Superior Ag celebrates new Dale Feed Mill

Superior Ag held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new feed mill operation in Dale Friday.

Construction for the feed mill began in January 2017 with WL Portland as the general contractor. The $20 million project represents new job opportunity and economic growth for Southern Indiana and the entire cooperative footprint.

The feed mill can produce 3,000 tons of livestock nutrition weekly and provide bagged or bulk products of feed and supplements. The mill will feature a new pelleting line and an automated bagging and stacker system. It will aid to ensure all animal nutrition federal health and safety regulations are met. Animal Nutrition production is scheduled to begin the middle of June 2018.

“Our feed milling operations are continuously growing due to customer and consumer demand. The new feed mill will promote efficiency, reduce costs and provide local farms with enhanced livestock nutrition,” said Barry Day, President and CEO of Superior Ag. “The new facility will enable us to keep our costs competitive in our ongoing efforts to provide superior value to our member-customers through consistent delivery of high-quality products, innovation and service.”

Food safety is driving regulations and standards, hence the construction of Superior Ag’s new feed mill facility. In 2015, FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) final rule was published for animal nutrition facilities to comply with Current Good Manufacturing Practice. Dates to comply are based on the size of the facility, and Superior Ag must comply by September 2018, to meet preventive control requirements. The FSMA requires animal nutrition facilities to have a food safety plan in place that incorporates the analysis of hazards to determine control & risk-based preventative controls to minimize and prevent hazards.

In 2016, Superior Ag’s Board of Directors made the decision to invest in the construction of a new facility. To be compliant with the FSMA regulations, the upgrades alone on our current facilities would far exceed the cost of the new facility.

With the new facility, Superior Ag will be able to grow the Livestock Nutrition business. With a new and advanced facility, increased pelleting capacity, added ingredients, higher quality products and more purchase power will allow Superior Ag to provide more specialized animal nutrition to local producers and member-customers. Superior Ag’s current feed mill locations in St. Meinrad and Jasper will merge operations into the Dale location.