January 28, 2010
Kansas State University to gain new feed mill
Funding has been established for the construction of a new feed mill at Kansas State University (K-State).
Construction on the new O.H. Kruse feed mill is scheduled to commence in late 2010 and should be completed in about a year, according to Keith Behnke, professor in K-State’s Department of Grain Science and Industry.
The mill will serve as the new home of the Feed Science and Management (FSM) programme which has provided nearly 700 graduates to the US feed manufacturing industry over the nearly 60 years since the industry helped to establish the programme at K-State.
The new mill will replace the current mill which has outlived its useful lifespan, said Behnke.
The new feed mill and biorefinery complex is one of K-State''s top priorities, said K-State president Kirk Schulz.
The Kruse family of Goshen, California, has made a lead gift of US$2 million. The state of Kansas will provide about half of the funding required for the new mill.Additional cash and in-kind equipment donations will provide the remaining resources needed for construction.
The US$12.5 million facility will include a modern, automated five-tonne-per-hour feed mill, a liquid feed research facility, and a BSL-2 teaching and research feed mill.
The mill is designed in such a way that scientists will be able to safely work with low virulence pathogens such as salmonella in feeds, but also use the facility for other research, teaching and outreach activities when not used in the BSL-2 mode.
Schulz noted that the new feed mill can help provide specialty livestock diets to support infectious disease experiments, oral vaccine studies and other trials under high level bio-safety controlled conditions.