New North Dakota Facilities Will Produce Tons of Soybean Meal

In partnership with: North Dakota Department of Agriculture

New crushing facilities, such as Green Bison Soy Processing, will produce soybean meal, a byproduct from the extraction of soybean oil. Soybean meal is used in animal feed, usually as a protein supplement. Of the soy meal fed to animals in the U.S., about 48% is fed to poultry, 26% to swine and 12% to beef cattle.

See more: Where to Buy Local Beef in North Dakota

While soy meal is not a large portion of a beef cow’s diet, it does play a role, according to Colin Tobin, Ph.D.

“Soybean meal provides livestock with more lysine, while corn, which is heavily used in our state, is low on lysine,” says Tobin, an animal scientist at North Dakota State University’s Carrington Research Extension Center.

An essential amino acid, lysine is a precursor to many proteins.

Tobin notes that protein supplements are the most expensive part of an animal’s feed ration.

“These crushing plants coming online provide cattle producers with a lot more opportunity to get protein supplements at a more reasonable cost,” he says.

Scaling Up From Zero

The North Dakota Soybean Council (NDSC) hopes to see more soybean meal used locally rather than exported internationally.

“We don’t use a lot of soybean meal currently because we don’t have a lot of swine or poultry production in the state,” says Jena Bjertness, NDSC director of market development.

She acknowledges a full supply chain system – from feed mills to slaughter plants – is necessary for large-scale swine or poultry production, but having a readily available source of feed is one piece of the puzzle.

“Getting that supply chain going helps make filling in the rest of the chain easier,” she says.

“In North Dakota, this is really becoming a boom. Going from zero to three crush plants is huge. It’s a very exciting time – something that could really change the future of agriculture in North Dakota.”

– Jena Bjertness, NDSC director of market development

“Our soybean meal supply prior to these crush plants is extremely low,” she adds, noting the Green Bison Soy facility plans to produce 1.3 million short tons of soybean meal per year. “We are about to have a very large supply of soybean meal. Based on supply, if you have a more affordable feed source that you can easily transport, livestock production – for swine or poultry – starts to pencil out much better than it does having to transport feed a long way.”

See more: North Dakota’s Top 10 Agricultural Commodities

Soy crush expansion is a national trend, largely driven by renewable fuels. A third crush plant has announced intentions to build near Grand Forks.

“In North Dakota, this is really becoming a boom,” Bjertness adds. “Going from zero to three crush plants is huge. It’s a very exciting time – something that could really change the future of agriculture in North Dakota.”