April 13, 2022

A three-year, $195 million expansion is coming to Valley Queen Cheese in northeast South Dakota.

It’s the biggest investment in the Milbank company’s 93-year history and will increase processing capacity by 50 percent.

The project is set to break ground in May and be fully operational by January 2025. It includes plans to increase annual cheese production capacity by 125 million pounds and create additional dairy milk processing capacity of 3 million pounds.

It’s expected 140 employees will be hired over three years to fully staff the expansion.

Additionally, the project will support the market for dairies along the Interstate 29 corridor, where Valley Queen estimates 30,000 cows will be added to the region in the next three years between existing herds and those yet to be established.

“It’s a good time to be in the South Dakota dairy industry,” Valley Queen CEO Doug Wilke said in a statement.

“We’re excited to be positioning ourselves for many more years of product innovation with customers and even stronger relationships with key dairy producers here in the I-29 corridor.”

In addition to expanded capacity in Milbank, Valley Queen will establish a distribution center in western Wisconsin to better serve customers.

The company said it will allow for more efficiency and flexibility in transportation and logistics.

“We see an opportunity to supply more high-quality cheese to a growing industry, and our dairy producers are looking for the opportunity to expand. Our team has demonstrated time and again their ability to lead change and execute on our strategic plan,” Wilke said.

“Continuous growth and improvement are at the core of our company’s successful history, and we’re proud to continue those traditions with this next phase of growth.”