A family- and employee-owned company that manufactures feeds for a variety of operations and species, Belstra has a team of 12 employees. It manufactures 80,000 tons of feed premixes annually.
The AFIA said a key element that helped Belstra stand out among the competition is that its manufacturing area boasts a HVAC system that helps with tough-to-handle ingredients.
The US feed industry representatives said that TransAgra International, located in Storm Lake, Iowa, was recognized as a semi-finalist, while Novus Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas, received the highest safety score, and Trouw Nutrition in Neosho, Missouri secured the highest quality and food safety score.
The AFIA has been recognizing excellence in US feed manufacturing through its feed facility of the year program since 1985, with 2021 marking the first year that the association began issuing top industry awards to facilities in four categories: commercial dry, liquid feed, premix and ingredient, and integrator.
Dry feed facility winner
In January this year, the organization revealed the winner of its commercial dry feed facility of the year. That was Kent Nutrition Group’s (KNG) feed plant in Mason, Michigan.
Gary Huddleston, director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs, AFIA, commented on that win: “With low staff turnover and great teamwork, this facility has made improvements that have led to greater production efficiency and safety of its products.”
As part of an initiative to improve production efficiency and ensure product safety, KNG upgraded its mixing system, in 2018, from the Aceco system, which had been in operation since 1989, to the new, extremely precise Repete Mixing System. This system, it said, has allowed the plant to streamline its mixing process and put in place safeguards to reduce opportunities for human error, such as proceeding with a manufacturing run if the sequencing and flushing procedures are not properly followed.
