Landmark Services Cooperative broke ground for a new state-of-the-art grain facility in Fall River, Wis., on June 24. The new grain-loading facility is to be completed by August 2014. The facility will have capacity to hold up to 4.6 million bushels of grain and to market 15 to 25 million bushels of grain annually.

The new facility will be the second of its kind in the state of Wisconsin. The facility will allow producers to store and market grain at the best economic time for their operation. A rail system will be built into the grain facility so rail cars can enter the bin infrastructure and be loaded directly, saving on shipping and loading costs and reducing carbon emissions associated with traditional shipping.

The first grain shuttle loading facility in Wisconsin is in Evansville, Wis., and is also owned by Landmark Services Cooperative. The Evansville facility was completed in 2002 and has since benefited community members and agricultural producers through increased marketing opportunities and shipping speed, greater community employment, added economic activity and fewer carbon emissions.

The first 50 growers to contract 1,000 bushels to the facility will have their signatures placed on one of the groundbreaking shovels, displayed permanently in the new facility.