Agland Co-op dedicates upgraded and new equipmen
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With the shadows of giant farm distribution equipment looming behind, the members of the Mahoning County Farm Bureau and the Agland Co-op of Canfield were joined by members of the state and national government to dedicate new and upgraded equipment to the Co-op’s agricultural supplies.
The equipment includes a new conveyer system that permits processing of 7,500 bushel grain per hour and a new dryer system that doubles drying capacity to 1800 bushels per hour and cuts energy usage by 50 percent, a vital statistic in today’s unsteady energy market.
Lee Lipp, grain merchandiser for the Co-op, said the new equipment is a blessing and a must for securing continued efficient business for local farmers now and in the future.
“What we’re looking for is increased capacity,” Lipp said. “Farmers can get in here, trip their tailgate, dump their load and get right back out to their fields. Most of these farmers are investing in $100,000-$300,000 in their combine and another $50,000-$100,000 in semis, so they don’t want them sitting around, waiting to unload grain.”
Lipp, who has been with Agland for 25 years, said the new equipment is a strong step forward for not only the people directly connected with the Co-op, but the agricultural area of northeast Ohio as a whole.
“This is definitely a step forward in showing our improvements as well as our commitment to agriculture in the area,” Lipp said. “We’ve had some tough times in agriculture the last couple years but hopefully, with the help of the ethanol boom, there is a growing and sustained need for our products.”
The dedication of the equipment was carried out by members of the state government, the local government and members of the Mahoning County Farm Bureau, who were behind the purchasing and installing of the $750,000 equipment.
Members of the government included State Senator for the 33rd District John Boccieri, District 59 Representative Ronald Gerberry and members of Charlie Wilson’s, U.S. Congressman for Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, staff. Jim Johnson of the Ohio Treasurers Office also came to the occasion.
Speaking on behalf of the Mahoning County Farm Bureau was president Jeff Osentoski and vice president Ralph Wince. Bureau treasurer Pearl Burlingame was responsible for putting much of the ceremony together.
The ceremony itself included small speeches on the equipment and on agriculture in the area by Wince, Osentoski, Boccieri, Gerberry, Christopher Gagin, who came from Bridgeport to speak on behalf of Congressman Wilson. Along with the speeches were the giving of the state flag from Boccieri and Gerberry and the U.S. flag by Gagin on behalf of Wilson. Both flags were flown in prominent places, the state one in Columbus and the national one in Washington D.C., before coming down and being given to Agland to fly on the top of their grain structure.
Lipp and Brian Pollock climbed the structure and delivered the flags to their new resting places on top of the towering structure, which overlooks the city of Canfield.
In the crowd of about 20-25 onlookers who came for the dedication was Wade Schisler of Austintown. Schisler worked at the Co-op 45 years ago and helped put up some the earliest equipment at the Co-op. Schisler was proud to have helped then and to be around now, as a retired farmer and part-time worker at a funeral home, to see the progress that will be coming from Agland and from local farmers in the area.
“When we started here, we just had one farm tractor with a hard take-off with a blower on the back,” Schisler said. “We would blow the grain halfway into the carts and then get in and shovel it the rest of the way in the carts. (Seeing how the Co-op is today) It’s really something.”
