The Ag Innovation Campus: Raising the Roof

October 19, 2022

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by Tom Slunecka (Ag Innovation Campus/Biobased Diesel Daily) We’re pouring it on this harvest season at the Ag Innovation Campus, literally. This fall, I'm pleased to report that, after breaking ground in Crookston, Minnesota, last year, concrete has been laid out throughout the facility.

We’ve made a lot of progress in recent months on the AIC and are right on schedule to begin production in spring 2023. A lot of heavy lifting has helped get us here.

The first panel on the facility was erected in June, and interior plumbing and electrical work will commence soon. These are huge steps for the AIC team. It’s been a long road, navigating a pandemic and rising costs, and to see this project come closer to completion has been enormously gratifying to our board and staff.

We thank the city of Crookston for moving forward with the design and construction of the new road to the east of the AIC facility. This will make it easier for trucks moving soybeans to the plant, as well as for soybean meal and soybean oil trucks taking those products to local markets.

We’re also excited to announce that Bill Paulsen has joined our team to manage the crush plant and help us grow in 2023 and beyond. Paulsen comes to the AIC after a lengthy career as a plant engineer in the biofuels industry. Welcome to the AIC, Bill!

The work continues, and you can continue to watch our progress all long via the livestream here.

The Path Ahead

After AIC construction is completed, we anticipate the facility will be fully up and running and crushing 2022 beans by the first quarter of 2023. Like many in our industry, we continue to endure a frustrating amount of supply-chain issues, but we are optimistic about our timeline.

The AIC’s three crushing lines will provide unique opportunities to crush conventional and specialty soybeans. Our special plant design also allows for easy clean-out to avoid cross-contamination with other soybean lines. We’ve already contracted the first two specialty runs and look forward to securing more.

In addition, this crush plant is dedicated to being the first facility in the world to purchase soybeans based off their amino-acid value. So, customers buying soybean meal from the AIC will benefit by knowing more about the intrinsic value of what they are getting over what they are currently buying from other sources.

In the near future, we also anticipate working on other oilseeds, including cover crops. Profits from our facility will be granted to projects designed to advance agriculture, making the Ag Innovation Campus a major source of new ideas.

Once phase 1 is completed next year, our one-of-a-kind specialty crushing facility will allow entrepreneurs from universities and private business, private seed developers and processing companies access to affordable processing, designed to lower costs while promoting growth of value-added products.

The facility will be available to private industries to create products that benefit all parties, from farm gate to consumers. Education will also be a key component to the AIC.

In phases 2 and 3, this first-of-its-kind facility will feature:

The new home of the Ag Utilization Research Institute, which is a partner of the AIC
Demonstration bays for innovative agriculture research conducted by new startup companies
A training site to develop the next generation of processing professionals in conjunction with local education centers and technology companies that want to showcase or train customers
A Regional Agricultural Education Center
A conference room with ability to host up to 100 people for ag-research events
A venue to allow customers from around the world a direct connection to premium U.S. agricultural products

Call to Action

Because we’re a not-for-profit that’s designed to uplift farmers and the agriculture industry, your help is needed to not only aid the AIC and our region’s economy, but your company as a whole. We also want to thank the many ag leaders throughout the country who have reached out and considered a partnership with us. We look forward to continuing to engage with future partners in the coming months. READ MORE

Crushing it: Ag Innovation Campus readies operations (Minnesota Soybean/Biobased Diesel Daily)

Ag Innovation Campus holds grand opening in Crookston, Minnesota (Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion/Biobased Diesel Daily)

Ag Innovation Campus crosses bridge into production (Ag Innovation Campus)

Excerpt from Ag Innovation Campus: Community members, local and regional dignitaries, area farmers and media earned their first look at the new cutting-edge Ag Innovation Campus (AIC) in Crookston. The AIC hosted its grand opening ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 14, with an open house, tours and remarks from AIC officials and those involved in the creation of the facility.

For the leaders who helped make the AIC a reality, the grand opening was a triumphant moment and signaled huge opportunities for the region’s ag economy.

“What makes this facility so amazing is the vision and the mission that it is going to hold for agriculture,” Acting AIC CEO Tom Slunecka said in his opening remarks. “Not only will the AIC empower the value of agriculture in the region and add value with new employees to the city of Crookston, but this facility is going to change agriculture as a whole.”

After nearly five years of advocating, planning and construction, the Ag Innovation Campus facility itself is complete, but is awaiting a few final components before launching formal operations in the coming weeks.

“Getting to this point was no easy task. We had to navigate COVID-19. We dealt with supply chain shortages, workforce shortages and inflation,” said AIC Board Chair and Beltrami, Minn., farmer Mike Skaug. “That makes this moment all the more rewarding. It’s also rewarding to know that farmer-led advocacy was crucial in putting the Ag Innovation Campus in a position to succeed.”

The grand opening ceremony took place in the loading bay of the Ag Innovation Campus, which was packed with about 200 attendees from around the region who were excited to learn more about this one-of-a-kind facility, perhaps none more so than Crookston Mayor Dale Stainbrook.

“The city of Crookston is honored to be the home of AIC, its staff and all of the unique, forward-thinking agricultural products we expect to come from this facility,” said Mayor Stainbrook.

‘A tremendous opportunity’

In the spirit of the AIC’s bipartisan support, the event also brought in several legislative and agency dignitaries. Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen, State Sen. Mark Johnson, Rep. Deb Kiel and Ben Lien from Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office all shared remarks during the grand opening.

“The AIC is going to give Minnesota a tremendous opportunity and edge over our competitors, but it also shows the investment and foresight that the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) and Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) had when envisioning this facility,” Commissioner Petersen said.

MSR&PC Chair Tom Frisch, MSGA President Bob Worth, Agricultural Utilization Research Institute Executive Director Shannon Schlecht, Crookston Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Janelle Wald and National FFA Central Region Vice President Karstyn Cantrell also shared the stage during the grand opening.

“Thanks to checkoff support from both the Council and United Soybean Board, the AIC is bringing both public and private industry together to bring ideas and technologies from benchtop all the way to commercialization,” said Frisch, who farms in Dumont and also serves as AIC treasurer. “The AIC will also allow for teaching of the next generation of crush plant managers and operation personnel, and we’re confident that the AIC can continue to keep our industry at the forefront of new and emerging technologies and value-added uses.”

Once running, this not-for-profit facility will produce an estimated 240 tons of soybean meal daily, equaling a grand total of 62,400 tons of soybean meal per year. With three independently operated mechanic crush systems, the AIC will be able to crush organic, non-GMO and GMO soybeans.

The crush plant is only the first phase in this three-phase project. Phase two will feature an office complex and research labs. Phase three consists of rentable discovery bays that will be available for short to midterm use. Companies can then use the space to prove their designs at full production scale. The “Crushwalk” will also allow visitors to view the processing facility in a safe and bio secure manner.

To learn more about the Ag Innovation Campus visit www.aginnovationcampus.org. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Tom Slunecka at tslunecka@agmgmtsolutions.com. READ MORE