Jill Schramm/MDN A truck is loaded at Feed Mix March 12 in Harvey for delivery to a customer.

HARVEY – Quality ingredients and a responsiveness to customers’ unique needs has led to success for a Harvey feed plant.

Alden Hollenbeck acquired the former Harvey Farmers Elevator feed mill in March 2012 and has modernized and expanded operations.

A McClusky native, Hollenbeck had been working for a feed mill in Velva that was closing when he learned the Harvey mill also was closing. Between the two plants, he felt there was an opportunity for one to survive. Upon acquiring the Harvey plant, he set about installing a computerized feed mixing system.

About a year later, Feed Mix added a pellet mill. In the fall of 2017, construction started on a bagging facility that opened last June.

“We have never sold bags before so that’s new to us, but it looks like it’s going to be a good fit,” he said. “Our biggest obstacle now is to get more dealers selling our product and that’s our next step.”

Hollenbeck said the feed business seemed to take off from day one. Customers stick with the company because of the products. One customer recently commented that his animals are the best he’s produced in the history of his ranch, he said.

“I am very confident that they can’t find a better product, not for the price,” Hollenbeck said. “We have loyal customers who have been with us for years.”

Feed Mix currently works with two nutritionists in developing formulas that meet the nutritional needs of different animals. The experience of staff in working hand-in-hand with ranchers also factors into the mixes that are developed, Hollenbeck said.

Feed Mix’s ability to make custom feeds attracts customers because many places don’t offer that service, he said.

“We are very customizable on what we can do for people. If they want a certain protein, a certain amount of minerals, vitamins, certain ingredients, we can do about anything that they like,” plant manager Kenya Duchsherer said. “We have our feed mixes too for about every animal.”

There are mixes for cattle, horses, chickens, pigs, rabbits.

“If you have it on your farm, we can feed it,” Duchsherer said.

Feed Mix purchases many of its grain ingredients from area farmers. Even in years when producers have had challenges with bushels or quality, the company has been able to fill its needs, Duchsherer said.

Because its quantity needs are smaller, Feed Mix can purchase from farmers who might have extra barley bushels leftover after meeting a contract or have some bushels that didn’t make malting quality. Feed Mix serves as a market for area farmers who might want to include a low-input crop like oats in the rotation.

The wheat middlings come from mills in Minot and Carrington. Dry distiller grains come from Blue Flint Ethanol in Underwood.

Feed Mix also looks for quality in purchasing its feed additives.

“We are using a very high quality mineral. It’s all organic trace minerals so you’re getting upwards of 90 percent trace mineral absorption by that animal,” Duchsherer said. “We use certain additives to aid digestion and such, and we are using the highest quality ones we can find. We’re using the top end of ingredients, and it goes for our main ingredients too. We are not using corn screenings. We are using actual corn. We make a high quality feed.”

Duchsherer said preparing feed is about more than getting the nutrient mix right. Having the right nutrients won’t matter if the animal won’t eat it.

“You’ve got to make it look nice – make it look nice and smell nice – making it appealing not only to the animal but to the rancher,” she said, noting it has to look and feel right for ranchers to want to give it to their animals.

“You have to make a good hard pellet. If you make a really soft pellet and it crumbles apart and then there’s a bunch of fines,” she said. Depending on the livestock, fines may get pushed out of the trough or build up in the trough because animals won’t eat them. Either way, it means not just waste but more work and more hassle for owners.

“So we make the ration based on what we know is going to make a good pellet, so that there isn’t a bunch of waste,” Duchsherer said.

Pellets can be customized to a customer’s specifications. If a customer brings in feed, it can rolled or ground or pelletized.

Feed Mix has seven employees, all of whom wear multiple hats. Many of the staff drive the trucks that deliver feed. Hollenbeck’s son, Luke, also handles sales, and another employee takes the lead in running the pellet mill. A couple of employees focus on bagging, truck loading and other jobs within the plant.

The bagging operation enables the company to market feed in 50-pound bags for its smaller customers.

“There’s a lot of people that can’t handle a bulk amount. They have one horse or a few chickens,” Duchsherer said. “So we are trying to make it more convenient for the smaller farmers.”

Meanwhile, Feed Mix keeps three trucks on the road in delivering feed to customers on the farms. Most of the customer base is from Harvey west, as far as Watford City. Feed Mix also can haul into Montana or South Dakota.

The trucks have swing-out augers for unloading into bins or creep feeders, and nine compartments to carry up to nine separate types of feed at one time.

“So if the customer wanted multiple types of feed, or if they want to split with their neighbor, we can do that,” Duchsherer said.

Although the company is busy with its current products, Hollenbeck wants to see the company continue to grow. He’s not sure yet where the next expansion will take the company, but he said he’s always looking for ways to do more.