(The Peoria Journal Star published the following story by Matt Buedel on its website on October 2.)
GALVA, Ill. — Grain raised by about 2,000 farmers around this small Henry County town may be worth 7 to 10 cents more per bushel next year after Gateway Co-op constructs a grain elevator connected to Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s main line.
The first phase of construction of the 1 million bushel grain elevator is scheduled to begin next week and should be completed by May. Gateway general manager Jim Hegge said the project will be one of five such sites in the state and will open new markets to local farmers.
“We needed more storage, and at the same time, we needed to find a new market for grain,” he said. “This solidifies our future as a grain shipper.”
Planned for the new high-speed grain elevator, on U.S. Route 34 just east of Galva, is a looped section of track with two turnouts off the main line running through town, at a cost of $1.3 million. The land cost $1.1 million, and construction of the elevator is estimated at $4 million.
Freight trains will pull into the facility and remain there for 15 hours, as Gateway employees stock each car. The freight can then be shipped directly to any destination along BNSF rail lines.
Gateway has been working on the $6.4 million project with BNSF for 13 months. When a 200,000 bushel Gateway storage bin collapsed in Galva under heavy winds in July, Hegge said the co-op board knew it had to expedite the project.
The new elevator will create six jobs in Galva and help support 60 other jobs at three locations in northwestern Illinois. Access to the track also vastly expands
the territory Gateway now covers with its trucking operation.
Gateway purchases local crops and passes the product onto other companies, such as ADM, in the Peoria and Quad Cities markets. Those buyers usually dictate the payout to farmers from whom Gateway buys.
The new elevator will annually allow 12 million to 15 million bushels of grain to travel as far south as Texas, where millions of head of cattle consume half a million bushels of grain each day, and each bushel fetches a higher price, Hegge said. Soybeans also will be sent by train to Mobile, Ala.