World Grain - November 2009 - 41

FEATURE: GEOGRAPHICALLY WELL POSITIONED

Wheat to the Saginaw mill is supplied by Gavilon L.L.C., the grain merchandising and trading business
spun off from ConAgra Mills in June 2008. Gavilon owns the elevator next to the Saginaw mill. The elevator is one of the nation's largest grain storage facilities with 15,353,000 bushels of storage capacity.

ity and food safety," he said.
From a large-picture perspective, this
commitment has steadily changed the
face of ConAgra Mills, he said.
"If you go back only five years, we
were operating 28 facilities," Brown said.
"Today the figure is 23, but capacity is the
same. We are investing in modernizing
facilities in key markets. The trend in the
industry toward fewer, larger mills is one
we believe will continue."
Even though they are quite close to
one another, the Sherman and Saginaw
mills are very different in where they
source wheat. While Sherman is deeper
into Texas wheat-growing territory than
Saginaw, the latter mill actually is better
positioned to take advantage of Texas
wheat because its rail access allows it to
draw from a wider network of sources
within the state.
"Quality of the Texas crop is very
good this year, but it is a small crop,
and we will be bringing more wheat in
from outside the state," said Jeffrey D.
Thomas, head miller.
Wheat to the mill is supplied by
Gavilon L.L.C., the grain merchandising and trading business spun off from
42

ConAgra Foods in June 2008. Gavilon
now owns the elevator next to the Saginaw mill. The elevator, which receives
wheat on the Burlington Northern Santa
Fe and the Union Pacific railroads, has
15,353,000 bushels (417,000 tonnes) of
storage capacity, making it one of the
largest terminal elevators in the United
States. Still a major rail center, the area
just around the Saginaw mill has one of
the largest concentrations of terminal elevator grain storage capacity in the nation, giving ConAgra Mills good access
to wheat from a vast expanse of origins.
"We have the ability to unload shuttle
trains (100 cars), and you can count on
one hand the number of U.S. mills with
that capacity," Brown said. "The fact that
the elevator is so large allows us to bin
for specific qualities very effectively."
GIVING A NEW
MILL A SECOND CHANCE
Brown described Garvert as one of
ConAgra Mills' veteran mill managers.
Indeed, Garvert, a graduate of Kansas
State University, has had assignments
at an astonishing number of ConAgra
Mills facilities since joining the com-

pany in 1981 - Sherman, Texas; Martins Creek, Pennsylvania; Omaha, Nebraska; York, Red Lion and Highspire,
Pennsylvania; Tampa, Florida.; Decatur,
Alabama; and St. Paul, New Prague,
Wabasha and Hastings, Minnesota.
Many mills at which Garvert was assigned have been closed as part of mill
consolidation during parts of the 1980s
and 1990s. For instance, he was working in Duluth, Minnesota for the winding down of a large durum mill there.
He also was involved in the shutdown
of mills in St. Paul, Fergus Falls and
Wabasha.
For all that experience, Garvert describes his tenure at Saginaw as unique.
Garvert returned to Texas six years ago
as ConAgra Mills was acquiring the assets of Country Home Milling, which
had been tied up in bankruptcy court.
ConAgra Mills had bid against another
leading milling company for the assets.
The mill had been built in 1999 by
three organizations that jointly funded
the business - Farmland Industries,
Inc.; a regional cooperative in Oklahoma and Bay State Milling Co.
The mill had run a little longer than
a year and then went into receivership.
So when ConAgra Mills gained control
of the facility three years later, it essentially acquired a brand new flour mill.
Still, the reality was a little more complicated than the image of a gleaming
new mill. While dozens of mills have
been closed in recent years, few have
been shut down in the way developments unfolded at Saginaw, because of
the bankruptcy.
"It was closed abruptly by the creditors," Garvert said. "The operators were
not given the opportunity to 'put it to
bed' the way a miller would like."
As a result, ConAgra Mills, in resuming operations more than two years
later, faced a number of time consuming, labor intensive challenges in dealing with sanitation problems at the
Saginaw mill.
Garvert and the staff spent six months
cleaning the facility, readying it for
operation.

November 2009 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - November 2009