Ag Innovation Campus in Crookston Taking Form

Kevin Kochmann December 8, 2022 News -- KRJB-KRJM-KKCQ 0

Crookston, MN — Just a little over two years ago after they broke ground, the Ag Innovation Campus in Crookston is getting close to completion. The walls are up, the infrastructure is in place, and pretty soon the equipment will be installed. The Ag Innovation Campus will be the home of a specialty crushing facility, allowing universities, commodity groups, and private parties access to affordable processing that aims to lower costs while promoting growth of new products. Tom Slunecka, Ag Innovation Campus CEO, says great progress is being made and the vision for the facility is starting to become a reality.

Once all the equipment is installed, they’ll spend a month or two fine tuning the equipment before the facility becomes operational, hopefully sometime in the summer of 2023.

News broke this week that Epitome Energy’s Soybean Crush Facility, who was supposed to build next to the Ag Innovation Campus, has instead chosen to build in Grand Forks. While it’s unfortunate, Slunecka says it shouldn’t have any impact on their operations.

Once up and running, the Ag Innovation Campus is expected to run 24/7 and crush about 3 million bushels of soybeans annually. Slunecka adds that there are still two more phases that will be completed once they’re operational.