CPI’s Lewis location along Highway 14 North—known as the Lewis Grain Complex—hosted an open house Thursday, Aug. 29, in the grain building.
The Lewis Grain Complex broke ground in May 2023, where the phases of the project were announced.
During the groundbreaking, it was noted that CPI chose this particular stretch of land—between County Roads 318 and 319—as it’s a good location for trucks since it’s centrally located between three central ethanol plants.
Two bunkers were constructed first, which hold two million bushels of corn. The grain building was the second part of phase one to be built; it holds three million bushels of corn and soybeans. Construction on the building began in October 2023.
The bunkers and building were built by Macon Construction Co.
CPI CEO Gary Brandt said the second phase will be installing a train track that starts at the east side of the grain building traveling around the side to the west, and then circling near the road. It will need to be big enough to hold 120 train cars.
For the past couple of years, Kansas has experiences poor crops, so CPI has had to ship grain to Kansas to help feed cattle.
This in turn delays the amount of grain stored at the grain complex, but if Kansas has a better harvest, CPI can start filling the bunkers and grain building.
Last year during harvest, the complex filled one bunker with corn.
Brandt said feedback from farmers so far is they are excited to have another local place to take crops to.
The grain building is a cost-effective way to store grain, and the best way to use money that went into building the location.
Three thousand trucks can unload at the building, and each truck is unloaded in about 40 seconds.
The third phase includes building an elevator either south or north of the grain building, but Brandt said that part of the project is five to six years down the road.
