It’s all about growing the value of the soybeans produced right here in Indiana. Bunge North America broke ground this week on a brand-new facility in central Indiana to produce soy-based ingredients for more of the foods you find at your grocery store.
“Anything that we can value-add to our crop is good for all of us,” says Shelby County farmer Phil Ramsey, who serves on the Board of Directors for both the American Soybean Association and the Soy Transportation Coalition. He has also served on the Indiana Soybean Alliance board.
Ramsey was at Bunge’s groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday near Morristown in Shelby County, as the St. Louis-based company is set to build a $550 million facility next to their existing soy production plant to produce soy-protein concentrate for plant-based foods, processed meat, pet food and feed products.
“The technology keeps changing and the foods keep changing, so this is an opportunity to get more of our soy protein into food that we’re eating,” says Ramsey. “It will be good for consumers around the world and help us move some more soybeans.”
Ramsey says he lives just a few miles down the road from Bunge’s existing soybean production facility, which first opened in 1996. That plant continues to process soybeans for animal feed, as well as oil for food processing.
“We’ve been selling beans here ever since they opened. It’s been a great asset that we don’t have to go that far. They’ve always paid well and they’re just good partners with the farmers,” according to Ramsey.
Most of all, Ramsey says he’s excited for Bunge’s expansion and the value it will add for Indiana’s soybean producers.
“It gives us another opportunity to sell non-GMO beans close and we’ll have a nice premium. It will help the basis on all of the beans in this area, so it’ll help all the farmers get a little bit more,” according to Ramsey.
Bunge says their new soy-protein concentrate facility will process an additional 4.5 million bushels of soybeans and create 70 full-time jobs when it opens in mid-2025.
Click below to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.
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