By Your Feed Department

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Striking a Balance


Feed mill evolution preserves a grain market
There are only two ways to look at the feed business today-from the inside or from the outside. When Gold-Eagle accepted the challenge of operating inside this industry, we were agreeing to grow.

At one critical point in the early 1990's, we realized our members and patrons fed dwindling numbers of livestock yet were able to grow a nearly overwhelming grain harvest. As a service-driven cooperative, what could we do to put our farmers on an equal footing once again?

Today, mills in Goldfield and Eagle Grove annually produce 525,000 tons of feed, while adhering to extensive quality-control standards. We use 35 percent of the corn our farmers can grow, right here, within our own boundaries.

Adding value to our producers' grain, keeping our local mills in operation, and providing opportunities for 30 local mill employees took us in new directions. In fact, we currently distribute feed used by farmers, cooperatives, and commercial livestock production facilities in 10 states.

To see how we move all of that feed, check out our transportation department.

Gold Eagle Feed Mill

Production

Tons manufactured	544,000 tons annually	2,093 daily	86 semi loads per day
One-month high	50,600 tons		2,067 semi loads
One-day high	3,200 tons in 18 hours		130 semi loads
Corn bushels	12,000,000 annually	48,000 daily	320 acres of 150 bu/acre corn per day
Soybean tons	88,400 annually	340 tons daily	283 acres of 50 bu/acre beans per day
Gallons of liquid fat	3,058,640 annually	11,764 daily	2 semi loads per day

This mill, constructed in 1978 by Boone Valley Processing Association was sold to Farmland Industries in 1983. In February 1998, the Gold-Eagle/Farmland L.C. joint venture began. That year, the plant was extensively updated to improve pelleting and mixing capacity.

Brian Kelley, Feed Mill Manager
Gold-Eagle Cooperative
P.O. Box 168
Eagle Grove, IA 50533
800-722-3966
515-448-5392
Fax: 515-448-5082
Bkelley@goldeaglecoop.com