ADM plant running smoothly by Tulare since April 2012

The first elevator owned wholly by a large corporation is up and running south of Tulare. Construction on the new Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Elevator began in the fall of 2010 and was completed in 2012, opening April 4, 2012 just a little behind the projected date.

Located at U.S. Highway 281 and State Route 28, the elevator is constructed of concrete and steel; includes a 10,000 bushel per-hour dyer; efficient truck unloading; railcar loading; and employs 11 people.

High-speed loading equipment allows them to fill 110 to 120 railroad cars with grain in 10-12 hours as the 7,400 foot long railroad track loops through the facility. In the center are huge, concrete silos with steel bins on the east and west sides for the storage of more than 2 million bushels of corn, soybeans and wheat. The Tulare elevator focuses on grain marketing and storage and has grain-drying equipment that can handle 10,000 bushels per hour.

According to Scott Nagel, president of ADM-Benson Quinn, “ADM is responding to increased crop yields in recent years by providing growers in the Tulare area convenient, local storage and marketing opportunities for their crops. We are pleased to invest in a community that understands the value of agriculture.”

General Manager of the plant, Jeff Gottman was selected in 2011 and was on site in July. June 3, 2011 marked his 20th year with ADM. According to him, “I consider myself fortunate to work in the grain industry and think there is no better place to raise a family than rural America.” He and his wife Tammy have been married for 20 years and enjoy motorcycling. He has experience in managing country elevator truck houses. truck in and strictly truck out as well as experience running a rail terminal and river terminals and barge logistics. He looked forward to meeting the local farm public, learning the community, and the opportunity to build a solid working relationship with clients.

Operations Superintendent Craig Henry came from Versailles, OH, a small town near Indiana, and worked at a young age at his uncle’s dairy farm. He majored in Agribusiness at Ohio State and started his career with ADM at their export elevator in Toledo, OH in June 2006 as a trainee. In January 2009 he took a position as the Assistant Superintendent at an export elevator in Destrehan, LA where they loaded railcars and barges to go out on ships and also loaded a few trucks. His wife Leann is also from Ohio.

Heather Carsten is the Merchandiser/ Grain Originator at the Tulare elevator. She grew up on a farm near Kimball and she graduated from Kimball High School and then went on to earn her associate’s degree in Agribusiness from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, NE. She then transferred to SDSU where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness. She started her career with ADM at a sunflower processing plant in Goodland, KS originating sunflower seeds, merchandising sunflower meal and coordinating truck logistics. She spent the last year and a half at a soybean processing plant in Mankato, MN originating beans for the Mankato plant and corn for the Marshall processing plant as well as trading soybean meal into the MN and WI truck markets. Heather is excited to be back in SD.