New Spray Dryer Enhances Our Commitment to Quality
The year 2020 was a unique one for most businesses. In addition to the global pandemic, for us it marked the completion of one of the largest structural enhancement projects in our company’s history.
In October 2020, we launched operation of a new, industrial spray dryer at our facility in North Manchester, Ind. This milestone was the culmination of many months of planning, building, installing, and testing of this exciting manufacturing tool.
Our Indiana facility was chosen as the project site because we already had the infrastructure in place there to handle and process a liquid product. For many years, we have purchased whey and manufactured it into liquid rations for our calf-raising business. We already had the loading docks, pumping equipment, and storage tanks operating there, along with the established transportation routines with our whey suppliers. We now are able to handle more volume from those same suppliers, plus some new ones.
The spray dryer allows us to more efficiently handle and process whey products from our cheese-manufacturing partners. In addition to processing whey by itself, we now are able to blend fat and protein for all of our calf milk replacer [CMR] products manufactured at our Watertown, Wis. facility.
“The spray dryer runs around the clock to produce the dry ingredients we need to keep our CMR supply rolling.”
In the spray dryer process, protein is combined with lard and coconut oil to create protein-encapsulated fat powder. We are also able to produce whey and milk powders. The spray dryer now runs around the clock to produce the dry ingredients we need to keep our CMR supply rolling.
By processing our own ingredients, we now have greater control over the quality and consistency of those inputs. It allows us trace ingredients back to the plant of origin, and provides the security of knowing we always will have a steady supply of high-quality solids to manufacture our CMR products.
We also take pride in the fact that the spray dryer allows us to play a small role in adding value to the milk our dairy customers produce. It helps us support the price of whey and strengthens our relationship with our cheese-manufacturing partners, many of whom have supplied us with whey for decades. We now will be able to regularly utilize an even larger volume of their product, while at the same time ensuring more consistent CMR products for our customers.
The end result: high-quality solids, ready to be made into CMR.
In addition, our new processing capacity creates an outlet for skim milk that might otherwise be discarded. There are many market cycles through the year that cause irregularities in fluid milk supply and demand – spring flush, school breaks, holidays and even larger events like 2020’s COVID-19 disruptions. With the spray dryer, we now have the ability to provide a home and remuneration for excess skim milk in the marketplace.
As we brought the spray dryer on board, we spent several months fine-tuning the process to perfect the end product, which we were able to analyze in our in-house lab. Going forward, we eagerly anticipate better serving our customers by providing superior-quality products manufactured from value-added, real dairy ingredients and consistent fat blends that we now process ourselves.
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There was a time when feeding milk replacers supplemented with antibiotics was considered a “blanket” insurance policy to protect calves from disease. But that practice has changed considerably. Industry data suggests that 20 years ago, roughly 20-40% of all calf milk replacer contained antibiotics. Today, it’s less than 5%.