Deerfield Ag Services (DAS) will invest more than $2.3 million in facility layout changes and new grain handling equipment in Deerfield and Massillon that will significantly speed up delivery and unloading times for farmer customers. Construction on the updates will begin in March and are expected to be completed before wheat harvest in July. Current grain handling facilities for all commodities will remain open during construction.
“Time is money for our customers, and we want our farmers to spend less time in line dumping grain and more time in the fields,” said Steve Ramseyer, Deerfield Ag Services’ grain superintendent. “These improvements will drastically improve the efficiency of our operations and get farmers back to what matters most to them.”
The scope of the updates includes several major components at two locations and will eliminate the need to store soybeans in temporary polyethylene bags at both.
The Deerfield headquarters location will undergo some reconfiguring, as well as new grain handling equipment and storage:
K and S Millwrights will install the wheat and corn area updates, and TAM Systems will install the grain bin.
At Massillon, DAS will add a conveyor to its container auger; this will move the augers 15 feet away from the rail to allow containers to be loaded 5 days a week and still allow the railroad to move cars without interruption.
This update will allow Deerfield Ag Services to load export containers from Massillon in the fall, instead of the Deerfield facility. In the late fall, DAS will move container loading back to Deerfield to allow Massillon to build inventory for unit train rail shipments. This will help eliminate the need for storage bags at this location, as well.
“We pride ourselves on doing all we can do to keep accepting all grains from farmers at all times through harvest whether it is bagging, or transferring from one facility to another or -- now this year -- adding space,” said Ramseyer.