November 2, 2011

 

 

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) recently bought the Ag Services of Wisconsin facility and a planned expansion will double the grain business' capacity, Dewey Stelzner, the facility's manager said.

 

Stelzner said the expansion, which will add six to 10 new jobs to its current workforce of about 15, is part of a company which has some 30,000 employees and transports crops to more than 75 countries.

 

Stelzner said ADM is a global company and the grain that comes here now might go to Europe or China, and the company needs to be able to handle that increased demand.

 

ADM acquired the property from Ag Services on August 31, along with other grain elevators or facilities in Auroraville, Belmont, Boscobel, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Ripon, Viroqua and Westfield.

 

"The acquisition of these elevators expands our grain origination footprint into Wisconsin, a new origination area for ADM," said Joe Taets, the president of ADM's Agricultural Services business. "These elevators are well-equipped to handle the harvest with high-speed unloading to help growers get in and out quickly."

 

The Stockton plant can hold up to 1.5 million bushels of grain for storage, including wheat, corn and soy. Farmers from as far away as Rhinelander and Loyal in central Wisconsin bring their grain to the facility.

 

ADM is buying 129 acres adjacent to the property to build two new grain storage units that will be able to hold about 1.4 million bushels each. There also will be an additional area for grain drop-off and office space.

 

Stelzner said with more business comes more truck traffic, so ADM is planning to build a road off Highway to alleviate any problems on the two-lane Stockton Road off Highway 10.

 

ADM also is considering adding an extended railroad branch line into the facility to expand its ability to load railcars.

 

Stockton Town Chairman Mike Bronk said the community is "excited" about the development, pointing out that it's an underdeveloped area of the town, which has a population of 2,925.

 

"You don't always see a lot of good news in a down economy, so when you have a company like ADM come in and see that they are going to be sticking some money into the community, it's a positive," Bronk said.

 

Bronk said he's been pleased to see ADM's effort to work with and be a part of the community.

 

He said the company has plans for dust and rodent control on the site in order to reduce the effect they will have on neighbours, who are mainly private farmers.

 

The company also will give the town US$200 a year to use in the community.

 

"They are building proactively with the people who live in that area in mind, which people are happy to see," Bronk said. "The new road will also make a big difference, because you could have a hazardous situation with that many trucks pulling in and off of Highway 10."