Cenex Harvest States remains committed to construction of a new soybean crushing facility in Fairmont, Minn., as part of the cooperative’s overall mission to bring value to its farmer-owners and member co-ops.
“We own the land and we’ve been methodically going through the appropriate process of permitting and due diligence,” explained Mark Palmquist, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Cenex Harvest States. “However, with tighter and tighter crushing margins recently, we simply haven’t felt it was prudent to move too quickly. The last thing we would want to do is add stress to the industry with over-capacity.”
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The cooperative continues to monitor the crushing industry as it moves toward the decision to break ground this fall or next spring.
Cenex Harvest States, the largest U.S. grain cooperative, currently has a defined business unit program for oilseed producers where members have invested in the cooperative’s soybean processing and refining operations. In its first two years of operation, this program has paid dividends to investors based on a calculation of bushels delivered by the individual producer-investor. Cenex Harvest States (http://www.cenexharveststates.com) is one of the leading producer-to-consumer cooperatives owned by farmers, ranchers and local co-ops across the U.S.
