Landmark Services Cooperative announces the opening of their new Grain Rail Facility in Fall River, Wis. Grain growers can now market their grain quickly and efficiently at this new location.
“The Fall River Rail Terminal is a game-changer is the industry,” says Bob Carlson, chief executive officer for Landmark Services Cooperative. “It is built to perform to be efficient and provide benefits in speed, space and markets to Midwest grain growers. True to its vision, the facility is lightning fast, efficient and steeped in technology and innovation.”
In addition to a nearly $6.575 million investment in the local community, the facility provides a local solution to feeding a growing world, through benefits in speed, space and markets.
Speed: With new technologies and a customized layout incorporated into the facility, grain haulers will be in and out in less than 10 minutes. A CompuWeigh system scans an RFID tag on each grain load when it enters the facility. Each load is then weighed and probed before being unloaded into one of three pits.
“This facility includes a streamlined, computerized system all based on speed,” says Doug Cropp, vice president grain for Landmark Services Cooperative. “We have capacity to receive about 40 semi-trucks per hour and then load 100 to 110 rail cars in eight hours or less. It’s all automated to get the farmer back into the field as quickly as possible.”
Space: The Fall River facility sits on 188 acres with capacity to hold up to 4.65 million bushels of grain and to market 15 to 25 million bushels of grain annually. Silo capacity is roughly 880,000 bushels, two covered ground piles can hold 1.5 million bushels and a steel bin holds an additional 737,000 bushels.
“With the growing yields, we needed to have space to hold the grain,” Cropp adds. “During harvest, we are able to bring in wet corn, dry corn and beans and put each in its own location to be stored and marketed at the best economic time.”
Markets: A 110-car rail system is built into the facility to open access to markets across North America. Located on the Canadian Pacific Rail Line, grain can be marketed easily, helping growers secure optimal prices.
“Having access to rail opens new markets for us,” Cropp says. “About 360,000 bushels of corn can be transported each day through the rail system. These trains can bring the corn to additional markets, moving in and out of the facility seamlessly.”
The new state-of-the-art facility was celebrated with a grand opening celebration on Aug. 28 and the first loads of grain on Aug. 29. More than 300 industry leaders, cooperative members and guests gathered for the grand opening of the Fall River facility, the second facility of its kind in Wisconsin, just 14 months after ground was broken in Columbia County.
Ben Brancel, Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture said this new facility is a win for Wisconsin agriculture.
“This facility will benefit the farmers of Wisconsin and will provide future marketing opportunities of state commodities,” he said. “Storing and marketing grain for assured delivery is a huge value for Landmark and it returns the investment to the farmer members who oversee the crop.”
Area grain growers will benefit from the new facility, with grain contracts already in place.
“We look forward to helping grain growers market their grain from this new state-of-the-art facility, starting with this fall’s harvest,” Carlson said. “We could not be more proud of this new facility and the opportunities it will provide to our members, our communities and, ultimately, the world.”
Listen to Doug Cropp, vice president grain for Landmark Services Cooperative, give an overview of the facility and all it’s capabilities: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/Audio – Doug Cropp, Landmark Facility Overview.mp3″ text=”Comments from Doug Cropp”]