Pearl City Elevator, the largest farm input operation in Stephenson County, Illinois, has announced plans to increase in size starting in Spring 2011. The expansion will take place at its Lena branch with a 25,000 st dry fertilizer storage building, along with two liquid nitrogen fertilizer tanks with a total capacity of approximately 20,000 tons.
Agronomy Manager Butch Drane told Green Markets that the Lena expansion will give Pearl City the largest such storage capability in northwestern Illinois. Drane said there are no plans right now for anhydrous ammonia, but it’s a possibility for the future. He didn’t have a cost figure, but said it would be a multi-million dollar undertaking. “This is a project that we have been working on for three to five years and is just now becoming a reality,” he noted. “Compared to what we have now it will probably triple that storage capacity. It will give us the capability to negotiate better wholesale pricing, and since we are a farmer-owned company we’ll be able to pass those savings on to our customers.”
“Currently, farmers who want to market their grain on the rail markets face significant transportation costs to move their grain to the rail terminals. This new facility will bring more storage options and decrease transportation and labor costs for the producer. This will give more options to more ag producers, including Adkins Energy LLC (a Lena corn-to-ethanol facility with a cogeneration plant),” said Pearl City Elevator Chairman Ron Bremmer.
Pearl City Elevator opened its doors in 1918 and currently serves northwest Illinois and southern Wisconsin from Illinois locations in Pearl City, McConnell, Dakota, Warren, Baileyville, and Lena.