Landus brings change, but many things stay the same
Harvest is the busiest time of the year for the farm cooperative.
Posted 11/09/2022
By Susan Thompson
Lake Panorama Times
For many years, the large complex of grain bins, an office building and truck scales on the northeast corner of Panora was part of the Heartland Co-op. In February 2022, Landus and Heartland Co-op reached an agreement for Landus to purchase the Panora and Rippey grain and agronomy assets from Heartland, while Heartland purchased the Woodward and Earlham grain, agronomy and feed assets from Landus.
This brought some changes to the Panora farm cooperative, but many things have stayed the same. One of those is Brenda Wilson, who continues as the Panora location lead, just as she was for 20 years under Heartland Co-op. Wilson graduated from Adair-Casey High School and earned an associate degree at Nebraska College of Business in Omaha.
“If it weren’t for my customers throughout the years who had confidence in me, I may have stayed with Heartland just because it was familiar and safe,” Wilson says. “But I look out for my customers, and I think a lot of each of them.”
Another reason Wilson decided to make the move to Landus was because of its president and CEO, Matt Carstens, a Guthrie County native.
Carstens grew up near Bagley where his family still farms and attended high school in Panora, where he met his wife, Shanda. He earned a degree in agricultural business from Iowa State University. After 25 years of experience in the agriculture industry, he was named Landus Cooperative president and CEO in March 2020.
Aaron Hall, who had worked for Heartland for eight years, also became a Landus employee, along with Wilson.
“We have a wonderful part-time/seasonal crew including Sheila Trent, who’s been here 13 years; Butch Grage, who retired from Landus in Bayard but has helped us part-time for five years; Gavin Pote; and three migrant workers from Mexico who are here for harvest season,” Wilson says.
Carstens says it’s been a privilege getting to work more closely with farmers in the Panora community.
“We also have been thrilled to welcome new employees to the Landus team this past year at Panora,” he says. “The local employees know the community and local farmers better than anyone, so it’s important we support and empower them to do what’s right for their farmers.”
Harvest is the busiest time of the year for the cooperative, as trucks filled with harvested grain cross the scales to be weighed before unloading.
“We have corn storage for more than 1.7 million bushels and soybean storage of over 416,000 bushels here in Panora,” says Wilson. “This harvest season, we’ve received more than 600,000 bushels of beans. Our overage is shipped to Yale or Ralston during soybean harvest.
“We want our farmers to bring us their grain and we’ll figure out where it goes,” she continues. “We work hard to be open and ready to serve during harvest season, since we know how hard our farmers are working. We’re in the grain business, and we’ll work to serve our customers for all of their corn and soybean needs. We’re also proud to serve the needs of the community with lawn fertilizer, lawn chemicals, packaged chemicals, pet foods and livestock feeds.”
The earliest known roots of Landus developed in 1888 with Farmers Elevator and Livestock Company in Jordan, Iowa. Over the years, dozens of elevators, grain companies, feed millers and suppliers, agronomy facilities and even a hardware store and energy company merged, changed hands and banded together. The transformations culminated in 2016 with the founding of Landus.
Landus is headquartered in Des Moines and serves more than 7,000 farmer-owners in Iowa and Minnesota. Membership is a one-time fee of $500 and is systemwide, not tied to a specific location. Members enjoy discounts on vehicles and hotel rooms, can attend the cooperative’s virtual annual meeting in December, and earn patronage on their purchases from Landus.
Besides the fairly new Landus location in Panora, other Landus locations in Guthrie County are in Bayard, Casey, Stuart and Yale. Carstens says the purchase of the Panora location was a good move for farmer members in the area.
“Through our expansive rail network and optimization partnerships, Landus was able to immediately plug the Panora facility into a powerful hub of grain demand. Panora is key to helping us support our grain asset in Hamlin, where we recently announced a partnership with AMVC to build a state-of-the-art feed mill that will consume more than eight million bushels of corn annually,” Carstens says.
“Panora also is critical to our shuttle loading facility in Bayard, where we shipped out more than 17 million bushels of corn to export markets last year,” he says. “Panora is such a great strategic fit for Landus within this territory, which gives local farmers closer access to more valuable markets and end users of their grain. We’ve been able to shorten the distance local grain has to travel to access rail or processing markets.”
Landus is the seventh largest grain company in North America as measured by grain storage. The cooperative has more than 600 employees across 60 locations in the United States and Mexico and exports 19% of the corn and 16% of the soybean grown in Iowa.
Meanwhile, at the Landus location in Panora, Wilson is busy taking care of her farmer customers and praising her team for their hard work and dedication. She also owns a commercial cleaning business, and she and her husband farm in the Casey area, where they raise corn, beans, hay and have a commercial cow-calf operation.
By Susan Thompson
Lake Panorama Times
For many years, the large complex of grain bins, an office building and truck scales on the northeast corner of Panora was part of the Heartland Co-op. In February 2022, Landus and Heartland Co-op reached an agreement for Landus to purchase the Panora and Rippey grain and agronomy assets from Heartland, while Heartland purchased the Woodward and Earlham grain, agronomy and feed assets from Landus.
This brought some changes to the Panora farm cooperative, but many things have stayed the same. One of those is Brenda Wilson, who continues as the Panora location lead, just as she was for 20 years under Heartland Co-op. Wilson graduated from Adair-Casey High School and earned an associate degree at Nebraska College of Business in Omaha.
“If it weren’t for my customers throughout the years who had confidence in me, I may have stayed with Heartland just because it was familiar and safe,” Wilson says. “But I look out for my customers, and I think a lot of each of them.”
Another reason Wilson decided to make the move to Landus was because of its president and CEO, Matt Carstens, a Guthrie County native.
Carstens grew up near Bagley where his family still farms and attended high school in Panora, where he met his wife, Shanda. He earned a degree in agricultural business from Iowa State University. After 25 years of experience in the agriculture industry, he was named Landus Cooperative president and CEO in March 2020.
Aaron Hall, who had worked for Heartland for eight years, also became a Landus employee, along with Wilson.
“We have a wonderful part-time/seasonal crew including Sheila Trent, who’s been here 13 years; Butch Grage, who retired from Landus in Bayard but has helped us part-time for five years; Gavin Pote; and three migrant workers from Mexico who are here for harvest season,” Wilson says.
Carstens says it’s been a privilege getting to work more closely with farmers in the Panora community.
“We also have been thrilled to welcome new employees to the Landus team this past year at Panora,” he says. “The local employees know the community and local farmers better than anyone, so it’s important we support and empower them to do what’s right for their farmers.”
Harvest is the busiest time of the year for the cooperative, as trucks filled with harvested grain cross the scales to be weighed before unloading.
“We have corn storage for more than 1.7 million bushels and soybean storage of over 416,000 bushels here in Panora,” says Wilson. “This harvest season, we’ve received more than 600,000 bushels of beans. Our overage is shipped to Yale or Ralston during soybean harvest.
“We want our farmers to bring us their grain and we’ll figure out where it goes,” she continues. “We work hard to be open and ready to serve during harvest season, since we know how hard our farmers are working. We’re in the grain business, and we’ll work to serve our customers for all of their corn and soybean needs. We’re also proud to serve the needs of the community with lawn fertilizer, lawn chemicals, packaged chemicals, pet foods and livestock feeds.”
The earliest known roots of Landus developed in 1888 with Farmers Elevator and Livestock Company in Jordan, Iowa. Over the years, dozens of elevators, grain companies, feed millers and suppliers, agronomy facilities and even a hardware store and energy company merged, changed hands and banded together. The transformations culminated in 2016 with the founding of Landus.
Landus is headquartered in Des Moines and serves more than 7,000 farmer-owners in Iowa and Minnesota. Membership is a one-time fee of $500 and is systemwide, not tied to a specific location. Members enjoy discounts on vehicles and hotel rooms, can attend the cooperative’s virtual annual meeting in December, and earn patronage on their purchases from Landus.
Besides the fairly new Landus location in Panora, other Landus locations in Guthrie County are in Bayard, Casey, Stuart and Yale. Carstens says the purchase of the Panora location was a good move for farmer members in the area.
“Through our expansive rail network and optimization partnerships, Landus was able to immediately plug the Panora facility into a powerful hub of grain demand. Panora is key to helping us support our grain asset in Hamlin, where we recently announced a partnership with AMVC to build a state-of-the-art feed mill that will consume more than eight million bushels of corn annually,” Carstens says.
“Panora also is critical to our shuttle loading facility in Bayard, where we shipped out more than 17 million bushels of corn to export markets last year,” he says. “Panora is such a great strategic fit for Landus within this territory, which gives local farmers closer access to more valuable markets and end users of their grain. We’ve been able to shorten the distance local grain has to travel to access rail or processing markets.”
Landus is the seventh largest grain company in North America as measured by grain storage. The cooperative has more than 600 employees across 60 locations in the United States and Mexico and exports 19% of the corn and 16% of the soybean grown in Iowa.
Meanwhile, at the Landus location in Panora, Wilson is busy taking care of her farmer customers and praising her team for their hard work and dedication. She also owns a commercial cleaning business, and she and her husband farm in the Casey area, where they raise corn, beans, hay and have a commercial cow-calf operation.