2020-01-09
TEXAS, USA
Turning commodity into value-added products
American dairy Select Milk has built a state-of-the-art dairy processing facility in Littlefield, Texas. Here, many millions of pounds of milk are turned into butter and milk powder each week.
A former denim jeans factory in Littlefield, Texas has been transformed into a top-modern dairy. With full capacity the plant will produce around 400,000 pounds (181,437 kilos) of milk powder a day and 24,000 pounds (10,886 kilos) of butter.
Planning of the new facility started in late 2015. The first twelve months were spent on full plant engineering and equipment design, followed by another 18 months to build the plant.
"We've replaced an evaporator preconcentration unit with a membrane (RO) plant and process. It's more effective and saves costs," says Steven Cooper, President and General Manager of Dairy Manufacturing Operations at Select Milk. "The solution is more advanced than others we have looked at and is highly innovative. Tetra Pak brings a lot to the table from a turnkey perspective."
Read article Turning commodity into value-added products
Select Milk
Select Milk is a cooperative of 99 dairy farms, owned by 35 families all together. Each farm has an average of 3,500 cows and delivers a minimum output of 6,000 gallons (22,712 litres) of milk a day. Select Milk handles 7.8 billion pounds (3.54 billion kilos) of milk per year, equivalent to 150,000 truckloads of milk. It is the fifth largest cooperative in the United States. Select Milk’s eighth dairy processing plant is located in Littlefield, a small village in the north-western corner of Texas, USA. The plant produces milk powder and butter.