15 10월, 03:16www.aberdeennews.com
A new $11.2 million, privately owned grain facility has sprung up 6 miles west of Aberdeen to help meet the growing need for storage and delivery.
Concord Grain Company, owned by the Todd Ochsner family, opened for business on Sept. 18.
"The goal was to get open by Sept. 15 for harvest, and we got pretty close," said Myron Jepsoncq, general manager.
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Four stainless steel grain bins rise from a cement base into the sky. Three of the bins can hold 730,000 bushels of grain while the fourth can hold 360,000 bushels. The bins are adjacent to a railroad loop track which is connected to the BNSF line. High-speed equipment can load a 110-unit train in about eight hours.
Concord Grain will compete directly with co-ops, such as Wheat Growers and North Central Farmers Elevator, for customers.
"The place was built not because the co-ops aren't doing a good job," Jepson said. "It is more related to the growth in corn production. There is more capacity needed."
As the corn belt has expanded north and west, there are increased opportunities for grain handling, he said.
Jepson said customers likely will come from a 30-mile radius of Aberdeen with more probably coming from areas west and north of the city.
The ethanol industry is part of what drives the growth in the industry.
"Corn is king around here with soybeans in second," Jepson said. "Barley, flax, oats ... most of that is disappearing around here because prices for corn have been so good. We still have wheat production, but that is a lot less than it used to be."
Most of the corn will go to ethanol plants or will be shipped to the West Coast for export. Almost all of the soybeans will be shipped to the West Coast for export to China, Jepson said.
Concord Grain is designed to be one of the most automated grain elevators in the area. Farmers hauling grain check in and out using a computerized card swipe system. All the mechanisms for directing the grain to different bins can be done from the control room, which doubles as the grain testing center. There is an automated probe to take grain samples. Jepson said that, at some point in the future, he would be able to operate the facility from his iPhone.
Right now, the facility has seven full-time workers and one part-time employee. The elevator potentially could be operated by one employee in the winter months when only 20 to 30 deliveries might take place, Jepson said.
Concord Grain is a full-service facility, offering the full range of grain marketing such as cash sales, storage, hedging, deferred payment and delayed payments. Concord does not have agronomy services. It has a 7,000 bushel-an-hour dryer.
The facility has large dump pits for grain trucks and an 80,000-bushel-per-hour load-out capacity.
In addition to its 2.5 million bushel-storage capacity in bins, an outdoor dumping area is planned that can handle another 2 million bushels of grain.
There is a bag-filtering house that lowers grain dust emission. The facility has many safety features, including no entry into the bins to prevent any employee getting suffocated inside. All the sweeping inside the bin is completed through automation.
"There is no possibility of engulfment or entrapment," Jepson said.
The site, on the north side of U.S. Highway 12 near 379th Avenue, has unlimited room for expansion, he said.
Todd Ochsner is a Brown County farmer with operations in multiple counties. His three sons are involved in the business. His son, Jacob Ochsner, served as project manager along with Jepson. Matthew Ochsner performed much of the site excavation. Adam Ochsner is working at the elevator in operations.
Todd Ochsner received a $1.44 million loan from the State Railroad Authority in April 2012, which helped fund the rail construction. The rail line was built by contractors then inspected by BNSF.
The first train full of grain will likely depart from Concord the first week in November, Jepson said.
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