Challenge of manufacturing feed operation amid drought, wildfire

Producing more than 1.4 million tons of dry commercial feed every year is no small feat… doing it in a state beset by wildfires is another matter entirely. Western Milling’s facility in Goshen, Calif., is one of the largest and most diverse animal food production operations in the U.S., and currently handles more than 1,200 active and unique formulations. What does it take to not only operate at that scale, but to be recognized as one of the top commercial feed mills in the nation?Feedstuffs has partnered with the American Feed Industry Association since 1985 to recognize the most outstanding animal food manufacturing operations in the industry through the Feed Facility of the Year program. Western Milling’s Goshen plant is the most-recent winner in the commercial dry feed category. In a recent edition of Feedstuffs 365, our Sarah Muirhead and AFIA’s Gary Huddleston talked with Dan Rice and Buster Freeman of Western Milling about what makes an exceptional commercial feed mill.Rice and Freeman also discuss some of the unique challenges of operating in California, from the vast diversity of customers they serve to the several challenges they’ve faced in recent years from persistent drought to wildfires and related supply chain disruptions.This episode is sponsored by United Animal Health, a leader in animal health and nutrition. You can learn more about United Animal Health and how they are working to advance animal science worldwide by visiting their website UnitedANH.com.