State of the Art Grain Handling Facility

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in late June for a new grain handling facility between Rosalia and Oakesdale, Washington. The $17 million facility, scheduled to open in 2013, is the joint venture of two farmer owned co-ops, Co-Ag and PNW. The new McCoy grain facility will have the rail loading speed of roughly 60 thousand bushels per hour, and an unloading speed capacity of 40 thousand bushels per hour. Jackie Tee, former general manager for Co-Ag and the McCoy project manager, shares what prompted the two co-ops to invest in the new state of the art facility.

TEE: What prompted it was trying to keep the rail infrastructure in place and utilizing the rail infrastructure. The Burlington, Northern, SantaFe - I think the Union Pacific offers as well, a 110 car rate on these efficiency trains. So we knew that that was available, and how were we going to get it, as you have to have a facility that will qualify for it.

Finding the right location for the facility wasn’t easy.

TEE: We started looking at this about four years ago and trying to find a location that would fit all of the requirements. And one of the requirements is a very small grade in elevation change. We’re not allowed more than a one percent grade. So we had to find a pretty flat spot. This particular location that we arrived at - it’s a huge area that it utilizes, about 90 acres - we had to purchase three different parcels of property and also get an easement to go through a section of the Department of Natural Resources property.

Tomorrow Jackie Tee will discuss what having the new McCoy grain handling facility will mean for wheat growers in Eastern Washington in keeping the short-line railroads open.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.