Decatur, IL: Largest wet corn mill in the world (ADM/Staley)

(Satellite)

Photo by Jackie Anderson, ADM from MissouriFarmerToday

The largest wet corn mill in the world is operated by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Decatur.

“Most of the corn we use here comes from within 150 miles,” said Steve Merritt, plant manager, who has worked here for 37 of the plant’s 40 years of existence.

At the Decatur wet mill, the main operation separates the corn kernel into four main components: gluten meal, corn germ, gluten feed pellets and valuable liquid starch.
The corn germ is 50 percent corn oil by weight. Gluten feed pellets are lower in protein, and the gluten meal is often used in pet foods.
The liquid starch is where a lot of the profit lies, producing fructose, sorbitol, crystalline and ethanol, Merritt said.
High fructose corn syrup is produced here, which is primarily used in carbonated soda beverages but also in a wide variety of other food products. Sorbitol, a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener in sugar-free gum, toothpaste and mouthwash is another key product. It has no nutritional value, but adds the sweet flavor, Merritt explained.

ADM has three corn dry mill plants that only produce ethanol and dried distillers grain (DDGs) a mixture of byproducts often used for animal feed. Instead, at this Central Illinois corn wet mill in Macon County, the focus is mostly on the liquid starch products.
Because demand can be somewhat seasonal for beverage products, there is room to make some adjustments in the percentage of which products is produced at certain times, Merritt said.

About 25 percent of corn grown in Illinois alone is used in the production of ethanol, explained Phil Thornton, Illinois Corn Growers Association’s value enhanced project director. He says of the 966 million bushels of corn projected to be produced in Illinois this year, about 544 million will go into ethanol production. [MissouriFarmerToday]

A confirmation that I have the correct plant.

3D Satellite

 

Mid-Century Decatur posted

This aerial view of ADM operations along Brush College Road was taken 55 years ago tomorrow on March 13, 1969.

ADM relocated its headquarters from Minneapolis to Decatur that year in a move that was greatly beneficial to the Decatur community. ADM thus became the fourth public company then headquartered in the community, joining Mueller, Staley, and Illinois Power.

The view looks southwest. Brush College Road runs across the lower left corner, while Faries Parkway cuts across the lower right.

Photo: Decatur Public Library

Mid-Century Decatur posted two photos with the comment:

Aerial views of ADM's East and West Decatur plants taken on November 12, 1969, exactly 54 years ago today [Nov 12].

Photos: Collection of Decatur Public Library

Chuck Boehm: My folks always referred to the west plant as Spencer-Kellogg which I believe it was before ADM took over.

Tom Bradley: Wow East plant has grown so much since those pictures were taken!!

John Dallas: Interesting to think the west plant was at one time larger than the east.

1

2

Ralph Griffiths commented on Photo 1 above
This occurred in 1967.
Mid-Century Decatur: (we're looking s.w.) the lead tank closest to the railyard is old tank #10 & the next in line is #9. Later they would float 1 more - tank #8. #8s still in use, 9 is out of service and 10 has been flattened and rebuilt with more storage capacity.
Rick Boland: That is NS's Brush tower on the right. Brush College Road is in the top right corner.

William A. Shaffer posted
The "Wabash Cannon Ball" is approaching Wabic Tower in Decatur, IL. Staley Tower is in the background. Check out the string of Illinois Terminal Hoppers, too! Back in the Day when Decatur was "The Place to Be"!
(Photo by William A. Shaffer)
[Staley was one of the corporate predecessors to ADM.]

History of the Heartland posted
The steadily expanding Staley factory adds a new kiln building in 1919. The factory then employed 1500 workers.
Photo: Staley Journal

Mid-Century Decatur posted
In this image, taken 70 years ago today in 1952, grain still moved by traditional 40' boxcars. Loading and unloading was labor intensive and slow. Staley implemented an innovative new process to make grain unloading more efficient at its Decatur elevator complex. A "car dumper" would lift a boxcar off the track with the two clamps shown in the foreground and background. The car would be tilted against the automatic door opener, which would slide the door open and allow the grain to spill out.
Within a decade, custom purpose grain cars would make this cumbersome process unnecessary.
(H&R photo 9-7-1952)
Leonard Perlmutter shared
Not exactly Wabash, but since it is Staley, and thought it was cool, I thought I would share here

They had (have?) their own power plant.

Kurt Schroeck posted
A.E. Staley, Decatur, IL 1988-1989
(2) Riley Multi-Solid Fluidized Bed Boilers
I was the Lead Start-up Engineer. I had an apt. in Decatur for about a year. Worked with some really good guys.
Cleve Whatley: What is the benefit of a Fluidized Bed Boiler?
Brad Piatt: Cleve Whatley Burns nearly anything with lower emissions

It looks like all of their coal handling is enclosed.

3D Satellite

 

Mid-Century Decatur posted

In 1954, railroad grain hopper cars were still years away from large-scale production. Grain processors, like A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company, had to manually unload grain from boxcars by shovel.

But Staley still exhibited the characteristic urgency and engineering creativity of its entrepreunerial founding earlier fifty years earlier. The company developed and implemented this automated system for tipping, opening doors, and rotating boxcars so grain could spill out by gravity, saving the company millions in unloading costs.

Photo: The Staley Museum

Harry Ferguson: In 1965 I had to empty grain cars like this with a shovel and auger. 2 employees were to empty one half of a box car per shift. On my first night on my summer job at Staley's before my sophomore years at EIU I was assigned that job, but I was the only man assigned to the boxcar and nobody told me I didn't have to empty the whole car. By the time my shift was about over, a foreman stopped by and asked me where the other man was. I said I was the only one and when he looked into the car it was almost empty. He said to sit down and rest for the remaining shift. For my remaing time that summer I looked up the foreman for any job to get the parameters of that job before I started!
Shannon Schroeder: I helped put the cardboard temporary doors in then scoop the grain to the ends. Milo was the worst, with dried corn dust next.
Jeff Schwartz: Covered hoppers eliminated significant loading/unloading expense, so why continue with box cars? Was the ICC to expensive to negotiate the change? Labor union opposition? RR unwillingness to pay for new cars? Collective intellectual inertia about how things just are? I teach kids to think, and I look to understand what underpins this kind of situation. I welcome your insight.
Mid-Century Decatur: Jeff Schwartz the earliest Wabash covered hoppers came in 1954. They required physical changes and major capital investments by their customers. Change came slowly. Not every customer had the deep pockets and willingness to innovate, and such changes were opposed by unions.
Ben McBride: Back in the day... I actually operated it! The "RAM ARM" that busted the wood out of the door way was fun to see it work and then all the grain started flowing out of the car.
Leonard Perlmutter shared

The title of the article is "ADM corn mill buys local, sells global." The global sales indicates a lot of their product would be shipped in containers. That is probably why ADM helped develop an intermodal yard in Decatur.

Dry mills can produce ethanol more efficiently than wet mills, but they cannot adjust their product mix depending on the current demand for corn products. I assume that is why ADM wanted to sell 2 of their 3 plants.

Note from the satellite image that Continental Carbonic Products is co-located. We learned while studying the ethanol plant in Greenville, OH that they convert the by-product CO2 into dry ice. This provides another revenue stream.

Unlike many "railroad hub" towns we have seen, ADM and Caterpillar have caused Decatur to retain a lot of its railroad service.

Update: we learned that a significant byproduct of making ethanol is CO2. ADM is building a commercial scale application of research results with DOE, Richland Community College and the University of Illinois. They will capture and pump the CO2 into a saline reservoir in a sandstone formation that is 1.5 miles away. [GrainNet]