Mt. Summit Open House Showcases $15-Million Investment to Growers
On Monday we welcomed more than 100 local farmers to our Mt. Summit facility to showcase the 15-million dollars of improvements made at the Henry County location.
President & CEO Kevin Still kicks off the event
The event consisted of a tour of the liquid terminal, which will provide faster, more efficient, and environmentally friendly product distribution to farmers within a 25-mile radius of the facility. It will also eliminate human error and afford the grower precise mixing capabilities. Herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides will all be housed and distributed through this facility.
East Crops Manager Royce Cook welcomes growers to the new facility
Caleb Smith, Director of Sustainability, speaks to the crowd about conservation opportunities
In addition to the liquid loadout building, we allowed growers to see the in-production dry fertilizer hub and rail spur. The dry hub, which will hold 26,000 dry tons, should be completed and operational by the end of October 2023, providing reliable product supply for local growers and other Co-Alliance retail locations in the eastern Indiana trade area.
Brian Evans, Fertilizer Hub Manager, speaks to the volume of such a facility
Vice President of Agronomy, Doug Whicker, speaks about the capabilities of the new fertilizer hub
This hub will service farmers in a 45-60 mile radius of New Castle. The hub two rail spurs and the capacity to unload 400 ton per hour and state-of the-art mixing system on the blend tower allows us to load a semi in under eight minutes.
“We are very excited to be able to show off these new assets to help our team better service and support our farmer-owners. At Co-Alliance, we understand that we must grow with our customers.” remarked Kevin Still, Co-Alliance President & CEO. “Our growers are covering more acres, more quickly, in a more complex marketplace. We must meet their needs today and prepare for their needs of the future. This investment in east central Indiana is proof of that commitment.”
We have sixteen agronomy locations in east central Indiana that will benefit from this improved technology.
Royce Cook, Mt. Summit Ag Center Manager is excited about the opportunities this investment brings local farmers. “We must be more efficient to keep pace with the farmers of this generation. This is a visible investment to show our members we’re going to be here for the next generation.”
Still also touched on the building of an expansive feed mill in Millville, IN. The Legacy Feed Mill facility will have 1.5 million bushels of grain storage and the capacity to produce 300,000 tons of pelleted hog feed. The mill will need to source 6 million bushels of corn each year from local farmers. Legacy Feeds will combine this high-quality feed production with industry-leading swine management services to assist local farm families in producing top tier pork products.
In addition, these improvements will allow for employment opportunities for local residents. When these three projects are completed, our cooperative business will have added 30 new agriculture-based jobs to the workforce in Henry County!
Doug Whicker (Vice President of Agronomy), Rendell Miller (Director), Brian Becker (Director), Kevins Still (President & CEO), Corey Murphy (New Castle Henry County Econ. Dev. Corp.), Scott Logue (Executive Vice President) and Amy Kinsler (Vice President of Sales & Marketing)