New DFA Facility begins Production in Kansas
A new USDA dairy dryer processing plant for Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) began product production this fall. This state-of-the-art facility occupies 267,000 square feet of clean-room, assembly, manufacturing space. Speed-to-market is a high priority for most food processing facilities and this facility was no different. Design for the high-production dairy plant began in early 2015 with construction starting in the 4th quarter that same year. The first truck-load of raw milk arrived for processing at the plant in late September 2017! Located in Garden City, Kansas, the plant has the capacity to receive 4-million pounds of raw milk every day. This facility is a partnership between DFA and 12 of its member farms in Southwest Kansas. The powdered milk and milk by-products will help support the dairy industry’s continued growth in the United States and globally.
Consistently one of the Top 10 Largest Dairy Producers, as listed by Dairy Foods which is a publication dedicated to the dairy industry in the United States, DFA had sales exceeding $4.1 billion in 2016. The new facility in Garden City, Kansas will increase the capacity of DFA and further entrench them as one of the premiere providers of dairy products in North America.
The Food Processing Group at MSKTD & Associates, led by George Bachnivsky, provided architectural and interior design services, as well as, structural and civil engineering for this processing facility. MSKTD has become accustomed to providing design expertise for food processing facilities and has recently designed some of the largest dairy processing facilities across the country.
