The Scoular Company has been operating the country elevators in Waverly and Palmyra and the Waverly shuttle train loading facility since 2010.  Previously, the facilities had been owned and operated by Johnson Grain who had enjoyed a close trading relationship with Scoular for many years.  Leading up to 2010, Johnson Grain had been looking to bring expanded service, more markets, and better grain value to its local producers and local economy.

In March 2010, Scoular and Johnson Grain joined forces, forming a new venture to own the facilities and unite the regional operations of the two companies.  It was at this time that all three facilities were incorporated into Scoular's North American marketing network to provide improved market and services access to central Illinois producers. Jay Johnson, President of Johnson Grain, joined Scoular to serve as the company's General Manager of the three facilities.

A Brief History of Johnson Grain

Robert Johnson Grain Co., Inc was established in 1975 and operated solely as a truck to barge grain operation. The P&M elevator in Palmyra was purchased in 1991, allowing Johnson Grain to offer storage.  The company's storage offering increased in 1996 with the purchase of the Waverly country elevator. In 2001, a 1.7 million bushel temporary bunker system was constructed just east of Waverly to help accommodate customers' needs.

Johnson Grain, LLC was formed in 2003 in order to construct a rail loading facility on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The plan was that this new grain terminal would ship corn primarily into southwest Texas and Mexico in 110 car unit trains. The first shuttle was loaded on April 19, 2004.

The initial facility started with 1.3 million bushels of  storage, 10,000 bu/hr of drying capacity, and 40,000 bu/hr of dumping capacity. Additional storage was added over the next three years as well as a third dumping pit in 2007 and a third scale and Compuweigh system in 2008. These improvements drastically increased the speed and accuracy of our inbound process. Most recent improvements included the construction of a 7,000 bu/hr GSI tower dryer, which brought the total drying capacity to 27,000 bushes per hour.