The Aurora Cooperative has announced plans to expand grain storage, drying, and handling capabilities at its three railroad Nebraska terminals located at Sedan, Grand Island, and Aurora (West. The total cost of the facility expansions is estimated at $11 million.

Over the next 18 months, the company, working with its railroad partners Union Pacific and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, will upgrade its grain terminals to increase velocity of grain movement in receiving, staging, and loading unit/shuttle trains at each facility. In addition, the plan calls for the installation of increased grain drying capacity at the Sedan. When completed, each grain terminal will have the full capability of handling multiple species of grain, including yellow/white corn, soybeans, and winter wheat under Class 1 railroad shuttle-train specifications.

Construction at the Sedan and Aurora West locations will begin during the spring of 2010, with both sites planned to utilize its expansion capabilities for the 2010 fall harvest. Construction at the Grand Island location will begin in the fall of 2010, with completion of expansion planned for the summer of 2011.

“The Aurora Cooperative’s grain customers are class-leading in their ability to produce crops at an ever-increasing yield level,” said George Hohwieler, President and CEO of the Aurora Cooperative.

He said one of the company’s primary missions is to seek, engage, and solidify grain markets for our customers.

Hohwieler said the expansion will greatly add in the coop’s ability to access existing and emerging grain markets, especially global export markets through ports in the Pacific Northwest, West Coast, and Gulf of Mexico.

“Our company has financially performed well over the past several years. We are now in a strategic position to invest in our grain platform in a significant manner,” Hohwieler said. ”

For more information, visit www.auroracoop.com.