Rendering Booklet Available
Several years ago, the National Renderers Association developed a 24-page booklet titled, “North American Rendering – The Source of Essential, High-Quality Products.” Primarily targeted for an international audience, the booklet covers product quality, quality control, animal nutrition, non-food and feed products, environmental aspects, biosecurity, and cost and economics. The booklet is equally useful with domestic clients, and some companies have used it to introduce new employees to the rendering industry.
The NRA is making the booklet available for $5.00 per copy. Those interested should contact Pam Morris at (703) 683-0155, or e-mail renderers@nationalrenderers.com.
AFGA Honors Feed Veteran
The Alabama Feed and Grain Association (AFGA) recently honored Bobby and Joyce Brown by establishing an endowed scholarship to be awarded annually to a student attending a college or university. The Bobby and Joyce Brown/Alabama Feed and Grain Association Scholarship fund currently has $45,000 and will be fully endowed at $75,000. AFGA is planning to award $2,000 to $5,000 annually to students.
Fred Cespedes, AFGA president and vice president of American Proteins, Hanceville, AL, presented a resolution honoring the Browns at the Southern Feed and Grain Convention in Destin, FL. The resolution listed Bobby Brown’s outstanding achievements in the feed industry, which included serving in every office in the AFGA and his personally raising over $150,000 for association activities and student scholarships.
Brown started his career in the feed business in 1957, devoting the last 25 years as purchasing agent and director of feed delivery for Golden Rod Feed Mill, Cullman, AL. After a long career in education, Joyce served as AFGA executive secretary in 1997 and 1998.
Atlas-Stord Buys Alfa Laval Division
Atlas-Stord Denmark recently acquired the Hetland activities from Alfa Laval Norway, strengthening its market position within the fish meal industry. Alfa Laval purchased Hetland three years ago and has decided to leave that line of business.
The more than 100-year-old Hetland is known for its experience and technology within the fish meal industry, especially the company’s cookers, evaporators, and hot air dryers. Hetland is located in Stavanger, Norway.
Five years ago, Danish Atlas Industries joined Norwegian Stord International. All three companies are unified under the name of Atlas-Stord.
Bi-Pro Plant HACCP Certified
Bi-pro Marketing announced that its bulk trans-loading, storage, and warehousing facility in Guelph, ON, Canada, has been Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified. The designation, granted by the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada (ANAC), ensures that Bi-pro’s storage and loading plant meets exacting standards for cleanliness and safety.
Bowen Moves to Kemin
Ben Bowen has been named manager, Customer Laboratory Services (CLS), for Kemin Nutrisurance, Inc. Bowen, who has a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University, most recently served as laboratory manager/research chemist for National By-Products, Des Moines, IA, and previously was a laboratory technician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Research Service in Ames, IA. He is a member of the American Oil Chemists Society and the American Chemical Society.
Other recent appointments at Kemin include Dr. Anna Sutton as technical services manager for the Pacific and South Asia, and the promotion of Lynn Deffenbaugh, PhD, to director of product development. Sutton earned her bachelor’s degree in physiology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and her doctorate from the University of Manchester, England. She will reside in Australia and work out of Kemin’s Singapore offices, calling on and providing technical support to pet food manufacturers in the region.
Deffenbaugh joined Kemin as a technical service manager in January of 2002 where she worked directly with many of the pet food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers to the pet food industry. Prior to joining the company, Deffenbaugh held product development positions at various feed and food companies.
Cargill Purchases Swiss Company
Cargill has reached an agreement to purchase Provimi Kliba, a Swiss, family-owned, grain origination, animal feed, and flour milling company that is part of the Alcorex group. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.
Over recent years, Cargill has expanded its animal feed business in Europe by acquiring Agribrands and investing in feed facilities in Poland and Hungary. Provimi Kliba has three feed mills, a flour mill, and grain origination facilities in various parts of Switzerland. It processes 300,000 metric tons of grain into flour and feed and recently started production and marketing of pet food. The company employs 430 people.
EPA Schedules ELG Rule Release
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule last February revising the effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) for meat slaughter and processing facilities, including rendering facilities. In late June, an industry coalition of poultry, meat processing, and rendering associations filed hundreds of pages of public comments to EPA, detailing many errors in the agency’s proposal and calling for the rule to be withdrawn.
In late August, EPA announced it expects to release its final rule in December 2002. Comments on the proposed schedule of release were due to EPA by the end of September.
Fire, Explosion at Rendering Plant
A fire and explosion struck the rendering department at Hormel Foods’ Austin, MN, production facility in the early morning hours of September 5, 2002, resulting in several employees being injured.
State Fire Marshall Steve Wolfe said their investigation revealed the initial explosion in the rendering department was caused by dust igniting, similar to explosions that occur in grain elevators. The explosion caused a fire that weakened the roof. A natural gas line near the roof ruptured as a result, which then caused an explosion two hours after the initial fire. Five employees were injured in the second explosion.
According to company officials, the rendering department reopened one week after the fire. Estimates of the damage costs had not yet been released.
FMD Report Released
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report on the prevention of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the United States, noting that the efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services has kept the United States free of the highly contagious disease since 1929, but such efforts cannot completely eliminate the risk because:
• Some level of risk is inherent in international travel and trade;
• FMD is a hardy virus that may remain viable for days or even weeks on shoes and in hay or certain meat and dairy products; and
• The volume of legal and illegal international trade and passengers entering the United States makes it impossible for U.S. inspectors to inspect and ensure the safety of every shipment, baggage, or person entering the country.
In the 100-plus-page report, GAO issued several recommendations for USDA, including collaborating with U.S. Customs on issues such as updating information on foreign FMD outbreaks to Customs inspectors at ports of entry. After reviewing a draft of the report, USDA stated that the report was generally accurate and insightful. The agency also noted that the report provided an accurate portrayal of the challenges that face the continuum of federal, state, and industry resources dedicated to safeguarding the health of U.S. agriculture.
The full report, which was requested by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), is available on the Internet at www.gao.gov.
Hormel Transforms Illinois Plant
Hormel Foods Corporation has announced it will transform its Rochelle, IL, plant from a hog slaughter operation to a value-added product processing facility, producing cured and smoked meats. The company plans to conclude slaughter activities at the plant in early November 2002, and begin renovation immediately. Through normal attrition and increased processing operations, the company plans to minimize the impact to the workforce.
According to Hormel, the size and design of the Rochelle slaughter department make it cost prohibitive to operate in a competitive environment, “despite an excellent workforce and management team.” The decision will result in the discontinuance of relationships with many hog producers who have been suppliers to the Rochelle facility.
IFIF Elects New President, Board
Fred Stephens, vice president of feed products for the U.S. Potash Corporation, has been appointed president of the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF). He succeeds Henk van de Bunt of Victam International, who served six years in the position. Stephens has 30-plus years experience in animal agriculture.
Stephens has served on the board of directors of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and recently served as its chairman. He has also served on numerous other animal feed and industry association boards.
IFIF also re-elected David Bossman, president of AFIA, as senior vice president for a further three-year period. Dr. Brian Cooke, who until his retirement in 1998 as chief scientist had worked for Crosfields and Calthrop since 1965, which eventually became Dalgety Agriculture in 1983, has joined Ben Courtin of Belgium’s Tessenderlo Chemie as vice president.
Dr. Cliff Adams, Kemin Europa, was also elected a vice president with responsibility for links to IFIF Asian members. Also elected to the IFIF board were IFIF secretary general Roger Gilbert and Freddy Ib, a specialist in global trade who recently retired after 15 years with the Danish rendering company Daka. Gilbert and Ib have also been appointed as IFIF representatives on the board of the newly formed International Aquafeed Association (IAA), with Gilbert appointed as secretary general of IAA.
IAA operates under the umbrella of IFIF and was officially set up in January 2002.
NRA Mexico Welcomes Staff
The National Renderers Association’s Mexico office is welcoming Estela Ortega Herrera as the office’s new administrative assistant. Herrera previously worked for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council.
Kruger’s Lemley Wins Award
The Michigan Water Environment Association (MWEA) named Donald Lemley, Kruger Commodities, Inc., as the winner of the MWEA Loring F. Oeming Award. The award was established in 1980 and recognized Lemley for demonstrating the ability to do an outstanding job in an industrial facility by producing a good quality effluent from a clean, orderly plant while interacting with his fellow employees, other operators, and association members for the betterment of the water environment profession. Lemley has been a wastewater supervisor for Kruger since 1988.
Perdue Farms Closes Plant
Perdue Farms has announced it will close its Petersburg, WV, deboning plant and phase out production of its DeLuca line of refrigerated entrees. The last day of operation for the plant is scheduled for October 11, 2002, and boneless breast production at the former Advantage Foods deboning operation will move to other Perdue facilities. The plant employs approximately 365 people.
Perdue also announced it is seeking a buyer for its DeLuca Foods operation in Middlebury, CT. If a buyer is not found by the end of the calendar year, the plant will be closed. Approximately 74 are employed at the facility.
“These were difficult decisions,” said Jim Perdue, chairman of Perdue Farms. “We never take lightly any decision that affects associates, their families, or communities.”
Pet Food Company Buys Plant
The Meow Mix Company, headquartered in Secaucus, NJ, recently announced the purchase of a 200,000 square foot pet food manufacturing facility on a 20-acre site in Decatur, AL. This new acquisition will now allow the Meow Mix products to be manufactured in, and distributed from, a dedicated Meow Mix plant. According to reports, the new plant will be the only pet food plant in the United States that is 100 percent dedicated to making dry cat food.
The Meow Mix Company will reportedly be installing in excess of $12 million of new state-of-the-art equipment as well as making improvements to produce the products in an efficient and consistent manner. The company will also have warehousing and a distribution center of more than 100,000 square feet that will serve as one of three key distribution points throughout the United States. The plant is scheduled to be in full production during the first quarter of 2003. A research and development group will operate out of the Decatur plant as well.
Researchers Get Pet Food Funds
According to Petfood Industry magazine, Massey University, New Zealand, researchers have been given $2 million (U.S.) in public funding over the next two years to turn low-value parts of animals and fish into ingredients suited to pet food. The director of the university’s Center for Feline Nutrition, Dr. Wouter Hendriks, said the annual grants of $500,000 from the government’s Foundation for Research, Science, and Technology would be spread over four years. During that time, the center would help meat works and fish processors turn low-value commodities into added-value products.
“At the moment, we are producing and exporting low-value meat and fish co-products,” Hendriks said. “Instead, we should add value to these co-products by transforming them into high-value ingredients for the manufacture of companion animal foods with health-promoting properties.”
Researchers hope to identify any unique health-promoting properties and nutritional values in the parts of the animals, which were usually disposed of for little return. Many nutraceuticals – foods with specific health benefits – were likely to be in parts of livestock or fish other than the flesh and they could be discovered, isolated, and used in pet foods.
Zacky Relocates Corporate Offices
Zacky Farms has begun construction of new corporate offices in Fresno, CA, and will relocate from its current El Monte, CA, location. Construction of the 12,000-square-foot building began in mid-July and is expected to be completed in February 2003.
The new building, which is in close proximity to the company’s turkey facility, will house a test kitchen along with financial, computer, accounting, payroll, purchasing, and executive offices. Additionally, Integrated Grain and Milling will relocate its corporate office into the new structure. Zacky began business in the Los Angeles area in 1928, expanding its operations to central California and the Fresno area in 1971.
October 2002 Render