Facility Feature
Central Valley Ag Adds Jumpform Concrete Annex Plus Leg to Speed Up Receiving, Truck Lines

Elgin, NE — Central Valley Ag (CVA) operates a feed mill at its complex in midtown Elgin, NE (402-843-2416), and as demand for feed continues to grow in central Nebraska, so has the need for storage space. Corn far and away requires the most storage space of common feed ingredients, so CVA opted for an upright concrete annex adjacent to its feed mill. Depending on the markets and time of year, the annex can hold either corn or soybeans.

In addition to the storage, CVA also added an 18,000-bph leg at the annex site, its third receiving leg in Elgin. Regional Operations Manager Keith Borer, who has been with CVA for all of his 12-year career in the grain industry, says the additional receiving capacity is intended to speed up truck lines during harvest, and around the elevator’s downtown location, that will improve safety for truckers, employees, and other motorists in the area.

The 700,000-bushel annex brings total storage capacity at Elgin to 2.5 million bushels.

To build the annex, CVA hired EBM Construction Inc., Norfolk, NE (800-356-9782), as contractor and millwright and McPherson Concrete Storage Systems, Inc., McPherson, KS (800-999-8151), to erect two jumpform concrete tanks.

In addition, Boyd’s Electrical Service, Clearwater, NE (402-887-4653), served as electrical contractor and supplied automation controls.

Construction got underway in March 2019, and the new storage and equipment went into operation in September.

Annex Specifications

McPherson constructed two 350,000-bushel jumpform concrete tanks standing 62 feet in diameter and 132 feet tall.

The north tank is outfitted with a c switchback staircase for easy access to the roof, while the south tank has a ladder with cable safety system protected by a locked cage at the bottom.

Both tanks are equipped with flat floors, Daay bin paddle sweeps, 11-cable Tri-States Grain Conditioning temperature monitoring systems, and BinMaster point level indicators.

Aeration is supplied at 1/8 cfm per bushel by four AGI Airlanco 50-hp centrifugal fans per tank through in-floor ducting. The fans are equipped with silencers to mute the noise with residential homes across First Street from the elevator and feed mill.

Adjacent to these tanks is a 500-bushel mechanical receiving pit, which transfers grain to an 18,000-bph Schlagel leg. The leg is outfitted with 20x8 Maxi-Lift low-profile Tiger-Tuff buckets mounted on a 22-inch Fenner Dunlop belt.

The leg deposits grain into a Schlagel electronic rotary distributor. Currently only two of the four ducts are in use, and they drop grain into the two new tanks via gravity spout.

Both of the tanks are equipped with sidedraw spouts for truck loading. They finish emptying into an above-ground 4,000-bph Schlagel drag conveyor. It runs outside of the tanks on an incline to an existing jump leg serving the feed mill.

Looking back at a year in operation, Borer comments, “It’s been very good so far. We used one of the bins for soybeans, and emptying them went very well. We’re happy with the workmanship that EBM and McPherson provided.”

More about Central Valley Ag

• York, NE • 402-362-0246
• Founded: 1934
• Storage capacity: 140 million bushels at 68 locations
• Annual volume: 200 million bushels
• Annual revenues: $1.4 billion
• Number of members: 10,000+
• Number of employees: 900
• Crops handled: White and yellow corn, soybeans, hard and soft red winter wheat, sorghum, sunflower
• Services: Grain handling and merchandising, feed, agronomy, energy

Key personnel

• Keith Borer, regional operations manager
• Steve Thompson, Elgin location manager
• Dylan Mack, superintendent
• Verona Henn, customer service specialist

Suppliers for this project:

• Aeration fans • AGI Airlanco
• Bearing sensors • 4B Components Ltd.
• Bin sweeps • Sioux Steel Co.
• Bucket elevator • Schlagel Inc.
• Catwalks • EBM Construction Inc.
• Concrete tank builder • McPherson Concrete Storage Systems, Inc.
• Control system • Boyd’s Electrical Service
• Conveyors • Schlagel Inc.
• Contractor/millwright • EBM Construction
• Distributor • Schlagel Inc.
• Electrical contractor • Boyd Electric Service
• Elevator buckets • Maxi-Lift Inc.
• Grain temperature system • Tri-States Grain Conditioning Inc.
• Leg belting • Fenner Dunlop
• Level indicators • BinMaster Level Controls
• Motors • Toshiba
• Speed reducers • Dodge
• Switchback stairs • LeMar Industries
• Tower support systems • Warrior Mfg. LLC, LeMar Industries

Reprinted from Grain Journal July/August 2020 Issue