March 28, 2011
Cargill begins production at new Pennsylvania feed mill
Cargill formally declared on March 24 that it will start production at a new, high-capacity feed mill on May 1, 2011.
The new facility, known as the Feed Depot at Letterkenny, is a replacement for Cargill''s feed mill that was ruined in a fire on February 12, 2010.
"Although we lost our mill in the fire, we never lost our commitment to the dairy and livestock producers in this region," said Rob Sheffer, regional general manager for Cargill Animal Nutrition. "That is why every design aspect of our new, world-class facility is aimed to help us deliver the best quality feed possible to our customers."
The new mill boasts state-of-the-art feed batching software to give Cargill Animal Nutrition experts highest quality precision in changing feed to match customer needs. The mill will have larger mixing capacity and flexibility, which will facilitate higher efficiency, larger batches and faster delivery. Other upgraded features include a completely automated grinding and receiving system and grain banking bins available to stock customers'' grains as required. It will also boast one of the most advanced short-mixing systems in the industry, with a computerised bar-coding approach that keeps track of micro-ingredient levels in feed formulations.
With 20% increased production capability, the mill will have an output of 120,000 tonnes of feed annually. It will primarily serve dairy farmers and livestock producers in Franklin, Cumberland and Adams counties in Pennsylvania and Washington, Frederick and Carroll counties in Maryland. After the fire, Cargill has been serving customers from its other production facilities in Lebanon and Martinsburg, Penn.
"The Letterkenny team is excited to get back to serving our customers," said George Wagner, plant manager. "We are very grateful that, with the support of our customers, we have been able to rebuild our mill. With all the improvements that we have made, we will be able to serve them better than ever with safe, high quality feed."
Building of the new mill has been ongoing since September 2010. An open house of the facility is scheduled for early June.
Cargill is an international producer and seller of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 131,000 people in 66 countries. Cargill helps customers do well through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to applying its worldwide knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business.