KENT Nutrition Group Marshall Plant Wins 2022 Commercial Feed Facility of the Year
ATLANTA, Georgia (Jan. 25, 2023) – The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and Feedstuffs has named KENT Nutrition Group’s feed manufacturing facility of Marshall, Mo., as its 2022 Commercial Dry Feed Facility of the Year.
“Kent Nutrition Group is honored to receive this Feed Facility of the Year award," said Mike Gauss, President of KENT Nutrition Group. "We have great people across all of our facilities who work hard every day to ensure the best quality and service to all of our customers. The team at Marshall does an exceptional job, and I’m thrilled that they are receiving this recognition. Additionally, KNG winning the award two years in a row is a great honor and a testament to all of our teams not only at our plants but throughout the organization.”
Gary Huddleston, AFIA’s director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs, presented plant manager Chris Igo with the award Wednesday during the AFIA’s Feed Education Program, happening in conjunction with the International Production & Processing Expo.
“KENT Nutrition’s Marshall facility prides themselves on excellent customer service, high-quality feed and dedication, and those traits shine through,” said Huddleston. “We like to honor the facilities that do the right thing every day and that is surely KENT Nutrition.”
A KENT family company, KENT Nutrition Group is a family-owned, American company that manufactures high-quality nutrition products for everything from livestock to small animals. The Marshall animal food manufacturing facility produces approximately 52,000 tons of multi-species animal food annually.
Originally built in 1976, the Marshall team is comprised of 14 members. In their efforts toward continuous improvement, the facility recently installed a new Repete pellet mill automation system in 2020, which has allowed the plant to streamline its mixing process and put in place safeguards to reduce opportunities for human error, such as proceeding with a manufacturing run if the sequencing and flushing procedures are not properly followed.
The AFIA has been recognizing excellent feed manufacturing facilities through the Feed Mill of the Year program since 1985. Beginning in 2016, the program was expanded to the Feed Facility of the Year and began offering awards for an overall winner and four category winners. In 2021, the FFY program separated each category into its own individual program: liquid feed, commercial dry, premix and ingredient, and integrator, with each category having its own facility of the year award. Learn more at afia.org/FFY.
The semi-finalists for AFIA’s 2022 Commercial Feed Facility of the Year award are Kent Nutrition Group of Mason, Mich., Belstra Milling of DeMotte, Ind., and Western Milling of Goshen, Calif.
About KENT Nutrition Group
KENT Nutrition Group delivers the highest quality animal nutrition based on a long-standing tradition of progressive innovation and dedication to livestock, equine and pet owners. The company is a division of KENT Corporation, a family-owned, American company founded in 1927. KENT Nutrition Group was formed to bring out the best in two highly successful regional feed brands – Kent® Feeds in the Midwest and Blue Seal® in the East. The Kent Feeds and Blue Seal brands are dedicated to providing quality animal nutrition that you can trust – guaranteed.
About AFIA
Founded in 1909, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), based in Arlington, Va., is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to representing the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the U.S. animal food industry and its suppliers. The organization’s membership is comprised of over 650 domestic and international companies that represent the total feed industry—manufacturers of commercial and integrated feed and pet food, ingredient suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, industry support and equipment manufacturers. AFIA’s members manufacture more than 75% of the feed and 70% of the non-whole grain ingredients used in the country. AFIA is also recognized as the leader on international industry developments, and holds membership in the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF).