Darling Ingredients Inc. announces the opening on July 1 of its third organic fertilizer production facility in Fremont, Neb. The facility is located on a 10-acre site with the ability to produce 35,000 tons of Nature Safe Natural & Organic Fertilizers annually. The new plant and finished product storage is designed to meet the needs of organic growers operating in the central region of the U.S. Darling has operated Nature Safe out of its original Henderson, Kentucky plant since the early 1990s, where it will continue to produce premium fertilizer for customers in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions of the country. Darling announced the opening of a new organic fertilizer plant in Turlock, Calif., on Jan. 2 of this year to serve the West.
"The company is focused on a U.S. growth strategy where it could leverage Darling's diverse supply of animal ingredients into the organic fertilizer market," says Mike Manning, Darling's vice president of organic fertilizer and innovation.
With long-established U.S. rendering facilities that produce feather meal, blood meal, and meat and bone meal, the company's Nature Safe brand produces the highest quality organic fertilizers on the market with cost-effective proficiency. The Nebraska organic fertilizer facility will utilize product from several nearby Darling rendering plants.
The Fremont plant began production July 1, and brought on a new management team. Pat Wiegert joins Darling Ingredients as plant manager. Kirk Carls, Central regional commercial business manager, will execute Nature Safe's central region go-to-market strategies.