Elevator expands in Rushford - KXLT - Fox 47 Rochester MN News, Weather and Sports

RUSHFORD, Minn. (FOX 47) -- An area elevator is expanding its capacity just in time for farmers to begin harvesting. The Farmers Co-op Elevator in Rushford has been in business for 110 years.

The elevator's general manager said the expansion is all about improving profitability for farmers, putting more money in their pockets.

The main elevator office is in downtown Rushford off of Highway 43. When farmers are harvesting and transporting their grain to the elevator, the road becomes congested with trucks lined up. The new expansion is less than a mile south of the current elevator, and will include two new grain bins, a grain dryer, and a new scale, and dump station for trucks to unload their grain. While the downtown location will still be used, it will be more convenient for trucks to dump at the new location.

"Last year we ran out of capacity," said Todd Rosvold, with elevator's General Manager. "We actually had to ship, we had to turn around and ship it out -- we just didn't have enough. Farmers at times they'd like to store that grain and take advantage of any carry in the market and we weren't able to do any of that last year at all."

Rosvold said even though much of the nation has experienced a severe drought, most of the crops in southeastern Minnesota look great. In fact, he said while some farmers were expecting lower yields, they may be pleasantly surprised come this fall.

The expansion is set to open by the end of September.