Spotlight on Lineage in the Great Plains: Connecting the heart of U.S. food production

From beef and pork to poultry and prepared foods, the Great Plains and broader Central U.S. play a major role in feeding communities across the U.S. and around the world. Products move through this region every day, supported by production facilities, transportation corridors and cold storage infrastructure designed to keep food moving efficiently, and safe along the way.

Lineage’s Great Plains network helps connect those operations with facilities and services to support. With cold storage and redistribution facilities across Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Minnesota, the network combines cold storage, rail access and integrated transportation solutions to support high-volume food production and distribution across the central United States.

A network built to support high-volume food production

Food production in the Great Plains and America's Heartland is expansive and depends on the infrastructure to match. The infrastructure needs to handle changing volumes, tight timelines and large-scale operations. Lineage’s network is built to support that reality with scalable solutions including cold storage, flexible handling capabilities and rail-connected facilities positioned near major production regions.

Across the network, customers have access to cold chain services like blast freezing, deep chill, cooler and frozen storage solutions designed to support a wide range of products and operations. Integrated warehousing systems, like Lineage Link, also help improve visibility and coordination as products move through storage, transportation and distribution.

With more than 20 facilities, over 400,000 pallet positions and access to major highway corridors including I-80, I-35, I-29 and I-90, Lineage’s network in the Great Plains helps support efficient movement throughout the Central U.S and across the country.

Connected rail access helps products move farther

Rail continues to play an important role in helping food producers move products efficiently over long distances and in remote areas. Throughout Lineage's Central U.S. network, many of these facilities are positioned to support rail-connected cold chain operations to help customers improve their transportation flexibility while managing costs and sustainability efforts.

Facilities in Sioux Falls, SD and Luverne, MN provide strong rail capabilities, including access to a large rail spur in Sioux Falls. Many facilities in the network also support rail car loading and unloading, truck and rail car spotting and integrated truck transportation services.

The Great Plains network combines these supply chain rail services with integrated transportation solutions, like full truckload and less-than-truckload shipping, to help customers stay agile in the face of market shifts. This helps customers adapt as production schedules, transportation availability and customer demand shift throughout the year.

Supporting the food supply chain from production through export

Cold storage is only one part of the broader supply chain. Products still need to move efficiently through transportation, inspections, handling and export processes.

Across the Great Plains, Lineage supports those operations through integrated services that help simplify coordination throughout the supply chain. Facilities across the region support services like freight forwarding, USDA export services, FDA inspections, transloading and container plug-ins, along with value-added services like labeling, repacking, boxing and defrost services.

By connecting warehousing, handling, transportation and import/export capabilities within one network, Lineage helps reduce friction between the different stages of our customers’ supply chain while supporting efficient product movement from production through distribution and export.

Strategically positioned facilities across the Great Plains

Lineage’s Great Plains network spans key food production and distribution markets across America's agricultural heartland, helping connect products to domestic and export markets through integrated cold chain infrastructure.

Facilities in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma are positioned near major production regions with access to important transportation corridors. This helps support high-volume food movement with scalable cold storage, rail-connected transportation and value-added services.

Farther north, facilities in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota provide flexible cold storage and transportation support backed by strong rail access and integrated truck transportation solutions designed to help customers stay agile in the face of market shifts.

Together, these facilities create a connected cold chain network built to support food producers and shippers across the Great Plains.

Lineage in the Great Plains keeps food moving efficiently

As food production continues to grow across the central U.S., efficient cold chain coordination becomes even more important. Lineage’s Great Plains network helps connect cold storage, transportation, rail access and value-added services to support reliable food movement across domestic and export supply chains.

With strategically positioned facilities, integrated transportation solutions and rail-connected infrastructure, the network is built to help food producers and shippers stay agile while keeping products moving efficiently throughout the Great Plains and beyond.