Why I Believe In
Mid-Continent Industries Newton Grain Cleaner

This article is taken from the March/April 2021 GRAIN JOURNAL

The Newton grain cleaner, manufactured by Mid-Continent Industries, Newton, KS (316-283-9648), is a multi-purpose, high-capacity, gravity flow air screen machine with a scalper.

According to President Steve Wells, “The Newton grain cleaner can fix a multitude of grain problems, including: low test weight, foreign material, and the unintentional mixing of grains.

“The Newton grain cleaner’s practical use for storage, shipment, receiving, or containerized grain cleaning makes it one of the most versatile cleaners.” says Wells.

Grain Journal in January spoke with four grain operations managers to learn how the the Newton grain cleaner has performed for their operations.

Kendrick Newsome | Assistant Plant Manager | Hansen Mueller | Omaha, NE

“Our Newton grain cleaner is important to our process in regard to meeting customers and contract requirements.

“We have customers who request their oats loads to have low percentages of foreign material, and this can be achieved with the Newton grain cleaner.

“It has been very successful in separating grain and is easy to use.

“Another benefit is that it is relatively easy to move and can be placed under our spouts which makes us very flexible in our operation.

“Overall we are happy with our cleaner, and it has made life easier.”

Dave Hommon | Location Supervisor | Trinity Ag LLC | Kensington, KS

“The Newton grain cleaner does what we need: We bought it for separation of big and small mixed grains. It’s been totally effective.

“When we had an issue with oats mixed with wheat, I experimented with different sizes of screens. I turned up the air volume, and it cleaned out 70% of the oats. I was amazed. It came off with air, not screens. It moved it off like chaff. I heard another company also had great results from a similar application.

“I also like the cleaner because of the size. We place it so the discharge is right above our pit. It’s handy and easy to get around. I’m very pleased with the results. We have one of the very first machines made by Mid-Continent. I’d like to see what a new machine could do.

“Our principal goal was to clean up grain, and I’ve got a short window to take care of it. The Newton grain cleaner is simple, and there aren’t a lot of moving parts. If the grain doesn’t fall straight, it gets removed. It’s very easy for anyone to run this machine, and Mid-Continent always is good to work with when it comes to troubleshooting.”

Chuck Kirk | Manager | Kirk Grain Co. | Scott City, KS

“I’ve used the portable Newton grain cleaner since 2013, and it’s well-built with very few problems. The staff at Mid-Continent also are very knowledgeable and ready to answer any questions.

“Their grain cleaner has been a good investment and provides several advantages. For example, since cleaning our wheat after harvest and applying an insect growth regulator, we have no issues with grain-damaging insects. The wheat stores very well, even for extended periods of time. Previously, the dockage was deducted by the end user, but now it can be sold to a feed lot or feed by-product company.

“During fall harvest, our grain cleaner can be adapted to separate corn from milo if the two become mixed. We’re also seeing niche markets for milo emerging with high specifications, and our Newton grain cleaner allows us to meet these specifications.”

Jeff Rabideau | Vice President | Ritchie Grain Elevator Inc. | Wilmington, IL

“We purchased our portable Newton grain cleaner in the fall of 2014, and it’s been a durable and reliable machine with a normal amount of maintenance and a few repairs. We purchased our grain cleaner primarily to remove foreign material from corn we load into shipping containers for export.

“The container export market requires us to make No. 2 yellow corn on all bookings with a maximum of 3% foreign material, and the Newton grain cleaner allows us to achieve that standard.

“One of the main reasons we chose the Newton grain cleaner was because we needed a portable machine to load out of different spots. We didn’t have one fixed location to load from, and the Newton grain cleaner fit that need.”