ATLANTA, GEORGIA, US — Ag Growth International Inc. (AGI) is showcasing its feed solutions during the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, as it seeks to reintroduce its offerings to the industry.

“We have been selling and manufacturing feed equipment for decades across many of the companies we have acquired over the years,” Noam Silberstein, AGI senior vice president, global feed, told World Grain at IPPE. “Now there is a big push to reintroduce the feed platform and to continue to build up our feed capabilities around the world.”

Silberstein said it is a natural transition for the company, which has core storage capabilities around the world and the ability to manufacture equipment in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Italy and India across 31 manufacturing facilities.

“In many cases we’re delivering storage and handling to customers on the receiving end of a feed mill and they’re asking us to provide equipment inside the feed mill, essentially a complete solution,” he said.

For customers under 50,000 tonnes per year, AGI can offer an entire feed mill, from the storage and handling on the receiving end, to the processing equipment inside the mill. AGI’s FLEXmill, a packaged precision feed blending system that offers an economical solution for on-farm or small capacity commercial feed manufacturing.

It can process 1,000 kilograms with a capacity of 8 to 12 tonnes per hour. The fully automated control system allows for minimal operator intervention and it maintains detailed records for traceability and quality assurance.

For larger customers, AGI can focus on storage and handling and some of the processing. AGI will bring in a third-party for the rest of the processing equipment, such as pellet mills, extrusion and cooling.

“We’ll still deliver an integrated package for the customer, because largely now that’s what they’re asking us to do,” Silberstein said. “They don’t just want a piece of the puzzle; they want the whole solution.

“We can supply a regional, tailored solution for a costumer, with local engineering, local manufacturing and feed expertise.”

AGI’s portfolio range includes corrugated steel storage bins, smooth wall and overhead bins, material handling equipment, precision batching/blending, small-scale hammer mills, micro-dosing systems, aeriation/dust control and hazard monitoring.

Silberstein noted three trends in the feed industry — technology, sustainability and traceability.

AGI has technology that can track all the activities that take place in the field as well as what happens inside of storage bins, such as temperature, moisture and CO₂ content. It also can track information within the mill such as belt alignment and temperature.

“AGI has the components for traceability,” Silberstein said. “We haven’t put them all together yet, but this is interesting to our customers. We have the ability to track what happens to the ingredients as they come off the field, into the bins and then into processing. These are key steps towards achieving the ultimate goals of traceability and sustainability in a feed mill.”