The ground breaking was held yesterday in Volga for Prairie Aquatech, a $60 million feed processing facility that will produce soy-based aquaculture feed. CEO Mark Luecke says they partnered with South Dakota Soybean Processors to commercialize the feed process in which they convert soybean meal into a digestible food for fish. He says they plan to produce 30,000 tons annually.
He says with global fish meal supplies being depleted this soy-based feed has a real niche and is also priced well below the $1,800 per ton for fish meal.
South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard says the state provided a grant to get the project started and also funded research at SDSU. He says this is an exciting project because it will drive economic development and add value to the soybean crop.
The research at SDSU was initially funded by the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and the United Soybean Board. USB Chair and Ethan farmer Lewis Bainbridge says the project has huge market potential due to the explosive growth in aquaculture production globally.
Construction of the 30,000 square foot plant is expected to be completed in spring of 2019. It is located just south of the South Dakota Soybean Processors plant.
