Protein Signals - Week of November 2, 2026

Deep Dive - Bunge Closes Acquisition of Central Washington Corn Processors in Richland

Bunge completed its purchase of Central Washington Corn Processors, a Richland, Washington feed-processing and bulk-commodity hub that supplies grain and oilseed products to dairies, ranches, feedlots, and commercial customers across the Pacific Northwest. The facility sits on dual BNSF and Union Pacific rail access with high-capacity unloading, storage, and processing; the purchase price was not disclosed. The deal puts a global merchandiser on a dual-rail barn-gate seat in dairy-and-feedlot country rather than on another export elevator.

Leprino Nutrition, the specialty-ingredient division of Leprino Foods, finished a $35 million expansion at its Lubbock, Texas plant that quadruples microparticulated whey capacity and is expected to bring about 20 million pounds of additional product to market. Lubbock joins Fort Morgan, Colorado as a second dedicated microparticulation site for the company's patent-protected MP PRO C80 whey protein concentrate, aimed at high-protein foods that need creaminess without chalkiness or excess viscosity. The spend is a private-sector bet that specialty dairy protein formats, not commodity whey alone, will keep winning formulation dollars.

Actus Nutrition completed the acquisition of Erie Foods International's North American business on October 26, leaving Erie Europe outside the deal. Erie, founded in 1938 as a casein maker, supplies caseins, caseinates, milk protein concentrates and isolates, milk protein crisps, and related custom processing from its Rochelle, Illinois facility; terms were not disclosed. Jim Klein remains to run Erie operations inside Actus, extending a milk-and-whey protein platform further into specialty dairy ingredients for food, beverage, and active nutrition customers.

Norwegian virtual-fencing company Nofence appointed Alberta-based Kalon Armstrong as managing director for Canada, its first dedicated Canada leadership hire to build operations, partnerships, sales, and support for livestock producers. Armstrong previously helped build Enriched Ag's Canadian business and, over his career, helped raise more than $15 million Canadian in venture and non-dilutive funding for agtech efforts. The move extends Nofence's GPS collar platform, including the satellite-backed N3 cattle collar launched in September, into a market where grazing often spans private, Crown, and custom-pasture arrangements.

USDA announced more than $325 million across 42 Regional Conservation Partnership Program projects for farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, with about 75 percent of that funding going directly to producers or to pay for conservation practice implementation. Iowa's Cattle and Conservation Working Lands expansion was highlighted as a livestock-facing example, alongside a $30 million set-aside for Tribal-led projects and longer NRCS program backing through fiscal 2031. The package is broad conservation infrastructure, not a meat-plant grant round, and matters to protein readers mainly where grazing, forage, and working-lands practices are the funded tools.

USDA said it intends to buy up to $472.5 million of U.S. commodities for nutrition assistance and charitable distribution, with dairy the largest line at $165.5 million, alongside $41 million of pork and $20 million of chicken among other crops and seafood. Section 32 purchases are a direct demand valve when markets are tight, moving milk and cheese into federal food channels rather than leaving surplus on the farm. For dairy processors and cooperatives, the envelope is near-term offtake support; the release does not break out yogurt SKUs or brand awards inside the dairy total.