Family-owned grain business in Iowa since the early 1960s, adds a second location as its bushel volumes soar
Snittjer Grain Co. had been a single-location grain handler in Wellsburg, IA since the family-owned business was founded in the early 1960s. In recent years, however, the need for a second grain elevator became apparent.
“In the last 10 years, our grain volume has doubled,” says J.R. Kennedy, general manager and CEO who has been with the company his entire 10-year career since graduation from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural studies.
Kennedy succeeded his father, Patrick Kennedy, who ran the business for 30 years. The company was founded by Sherwood Snittjer.
The company decided on a site for the new “Wolf Creek” elevator about 10 miles southwest of Grundy Center, IA (641-869-3755). The 10-acre plot near Wolf Creek along State Highway 14 had been purchased from a local farmer who had operated an on-farm grain storage site there, but that had been destroyed in an August 2020 derecho that had cut a swath of destruction across Iowa.
The site still remains attractive to farmers in the area. One constructed a single-story building housing farm equipment and a workshop immediately next to Snittjer’s new elevator. Another built a small on-farm grain storage site right across the highway at roughly the same time.
Snittjer Grain selected Buresh Building Systems, Inc., Hampton, IA (641-456-5242) to build the $12 million project after reviewing the contractor’s proposed plan including a 1.5-million-bushel all-steel elevator. Buresh also is adding a 1.6-million-bushel used temporary storage pile in 2022. Construction on the new elevator began at the end of 2020, and it was operational shortly after harvest in 2021.
The facility Buresh built consists of three Sukup Mfg. Co. corrugated steel tanks, with room to build a fourth as needed. One, intended for dry corn, stands 105 feet in diameter, 91 feet tall at the eave, and 120 feet tall at the peak holding 737,000 bushels. Two smaller tanks, intended for soybeans or wet corn, stand 90 feet in diameter, 91 feet tall at the eaves, 119 feet tall at the peaks, and can hold 550,000 bushels each..
All three tanks have flat concrete floors, outside stiffeners, sidedraw spouts, Sukup paddle sweeps and BinMaster non-contact radar-type level indicators.
The big tank is outfitted with a 24-cable AGI CMC grain temperature monitoring system. A set of six 60-hp Sukup centrifugal fans provide 1/7 cfm per bushel of aeration through in-floor ducting.
The two smaller tanks have 16-cable temperature monitoring systems and six 60-hp centrifugal fans providing 1/5 cfm per bushel of aeration.
Incoming grain trucks are funneled into two lanes, each equipped with Probe-A-Load truck probes. Samples are sent to a PerkinElmer moisture meter for grading.
Trucks continue to a pair of 80-foot-long Rice Lake dump-through scales in a Sukup office and receiving building. Grain drops through the scales into 1,300-bushel receiving pits. A set of three Sukup 8,000-bushel surge tanks on the roof of the receiving building allow trucks to be loaded on the scales, as well.
After trucks leave the receiving shed, they drive by a Kahler ticket printer to receiving their scale tickets.
These feed a pair of Sukup 20,000-bph receiving legs equipped with Maxi-Lift 20x8 Tiger-Tuff buckets mounted on a 22-inch belt. The legs are enclosed by a Sukup 20-foot-x-20-foot-x-170-foot support tower.
The legs deposit grain into a Schlagel six-duct, swing-type double distributor. From there, grain destined to go directly for storage travels out via an AGI Hi Roller 40,000-bph enclosed belt conveyor to the wet/soybean tanks or via a Sukup 20,000-bph drag conveyor to the large tank.
Tanks empty onto Sukup 10,000-bph drag conveyors in below-ground tunnels running back to the receiving leg boot pits.
The distributor also can send grain via gravity spout to a Sukup 4,700-bph tower dryer fired by propane. Kennedy says the original plan was to run a natural gas line out to the dryer, but that proved too expensive. The dryer empties into one of the boot pits.
When Grain Journal visited the Wolf Creek site in April 2022, a crew from Buresh was starting to assemble a used 1.5-million-bushel temporary storage pile for use in the 2022 harvest.
The round center-fill pile will be 310 feet in diameter, with four-foot perforated steel sidewalls and lime floor. A set of 10-hp AGI Airlanco axial fans will hold the tarp in place. Grain will be carried out to the pile via an overhead AGI Hi Roller 40,000-bph belt conveyor.
Ed Zdrojewski, editor
From May/June 2022 Grain Journal Issue
Wellsburg, IA • 641-869-3755
Founded: Early 1960s
Storage capacity: 6 million bushels at two locations
Annual volume: 4-5 million bushels, 8-9 million anticipated
Annual revenues: $25 million
Number of employees: 10
Crops handled: Corn, soybeans
Services: Grain handling and merchandising, trucking
Pat Kennedy, owner
J.R. Kennedy, general manager/CEO
Elyse Moody, grain accounting
Meghan Koch, scale operator
Austin Sawyer, operations
Aeration fans • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Bin sweeps • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Bucket elevator • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Catwalk • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Contractor • Buresh Building Systems
Control system • Iowa Central Electric
Conveyors (belt) • AGI Hi Roller
Conveyors (drag) • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Distributor • Schlagel Inc.
Electrical contractor • Iowa Central Electric
Elevator buckets • Maxi-Lift Inc.
Engineering • VAA, LLC
Grain dryer • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Grain temperature system • AGI CMC
Level indicators • BinMaster
Millwright • Buresh Building Systems
Moisture meter • PerkinElmer
Motors • Toshiba International
Office and receiving building • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Roof system • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Speed reducers • Dodge Industrial, Inc.
Steel storage • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Steel tank erection • Buresh Building Systems
Surge bins • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Ticket printer • Kahler Automation
Tower support systems • Sukup Mfg. Co.
Truck probe • Probe-A-Load, Inc.
Truck scales • Rice Lake Weighing Systems
Snittjer Grain Co.