World Grain - March 2017 - 38

a "framework for effectively managing
food safety and quality responsibilities."
7KHFHUWL¿FDWLRQLVPHDQWWRVDWLVI\UHquirements of regulators, customers and
consumers.
Part of the company's sanitation investment has been the operation on site
of a microbial laboratory.
"We do micro testing in our own lab
every day to maintain counts that are as
low as possible," Taylor said.
The new G mill is highly automated,
using one operator per shift. In fact, the
entire North Dakota Mill is highly automated. The company's eight milling
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While bulk business accounts for the
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sales, the company packages about 30%
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100-pound bags. The company also has
invested in niche businesses. For example, a smaller project in 2016 was the
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and 10-pound retail bags. With increases
in distribution of the company's Dakota
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grown over the years and account for
about 2% of the mill's total production.
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KDYH JURZQ VLJQL¿FDQWO\ RYHU WKH ODVW
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as the company targeted. Currently acFRXQWLQJ IRU DERXW RI VDOHV WRWDO
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over this period.
"We have good demand in the organic
area, but growth has been somewhat
tempered by limited availability of organic grain in the state," Taylor said.
"That seems to be improving. A driving
38

factor is low prices on the conventional
side. Farmers are looking at other options, and more of them seem interested
in organic wheat."
The North Dakota Mill is unique
within the milling industry in that it is
government owned - by the state of
North Dakota.
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important we're here to provide a benH¿W WR 1RUWK 'DNRWD IDUPHUV´ 7D\ORU
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are invested and half go to state."
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dedicated to supporting the state's ag
products utilization fund. The fund provides seed capital for start-ups and new
ideas for existing companies related to
agriculture. Half of the remaining dollars go to the state's general fund, leaving
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be reinvested in the North Dakota Mill.
Even during a time when skepticism toward government involvement in business
is as intense as ever, the North Dakota Mill
remains popular in the state government
viewed as a "long-term success story,"
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and particularly to farmers," he said.
"We get good support in the state government from both sides of the aisle."
The mill's popularity in North Dakota
may be furthered by the one-way nature of
the funding - back to the state's coffers.
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from the state," Taylor said. "The G mill
was paid for with retained earnings."

Left: Spouting on the third floor of the G mill.
Right: Vance Taylor, president and general manager of the North Dakota Mill and Elevator Association. The building was designed to accommodate
a second milling unit the same size as the G mill.

ground to establish foundation support for
the new mill and wheat cleaning buildings. Concrete pile caps and the ground
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The prodigious scope of the expansion and prospective expansion may
not be fully captured by the size of the
addition. Taylor said the slipforming
of the two buildings, done at the same
time, was one of the largest industrial
slipform projects ever completed in the
United States. The project encompasses
two buildings - a 10-story-cleaning
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feet, the buildings were designed to accommodate a second mill of the same
size. So, if this addition were completed
in the future, the 23,000-cwt mill on a
stand-alone basis itself would be the
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States, not including the other 38,000
cwts of daily capacity operating at the
Grand Forks complex.
While the scope of the capacity addition is exceptional, Taylor said North
Dakota Mill cut no corners for the sake
of a bit more capacity.
"For example, we used a lot of stainless steel to construct this mill," he said.
"Lift lines, pneumatic cyclones and
spouting are all stainless. Nearly every
piece of equipment has a stainless steel
CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE
lining."
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Similarly, he said the selection of
ZLWK SLOHV GULYHQ IHHW LQWR WKH Ocrim once again as an equipment supMarch 2017 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - March 2017

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