The build was initially announced in 2016; the 284,000 square foot facility factory took about two years to complete, said Chuck Loefer, VP with ADM Animal Nutrition.
“Effingham is a great central location that will allow us to serve customers across the US from this facility,” he told FeedNavigator. “This plant will help us reach new customers by offering production efficiencies, as well as the ability to meet and exceed ever-increasing industry standards for poultry, livestock and pet food manufacturers, including FSMA requirements.”
Loefer said capacity can be further increased at the premix plant, when needed.
The facility incorporates new technology, including automation for receiving, batching, packaging and loadout, metal detection and protection from receiving through packaging and in-line screening, sifting and sizing abilities.
The site also has multiline batching with simultaneous weighing to improve efficiency and output, said ADM. And the company, he said, has implemented a bar coding system that identifies each item from the point it enters the facility through shipping.
The barcoding system was established to make the creation of individualized products more efficient and to ensure accuracy in recipes and shipments. “We have the ability to add hundreds of different specialty ingredients to our products to meet our customer's exact needs and specifications.”
The process also was intended to provide “excellent traceability capabilities,” said Loefer.
ADM divests grain elevator
Meanwhile, AMD has agreed to see a grain elevator to Landus Cooperative. The deal was announced on Tuesday [May 8]. The elevator in question is based in Manilla, Iowa.
The purchase gives that cooperative an additional 2.3m bushels of grain capacity.
The Iowa-based Landus is a farmer-owned organization, with about 600 full-time employees and a global reach. The diversified cooperative provides precision agronomy services, a member-owned brand of soybeans, grain marketing services, corn and soybean processing and makes a high-bypass protein soybean meal for use in dairy feed.
The site includes more than 1.5m bushels of bunker storage, 32,000 bushels per hour receiving capacity and 775,000 bushels of upright storage, the cooperative said.
The cooperative is expecting to take possession of the new facility on June 1, it reported. ADM and Landus also plan to fill any outstanding grain contracts.