Cargill builds new mill in Arizona

The Arizona mill will produce feed for dairy, beef, farm-store, birdseed and show-animal customers.

 

In late 2006, Cargill acquired Eagle Milling’s Casa Grande-based feed mill, pet and animal wholesale products business and committed to constructing a new mill as the enterprise grew.

 

Construction of the new mill began last year, with feed production scheduled to commence in early 2010.

 

According to Russell Riecken, regional general manager for Cargill’s Pacific Southwest business, the acquisition has proven beneficial for the region’s customers, having leveraged the company’s nutritional technology and management systems with Eagle Milling’s strong customer focus and market presence.

 

The expansion in Arizona is in contrast with the announcement that Winnipeg-based Cargill Ltd. will cease operations at its animal feed production mill at Arkona, Ontario in June 2009, and serve its US customers through a new partnership to be announced soon in nearby Michigan.

 

The economics of grain flow and transportation costs, combined with a stronger Canadian dollar and the burdensome permitting process for feed, has reduced the competitiveness of the Arkona plant for shipping feed into the US.