Kent Nutrition Group Marshall Plant Wins 2022 Commercial Feed Facility of the Year
January 25, 2023
Contact Lacie Dotterweich, Communications and Social Media Manager
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has named the Kent Nutrition Group’s feed manufacturing facility of Marshall, Mo., as its 2022 Commercial Dry Feed Facility of the Year. Gary Huddleston, AFIA’s director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs, presented plant manager Chris Igo with the award today during the AFIA’s Feed Education Program, happening in conjunction with the International Production & Processing Expo.
“Kent Nutrition’s Marshall facility prides themselves on excellent customer service, high-quality feed and dedication, and those traits shine through,” said Huddleston. “We like to honor the facilities that do the right thing every day and that is surely Kent Nutrition.”
Kent Nutrition Group (KNG) is a division of Kent Corporation, a family-owned, American company that manufactures high-quality nutrition products for everything from livestock to small animals. The KNG’s Marshall animal food manufacturing facility produces approximately 52,000 tons of multi-species animal food annually.
Originally built in 1976, the Marshall team is comprised of 14 members. In their efforts toward continuous improvement, the facility recently installed a new Repete pellet mill automation system in 2020, which has allowed the plant to streamline its mixing process and put in place safeguards to reduce opportunities for human error, such as proceeding with a manufacturing run if the sequencing and flushing procedures are not properly followed.
The AFIA has been recognizing excellent feed manufacturing facilities through the Feed Mill of the Year program since 1985. Beginning in 2016, the program was expanded to the Feed Facility of the Year and began offering awards for an overall winner and four category winners. In 2021, the FFY program separated each category into its own individual program: liquid feed, commercial dry, premix and ingredient, and integrator, with each category having its own facility of the year award. Learn more at afia.org/FFY.
The semi-finalists for AFIA’s 2022 Commercial Feed Facility of the Year award are Kent Nutrition Group of Mason, Mich., Belstra Milling of DeMotte, Ind., and Western Milling of Goshen, Calif.