Global food processor breaks ground in Upper

UPPER SANDUSKY — Ground has officially been broken on a $541 million soybean plant in Upper Sandusky. Government officials and members of the Louis Dreyfus Company were on hand with speeches and shovels for the ceremonial opening of the new processing plant at 11226 County Road 108. "Today marks an exciting new chapter in LDC's history as we officially begin construction of our new (complex)," said Michael Gelchie, global CEO of LDC. The new facility will have an annual soy crushing capacity of 1.5 million metric tons, the company reported. It will have an edible soybean oil production capacity of 320,000 metric tons per year and annual lecithin production capacity of 7,500 metric tons. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and J.P. Nauseef, president of JobsOhio, both addressed the gathered crowd with accolades of what the project means for not just Upper Sandusky and Wyandot County, but Ohio as a whole. "Ohio is a great manufacturing state and we are a great agriculture state, that has been our history. It is where we are today and it is also where our future is," DeWine said. Nauseef noted the project as a large milestone in Ohio's history, saying the new LDC plant is not only the second-largest global food and agriculture project in the state's history, but also the largest food and agricultural capital investment ever made in Northwest Ohio. "This is a uniquely Ohio success story," Nauseef said. "The soybeans processed here will be grown by Ohio farmers, the resulting product will support Ohio food companies, enrich Ohio families, feed Ohio livestock and (Ohio's) robust infrastructure will keep it all moving from filed to facility to market." Gelchie said the facility's construction should be completed in 2026.