STARKVILLE, Miss. — Further enhancing student learning and instruction, as well as strengthening poultry industry collaboration, Mississippi State University recently held its official groundbreaking for its new poultry feed mill on campus.
“Feed and feed manufacturing account for most operational costs for poultry producers, and proper nutrition is essential to poultry health, growth and production,” Kelley Wamsley, MSU poultry science professor and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist, said. “The new feed mill will enhance our research and complement our existing commercial facilities, giving students practical experience and allowing them to better understand the industry from farm to fork.”
This modular and containerized feed system will be located at the MAFES’s H.H. Leveck Animal Research Center, known as the school’s South Farm. Netherlands-based Ottevanger Milling Engineers is constructing the facility.
“It is a pleasure collaborating with Mississippi State University to design and build this modular, state-of-the-art feed mill,” Mark Nazelrodt, Ottevanger area sales manager, said. “This facility will enhance research capabilities while helping educate the next generation of agricultural leaders.”
The feed mill was designed for research and to provide students with real-world, firsthand experience, and MSU notes that it will have the capability to produce controlled test feed batches, while also offering future growth as additional industry partnerships are formed. The academic setting of the facility, along with its flexible design, is anticipated to have a 2 to 3 tons an hour capacity.
“The process will include intake, grinding, mixing and bagging, along with an integrated pelleting line supported by steam and liquid dosing as needed,” MSU said in its announcement.
Poultry is Mississippi’s top agricultural commodity, and this feed mill project has been supported by poultry companies, allied industries, as well as private individual donations.
Among the corporate project donors is Wayne-Sanderson Farms.
“Wayne-Sanderson Farms is honored to partner with Mississippi State University and support one of the top poultry science programs in the nation,” Kevin McDaniel, Wayne-Sanderson Farms president and CEO, said. “This impressive expansion doesn’t just benefit the students; it impacts the entire poultry industry as the knowledge and training they receive go into practice in the field.”
Other poultry companies contributing to the university’s feed mill project include Amick Farms, Aviagen, Cal-Maine Foods, Hy-Line North America, Koch Foods, Mar-Jac Poultry, Novus International, Peco Foods, Phibro Animal Health, Pilgrim’s Pride and Zoetis. Notable contributions were also received from Mary M. Beck and Ron J. Johnson, and Steve and Linda McLaurin.
For more information about this feed mill project, and the university’s Department of Poultry Science, visit www.poultry.msstate.edu.
