Ethanol has become a huge industry in Iowa and Iowa Northern Railway Company is right in the middle of it. Iowa Northern Railway provides rail service for outbound products for Flint Hills Resources at Fairbank and Shell Rock, IA. With any ethanol production there are also co-products that need to be transported. Dried Distillers Grains make up the bulk of these products and are distributed as feed for dairy, beef, swine, and poultry markets all over the world. Along with the production facilities on line, Iowa Northern is also a partner in developing Manly Terminal to facilitate the transportation of ethanol for other producers, traders, marketers, and buyers. It is the first of its kind origin terminal and acts as the beginning of a virtual pipeline.

Manly Terminal has also developed into a distribution center for wind turbine components. Generators, hubs, blades, and tower sections are railed in from ports and manufacturing facilities from all US coasts and Canada for distribution to wind farms throughout the Midwest.