The Farmers Co-op Grain Elevator in Britton has been trying to come up with a way to build a 110-car loading facility and has continually run into financial roadblocks. But that problem may have been solved almost by "accident."
     

Wheaton Dumont Co-op Elevator, based in Wheaton, MN, has indicated an interest in merging with the Britton Elevator and building the loading facility in Britton. The Marshall County Regional Railroad Authority also received approval Thursday for a $3 million loan from the State Railroad Board for that facility.
      

That loan, at two percent interest for 15 years, is a key element in the prospective merger.
      

Farmers Co-op Grain Elevator Board of Directors Chairman Duane Dinger said that Wheaton Dumont's interest in Britton was "kind of an accident." The Minnesota-based co-op was looking for places to expand and took on the Sisseton Elevator, and "that kind of got the ball rolling."
     

But Dinger stressed that nothing has yet been decided. The possible merger has to be brought to a vote of the patrons. That meeting is tentatively set for Tuesday, March 23, prior to the annual meeting on Tuesday, March 30.
      

If patrons do approve the plan, the local facility would still be called the Britton Elevator but be under the Wheaton Dumont Co-op.
      

The Wheaton Dumont Co-op Elevator has nine elevators in the area. They are located in Wheaton, Dumont, Tenney, and Campbell, MN, LaMars, Matador, and Hankinson, ND, and Sisseton and New Effington.
      

"They are an independent co-op just like we are and very community-oriented," said Dinger. "And they are a big player in the market."
      

The Britton elevator has seen a steady drop in shipment of grain in recent years. In 2005 a total of 1,478 rail cars of grain were shipped from the local facility. By 2009 that number had dropped to 314 cars. That is the reason that the elevator has been trying to come up with a way to build the loading facility.
     

"You have to be a 100-car loading facility or otherwise it doesn't work," stressed Dinger. "You just can't get trains. With a new loading facility we would be very competitive with the potential of running up to 6,000 cars out of here in three years."
     

There are no restrictions for rail traffic moving north or south from Britton for trains that are loaded there. Access to the south connects to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe at Aberdeen, while access to the north provides connections to the Canadian Pacific just over the state line in North Dakota.
      

Farmer's Co-op Grain Elevator has already purchased nearly a quarter of land along the railroad tracks southwest of Britton where the new facility would be located. That land was purchased in December for a possible facility.
     

If the project is approved, Wheaton Dumont would build a loading loop and spur at the Britton location. It would include 10,000 feet of track to accommodate the 110-car unit trains.
      

Dinger views the potential $10-$12 million project as a win-win situation for the elevator and the region.
     

"When Wheaton Dumont took on the Hankinson Elevator they took in more grain in the first 42 days than they did the whole year before. The market was that much better," said Dinger. If you're competitive on price, that draws people. And when you have a big loop track and good rail access, why wouldn't other people take a good look at you?
     

"This project has the potential to be really good for the community," concluded Dinger. "If it goes the way we hope it does, it will have been worth the wait. Maybe everything happens for a reason. That's what we're hoping anyway."

Source: Marshall County Journal