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Sep. 18—Facility expected to be operational by August
More than 200 people attended an event Saturday at Wedgewood Cove Golf Club, where the founders and co-owners of Green Acres Milling provided an update on the construction of their new oat processing operation off of 14th Street in the Jobs Industrial Park in Albert Lea.
As of last week, the company now has the tallest building in Albert Lea with the construction of the new 120-foot tall mill structure, said Matt Kruger, director of strategy and development for Green Acres Milling.
Kruger said everyone from farmer-owners-investors and food company partners were in attendance at the event, hearing updates not only about the construction phase but also about when the company will be operational. They also reviewed the end-products, including food-grade groats, kernels and oat flour. There was also discussion on the nutritional health benefits of oats, as well as sustainability stories for growing oats, and the benefits that beef operators can have through planting oats as cover crop.
Kruger said the mill be a significant contributor in strengthening the region’s food system, expanding market opportunities for local farmers, creating and retaining wealth in rural communities and promoting good soil health and environmental resiliency.
When operational, Green Acres Milling is expected to produce 57 million pounds of groats annually — or the equivalent of 40,000 acres worth of oats. The product will be allergen-free, domestically sourced and traceable to the origin.
There are 110 farmer-owner-investors who are part of the project, including from Minnesota, Iowa and other neighboring states.
Kruger said crews started pouring the foundation in June, and the oat milling facility was erected last week with about 100 crew members, using a slipform pour. The crews poured concrete into a form around the clock, with hydraulic jacks raising the form one inch every almost four minutes until the structure was about 120 feet. It took from Monday until Friday morning for the process, utilizing 220 trucks of concrete.
Two new warehouses — one for byproduct and one for the actual product — will also be constructed this winter, and work will also be done this fall to to install equipment inside the mill structure. The processing company is expected to be fully operational by August 2026.
Kruger said the company is expected to create 25 new jobs.
Company leaders, as well as representatives from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Steward, Albert Lea Mayor Rich Murray and Albert Lea Economic Development Agency Executive Director Phillip Johnson also went out to the site and posed for a photo with shovels with the new structure behind them.
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