NCI Feed Production Center: A New Era for Education, Innovation, and Industry Collaboration

Since its founding in 1990, the Northern Crops Institute Feed Production Center has been a vital resource for the feed and grain industries, serving as both an educational platform and a working production facility. Designed to provide hands-on training for feed manufacturers, the Center has also played an essential role in supporting North Dakota State University’s livestock research and providing a space for collaborative projects throughout the four-state region of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Recently, the Feed Production Center underwent a major renovation and expansion that modernizes the facility and enhances its capabilities for the next generation of feed manufacturing. The transformation includes significant upgrades to classrooms, laboratories, and warehouse space. This has doubled the educational and lab capacity, allowing for more dynamic collaboration between commodity groups, technical experts, university researchers, and industry professionals.

“The updated Feed Production Center has strengthened our ability to serve partners across the region and the globe with more efficient, flexible, and modern infrastructure.” says Director, David Boehm.

One of the most notable improvements is the complete replacement of the facility’s original pelleting line, which dated back to the 1950s. The new system includes a modern feeder, conditioner, pellet mill, cooler, and the addition of a crumbler, allowing for greater precision and efficiency in feed production. The facility now also features a dedicated extrusion room that houses an Insta-Pro high shear dry extruder, expanding the range of products and ingredients that can be tested and developed on-site.

Because of the growing demand for specialized feed ingredients, the number of exterior storage bins has been doubled. This not only increases capacity but also enhances flexibility for testing and product development. In terms of technical capabilities, the Feed Center maintains a daily production capacity of up to 60 tons of meal feed or 24 tons of pelleted feed, because of the utilization of industry-standard equipment including an I-Controls automation system, Bliss hammermill, Rosskamp two-pair roller mill, and a California Pellet Mill with custom steam conditioning.

In addition to production and testing, the Feed Production Center continues to offer in-depth training and consulting services to clients around the world. With a newly expanded classroom, and quality assurance lab, the facility is positioned to provide impactful, hands-on education and technical support that will help drive agricultural innovation and strengthen regional and global markets.

With these upgrades, the NCI Feed Production Center is better equipped than ever to meet the evolving needs of the feed industry.