Interstate Mills begins construction on new Randolph grain terminal

Interstate Mills, LLC, one of southeastern Minnesota's largest marketers of corn and soybeans, has begun construction on a new, state-of-the-art corn and soybean grain terminal in Randolph.

The $24 million project, located on 78 acres in the Great Western Industrial Park, will have a five million bushel storage capacity and a bulk loading system that will be operated in conjunction with Progressive Rail, Inc.

The terminal will be Interstate Mills' first location with direct rail service. Vice President and General Manager Jim Dell said, "Our new Randolph terminal will position us to provide a consistent, competitive marketplace for our customers, along with high service capabilities."

He continued, "With the addition of Randolph, we will have tripled our storage capacity from 5 million bushels in 2007 to 15 million bushels."

Over the past six years, Interstate Mills also added 1.5 million bushel capacity in Kenyon, MN, and 3.5 million bushels in Hayfield, MN.

The new facility will accommodate the dumping of up to 60,000 bushels of grain per hour and will have the capacity to dry 10,000 bushels per hour. The quick-dump system will allow truckers to unload in less than four minutes.

Work began immediately following a groundbreaking ceremony and will be done exclusively by Minnesota contracting companies. The terminal will be ready to receive grain this harvest season and will employ four to eight people. It will serve growers in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Interstate Mills, headquartered in Owatonna, MN, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Central Valley Cooperative, and operates Minnesota facilities in Dennison, Hayfield, Kenyon, Northfield and Owatonna. Grain marketing, bulk swine feed production, and management consulting to hog producers are the company's core businesses.