Cobb-Vantress to move feed production in-house

By Aerin Einstein-Curtis

- Last updated on GMT

Cobb-Vantress annouces work on third US feed mill © iStock.com
Cobb-Vantress annouces work on third US feed mill © iStock.com
On the completion of a third US feed mill, Cobb-Vantress will shift to in-house feed production. 

The recently announced $22m feed mill build is set to be located in Joanna, South Carolina, reported the Arkansas-based company.

The construction marks a change to internal feed management and production for Cobb-Vantress, which is a poultry development and research firm and a subsidiary of Tyson Foods.

The 100-year old company has been moving towards internal production of its own feed to ensure greater control and consistency, said company officials.

“The focus of building our new feed mill in South Carolina is centered on the control of salmonella, and like the one in Albany, Kentucky, will have the latest technology for heat treating the feed ingredients,"​ Steve Bolden, Cobb-Vantress director of world technical support services. "Additionally, we will have the most advanced environmental controls that use separate air handling systems which directs potentially contaminated air away from the finished feed that we deliver to our chickens.”

Construction work on the new mill is set to start in the spring of 2016 and it is set to be on stream in 2017, said company officials. When completed it will produce about 1,200 tons of poultry feed a week.

It is slated to meet the needs of the company’s grandparent breeder farms in North Carolina and South Carolina, they said. It will also provide for both grandparent and great-grandparent breeder farms in Georgia.

Mill details

The company has two other facilities, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas and Albany, Kentucky, which supply feed for its operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, said company officials. The new mill is set to be designed by the Weitz Company.

The new mill will be about 50 feet by 50 feet and 190 feet tall, said Bolden.

"The people of South Carolina have been instrumental to the success of this project’s beginning,"​ he said. "We wish to thank the state agencies as well as all who have been involved in Laurens County for their continued support."​  

When finished, it will be about the same size as the company’s facility in Albany and have similar output to the facility in Siloam Springs, he said. About 90% of the grains used will be from the Midwest and some will be locally sourced.

Additionally, it will include technology for pathogen reduction be able to heat treat feed ingredients before the pelleting process happens, said officials. The facility also will have control of its air flow to reduce cross contamination.

The company also is establishing a dedicated rail spur for the new facility, said officials.

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