From the editors of Feedstuffs
Scoular has completed a $20 million expansion of its state-of-the-art feed blending facility, providing another local option for dairy and beef producers seeking high-quality steamflaked and calf grains.
Global agribusiness Scoular celebrated the project completion with a ribbon-cutting event Thursday in Jerome. The expansion adds a 120-feet high concrete feed mill, boosting the facility’s production capacity by 35%. The expansion also delivers a 40%increase in storage capacity.
“Scoular’s mission is to deliver safe, reliable and innovative solutions to our feed and food customers around the world,” Scoular CEO Paul Maass said. “This new investment is a perfect example of meeting our customers’ demands and bringing forward the ideal solutions. We are thrilled to continue to make growth investments in this important region and industry.”
Scoular’s existing facility in Jerome provides custom feed blends for dairy and beef customers. The expansion adds two key capabilities:
A steamflaking process that processes corn and barley into flakes and makes the feed more digestible for cattle. The corn is steamed, heated, then pressed into a flake.
A pellet mill to make feed pellets. Pellets are easy to transfer, handle and proportion for optimal nutrition. Feed pellets typically are used for feeding calves and beef cattle.
Scoular’s Jerome team thrives on serving customers, and the additional capabilities provide new ways to meet their needs.
Cargill acquires feed mills in Kansas, Colorado
To grow with the ag retail and large ranching/ farming segments in the western and central regions of the U.S., Cargill has acquired two feed mills from Compana Pet Brands – one in Denver, Colorado, and the other in Kansas City, Kansas. With the addition of the two facilities, Cargill is better positioned to expand the production and distribution capabilities of its Animal Nutrition and Health business in the U.S. The transaction finalized on Sept. 3, 2024. Terms were not disclosed.Read more
A Kansas State University engineer is working to provide robust cybersecurity tools for artificial intelligence applications in bioinformatics through the creation of an automated framework designed to ensure accurate and secure data.
Xiaolong Guo, assistant professor in the Mike Wiegers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received a nearly $560,000 National Science Foundation grant to enhance the security of AI applications used to discover and optimize antimicrobial peptides, or AMPs. These peptides are essential for improving food safety, livestock health and agricultural productivity.
"Traditional methods of discovering and optimizing AMPs are costly and slow," Guo said. "By developing an automated framework, this project ensures the accuracy and security of AMP data, reducing the reliance on expensive and time-consuming lab experiments."
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The U.S. Department of Labor has opened the public comment period for its proposed rule intended to protect millions of workers from the significant health risks of extreme heat.
Individuals protected by the proposed rule include employees working outdoors or indoors in general industry, construction, maritime and agricultural sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction. This includes many occupations where workers are at high risk of heat hazards, such as farmworkers, restaurant workers, construction workers, delivery drivers, and many more.
OSHA monitors states that have established State Plans, but said those must be at least as effective in protecting workers and in preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths.
By law, employers must protect workers from the dangers of heat exposure and should have a proper safety and health plan in place.