Source: Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
A collaborative, privately funded effort is bringing Iowa State University a new feed milling and grain science education and research facility.

Kent Corp., the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and Sukup Manufacturing Co. are committing $8 million, $4 million $2 million, respectively, as the first gifts announced for the $21.2 million feed mill and grain science complex. According to a Sept. 8 news release by the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Science, this project will be funded entirely through private giving.

“We are very grateful to Kent, Iowa Corn Promotion Board and Sukup Manufacturing for their lead gifts that will jump-start in-depth planning and development of our feed mill and grain science complex,” says Benjamin Allen, interim president of Iowa State University. “Their tremendous generosity will help make this facility a valuable addition to hands-on student learning, meaningful faculty research, and extension and outreach to industry workforce.”

The commitments made by Kent Corp. and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board represent the largest gifts each has ever made. Sukup Manufacturing Co.’s commitment will be in-kind support, including the complex’s grain storage bins.

The facility will be a new venue for continuing education and Extension programs for employees in feed milling and grain handling industries. These programs will help workers more effectively meet an increasing number of regulatory compliance issues, address biosecurity concerns and gain experience in advanced processing methods. They also will be valuable for demonstrating to international visitors the sophistication of the U.S. feed industry, and in educating visitors on how to best use U.S. corn and corn products in their own livestock industries.

The new facility will centralize feed production close to university animal teaching and research farms. It is expected to improve the quality of research by ISU faculty, serving as a source for custom-made animal feeds for academic studies. Variability and inconsistency in making experimental diets have been a stumbling block in the past — one that will likely be eliminated or reduced through use of the new facility. Researchers also will use the complex to study feed safety and biosecurity issues linked to transportation and handling of feeds.

The location for the feed mill and grain science complex will be on approximately 10 acres of university-owned land southwest of the intersection of Highway 30 and State Avenue in Ames. The land, managed by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been the site of crop research, seed operations and crop yield performance trials for more than 50 years.

At the proposed facility, classes and short courses will be taught, research conducted and feeds prepared to meet the dietary requirements of animals housed at several university teaching and research farms in the Ames area.

The complex is envisioned to include a feed mill tower and feed milling and mixing structures, grain storage bins and a one-story classroom and laboratory building.

The Kent Corp., Iowa Corn Promotion Board and Sukup Manufacturing Co. commitments are part of the Forever True, For Iowa State campaign, with a historic goal to raise $1.1 billion, which will help support ISU in becoming the premier land-grant university for the 21st century and beyond.