The plant, scheduled to be on stream in early 2018, will include automated packaging and process controls, as well as a new production line to provide range blocks for cattle, dairy cows and horses, said the agribusiness group.
It said the current Columbus facility will remain operational during construction.
The plant construction project in Nebraska is the latest in a series of expansion initiatives ADM has invested in to bolster its animal nutrition business in the US.
June 2016 saw it open a new animal feed mill in Glencoe, Minnesota and a project to expand and modernize its pet food and specialty livestock feed operations is in play in Effingham, Illinois. That is set to go online in late 2017 or early 2018 at the latest, said ADM.
Both initiatives are aimed at boosting efficiency and optimizing processing technology, said Mark Stephens, director, strategic initiatives at ADM Animal Nutrition.
“The Effingham facility will enable us to expand the [number of] customers we serve due to the efficiencies we will gain at the new plant,” he told FeedNavigator in June. “It will also help us more efficiently meet and exceed the ever-increasing industry standards for pet foods and requirements stemming from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).”
Minnesota plant
The Glencoe site enables additional storage of finished, bagged feeds, which is expected to improve ADM’s ability to deliver product to its customers, said Stephens. Construction on the site started in 2015.
The site has an annual capacity of about 100,000 tons with 30,000 square feet of warehouse space along with 21 bulk ingredient bins and 28 finished feed bins. The facility also uses a patented cold-pelleting system to generate consistent products, he explained.
“The speed of mixing is improved in the new facility, and we now have automated micro bins for better scaling of ingredients and improved product quality,” said Stephens.
“We will be able to serve all of the feed markets in the surrounding areas to the plant: dairy, swine, beef, wildlife and game birds,” he said. “We’ll also be able to produce products for retail locations and farm stores.”
The new facility in Illinois is being constructed in a 284,000 square foot warehouse space and is replacing three current facilities in the area.
In addition to specialty ingredients and livestock premixes, it is to be used to produce pet food and related products, said ADM.