The mill will feature a pelletizer with a capacity of 50 tph, and will use 6 million bushels of locally grown corn per year. It will employ 13 people.

Construction is expected to be complete in July 2019.

Alliance Feed is a joint venture between Co-Alliance, LLP and Farmers Grain & Feed Company.

The company plans to emulate the Co-Alliance feed mill in Reynolds, Indiana, U.S., which is currently producing 250,000 tons of feed for 750,000 pigs annually.

The new mill in Columbia City strategically locates multiple modern feed facilities across northern Indiana allowing more partnering opportunities with both growers and producers, the company said.

“We’re looking forward to working with the Shively family and Farmers Grain on this exciting new venture, which we believe will help farming families in the community for generations,” said Kevin Still, chief executive officer of Co-Alliance.

Terry Shively, president of Farmers Grain, said he sees the venture as a natural next step for his multigenerational business.

“Our family history is rooted in agriculture,” he said. “We are excited to diversify our grain operations by producing livestock feed for our local farmers from the grain they store at our facility.”

The construction of the feed mill also represents potential diversification for the area’s family farms. Alliance Feed is actively seeking local producers building barns and managing pigs.

Co-Alliance, LLP is a cooperative dating back to the 1920s and serves communities in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan in the areas of energy, agronomy, grain, and swine and animal nutrition.

Farmers Grain & Feed Company has served the farming community in the Whitley, Allen and Noble county areas since 1950.