop continuing to expand across the state.

"It's a wonderful rotational crop and as we keep developing those varieties and keep moving west, I think the acres will continue to increase as time goes on," said Brossart.