NEW CASTLE, Ind. – Co-Alliance has broken ground on a $15 million investment aimed at better serving farmers in east-central Indiana. Construction recently began on a liquid chemistry with liquid fertilizer loadout building at the cooperative’s Mt. Summit Ag Center.

The loadout building, costing about $1.5 million, will provide faster, more efficient and environmentally friendly product distribution to farmers within a 25-mile radius of the facility, about 10 miles north of New Castle.

Specifically, liquid fertilizer will be metered while it’s being pumped into the tanks of farmers, said Royce Cook, the Mt. Summit Ag Center manager. As a result, Cook said there will be a more accurate count of how much fertilizer was placed into each tank and time saved for the farmer.

Currently, Cook said farmers must have their tanks placed on scales before and after receiving the fertilizer. He said the difference in weight helps come up with an estimate on how much liquid fertilizer was purchased.

“It’ll be more efficient for the farmer and more accurate, too,” Cook said.

Cook said two of its other fertilizer dispensary sites in the area at Oakville and Dunreith will remain open as satellite locations and continue using scales to estimate volumes.

“They’re still going to exist but most of the product I think people will prefer running out to here,” he said.

Herbicides, insecticides and fungicides will all be housed and distributed through the Mt. Summit facility. The loadout building is expected to be operating by early March of next year.

The remainder of the investment at the Mt. Summit Ag Center will go toward a much larger dry fertilizer hub and new rail spur. That construction, beginning later in the fall, is expected to be completed late next summer.

Cook said the amount of dry fertilizer stored at the site will increase from a maximum 2,100 tons to 26,000 tons.

The new rail spur, leading from the Norfolk Southern tracks, will be longer and hold as many as 10 train cars of product waiting to be unloaded. The current shorter rail spur holds only three train cars.

Cook said the dramatic increase in dry fertilizer storage reduces the odds of already well-served farmers having to wait until more product comes in to meet their needs.

It also provides Co-Alliance with a cost savings from being able to buy in more bulk.

“We must be more efficient to keep pace with the farmers of this generation. This is a visible investment to show our members we’re going to be here for the next generation,” he said.

Co-Alliance has 16 agronomy locations in east central Indiana that will benefit from the investment, which is also expected to provide more employment opportunities locally.

“As operations and scale evolve for farm families, so does our cooperative business and our ability to meet the needs of a changing industry,” said Kevin Still, president and CEO of Co-Alliance.

Co-Alliance spokesperson Lindsay Sankey said the investment is also in response to a growing number of farmers expanding their operations. “We have fewer and fewer 150-acre farmers. We have to be able to meet their needs,” she said.

Co-Alliance is a member-owned supply and marketing operation also delivering innovative solutions to farmer members and customers across Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The company specializes in agronomy, propane, fuels, grain, seed, hog production and feed.