RANDOLPH, Neb. | Farmers continually gravitate toward new ways to grow, harvest and market their crops.
Those who provide services to those farmers change right along with them. Central Valley Ag hopes that its philosophy of building regional hubs to replace and consolidate smaller locations will be beneficial for both sides.
In early 2015, CVA opened its latest hub, a $45 million grain storage and agronomy center four miles west of Randolph near the intersection of U.S. Highways 20 and 81. In addition to grain storage, CVA sells seed, crop protection, liquid and dry fertilizer there as well as services such as grain merchandising and precision farming. It replaces an older and much smaller facility in Randolph, and other services from other locations were consolidated there.
"That facility is very fast. It was built for speed and access for farmers," said Reed Nelsen, CVA senior vice president of marketing. "Where it was built, it really opened up a new market for us for grain."
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It also opened up a new partnership with Archer Daniels Midland Company, the global food processing and commodities trading giant. The 81-20 Grain facility at the site is a 50-50 venture between the two.
Nelsen said ADM was planning a grain facility two miles away when CVA bought the 130-acre site near the highway intersection. Thinking it didn't make much sense to have two similar facilities so close, ADM approached CVA with the venture idea, Nelsen said. Being a large international corporation, ADM's involvement opens up new markets for CVA members and customers.
"Where we really like ADM as a partner is marketing logistics," Nelsen said.
The location was also a great choice for CVA, a cooperative with its headquarters in York, Nebraska, and locations in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. CVA hadn't had grain storage in the area before, Nelsen said.
"There was kind of a hole in that area that we thought farmers could use this service," he said. "You build something like that, they'll come."
And they have. Nelsen said CVA has gained many new customers. The larger hubs -- CVA has built them in Nebraska in Wakefield, Monroe and Royal -- are attractive to farmers. All hubs are located along rail lines and can bring in fertilizer by the trainload and transport grain across the country to terminals that ship grain internationally. The hubs have the latest technology that allows for faster fertilizer blending and grain unloading, saving farmers time even if they might have to drive a little farther to a hub.
"I think that hub concept will continue," Nelsen said. "It's been good. We're not taking something. We're giving them something better back."
At the Randolph site, there's room to double the capacity of all services if its needed in the future.
"It's all been designed for expansion," Nelsen said.
