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Organic mill begins production in N. D.
Organic spring wheat from across the Northern Plains is being turned into flour at a new mill here, with managers expecting to ship the first 50-pound bags to customers next week.
Earth Harvest Mills will be able to produce up to 60 tons of organic wheat flour a day, manager Grayson Hoberg said.
The mill will offer 10 different blends of organic flour, and officials want to begin shipping six to 10 semitrailer loads of flour a day by mid-April, Hoberg said. He said the operation, which exclusively handles organic grain, is among the first of its kind in North America.
"We’ll get wheat from a variety of places and we’ll blend it. A bunch is coming from North Dakota and some is from out of state," Hoberg said.
Most of the product, labeled Dakota Prairie Organic Flour, is destined for large bakeries on the East Coast and West Coast.
"We can expect one or two (markets) in the Midwest, but this is organic and the big organic consumers are on the coasts," Hoberg said. "The demand is huge. A lot of people want this."
A team of Italian technicians has spent about two weeks working on the mill machinery in Harvey, a town of about 2,000 in central North Dakota.
The mill is housed in a former veterinary clinic. The project cost about $2 million, Hoberg said.
Construction started last October and pieces of the mill began arriving from the Italian manufacturer in January. Hoberg said the mill could employ about 30 people within a year.
Grain will be stored in separate bins depending on whether it is high- or low-protein wheat or spelt, a cereal grain similar to wheat eaten by those allergic to wheat.
An adjacent pellet mill will produce feed for poultry and livestock.
The mill is expected to use wheat from up to 20,000 acres by the third or fourth year of production. The project has been in the works for about 13 years.
"This is really going to be nice for North Dakota. It’s another outlook for North Dakota farmers," Hoberg said.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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