Country View Family Farms in Union County gives rise to 180-foot tall mill tower

Jul. 21—WHITE DEER TOWNSHIP — The construction of a $47.3 million feed mill expansion plant in Union County is progressing with the rise of a 176-foot tall structure.

Country View Family Farms LLC, a Middletown-based hog procurement and production company owned by the Clemens Family Corporation, announced plans in April 2022 that it was developing a 100-plus acre rail-served site at 2142 Old Route 15 in New Columbia. The rising structure, which can be seen from Route 15 and Interstate 80, is slightly smaller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy or Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle in Florida.

"That particular part of the building is the mill tower," said Aaron Ott, president of Country View Family Farms. "The actual feed mill will sit under that. The taller part of that tower is the load-out part of the facility. The finished feed is staged in a portion of that tower. The feed trucks will come in to that load-out bay. The feed by gravity will be loaded into the feed trucks."

The main tower has a 3,582-square-foot base. A shorter part of the structure called a pelleting annex is 56-feet tall and has a 2,016-square-foot base, said Ott.

The feed mill when completed and operational will produce 8,000 tons of finished feed a week, which equals 416,000 tons of finished feed a year. The location will be used to support its hog production business, said Ott.

Contractor Todd & Sargent Inc, of Ames, Iowa, on July 10 started to construct the tower from the ground up through a state-of-the-art process involving a seven-day, 24/7 concrete pour. The process is documented on the Clemens Food Group's Facebook page in a brief time-lapse video.

"It's a slow methodical process," said Ott. "The term for that process is called slip forming. The concrete form slips vertically as you pour the concrete and the concrete is curing underneath. The general contractor we're using is an industry leader and quite accustomed to doing these things."

All the foundational and preparation work that started in September was leading up to this month. In the coming September, the contractor will do a similar pour for four 150-foot-tall circular cylinders that will be constructed into grain silos, said Ott.

Township official: Tower is 'impressive'

White Deer Township, through the Central Keystone Council of Governments, issued a zoning permit in November. The project is expected to be finished in October 2024.

Carroll Diefenbach, the chairman of the White Deer Township Board of Supervisors, said he toured the construction site last month before the concrete pour started.

"It's impressive," said Diefenbach. "They had to move a lot of dirt. They had to get the platform ready for the pour. It's a lot of work right now."

Diefenbach said the sixth-generation, family-owned business has a good working relationship with the township.

"Everything is running smoothly on our end," he said. "There's been no complaints and no problems on the township level."

Diefenbach said he likes that local contractors were hired. Dave Gutelius Excavating, of Mifflinburg, was contracted for the excavating work and Central Builders Supply Company, of Sunbury, was contracted for the concrete work.

Ott said he "100 percent agreed" with Diefenbach's comments.

"The township has been great to work with," he said. "It's very nice to work with local officials who look out for the economic stimulus in their area. They've been helpful in navigating everything."

50 jobs coming

The project was coordinated by the Governor's Action Team (GAT), a group of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor and work with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania.

The company received a funding proposal from the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) for a $255,000 Pennsylvania First grant and was encouraged to apply for the department's Manufacturing Tax Credit (MTC) program, as well as PennDOT's Rail Freight Assistance Program (RFAP). Country View Family Farms officials said the project will create at least 51 new jobs in Union County, retain 231 existing, full-time jobs statewide, and invest more than $47,325,000 into the project within the next three years.

"We look forward to being operators in the community," said Ott. "There will be a lot of jobs, truck drivers and mill operators and all that. It will be close to 50 new jobs in the area."

The time lapse video can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/reel/654316169950335.