STEWART -- Form-A-Feed Inc. is hosting an open house event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the company's new plant at 740 Bowman Street in Stewart.
The event will include live music, food and guided tours of the facility, according to Al Schochenmaier, who works in technical services for the company.
The state-of-the-art facility is a foodgrade production plant making base mix, premix, concentrate, mineral, complete feed and specialty feed products for livestock and poultry production. The company markets products to four states in the U.S., plus international markets.
The company, which still operates the original plant at Stewart plus facilities in Atwater and Buffalo Lake, started work on the new facility in May 2006 and completed the work in February 2007. The plant started running on March 1 and operates 24 hours a day with three shifts of employees.
The new plant helps the company stand out from the crowd, Schochenmaier says. The facility is certified to manufacture organic feed by the National Organic Program. Form-AFeed is expecting to launch a major account using all organic feed. In addition, two of the company's plants are capable of making ionophore-free equine feed products.
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Form-A-Feed was started in 1973 when Buzz, Marty and Steve Nelson purchased a small feed mill and had two employees. It remains a familyowned company run by the Nelsons. The company employs more than 110 workers at the four locations. The company now includes several companies addressing specific livestock health and nutritional needs, including TechMix, Sci-Tech, Nutri-Source and Green Pro Inc.
Schochenmaier encourages customers and interested producers to come and enjoy the open house, meet the owners and take advantage of company sales offered that day. After all, the customers have made the company, he said.
"They have dictated our focus and direction. We've responded, and here's where we are today."
