Grain Journal - January/February 2009 - (Page 34) One Town, Two Elevators GRAIN HANDLER MOVES INTO NORTHWEST WISCONSIN TOWN WITH TWO FACILITIES WISCONSIN Blair Wisconsin Rapids Grain LLC Brokaw, WI • 715-675-2200 Founded: 2002 Storage capacity: 7 million bushels at four locations Annual volume: 7-10 million bushels Number of employees: 10-15 Crops handled: Corn, soybeans, soft red winter wheat, roasted soybeans Services: Grain handling and merchandising Key personnel: • Ben Riehle, Blair operations manager/sales director The new, in-town west elevator at Wisconsin Rapids Grain LLC in Blair, WI features 1.6 million bushels of storage, 20,000 bph in receiving capacity, and a 1,500-bph dryer. Photos by Ed Zdrojewski. Supplier List Aeration fans Caldwell/Chief Industries Bin sweeps . Hutchinson/Mayrath Bucket elevators Chief Agri/ Industrial Division, Schlagel Inc. Catwalk Warrior Mfg. LLC/ Johnson System Contractor Wisconsin Feed Mill Builders Conveyors Chief, Schlagel Inc. Distributors Schlagel Inc. Elevator bucketts Tapco Inc., Maxi-Lift Inc. Engineering J.R. King Grain dryers Grain Handler USA Leg belting Goodyear Millwright Wisconsin Feed Mill Builders Speed reducers . Dodge, Falk Corp. Steel storage Chief Agri/Industrial Division Steel tank erection Cross Country Construction, LLC Tower support system Warrior Mfg. LLC, Johnson System Truck scale Rice Lake Weighing Systems Ben Riehle went to work for privatelyheld Wisconsin Rapids Grain LLC two years ago, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and his first job out college was a big one. Riehle oversaw the construction of not one, but two grain elevators in Blair, WI, the company’s new Blair Grain division (608989-2061), and now serves as operations manager and sales director of both locations in the northwestern Wisconsin town. One elevator, finished in 2007, is located in the heart of town, while the other, a rail-loading facility on the Canadian National Railway (CN) east of town, was just being completed, when Grain Journal visited in January 2009. “We felt that this part of the state was a very good area for us to be in,” says Riehle. “It’s a strong cash-cropping area, where we felt we could expand our successful business. We also decided to place the rail-loading facilities outside of town, so we’re not interfering with town life as much.” To construct both elevators, Wisconsin Rapids Grain hired Wisconsin Feed Mill Builders, Francis Creek, WI (952-757-5486), which previously had done work for a company facility in Brokaw and Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Cost of the project is confidential. In-Town Location Wisconsin Feed Mill Builders began work on the in-town west elevator in April 2007 and had construction completed in time for harvest that year. The facility consists of three 500,000-bushel Chief Titan steel tanks, a 100,000-bushel steel wet grain tank, twin receiving pits feeding 10,000-bph legs, and a 1,500-bph Grain Handler continuous flow dryer. The big tanks stand 105 feet in diameter and 60 feet tall at the eaves. They are outfitted with flat bottoms, outside stiffeners, and 10-inch Hutchinson sweep augers. There are no grain temperature cables, since the entire facility is designed for fast turnaround, but the tanks are equipped with two 50-hp Caldwell centrifugal fans each to 34 GJ J/F
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