The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By Michael Rodeffer, Quill Reporter
After the ground breaking at Roquette’s La Harpe Elevator site on November 6, 2024, progress has been moving along this winter.
Pictured is the first bin that has been installed. It is 90 foot in diameter and will hold approximately 414,000 bushels. Three more bins, two 85,000 bushel bins and one 80,000 bushel bin, are to be installed.
One older bin still stands and is going to be renovated to bring it up to date.
A 1,000 bushel pit which will allow for much quicker unloading time for truckers is also being installed with a building to be built over it.
Two legs will be erected and there will be rail load-out for the railcars.
According to La Harpe/Blandinsivlle Manager Mike Falk, when all is said and done, storage at the La Harpe Elevator should approximately total 850,000 bushels and will be used entirely to store corn, he said.
Jeff Fjelstul, Valley View Agri System Vice President of Sales, said a few weeks were lost due to weather and snow, which was to be expected. The project is still on schedule and projected to be completed on or before August 1,2025.
Valley View Systems, a construction firm specializing in design and construction of grain storage facilities for farms and commercial use, based out of Arkansas, have been hired to do the construction.
The new construction and repairs became necessary after the Derecho devastated the La Harpe area on June 29, 2023.