Perdue plans to put processing plant in Pa.

By BRUCE HOTCHKISS
Senior Editor

Conoy Township, Pa., population about 3,500 living in small towns like Falmouth and Bainbridge, covers 18 square miles along the Susquehanna River in the extreme northwest corner of Lancaster County.
It is here that Perdue Agribusiness proposes to build a $59 million soybean processing plant, which will process 17.5 million bushels of soybeans a year, provide another local buyer for soybeans and a local supplier for feed ingredients to the dairy industry.
The proposed plant, located near the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority incinerator, would create 35 jobs, according to Perdue.
Assuming the proposal wins the approval of the Lancaster County Planning Commission, the goal is to be operational for the 2013 harvest.
Perdue officials said the plant will bring to area farmers the benefit of a more localized feed-processing system.
Pennsylvania traditionally has had to send most of its soybeans out of the state for processing and then import the processed products back into the state.
The Perdue facility will produce feed-grade soybean meal, pelleted soy hulls and crude soy oil, company officials said.