NEW Cooperative buys old Monsanto building, plans Storm Lake expansion

NEW Cooperative’s purchase of the old Monsanto building in Storm Lake for $2.55 million is more than a real estate deal. It gives the Fort Dodge-based cooperative a foothold beside Highway 71 and positions it to expand crop services, add storage capacity and deepen its reach in a county where agriculture still drives investment and employment.

The company is seeking approval to build a 90,000-gallon anhydrous fertilizer tank on the west side of the former Bayer facility at 6135 S. Highway 71. If it is approved, the project would add a major piece of infrastructure to serve farmers closer to Storm Lake, rather than sending them farther out of county for inputs that have become essential to planting-season logistics and year-round agronomy work.

Frank Huseman, NEW Cooperative’s operations manager based in Fort Dodge, said the customer base determines how quickly the business can grow, and he tied the Storm Lake move to demand rather than speculation. That matters in Buena Vista County, where the company would be entering a competitive market already served by Landus in Early and AgState in Storm Lake. A larger local footprint could shift where growers buy fertilizer, seed, grain and feed services, while also supporting additional jobs tied to hauling, storage, sales and agronomy.

County zoning and state safety rules will shape how far the expansion can go. Ben Mueggenberg, Buena Vista County’s environmental health and zoning director, said an Iowa Department of Agriculture inspector had already visited the site and verbally confirmed that it meets setback requirements. Iowa rules for new anhydrous ammonia storage tanks over 30,000 gallons and up to 100,000 gallons require 50 feet of separation from a highway and 450 feet from a place of public assembly, and the state must approve the tank before it is brought in. After county review, NEW Cooperative would still have to submit plans, drawings and a state application before construction could begin.

The Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to review the request at a special session Tuesday, May 26, 2026. The timing underscores how quickly the proposal moved onto the county’s agenda, and how closely local officials are weighing the tradeoff between industrial growth and land-use protections in a corridor already shaped by agriculture.

NEW Cooperative says it serves about 12,000 member-owners across 85 Iowa locations and more than 4.8 million acres in its trade territory. Formed in 1973 through the merger of the Badger and Vincent farmer cooperatives, it has grown aggressively in recent years, with annual sales rising from $700 million to $1.5 billion over the past decade. In Storm Lake, that growth now points to a larger bet on local farm demand, county tax base and the long-term industrial footprint along Highway 71.