On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, trucks were lined up waiting to unload before 8:00 a.m. The scales had a steady flow of trucks.

Following the flood of 2019 and several months of repairs, Gavilon opened its scales on January 13, 2020, near Phelps City, Missouri. Despite the floodwaters being gone, Gavilon experienced several setbacks to the facility, the biggest being not having electricity and being able to keep air flowing in its silos, which in turn caused a fire that lasted for several weeks. Along with the silos, the ground pile of soybeans caught fire and also burned for a long time. All of this just added to the complication of getting the facility back up and operational.

Since January 13, Gavilon has taken in over one million bushels of corn and has successfully loaded out one train, according to Site Superintendent Jason Lewis. Jason went on to say that they are still working on a few issues, but their main goal was to get back in operation to help out their customers. It feels good to be back and they appreciated their customers’ patience during this time.

Area Manager Aaron McHargue added that the facility is taking corn, both white and yellow, and soybeans. As repairs are being made, upgrades have also been put in. For example, a new kiosk system for the scale has been installed. Now drivers can just swipe a card and start the process for unloading. Without lines, the process should take about three minutes. Aaron stated that they were very happy to be up and going and really appreciated everyone’s support throughout the process. He also added that the goal is to have all of the repairs done and be fully operational by this summer.