Foremost Farms USA is announcing plans to build a dairy processing facility in Greenville, Michigan. On November 9, 2017, Foremost Farms closed on the purchase of 96 acres of vacant property in Greenville, and is working closely with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and other Michigan and Greenville entities moving forward to ensure a successful project in the state of Michigan. The project is contingent upon receiving approvals of necessary local and state incentives and support, including a long-term wastewater treatment solution.
Foremost Farms’ President and CEO Michael Doyle 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. 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. 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.”
Doyle adds, “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, Mich., to maximize dairy farmer investments, stabilize the regional milk market and add value for all producers in this market.”
This facility is planned to be operational in 12-to-14 months and would receive up to six million pounds of raw milk per day. Foremost Farms would initially process milk solids for internal use in farmer-owned production facilities in the Upper Midwest, and for sales to customers and to strategic alliance partners.
Phase one of this project would provide the base to start a dairy processing “campus” at that site. Foremost Farms is engaged in preliminary talks with companies interested in value-added production facilities/capacity in alliance with Foremost Farms at the Greenville site.
Foremost Farms’ Chairman Dave Scheevel said, “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.”
Greenville is located in west-central Michigan and has a population of about 8,500. The 96-acre parcel is part of the Greenville industrial park. The property purchase is the first step in Foremost Farms’ long-term strategy of managing milk solids across the cooperative’s seven-state membership (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio).
Foremost Farms USA (www.foremostfarms.com), headquartered in Baraboo, Wisconsin, is a farmer-owned milk processing and marketing cooperative with about 1,400 dairy farmer members and annual sales of $1.5 billion. The nation’s eighth largest cooperative and 28th in annual sales among the Top 100 U.S. dairy processors, Foremost Farms focuses on the creation of tailored and innovative milk solutions that meet the needs of customers around the world.
