Landus, Iowa’s largest farmer-owned cooperative, announced on May 27 that it plans to invest $150 million in incremental capital spending into core grain and agronomy facilities throughout the company’s territory to modernize aging infrastructure and improve service to local farmers.
The Ames, Iowa-based cooperative said the investments will happen over the next four years and are intended to increase speed, safety, and capacity at a time when aging rural infrastructure is presenting challenges for farmers and ag businesses.
Landus on March 1 experienced a structural failure at a concrete grain silo in Yetter, Iowa, that resulted in adjacent railroad tracks being covered in fallen debris and grain. No injuries were reported. On May 14, 2021, the company’s grain elevator in Jefferson, Iowa, experienced a dust explosion that prevented it from receiving grain until last fall (GM May 21, 2021). No injuries were reported in either accident.
“Rural Iowa needs our industry to step up to the plate and reinvest for the future the way our forefathers did for us,” said Matt Carstens, Landus President and CEO. “A generation of farmers came together to build up the cooperative infrastructure in the 1950s. But since then, our industry has not done our job building for the future the way they once did. We owe our farmers and our communities more, and the Landus team is proud to roll out this robust reinvestment plan designed to deliver facilities of the future where they are desperately needed.”
According to World-Grain.com, citing Sosland Publishing’s 2022 Grain & Milling Annual, Landus ranks as the 10th largest grain handler in the U.S., with 56 licensed grain facilities and 152.686 million bushels of licensed grain storage.
Landus also announced that it will unveil its Innovation Connector and collaborative workspace in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, this summer. The project is designed to connect farmers directly to innovators, tech start-ups, and change makers driving the future of ag forward.
“It is not enough for a cooperative to simply meet the needs of farmers today,” Carstens said. “We must lay a solid foundation for what our farmers will need in the future. Landus is proud to expedite that journey forward with this robust reinvestment into our critical rural hubs. We look forward to unveiling more to our farmer-owners in the months ahead.”