OMAHA, NEB. — The Scoular Co. has finalized its purchase of a grain-handling facility adjacent to its existing ingredient and blending operation in Jerome, Idaho. Included in Scoular’s purchase from Northside Development Holding Co. was the grinding and storage facility and related equipment, 45 acres of adjacent land and 18,000 feet of railroad track connected to the Eastern Idaho Railroad. Terms of the transaction were not announced.
The purchase of the Northside facility is another move by Scoular to demonstrate its commitment to area dairies, feeders and grain producers, said Todd Strayer, Scoular’s director of Western Feed Ingredients located in Jerome.
Todd Strayer, Scoular’s director of Western Feed Ingredients |
“Scoular has been providing dairies and feeders in the Idaho market with a variety of feed ingredients and grains since the late 1990s,” Mr. Strayer said. “We’ve taken a long-term, strategic approach to serve customers in the region. The addition of this facility is complementary to our existing operation. In addition to supplying dairies and feeders with ingredients, we are buying and handling locally-grown corn, barley and wheat.”
According to the 2017 Grain & Milling Annual, Scoular has a total of 85 grain storage facilities with 120.1 million bus.
In 2006, Scoular completed the construction of a 12,000-ton ingredient handling and storage facility to provide a more consistent and reliable supply of ingredients for area dairies and feeders. The facility allowed the company to unload unit trains of distillers' grains and store them and other feed ingredients as well as trans-load them directly from railcars to trucks. In 2014, the company expanded its operation and service by adding a commodity blending facility to produce custom-blended feed.
In addition to its expansion in Jerome’s Northside Development Industrial Park, Scoular has been steadily growing its presence in Idaho and the surrounding area over the past five years. In 2012, the company purchased two grain operations in Weiser, Idaho. Two years later, Scoular began operating a barge-loading facility in Burbank, Wash., and purchased Evans Grain & Elevator Co. assets in Ontario, Ore., and Nampa and Notus, Idaho. Prior to the purchase of the Northside facility, the company’s most recent strategic move was in 2015 with the construction of a grain facility in Aberdeen, Idaho.