Matt Rees and Joel Penhorwood
Freshly laid gravel, bare soil and soybeans growing in an adjacent field marked the groundbreaking ceremony for Louis Dreyfus Company’s (LDC) new soybean crushing facility in June. Construction began on a massive soy processing plant in Upper Sandusky that will combine crushing, vegetable oil refining, lecithin production and packaging. The new facility will have an annual crushing capacity of more than 55 million bushels, representing approximately 20 percent of Ohio’s annual soybean production.
“Although Ohio ranks fifth in bushel production, the Ohio Soybean Association believes we produce the best soybeans here in Ohio, which is why we want our soybeans to continue to be used for oil,” said Rusty Goebel, a Williams County farmer and president of the Ohio Soybean Association. “In rural communities, the importance of jobs and economic impact from any investment cannot be overstated. This new plant will increase demand for our soybeans, and farmers in Wyandotte County and neighboring counties will benefit greatly. This investment will have a positive ripple effect on the community, creating more jobs and boosting the local economy. This plant will also make deliveries more efficient and streamlined for farmers, saving time, which is always important, especially during harvest season. We can deliver our soybeans and hit the road quickly, which is a win for all farmers.”
The project will feature four dump pits and focus on receiving deliveries by truck with a delivery capacity of 80,000 bushels per hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A groundbreaking ceremony in June was attended by many industry leaders, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.
“I think this is a great day for Wyandotte County, for the state of Ohio and for Upper Sandusky. It’s a win-win. We’re going to have a lot of construction jobs here in the next few months. Once the facility is complete, we’re going to have over 100 employees working here, at least initially, so that’s good, and it gives our farmers another place to go for their beans, which is great because farmers don’t want to wait and they don’t want to have to truck them far away,” said Governor DeWine. “One of the things that’s going to come out of this is oil. This is food-grade oil. We have a lot of manufacturing companies in Ohio, and I have no doubt some of that oil, or a significant amount of it, will be processed here in Ohio. It’s a real multiplier effect. Ohio has historically been and still is an agricultural state and a manufacturing state. That’s what we do, and this adds to the agricultural side. With this facility and the others that are already here, we estimate that 90% of Ohio soybeans will be processed in Ohio. The more we can keep in Ohio, the more jobs we’re going to create here.”
LDC Global CEO Mike Guerci reiterated the huge difference the new facility will make to the local economy.
“Today marks a new chapter in LDC’s history as we officially begin construction of a new soybean processing facility here in Upper Sandusky, a future facility that will further strengthen our existing North American network of operations for our grain and oilseed businesses,” said Guerci. “When completed in March 2026, we will have the capacity to crush 1.5 million tons of soybeans per year and produce 320,000 tons of oil for a variety of uses. The facility will feature high-end technology to increase the efficiency and safety of our operations and will create more than 100 new, well-paid jobs. This project represents a significant capital investment by our company and reflects LDC’s ongoing commitment to growing with the U.S. agricultural sector through shared value creation.”
