Bringing New Life to an Old Mill

When Hull Coop acquired a long-idled feed mill in Sheldon, IA, they saw an opportunity to revitalize a facility that had been dormant for more than a year. With a combination of reused and new equipment, the cooperative set out to modernize the mill into a fully functional, efficient operation. The Interstates Sioux Center, IA, Regional Office played a key role in bringing that vision to life. “It was a complete change-out of equipment other than the legs and screw feeders,” says Keith Vollink, Superintendent at Interstates. “The MCCs stayed in place, but everything else needed careful evaluation to determine what could be reused and what needed replacement.” 

Planning with Precision

From the beginning, the project demanded thorough planning. “When I first walked the site, there was a large mix of newer and original wiring,” says Austin Schmidt, Superintendent at Interstates. “Almost every wire was spliced and had no labeling. We had to decide how much to research versus what needed to be demoed to get a quality end product.” To support the planning process, Interstates used a Matterport scan to create a virtual walkthrough of the facility. “It was especially helpful for estimating and identifying any spatial clashes,” says Vollink. “We could check for conflicts in conduit routing or equipment layout before ever stepping on-site.” 

According to Project Manager Nate Van Kley, the team had to make early, budget-conscious decisions. “We didn’t want to gut the whole facility, but it had to be serviceable. Once we had the final equipment list, we reviewed what starters we could reuse, updated InterTrak, and determined the best MCC placement, all to keep costs down while delivering a solid product.” 

Sorting through legacy infrastructure was one of the most challenging aspects of the project. “The existing gear was updated in 2012, so that helped, but we chose to repull all motor and control wire for reliability,” says Schmidt. “We marked each existing conduit for its new purpose and used InterTrak to manage all aspects of the install.” 

Schmidt also identified a critical flaw in the original programmable logic controller (PLC) design that could have caused long-term maintenance headaches. “There were 192 inputs on one circuit breaker, which would have made troubleshooting nearly impossible,” he explains. “I went directly to the client and walked them through the benefits of adding individual protection per group of devices. They understood the value right away. This way, if a device has an issue, only 16 inputs are affected, not the entire panel.” 

Partnership in Problem Solving 

Throughout the project, the Interstates team worked closely with Hull Coop to align engineering decisions with operational goals. “Once the trust was built, we were able to field-engineer the best options for them,” says Schmidt. “They wanted us as a partner to figure it out and get their mill running.” That partnership extended to every stage of execution, including coordination with overseas vendors. “The controls engineers were overseas, so we had to do most of the wire checks on our own,” says Schmidt. “We managed remote checkouts before the programmers arrived on-site, which helped keep the project on track.” 

Delivering Reliable Results 

At completion, Hull Coop received a revitalized mill that was functionally modern while respecting budget and operational constraints. “Even though it’s an older facility, we can still say our quality and workmanship are outstanding,” says Vollink. 

Van Kley agrees. “This project shows we can bring creative, cost-effective solutions to an older infrastructure,” he says. “We helped Hull Coop get a facility they can rely on well into the future.”