High Plains Processing and the City of Mitchell’s local officials have broken ground on a new soybean processing plant near Mitchell, South Dakota, US.

This new oilseed processing facility is being developed on 296 acres of land along State Highway 37, reported Mitchell Republic.

The property will have the capacity to generate 35 million bushels of soybeans annually and will be able to process oilseed plants.

This facility is anticipated to be completed in late 2025 and create 85 full-time jobs as a result.

High Plains Processing is a majority-owned subsidiary of South Dakota Soybean Processors and has plans to invest more than $500m in Davidson County and across the state in the next two years.

The construction milestone follows after South Dakota Soybean Processors entered into a guarantee agreement regarding an investment in the plant earlier this month.

The facility will be co-owned by High Plains Partners and BP Products North America as a joint venture.

High Plains Partners has committed to invest at least $192m into the High Plains Processing plant.

High Plains Partners board president Jon Kleinjan was quoted as saying: “We’re going to have producers within a 100-mile radius hauling their products here to this plant in Mitchell.”

The Davison County Commission approved a $21.2m tax increment financing plan for the High Plains Processing project.