Deerfield Ag Services (DAS) will invest more than $2.3 million in facility layout changes and new grain handling equipment in Deerfield, Ohio, and Massillon, Ohio, 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.
Deerfield, Ohio, location
The Deerfield headquarters location will undergo some reconfiguring, as well as new grain handling equipment and storage:
- Wheat Pit and Grain Leg - Deerfield will install a new large dump pit, which can hold a semi load of wheat, as well as move the existing corn leg to the wheat area. This will speed wheat unloading from 3,000 bushels/hour to 7,000 bushels/hour.
- Corn Pit - The project will include installation of a new 15,000 bushel/hour corn leg, which will more than double unloading speed. In addition, pit auger and overhead conveyor capacity will be increased accordingly.
- Grain Bin Capacity - Deerfield will add 414,000 bushels of storage in a 90’ diameter bin in the field east of the current bean complex by the container loadout scales. This component will start with concrete in March and the bin erected in April. The grain bin addition will help eliminate the need for storage bags at this location.
K and S Millwrights will install the wheat and corn area updates, and TAM Systems will install the grain bin.
Massillon, Ohio, location
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 five 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.
