The Ag Innovation Campus (AIC) is making headway in the competition of its first phase of construction of its Soybean Crush Plant and is beginning its construction of the Crush Plant this month.
The Ag Innovation Campus is a summer construction project happening in Crookston that will create a one-of-a-kind, non-profit facility that is being completed in three different phases. The first and current phase is the completion of a Crush Plant that will process about nine truckloads of locally grown soybeans every day. The second phase will add a large office complex for its workers, and the third phase will construct a research facility for the Campus. “Together, this will be the only kind of facility like it in the world,” Ag Innovation Campus Acting CEO Tom Slunecka explained. “It will be operated as a not-for-profit, and all of the profits that come from the facility will be put back into new research projects and new ideas that will help both consumers and farmers alike,” he added. Slunecka reported that they are still in the first phase of building the Plant, saying that all of the permitting has been completed, and they have completed the dirt construction. He reported that they will begin constructing the building this month and plans to have it completed and begin moving people into it in a matter of weeks. He also reported that they plan to add a new road to allow access to the Plant for trucks and employees.
The AIC is an idea developed by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council to help agriculture find new uses for the crops they produce and believed that the Innovation Campus would be a perfect project to help utilize the products they raise. With its competition, the facility will be used to help share, create, and test new ideas for agriculture at full scale. “It was clear that there’s a lot of really good ideas that are developed at universities and small companies that never make their way to the marketplace. This facility is designed to do that,” CEO Tom Slunecka explained. “It is designed for people with new ideas in small and even large companies with new ideas of products that are good for consumers, the environment, and agriculture. They can bring those products and test them here at this facility and nearly full scale,” he added. Slunecka reported that larger plants tend not to look at new innovations out of fear that they may complicate their processes and risk a lot due to their size. But he reports that the Innovation Campus is built at a size that can afford that type of risk, and due to them being a non-profit facility, it will not be under the same pressures as other companies.
Innovation Campus CEO Tom Slunecka reported that the Plant will help add a lot of jobs to Crookston and local surrounding counties with its construction and when it is completed, saying that all of the construction is being conducted by local companies, and the planting and dirt work is sponsored by Pheasants Forever Inc. in Norman County. Slunecka mentioned that when the Plant is completed, it will open many jobs in many different fields for the area, “When the project’s completed all three phases, there will be research jobs, plant jobs, and there will be a lot of opportunities for meetings from people all over the world that will want to come in and see all of the work that is being done at the AG Innovation Campus,” Slunecka explained. Due to the delays, Slunecka believes that the construction of the Plant and its other facilities will be completed and be open to commissions and the importation of soybeans by the first quarter of 2023. Phase 2’s construction of the office center will begin soon after the Plant’s completion, and the entire project will be completed within two and a half years, or by the end of 2025.
However, with the project being non-profit and with the rising prices of parts due to inflation and limited availability of parts, the AIC is asking for support in any way to help with the Campus’s completion. To learn more about the Campus and see a video of what the Crush Plant and Campus will look and operate like, you can go to aginnovationcampus.org and click on About. To learn more about how you can help the AIC, you can contact the Ag Innovation campus at 218-275-2750 or email them on their website.
