Friends of Soy: Building Kansas Crush Capacity

Bartlett; a Savage Company, and Scoular honored for bringing opportunities to Kansas soybean farmers.

In fall 2024, two new soybean processing plants came online, nearly doubling crush capacity in Kansas. Just over a year later, Kansas Soybean honored Scoular and Bartlett; a Savage Company, as Friends of Soy for increasing market opportunities and profit potential for Kansas farmers.

The companies’ acceptance of the award at the Kansas Soybean Celebration in January highlights just how crucial the expansion of crush capacity is to Kansas farmers. The presence of soybean processing plants in a region has a tangible economic impact: producers near the Bartlett plant in Cherryvale were able to take advantage of basis anywhere from 4 to 6 cents stronger than local co-ops.

“It’s been a great asset for farmers in our area,” says Mike Froebe, who farms 19 minutes from the Cherryvale plant. “They’re delivering on their promise of a big boom for soybean farmers.”

The Cherryvale plant crushes an average of 145,000 bushels each day, according to Travis Styer, commodity manager for soybeans. He says the soybean meal it produces is funneled largely into the poultry industry in northwest Arkansas as well as customers in Mexico, while the oil goes to food processors and renewable fuel producers.

“The facility creates substantial economic activity in southeast Kansas and brings soybean value closer to the Kansas farm gate,” says Kaleb Little, Kansas Soybean CEO. “The more we can capture the value-add of processing into meal and oil here instead of sending it overseas as whole beans, the better.”

In Goodland, retrofits were made to a Scoular facility to enhance the crushing capability to include soybeans. This brings more opportunity and incentive to grow soybean sin Western Kansas, eliminating constraints that growers once faced.

“We created new marketing opportunities for growers who may have previously faced logistical barriers to raising soybeans,” says Jeff Frazier, market development manager at Scoular. “We anticipate increased soybean acreage in an expansive region, west of the I-35 corridor.”

The Scoular plant supplies oil to refiners across the country, supporting a growing renewable fuels industry that has had a dramatic impact on domestic demand and utilization of soybean oil.

“In a time characterized by market uncertainties, the demand stability created by the renewable fuels market is invaluable,” Little says. “Scoular’s significant investment in facility upgrades, along with its supply chain strength in the region, is a win for Kansas producers.”