Richmond, Va. — The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) announced that the Southern States Park City, Ky. feed plant placed first in its annual Feed Mill of the Year contest.  This is the 23rd consecutive year for the program, which is co-sponsored with Watt’s Feed Management magazine.

Nearly 80 plants submitted entries in the 2007 Feed Mill of the Year program, which underwent a strategic redesign process this year. A new grading system provides benchmarking feedback to every plant that enters the competition. Feed Management editor Lori Weaver, says, “The Feed Mill of the Year program goes beyond just being an awards program and becomes a mechanism for feed mills to gain some valuable information on how they can improve as well as how they match up against other top facilities in the industry.”

The Park City, Ky. mill manufactures over 67,000 tons of feed a year, with approximately 75 percent bulk under the leadership of Gary Huddleston, plant manager. Bill Monroe, Manager of Feed Operations said, “We are very proud of Gary Huddleston, Mill Manager, and his crew for their accomplishments. We were very pleased to hear that the Park City feed mill had been selected as the winner in the AFIA/Feed Management Mill of the Year Award program.”

Monroe said that Southern States has successfully participated in the annual industry award program for many years, but, it always recharges our efforts when the industry recognizes one of our mills as the best.   Park City has a solid history of superior performance in customer service, production efficiency, safety, and regulatory compliance.” 

Founded in 1923, Southern States is a Richmond, Va. based farm supply and service cooperative that now has more than 300,000 farmer-members.  One of the nation’s largest agricultural cooperatives, Southern States provides a wide range of farm inputs, including fertilizer, seed, livestock feed and pet food, animal health supplies and petroleum products, as well as other items for the farm and home.  The cooperative serves its members and non-member customers through 1,100 retail outlets.  Please visit http://www.southernstates.com for more information.