FAC Cooperative to Build $14.4 Million Feed Mill in Iowa

Farmer-owned cooperative, FAC, has announced plans to build a new $14.4 million feed mill in Arcadia, Iowa.

The decision to build a new facility was driven by the fact that the cooperative’s existing mill has been operating at capacity for several years and is still not able to meet the demand from livestock producers in the region, forcing FAC to turn away business.

Construction is set to begin this spring and is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2016. The new facility will have the yearly capacity to produce 500,000 tons of feed, 300,000 tons of which will be pelleted. FAC’s existing infrastructure including roads, grain receiving, drying and storage facilities, fuel storage, offices, laboratory, and computer networks will be used in support of the new mill.

After the new mill is operational, FAC expects an increase in customer demand of 11 million bushels. The co-op also expects to see future market growth, and higher income from higher production volumes.

“We’re basically adding another market for area farmers’ corn,” FAC Operations Manager Darrell Henkenius tells the Daily Times Herald. “We’re going to be aggressively bidding for corn to use in this feed mill.”

The current mill, which produces approximately 350,000 tons of feed per year, will remain in operation after the second new mill is built, bringing FAC’s total potential yearly feed production to 850,000 tons.