Northern County Cooperative opens new facility for farmers

(ABC 6 News) – Huge numbers turned out for the grand opening of a new facility for farmers in Mitchell County on Thursday.

Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, along with many others from across Iowa and even southern Minnesota showed up to celebrate Northern County Cooperative’s new multi-million dollar facility.

“I didn’t expect it to be this big. It’s nice to see the whole community come out and support them. Now that I think about it, it’s not surprising. They’re probably an important part of the community, so it’s neat to see the whole town come out, show their support,” said Harrison Funke, a vendor from Coke Fertilizer.

The building will allow farmers 24-hour access to the latest agricultural products and technologies.

“Automation, seed treatments, seed storage, chemical and fertilizer storage, as well as fertilizer and chemical blending going back out to the farmer growers or patrons of the area,” said Jason Schwenneker, the CEO of Northern County Cooperative.

The facility aims to serve farmers in a 50-mile radius.

“You think about in today’s world there’s all these different facilities. We can’t afford to make the investment every eight or 10 miles away. We gotta have more of a hub, and then spoke out from there,” said Schwenneker.

Everyone got a chance to tour the building before having a free steak dinner.

“Today farmers are changing, technology’s changing. This is a state of the art automated facility that we’re gonna do a lot more with a lot less,” said Schwenneker.

The goal of the new facility is to help support farmers as they help feed America under increasingly difficult circumstances.

It was built today for the farmers of the future, and it’s here to stay for years to come.