On-Farm Press Produces Canola Meal And Oil

On-Farm Press Produces Canola Meal And Oil David Heatwole runs a pasture poultry farm together with his father and brothers. When COVID overly inflated their canola-based feed source prices, the family installed an on-farm press to make their own poultry feed from the non-GMO canola seed they purchased from their local elevator. They started by crushing canola seed using a 3-phase electrically powered Ag Oil M70 press and collecting the resulting oil and meal products. The press crushes about 1,000 lbs. per day. The canola meal is transferred into 2,000-lb. totes, and the finished oil fills 75 gal. drums. Heatwole typically runs the press 24 hrs. a day for about half a month, which adds up to almost 15 tons of seed, about 30% of which is oil. “Most of the meal and oil is sold to mills for livestock feed,” Heatwole explains. “It’s pretty easy to be competitive with price, especially with the non-GMO product.” The family hopes to expand its operation and sales as there’s a high demand for more volume, especially the meal. They’ve committed to a larger-capacity press and await its arrival and installation. So far, they’ve pressed only canola but are experimenting with sunflower seeds. In the future, they’d like to enter the food-grade product market. “It’s worked out well as we can feed our poultry at a more reasonable cost and sell product to the feed mills and other farmers,” Heatwole says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Heatwole, 4443 Springdale Hunters Rd., Springdale, Wash. 99173 (ph 509-262-8959; david@williamsvalleyfamilyfarm.net).

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