Member-owned grain marketing and storage cooperative NEW Cooperative Inc. is starting work on a new grain facility and a new pelleting feed mill at its existing Cooper Agronomy location in Cooper, IA, a recent release announced.

When the project reaches completion, the site will have a total grain storage capacity of 3 million bu and the new feed mill will be capable of producing 500,000 tn of pelleted feed.

The cooperative said it picked Cooper for the new assets because of the site’s access to utilities, available land, and the agronomy assets already in place there.

“This project makes sense in this area, as it will create a new market for our members’ grain, as well as provide a way to better serve area livestock producers,” NEW Cooperative Grain Manager Mark Walter said in a statement.

NEW Cooperative’s new grain facility is expected to start receiving grain in the fall of 2021. Work on the feed mill is slated to conclude around the same time.

16 new jobs will be created as a result of the project.