The first phase of the project could be complete in 12 to 14 months and receive up to 6 million pounds of raw milk per day, the Wisconsin-based cooperative said in an announcement.
«The project is contingent upon receiving approvals of necessary local and state incentives and support, including a long-term wastewater treatment solution,» the announcement said.
«Foremost Farms’ executive management and board of directors plans to strategically build this facility in Greenville in order to control our own destiny in Michigan and unify our seven – state membership,» said Foremost Farms’ President and CEO Michael Doyle.
«All of our members produce high quality milk and this facility is part of the plan to optimize that value today and into the future,» Doyle said.
«Greenville is located just 30 miles west of the center point of our member milk in Michigan. It is an ideal location for us and we look forward to moving ahead with a future dairy processing facility.»
The new facility is aimed at stabilizing an oversupply of milk in Michigan and the Midwest, company officials said.
«There’s an awful lot of quality milk being produced in Michigan,» said Laura Mihm, a spokeswoman for Foremost Farms. «What we’re trying to do is manage the destiny of that milk so Michigan’s production is healthy now and in the future.»
Michigan’s milk production has surged in recent years, becoming the nation’s sixth largest milk producer after Texas. During June, Michigan’s 427,000 cows produced was 948 million pounds, according to a monthly report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Michigan ranks first for average milk production per cow, according to the report, which said the state’s cows produced with an average of 74 pounds of milk per day for the month – the equivalent of 27,000 pounds of milk per cow per year.
Foremost Farms is a farmer-owned milk processing and marketing cooperative with about 1,400 dairy farmer members and annual sales of $1.5 billion. It is the nation’s eighth largest cooperative and 28th in annual sales among the Top 100 U.S. dairy processors.
The cooperative intends to work with the Michigan Milk Producers Association, a member-owned and operated dairy cooperative that serves about 2,000 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. MMPA also owns milk processing plants in Ovid and Constantine, handling more than 5 billion pounds of milk annually.
«It is our goal to continue to work with our strategic partners/alliances like we have established in the region with Michigan Milk Producers Association at Constantine to maximize dairy farmer investments, stabilize the regional milk market and add value for all producers in this market,» Doyle said.
Doyle said Foremost Farms is engaged in preliminary talks with companies interested in value-added production facilities/capacity at the Greenville site.
«Our board of directors is looking forward to seeing this project become a reality. The move effectively incorporates our Michigan member milk production into our core manufacturing business with a path to growth and stability in the region and for all Foremost Farms members,» Foremost Farms’ Chairman Dave Scheevel said.
The announcement is the latest step in Greenville and Montcalm County’s recovery from job losses it sustained in 2004, when AB Electrolux announced it was closing its refrigerator plant that employed 2,700 workers.
