AFIA Announces 2018 Feed Facility of the Year Category Winners
February 4, 2019
Contact Victoria Broehm, Director of Communications
The American Feed Industry Association and Feedstuffs are proud to announce four category winners for the 2018 Feed Facility of the Year (FFY) program. AFIA congratulates Famo Feeds of Freeport, Minn., as the winner of the commercial dry livestock feed plant category; Koch Foods of Morton, Miss., as the winner of the integrator category; Quality Liquid Feeds of Clovis, N.M., as the winner of the liquid feed plant category; and Trouw Nutrition of Highland, Ill., as the winner of the premix manufacturing plant category.
“Each of these facilities has shown it is very deserving of being considered a top plant in its respective category in the 2018 Feed Facility of the Year program,” said Gary Huddleston, AFIA’s director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs. “After months of thoroughly reviewing applications and touring facilities to determine these winners, AFIA is thrilled to announce them, and we look forward to naming the overall winner in a couple weeks at the International Production & Processing Expo. We hope all applicants receive the value the benchmarking program tool provides in helping them on their journey toward continuous improvement.”
The FFY award program is recognized as a first-class benchmarking program for the animal food industry. It compares and recognizes top-performing facilities in four categories: commercial dry livestock, integrator, liquid feed and premix, and from those, an overall winner is selected to receive the FFY award.
The overall FFY winner will be announced Feb. 13 during AFIA’s Feed Production Education Program, which will be held as part of IPPE, happening in Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 12-14.
Famo Feeds – Commercial Dry Feed Category Winner
Famo Feeds has served livestock producers in the Midwest since 1903. It is an animal nutrition business that manufactures and markets a full-line of livestock and poultry feeds. As a family-owned business, Famo Feeds treats its dealers and producer clientele like family. The staff takes pride in the quality of their products and programs, the strength of their team and the collective impact they make in the industry.
In the last few years, Famo Feeds has made a number of improvements and upgrades to the plant, including adding a new automation system, rebuilding a pellet mill and mixer and upgrading a boiler. The new Repete FLX automation system has allowed Famo Feeds to increase its production efficiency while at the same time, improving its working environment. Famo Feeds Vice President Tom Beste has seen almost a 10 percent improvement in capacity while making individuals’ jobs easier.
“Every day we build upon Famo Feed’s commitment to creating quality nutritional solutions for livestock and poultry,” said Beste.
Koch Foods – Integrator Category Winner
Koch Foods’ Morton plant produces more than 700,000 tons of poultry feed each year. The plant has to be extra careful with good housekeeping practices and biosecurity measures, as they are located in the Mississippi Flyway, where wild birds that could be infected with avian influenza spend their winters. To address this issue, the plant added a biosecurity spray station in the fall of 2015. The station operates through one lane, with trucks waiting to enter/exit through the vertical spray arms and tire baths. Another lane has an overhead barrier to prevent anything taller than a van from entering without being sprayed. All mill employees go through this tire bath when entering and leaving the facility.
“The stakes are just too high for us not to be protected from disease,” said Frank Garczynski, feed mill manager.
Garczynski noted that the Morton mill has not had a lost-time accident in four years of heavy production. The mill is considered in the top 5 percent of individual mill capacities worldwide and it is all produced in just five days a week.
Quality Liquid Feeds – Liquid Feed Category Winner
Quality Liquid Feeds (QLF) is a full-line liquid feed and cooked low-moisture block organization that serves the animal feeding industry nationwide. The Clovis, N.M. plant, one of 17 in the QLF network of manufacturing facilities, is focused on continuous improvement and a dedication to providing excellent customer service.
Every angle of the plant is designed to grow. A new elevator leg on the company’s dry system is the latest addition and has helped speed up operations and minimize bottlenecks. The Clovis plant also just completed installation of a new plant control system. In addition, the facility has three separate mix lines that are kept totally separate in order to prevent any potential contamination. When building the plant, every dairy person QLF consulted wanted assurance related to contamination.
“QLF is always looking for ways to improve our feed and help the consumer,” said Jason Brawley, QLF plant manager.
Trouw Nutrition – Premix Category Winner
Trouw Nutrition’ Highland, Ill. plant manufactures vitamin, mineral and base premixes for companion animals. The plant produces premixes that range from fine-powdered products to dry whole fruit trail mix type products to peas, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and more. The plant has 29 full-time employees.
“The pet food industry is a very confidential business and very competitive. Required are a lot more layers of validating and testing,” said Monty Barker, plant manager. “We have to make it baby food safe.”
AFIA and Feedstuffs have conducted the FFY, and its predecessor program, since 1985, recognizing 71 total companies for outstanding performance in animal food manufacturing. More information on the FFY program, as well as a list of past winners, can be found on AFIA’s website.
Editorial Note: To obtain high-resolution files of the images above to use for editorial purposes, contact Lacie Dotterweich, AFIA’s communications coordinator, at ldotterweich@afia.org, or Victoria Broehm, AFIA’s director of communications, at vbroehm@afia.org.