Mendota, IL: ADM Plants and Del Monte Plants

ADM is going to build a flour mill that can produce 30,000 cwts a day from either hard or soft wheat. When it is operational, it will close its Chicago mill. (Update: After the Mendota Mill starts production, ADM will close two other old mills as well: their Nokomis plant in Minneapolis and their plant in Salina, KS. [MillingJournal] (source))

Satellite

Mark Kolkhorst, president, ADM milling said "Our new mill will enable us to drive efficiencies, thanks to the use of new technologies and equipment, and the ability to leverage capabilities of ADM’s existing grain facility in Mendota—such as unloading 110-car shuttle trains." ADM must have rather recently built a new, greenfield grain elevator that is not showing up yet on the Google satellite image because the one Google shows has NO rail service.

Update:

Chris Kremer posted
David Hall Looks like ADM in mendota

Michael Richie posted
[Jan 9, 2019]

Lukas Irons posted:
David Jordan...ADM opening their new Mendota Mill is just the tip the iceberg. They plan to close their Nokomis Mill in Minneapolis and their mill in Salina Kansas. But they are expanding their Atkinson Flour Mill in Minneapolis wherever that is.

[Both Nokomis and Atkinson are in Minneapolis, about a block from each other.]

https://www.millingjournal.com/…/adm-nears-opening-of-new-h…

Dennis DeBruler: I knew the Mendota plant was going to replace the ADM plant in Chicago because its land has become too valuable. But I didn't realize it was replacing a couple of others as well.

Jan 2023 ADM Update:

ADM had already built a new grain elevator that had the efficiency of using a rail-served loop of track to load a unit train. This elevator does not appear in a 1998 image. It looks like it started with a couple of jump-form silos.

Google Earth, Apr 2005

An Aug 2007 image shows they started ground work for some bins to be added. Two bins were added by harvest season. They also had added two smaller silos closer to the road which we can see below in the Oct 2009 satellite image.

Street View, Oct 2007

There was a third bin to the east by Oct 2008. By Oct 2009 they had four bins. It is interesting that, even though Oct is in the middle of the harvest season, there are no trucks queued up.

Google Earth, Oct 2009

Clicking through Google Earth images, nothing much changed until 2017. But this image caught my eye because they did add the dryer and it has three trucks that are unloading. First of all, they are unloading in May so the price of corn must have gone up and farmers are tapping into their stores. Second of all, none of the other photos had trucks including images taken during the Fall.

Google Earth, May 2013

A Sep 2017 image shows new roads and foundations. This image shows the result. This would be the new mill. Why would ADM build a flour mill in Illinois? Illinois grows corn and soybeans instead of wheat.

Google Earth, Aug 2020

A street view catches the construction activity in 2018.

Street View, May 2018

A street view of the new mill does show some truck action.

Street View, Nov 2022

The satellite image accessed Jan 2023 is older than 2017.

Satellite

But people have uploaded photos to the new ADM label.

Beetle Bailey, Dec 2020

2019 Update: The Del Monte plant has rail service, but it is being closed.

Satellite

MENDOTA – Del Monte Foods will be announcing on Tuesday plans to close the  Mendota Plant by spring of 2020.  The 431 acre facility on the East side of Mendota has been a part of the community since 1949.  According to multiple sources inside the plant, the company says the permanent layoffs will begin at the end of the current pack season October 21st with a full closure in June of 2020. [WGLC]

David Jordan shared a link with the comment:

BNSF will lose a customer because of this. I haven't seen a reason given for the closure, but guessing the company realized other plants could absorb the work.
https://www.wglc.net/del-monte-to-close-mendota-plant/

David Jordan "Mendota, IL
PROCESSING PLANT
The Mendota facility was constructed in 1949 and spans 431 acres. Mendota's fresh pack products include peas, peas & carrots, cream style corn, whole kernel corn, mixed vegetables, corn specialties, and lima beans. Mendota also produces broth and dry beans outside of the fresh packing season. The workforce consists of approximately 31 salaried and 106 regular hourly employees with a peak seasonal headcount of approximately 550 employees."

https://delmontefoods.com/our-company/our-locations

Lukas Irons There closing the Sleepy Eye Mn plant too

Steve Nichols Add the Cambria, WI plant to the list as well. While it hasn’t been served by the WSOR in quite a few years, the siding leading to the plant is still intact. 

Things must not be looking good for Del Monte.

https://www.channel3000.com/.../del-monte-to.../1111842818