For many farmer-owned cooperatives that manufacture animal feed, expanding means adding to the number of feed mills. At Wisconsin-based Countryside Cooperative, it meant subtracting.
In 2012, the coop had nine feed mills. Today there are two, one in Mondovi, WI and the newer at Menomonie, WI, which began feed production in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“We had a lot of aging facilities, some of them more than 50 years old,” says CEO/General Manager Frank Brenner, who has 36 years in the feed business, the last four at Countryside. “They were needing upgrades to meet new regulations such as FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act). “For what it would take to invest in the existing mills, it made more sense for us to spend capital on new facilities and consolidate our production there.”
Countryside took bids from three contractors and awarded the contract to SMA, LLC, Monticello, MN (763-295-4367).
Also involved was VAA, LLC, Plymouth, MN (763-559-9100), which did structural engineering work. Easy Automation Inc., Welcome, MN (800-397-9736), supplied the automated control systems.
Countryside selected a site for the mill to serve the northern half of its territory, directly off Interstate 94. The site also has potential rail service from a BNSF Railway main line, and plans are to add that as needed.
Work on the $14.3 million all-steel mill began in August 2016.
Incoming ingredient trucks are weighed on a 80-foot pitless Rice Lake inbound-outbound truck scale and sampled using a Gamet truck probe before continuing on to the receiving pit, which is serviced by a 5,000-bph Schlagel leg.
Whole-grain corn is sent to a 100,000-bushel GSI corrugated steel tank standing 48 feet in diameter, 62-1/2 feet tall at the eave, and 75-1/2 feet tall at the peak. Corn is ground on a triple-high RMS roller mill at 30 tph.
Other ingredients are sent to a set of 43 overhead SMA square bins holding a total of 1,850 tons. In addition to the ingredient bins, the mill also has 22 finished feed loadout bins holding a total of 320 tons.
The mill has four different production lines – a main batching line, pelleted feed line, a flaking line for textured feeds primarily for dairy calves, and a mineral mix line, all under the control of the Easy Automation batching system. Brenner notes that the mill has enough space to add a second pellet line in the future.
Feeds destined for pelleting are mixed in a Scott 6-ton double-paddle mixer in three-minute batches. Lower volume ingredients are mixed in from a six-tote system or a 24-bin Easy Automation microingredient system. Fats and liquids also can be added at 13 different locations from a set of F.A.T.S. liquid tanks inside the mill.
Mash feed continues on to a CPM pellet mill rated at 12 tph, topped by a CPM steam conditioner using steam produced by a Johnston 250-hp boiler. Pellets continue through a CPM counterflow cooler, with some run through a CPM crumbler for products such as baby pig feeds.
Corn for textured feeds is heated to 206 degrees, treated with steam to bring them up to 23% moisture, then processed in a CPM flaking mill at 10 tph. After being processed, thick flakes head to a 2-ton Scott calf feed mixer, while thin flakes go directly to bulk loadout.
Customized mineral mixes are combined in a dedicated Scott 2-ton mixer and bagged.
Feeds and mixes intended for bagging are bagged on a scale with bag closer from Express Scale Mfg.
Bulk feeds are loaded onto the Menomonie mill’s fleet of 11 trucks through six straight drops with air gates in the loadout bay over a Rice Lake 80-foot pit-type scale.
Key personnel:
Reprinted from Grain Journal September/October 2018 Issue
