World Grain - August 2018 - 56
FEED QUARTERLY: SUPERIOR AG GOES ALL IN ON FEED Superior Ag acquires former Cargill grain elevator A Symach palletizing system prepares bagged feed for distribution. Photo courtesy of Superior Ag. get into places like northern Indiana and Iowa and it's mainly integrated, and for them it's more about volume, not margins. We're not interested in that type of deal. That is not our focus." A variety of livestock to feed means Superior Ag must procure a long list of ingredients and micro-ingredients for the mill, including, but not limited to, corn, soybean meal, wheat midds, gluten, soy hulls, bakery oats and pulverized oats. "We have lots of bins," said Day, noting that the facility currently has 70,000 bushels of storage capacity with plans to expand that total. "We have 31 ingredient bins on the roof, 24 micro-ingredient bins and we have room to put in another 12 bins." Day said instead of using a "here is what we make, take it or leave it" approach, Superior Ag works with each individual livestock producer to customize the feed product to meet their animal nutrition needs. "It goes back to our vision of doing the right thing and trying to work with them as a team," Day said. "We work toward a common goal of keeping them in business and doing what's best for them. That's why we have so many ingredients. We will customize to every individual producer for their needs." The Dale mill does not receive any grain via rail since all its feed ingredients are produced nearby and brought in by truck. "Rail's not necessary for us because we have soybean processors and ethanol plants in the area as well as plenty of soybean and corn production," Day said. MEETING THE FSMA CHALLENGE Serving as the point man in Superior Ag's effort to comply with FSMA is Tim Bender, manager of the 56 While Superior Ag's animal nutrition business continues to grow with the unveiling of its new feed mill in Dale, Indiana, U.S., the cooperative also serves area farmers with other segments of its business, including grain storage, which recently expanded with the acquisition of a former Cargill grain elevator in Princeton, Indiana, U.S. Cargill closed the facility in 2017. With the addition of the Princeton facility, Superior Ag operates six elevators with 6.6 million bushels of storage capacity in southern Indiana. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "The purchase of this facility will open up much needed storage, while still allowing for the flexibility of delivering grain to the best market," Superior Ag said. Livestock Nutrition Division. Bender handles a wide range of responsibilities for the cooperative. "Tim is not only our division manager but is also our lead swine salesman," Day said. "His knowledge and experience in the swine industry is second to none. Veterinarians are known to call him at times." With its FDA inspection looming, Superior Ag has WDNHQDQXPEHURIVWHSVVXFKDVKLULQJ¿YHDGGLWLRQDO employees, including a quality control manager, increasing the amount of documentation and recordkeeping, adding a new computer system, and replacing almost all of its old processing equipment with new equipment. Also, all inbound ingredients and outbound feed is sampled, Day said. "Every load that goes out, we have a sample of it," Day said. August 2018 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com