Waukon Feed Ranch continues growth in expansion location

A concept that got its start five years ago came to realization this past year for Waukon Feed Ranch, as its new multi-function expansion facility located less than a mile west of Waukon on Old Highway 9 enjoys its first year of operation. The new facility is coming off its first fall harvest season and anticipating its first spring planting, all while working toward the ideal of "providing the best service to farmers and customers", according to manager Brad Herman.
The construction of three new buildings at the Old Highway 9 location has allowed for expansion of existing services offered by Waukon Feed Ranch, as well as the creation of new services complementing those originally, and still, offered by the long-standing business at its original location on Ninth Street SW in Waukon.
"We realized that our fertilizer department did not have enough space at our original location to grow the way we wanted it to, and we had plans to offer additional services to the ag community," Herman explained of the decision to build the new facility. "So, we purchased 100 acres from the Kiesau family and mapped out a plan to not only meet current needs but also to continue to grow."
The first of those three newly-constructed buildings houses the original reason for the new location, a fertilizer plant capable of storing 3,500 tons of dry fertilizer and mixing 180 tons of fertilizer per hour. Favorable costs for construction prompted further expansion possibilities, as a combination liquid fertilizer plant and maintenance shop was built next, with three bays of that structure dedicated to the loading and unloading of liquid fertilizer and two bays available for equipment maintenance purposes. The liquid fertilizer facility also has a 250,000-gallon storage capacity within an adjacent diked structure.
A third building sits closest to the adjacent highway and currently serves as a seed warehouse and also houses office and meeting room space, including eight current offices on the main floor and the potential to finish additional offices upstairs as the business continues its plans for expansion. A used vehicle scale was also purchased and installed next to the warehouse/office building to meet the diverse needs of the business.
A final piece of the current new location puzzle was the installation of liquid propane (LP) gas tanks purchased from the former Northern Engraving plant in Waukon, one of which is used for anhydrous storage and the other for LP storage that represents a further expansion of services offered by Waukon Feed Ranch. "The LP business was sort of an afterthought," Herman said. "But most of our hog confinements use LP, and we were aware of a need for additional LP service in the area."
Although the LP and agronomy aspects offered at the expansion location are relatively new territory to the Waukon Feed Ranch organization, the initial year with those expanded services has been deemed a success by those involved. "With the addition of our agronomy services and the LP, we feel we can offer a 'one-stop shop' for our customers," Herman reasoned. "When you have all the tools of the trade, we feel you should be able to provide the best service possible, and that's our goal."

The choice of location of the expansion facility was based on some of the most basic requirements of such an operation. "We knew we wanted a flat area with a lot of visibility for the traffic flow of our larger equipment," Herman explained. "It's in close proximity to our original location, only about eight-tenths of a mile, and there's also a lower traffic level than what you'd have, say, along Highway 9, so this location has served us well."
The overall design and lay-out of the new facilities was based on existing structures providing similar services in the Upper Midwest. "We piggy-backed another design in Minnesota that has proven successful, making some adjustments here and there not only from their experience, but also to best suit what we feel our needs will be here so we can function correctly," Herman said.
As with expansion or any new endeavor, there are bound to be challenges faced. Aside from the occasional minor obstacles involved with new construction, Herman says the biggest challenge faced, and still remaining in some aspects, is finding the right employees to fill the positions created by such an expansion to further complement the strong, dedicated employee base that already exists. "It's not like the Field of Dreams, where if you build it they will just come," he offered. "Finding the right people with the ability and desire to carry out your goals can be a struggle, but we continue to work on that."
With that challenge, however, comes overall reward, as Herman said the new facility has resulted in a current total of 15 new jobs in the Waukon area, with plans for additional hirings as the business continues to expand. One such additional undertaking will be the addition of a grain storage facility at the Old Highway 9 site, with plans to have that in place by the fall harvest later this year. The grain storage will complete immediate future plans for the new facility, but Herman says the business always has an eye toward the future and new technology and services in order to best meet the needs of its customers.
"Ultimately, we just want to make sure that we're doing a good job for the end-user - the farmers and our customers," Herman said. "If we can furnish the services that make them profitable, that, in turn, helps us to also succeed and be able to further offer the services they need."