United Cooperative Plans $100 Million Ag Project

United Cooperative has announced they are investing in the future for patrons and the agriculture community.

United Cooperative’s 3 phase expansion project will create state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, marketing opportunities, and technology advancements to meet the demands of Wisconsin’s agricultural landscape.

As consumers request more knowledge about food origination, agricultural producers seek to find ways to provide high-quality, safe, and traceable feed products for their growing farm operations. These sustainable farming efforts will ensure consumer confidence now and into the future.

Feed manufacturers like United Cooperative require state-of-the-art facilities to meet the quality requirements, efficient operating standards, and safe and secure supply chains for our food supplies.

In 2022 United Cooperative, a member-owned cooperative headquartered at Beaver Dam, Wis., will begin construction on a multi-structural manufacturing facility in Waupun, Wisconsin.  
 
“New Safe Food, Safe Feed regulations require feed manufactures to comply with quality control measures that are not possible with outdated feed mills,” said John Scheuers, United Cooperative Feed Division Vice President. “As a result, United Cooperative’s investment in this new Waupun facility will enable us to meet these new regulations and the ever-changing demands of our members.”

“This construction project is essential to our growth initiatives and our promise to our member-owners that they can “Rely on Us” for their agricultural needs,” said David Cramer, President and CEO of United Cooperative.
 
United Cooperative’s Waupun feed and grain manufacturing facility will have capabilities that include high-speed loading and unloading of ingredients, high-speed roller-grinders, pelleting capability, steam flaking, micro-system, both bagged and bulk texturized calf feed manufacturing, mineral manufacturing, and operations managed by a computerized control system for quality control.

“Our goal is to manufacture 23 tons of feed every 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the number of items in the mix,” Scheuers added. This new state-of-the-art feed and grain facility will also be able to take advantage of rail for our inbound and outbound needs, thus limiting supply chain issues caused by the trucking industry.

“The Waupun facility will support new grain marketing opportunities for our member-owners and cover the demands of increased corn and soybean yields,” said Al Jentz, V.P. of Grain for United Cooperative.  
 
In addition to the feed and grain expansion, the third phase of the construction project will be a state-of-the-art soybean crushing and processing facility. This processing and crushing facility will propel value-added agriculture products forward in Wisconsin.

When operational, this plant will crush 7.5 million bushels of soybeans annually. The plant will supply both soybean meal and soy oil and bring the surrounding counties into a global ag economy. The Waupun project is expected to create 50 high-quality jobs.
 
Along with the Waupun facility, United Cooperative has six other state-of-the-art feed locations and 20-grain locations strategically placed throughout Wisconsin, where it manufactures and sells feed and grain products and services.