South Dakota's three largest dairy processors are expanding at the same time, reflecting both the state's rapid dairy growth and the companies' confidence that demand will continue climbing.
Bel Brands USA executives and community leaders break ground on a $200 million expansion of the company's Babybel plant in Brookings, S.D., on March 11, 2026. The expansion, slated for completion in 2028, will double the plant's production capacity.
Wheels of Babybel cheese get their signature red wax coating at Bel Brands USA's Brookings, S.D., plant, the only facility in the U.S. that produces the bite-sized cheese.
Jake Anderson stands outside Bel Brands USA's Brookings, S.D., plant.
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Visitors chat at the Valley Queen Cheese expansion groundbreaking ceremony.
Agropur's dairy processing plant in Lake Norden, S.D., is pictured in this October 2019 aerial photo, not long after a 2018 expansion tripled the facility's daily milk processing capacity. The plant is the largest of Agropur's seven U.S. locations.
A worker tends to cows in the milking parlor at Boadwine Dairy near Baltic, S.D.
Born and raised on a farm in southeastern South Dakota, Katelyn currently resides in Sioux Falls. She enjoys attending SDSU football games (her alma mater), going to farmer’s markets and visiting her parents at their family farm. Reach her at kwinberg@tristateneighbor.com.
Katelyn Winberg
Agricultural Reporter
