The former site of a proposed ethanol plant that was designed to add value to Michigan’s corn crop is now destined to add value to Michigan’s soybean crop.

Zeeland Farm Services, the state’s only soybean processor, announced in October that its affiliate, ZFS Ithaca LLC, plans for a second, larger facility on a 435-acre site in Ithaca. The site was abandoned in 2008 by Liberty Renewable Fuels LLC, when it failed to pull together the needed financing.

NEW USE: What was to be the site of the Liberty Renewable Fuels ethanol plant in Ithaca has been bought by ZFS Ithaca LLC. A new soybean pro-cessing facility will locate there, using some of the existing infrastructure left from the ethanol plant, which was halted in 2008 due to a lack of fund-ing.

ZFS processes about 10 million bushels of soybeans annually into soybean meal, soybean oil and soy hulls. The crude soybean oil is further refined by ZFS for use as vegetable oil. With the addition of the new plant, ZFS Ithaca and ZFS combined will be able to process 50 million bushels annually, using an industry-standard solvent extraction process to accommodate any type of soybean.

“We’re not building this just for today,” says Cliff Meeuwsen, president of ZFS Ithaca. “This will be for many years going forward. It’s a historical step for the business my father [Bob Meeuwsen] founded more than 65 years ago. We are very proud to be investing in our home state.”

50 million bushels

Gail Frahm, Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee executive director, says, “This plant will bring Michigan’s soybean processing to over 50 million bushels a year. That’s more than one-half of Michigan’s current soybean production. Since the soybeans won’t need to be transported as far as our current production capacity offers, farmers should realize a cost-savings on their fuel and other hauling expenses. Livestock, poultry and aquaculture farmers will greatly benefit from having additional Michigan-grown soybean meal available to their industries.”

ZFS Ithaca is expected to break ground this year and is hoping to take grain in 2018, and start processing in late 2018 or early 2019, says Gary Brower, ZFS assistant manager of marketing and communications.

The new facility, a $130 million investment, will initially include grain receiving and storage, soybean processing, and a feed ingredients transfer facility. The project is expected to create about 75 direct, full-time jobs. About 285 employees work at the Zeeland location, including 10 Meeuwsen family members.

An additional 140 employees are part of ZFS and its affiliates and subsidiaries in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Texas and Florida.

The new plant is just east of US-127 and south of Washington Road. Eric Meeuwsen, ZFS Ithaca general manager, says the company will connect and finish the adjoining railway operated by Great Lakes Central Railroad. Working with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Gratiot County Road Commission, ZFS Ithaca is also investing in roadway and utility upgrades, which are expected to aid future development in Gratiot County.

“We’re looking at investing in the local community, including roadway and utility upgrades,” Meeuwsen says. “We deeply value the partnerships that have bought us to this point.”

Jim Byrum, president of the Michigan Agri-Business Association, calls the announcement a “game-changer for commodity and soybean prices across the state. Farmers will get more per bushel of soybeans, and that’s a huge win.”

Soybean surge possible

It could also mean more soybeans will be grown in Michigan, according to Byrum. “It could change cropping patterns,” he says. “That’s incredible being that 40 years ago we didn’t grow many soybeans in Michigan. That could also mean more livestock production, as farmers will not have to haul feed items as long as they do now, meaning less transportation costs.”

As for concerns over current commodity prices, Brian Terborg, ZFS Ithaca chief financial officer, says, “It does not sway us either way. We have a long-term perspective and believe in the future of Michigan agribusiness in general.”

Throughout the planning and development of the project, ZFS Ithaca LLC has partnered with Greater Gratiot Development Inc., the City of Ithaca, Gratiot County, Gratiot Country Road Commission, Michigan Department of Transportation, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Michigan Economic Development Corp.