Biodiesel plant dedicated

By SCOTT WEISSER

CLAYPOOL, Ind. — Bring on the beans.

State, federal and company officials — and scores of visitors — were on hand Tuesday to dedicate the new Louis Dreyfus Commodities soybean processing and biodiesel plant near Claypool.

The plant will employ around 70 workers and is expected to come online in October.

“It’s the world’s largest integrated soybean biodiesel plant,” said Jeremy Mullins, commercial manager at the facility.

Mullins said 50 million bushels of soybeans — approximately 20 percent of Indiana’s current yearly production — will be processed annually.

“Several local counties are going to really benefit,” Mullins said, and the processor will be looking for beans from parts of Michigan as well.

It’s anticipated that the plant will produce more than 88 million gallons of soybean-based biodiesel every year, and also more than 1 million tons of soybean meal for use in feedstock.

Mullins said the facility takes up 276 acres, 60 of which are for the plant itself. He added that 160 acres are currently planted in beans.

“We’re in Claypool, but it’s a great day for every single Hoosier,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The eyes of the world are literally on this place today — the biggest facility of its kind, a flagship facility and one of the most important economic developments of recent times.”

Mullins said Claypool was an ideal location for many reasons.

“Obviously, we’re in the middle of soybean country,” he said, plus there will be strong feed demands for the soybean meal. And Mullins said Indianapolis, Chicago and Detroit are large markets for diesel fuel.

“People welcomed us here,” he added. “These are people who really wanted us.”

“Biofuels are the renaissance of our rural communities and one of the economic pillars revitalizing rural America and the entire ag industry,” Kip Tom, president of Tom Farms and board member of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said in a news release. “Louis Dreyfus’ commitment in Claypool is proof of this. In a single year they will purchase over $450 million worth of Hoosier soybeans. Having LD Commodities a part of Kosciusko County means new family-wage jobs for employees and important new markets for our farmers.”

Kelly Easterday, Extension ag educator for Kosciusko County, noted the Louis Dreyfus plant has the benefit of reduced transportation costs for local farmers.

“You don’t have to haul your beans so far any more,” she said.

“I think it wouldn’t be anything but positive,” Elkhart County Extension ag educator Andrew Westfall said of the facility. He also indicated there’s potential for higher bean prices due to competition with the ethanol industry.

“Any time we do something to (add) more markets is good for the farmer,” said Tom Smith, Kosciusko County Farm Bureau president.

U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd District, sees the plant as a way to keep agriculture viable.

“I grew up in a small town,” he said. “Many of the doors get shuttered. People are selling off. Unless you’re farming thousands and thousands and thousands of acres, it was, ‘How are we going to stay in farming?’ Farmers coming to me with tears in their eyes saying, ‘My kids can’t come into the business’ — this changes all that. By having a market, with our yields and our land, more farmers can stay in business longer.”

By having soy diesel and ethanol plants, Souder said, “We increase the value of land for the farmers.” In other words, more market opportunities can forestall selling land for development.

“Now you can farm thinking, ‘Hey, my kids may be able to grow beans, too,’” Souder said.

Souder also indicated facilities like the Louis Dreyfus plant can lessen American energy dependence on the Middle East and “unreliable places” — “basically, unstable regimes who don’t like us,” he said.

“It’s still a minor percent,” Souder said of the Claypool plant’s impact. “We need more of these. But it’s an important step.”

Vehicles lined Ind. 15 near the plant as visitors parked and made their way in on foot. Additional parking was available a mile or so away at the Claypool Elementary School building. A long line of attendees waited there on a bus to take them to the plant. When one finally showed up, it was met with applause from folks at the front of the line.

“My mom lives here. We were going to go see the latest thing,” Ray Smith of Montana said as he waited, later adding, “And we’re going to be in line for a while, I’m afraid.”

“It’s going to help the economy a little bit,” Henry Smith of Akron predicted of the plant he was still waiting to see as of late morning.

“We thought we were getting here early,” he noted.

Greg Rowland of Claypool was upbeat about the biodiesel project.

“It’ll really help the community and the farmers and everything,” he said.

“I work for Tom Farms out of Leesburg,” he added. “We produce about 4,000 acres of beans a year. Most of them will be coming down here.

“Our little town of Claypool really needed this,” he said.

According to its Web site, the facility’s parent company, Paris-based Louis Dreyfus Corp., has locations in 53 countries.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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