ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US — The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) will return to one overall Feed Facility of the Year (FFY) program award winner and donate all proceeds to the AFIA Equipment Manufacturers Committee (EMC) scholarship fund, a pair of changes made as 2024 applications open.
“We see these changes as a win-win situation for both the Feed Facility of the Year program and the EMC scholarship fund,” said Gary Huddleston, director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs for the AFIA. “Feed manufacturing facilities now have the opportunity to continue reaping the benefits of benchmarking themselves across their colleagues in the industry as well as supporting the future of our industry.”
The key change to the program, the AFIA said, draws from a strategic partnership between AFIA’s Production Compliance Committee (PCC), which oversees the FFY award program, and AFIA’s Equipment Manufacturers Committee to strengthen the EMC Scholarship Fund. This initiative aims to expand the scholarship fund’s reach, with the goal of awarding additional annual scholarships to students pursuing degrees in the field of feed manufacturing.
The PCC also voted to return to one overall FFY award. Previously, the AFIA and program co-sponsor Feedstuffs recognized awards to the highest-performing facility in each of the four categories: commercial dry manufacturer, liquid feed manufacturer, integrator manufacturer, and premix/ingredient manufacturer.
With this change, the program will maintain the four distinct application categories and continue to recognize top performers, but only recognize one overall award winner at their facilities, allowing employees and the community to take part in the celebration.
Participation in the program offers many benefits for industry manufacturing facilities, including benchmarking against industry standards in safety, quality, regulatory compliance and operating efficiencies. In addition, participants receive a comprehensive benchmarking report to guide continuous improvement efforts.
The application phase for the 2024 Feed Facility of the Year is now open, and submissions, with the $250 application fee, are due by April 12. More information is available on the AFIA’s website.
