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POLO – The new Bocker Ruff LLC grain terminal is fully operational – the first train arrived at the facility northwest of Polo late last month.
Gary Bocker, owner and operator of Bocker Grain Inc. north of Polo for 40 years, teamed up with Consolidated Grain and Barge Co., and Ruff Brothers Grain Co. of Toluca to build the area’s only rail terminal especially for corn transport.
The facility on U.S. Route 52 near the intersection with state Route 26 opened in October with three 400,000-bushel bins and one 150,000-bushel bin. It will employ four or five people full time, and that many more when trains are being loaded.
The four towering grain bins have been full of corn since, just waiting for the railroad spur to be completed across the field from the nearby BNSF tracks.
The spur, which is large enough for a train with 110 grain cars and four engines, curves up from the railroad to the loading area near the bins and then back down to the tracks, where the trains will take their loads of corn south to Texas, New Mexico and Mexico.
Planning for the rail terminal began about 4 years ago when Bocker and Jesse Ruff chose a location and worked out the details. Construction was to begin in 2009, but various delays postponed the groundbreaking until last year.
Wet weather last spring caused construction delays, when crews, heavy equipment and tractor-trailers bringing materials to the job site had to deal with melting snow, pouring rain, mud, and standing water.
Getting ready to lay the railroad tracks was no small project.
“Getting the dirt moved was the big thing,” Bocker said.
Because the spur must be on level ground for loading cars, 16 to 18 cubic feet of dirt had to be removed from one area, then that much had to be added in another spot.
The ground was built up a few inches at a time. The area also had to be dry before the tracks could be laid.
Inside, the grain terminal operations are controlled by computers in a small office building.
Another small building nearby will house a federal inspector, who will check random samples taken from each car to make sure the grain being loaded meets several quality requirements.
The bins were filled soon after the facility opened, mostly with corn from Wisconsin elevators.
“Because of the early harvest, the season was almost over when we opened. Wisconsin was running out of elevator space, and we were paying more than they were up there,” Bocker said.
Bocker hopes to start buying grain again once the bins start emptying. He expects his customers will be local farmers who will save on transportation costs by having the rail terminal so close to home, rather than hauling it to the Illinois River.
“We hope they can make at least 10 cents more for a bushel of corn,” he said.
Get in touch
Farmers interested in selling corn to Bocker Ruff LLC can go to www.bockerruff.com or call 815-946-2033 for more information.
Gary Bocker, owner and operator of Bocker Grain Inc. north of Polo for 40 years, owns the terminal with Consolidated Grain and Barge Co., and Ruff Brothers Grain Co. of Toluca.
The facility superintendent is Paul Behrends; the merchandiser is Alicia Ackerman.