Blue Seal sold to cow-feed producer

The former Blue Seal Feeds mill and retail store on Willow Street will be retooled to produce protein meal for dairy cows.

Afgritech Properties LLC — a joint venture of Carrs Billington Agriculture, Stanwix, England, and Afgri Operations Ltd., Centurion, South Africa — bought the building Aug. 12 for $500,000, according to property records.

County officials hail the project as an ingredient to maintaining agriculture's place as a key industry.

The plant, at 200 Willow St., is undergoing a transformation.

"It's in rather rough shape," said Harold E. Rozanski, plant manager. Blue Seal Feeds left the mill when it bought I.L. Richer Co. Inc. and its plant in Adams Center in March 2008. The two plants consolidated.

"We're moving out all the old equipment, and there's a lot of work to be done," Mr. Rozanski said. "New equipment will be coming in."

Crews from Maple Grove Enterprises, Arcade, are taking apart the corroded silos and containment tanks and removing equipment that won't be used.

"It will be a state-of-the-art, computerized manufacturing facility," Mr. Rozanski said. "It will be the most modern one in the U.S."

The processing equipment will come from Germany. A handful of employees will unload material and load product.

The plant will create a protein feed component that starts with soybean meal and canola meal mixed with enzymes to release sugars that occur naturally in the meals. The mixture will be cooked to protect it from the acid in cows' rumens, allowing the intestines to absorb the amino acids.

The two types of product — soy and canola — can be mixed based on dairy nutritionists' recommendations in feeds. The two products are called AminoMax S for soy and AminoMax C for canola and can be blended in AminoMax Pro.

"It's a great addition to the north country, which depends on the dairy industry," said Mr. Rozanski, who previously worked as a production superintendent for Covidien. "To have a new business geared toward the dairy industry is outstanding."

Jay M. Matteson, Jefferson County agricultural coordinator, agreed.

"It's been a number of years since they first started looking at Jefferson County," he said. "It's one more piece of the puzzle for the entire agricultural industry. Others recognize Jefferson County as being a place that strongly supports agriculture from the farm up."

Eventually, the county may become a source of the raw materials.

"It's a win-win all around for agriculture and our local economy," Mr. Matteson said. "It just strengthens the entire industry and entire supply chain for agriculture."

After two or three more weeks of demolition, the multimillion-dollar installation process will continue for several months, Mr. Rozanski said.

The old boiler will be replaced by a new one, and the entire building will be repainted and have a new roof after equipment is brought by crane. The company will use the existing railroad connection to bring in raw materials, but ship the product by truck.

The company plans to begin producing the protein by the fall. Similar plants already are making the product in Great Britain and South Africa.

"We'll start with one shift and get everything worked out," Mr. Rozanski said. "It's a great thing to have New York and Jefferson County picked for this."