Summers Harvest Flour Mill

Summers Harvest Flour Mill

Summary

Objective one: Create a marketing, engineering and business plan for the purpose of developing a larger flour milling operation. Summers Harvest Flour Mill will produce and market baking flour using wheat grown in North Dakota. The company already mills whole wheat four, which is sold to regional companies. In addition to white and whole wheat flour, Summers Harvest plans to produce organic flour, using organic crops grown in the state.

Objective two: Start organic farming and processing or organic grains into flour.

Outcome: Prior to getting the grant, the Kubischtas were incorporating sustainable practices into operation: They started milling flour in 1994. They cleaned the wheat and used the cleanout to feed the ewe flock and to finish lambs. The cleaned wheat was milled into whole wheat flour which was sold to local bakeries and individuals.

For the grant project, the Kubischtas identified an engineering firm and consulting engineer who identified the equipment and structure needed for a new flour mill. A consultant was also hired to develop new markets for the types of flour that would be produced and help with the business and marketing plans.

Received assistance on sustainable agriculture and organic requirements from Duane Hauck, Director of NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, ND. Received assistance concerning flour milling from ND Mill and Elevator (a state owned flour mill and terminal elevator), and Will Robinson, NDSU Milling Specialist, NDSU Cereal Science Dept., Fargo, ND. The Cereal Science Dept. helped with the project, providing the use of their lab and staff. Jim Swanson of the ND STATE Seed Dept. helped with grain variety selection since the Seed Dept. has developed grain varieties that have excellent flour and bread characteristics. Also worked with local power companies and an organic certifying agency.

Frank Lindholm, Counsulting Engineer, Contract Engineering and Milling Inc, Cross Lake, MN is the engineer who did flow and equipment projections. Richard A. Van Sickle, Van Sickle and Allen and Associates Inc., Plymouth, MN was the engineer who did the structure and cost estimates. Duane Cariveau, Cariveau Consultants, Grand Forks, ND did the major work establishing new markets and worked on the business plans.