AMES, IOWA, US — Farmer-owned cooperative Landus announced May 27 that it will invest $150 million in incremental capital spending into core grain and agronomy facilities throughout the company’s territory to modernize aging infrastructure and improve service.
Over the next four years Landus said it will reinvest in its core locations to deliver the speed, space and safety that farmers expect as aging infrastructure continues to challenge producers, agribusinesses and communities throughout the state of Iowa. According to Sosland Publishing’s 2022 Grain & Milling Annual, Landus is the 10th-largest grain major in the United States with 56 licensed grain facilities and 152.686 million bushels of licensed grain storage.
“Rural Iowa needs our industry to step up to the plate and reinvest for the future the way our forefathers did for us,” said Matt Carstens, president and chief executive officer of Landus. “A generation of farmers came together to build up the cooperative infrastructure in the 1950s, but since then, our industry has not done our job building for the future the way they once did. We owe our farmers and our communities more, and the Landus team is proud to roll out this robust reinvestment plan designed to deliver facilities of the future where they are desperately needed.”
Landus, which recently opened its first international office in Guadalajara, Mexico, also will unveil this summer its Innovation Connector and collaborative workspace in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, US, designed to connect farmers directly to innovators, tech startups, and change makers driving the future of ag forward.
“It is not enough for a cooperative to simply meet the needs of farmers today,” Carstens said. “We must lay a solid foundation for what our farmers will need in the future. Landus is proud to expedite that journey forward with this robust reinvestment into our critical rural hubs. We look forward to unveiling more to our farmer-owners in the months ahead.”