The rail lines in northeastern North Dakota are humming. Every day, in tiny Drayton (population 803) two hours east of Devils Lake, grain pours from elevator spouts into shuttle trains hauling up to 116 cars each – 420,000 bushels per train. Together, the CHS ag retail business units based in Drayton and Devils Lake have seven shuttle elevators. About half the cars are filled with hard red spring wheat, much of it destined for Ardent Mills flour-milling facilities across the U.S.
“We run about 34 million bushels of hard red spring wheat out of the Drayton and Devils Lake business units every year,” says Brian Devine, senior commodities trader for CHS locations in the region. “That’s the wheat used in high-quality breads and pizza dough.”
Devine explains the high protein content of hard red spring wheat gives dough good elasticity for a reliable rise and dependable results. “You get a good bake.”
Ardent Mills in numbers
Since opening in May 2014 as a joint venture between Conagra Brands, Cargill and CHS:
- ~300 million bushels of wheat milled annually
- 1.8 million regenerative ag acres
- 80,000 organic acres
- More than $14 million in charitable giving
The largest wheat miller in North America, Ardent Mills is jointly owned by Conagra Brands, Cargill and CHS. Nearly three dozen Ardent Mills plants process traditional and organic grains from Washington to Massachusetts and Saskatchewan to Puerto Rico.
Being part of Ardent Mills puts cooperative farmer-owners in a sweet spot, giving them the benefits of huge demand and a finger on the pulse of consumer wishes, says Justin Friesz, a grain trading and risk management expert with CHS.
“The relationship with Ardent Mills is key for CHS and our ability to find demand for our owners’ grain,” Friesz says. “The sheer volume helps us manage risk, but just as important is that we are better positioned to consider where, when and how much wheat is needed with which quality characteristics. Then we work with member cooperatives and CHS facilities to meet that demand.”
It’s a positive outcome for Ardent Mills, too, Friesz says. “Ardent Mills can leverage the size and scope of the cooperative system and can offer its customers direct access to growers through the system.”
Old meets new
In an industry nearly as old as time, Ardent Mills is a leader in efficient, quality-driven wheat milling, while also working with growers who raise specialty crops that meet consumer demand, help protect fragile soils and preserve moisture.
“Wheat flour will always be the core of our business,” says Angie Goldberg, chief growth officer for Ardent Mills. “We absolutely plan to continue investing in that space to produce the highest-quality products we can. At the same time, our efforts in emerging nutrition strengthen our portfolio and enable us to provide nutrient-dense solutions that help our customers meet evolving consumer needs.”
Consumer preferences drive both sides of the business. “Continuing to be a leader in the flour space is paving the way for the future,” she says. “The Sunday night pizza routine and birthday cake will always be part of our everyday lives, but we are seeing growing preference for dietary requests like better-for-you and nutrient-dense foods. Consumers are looking for multiple benefits in the foods they choose.”
Ardent Mills products feed approximately 100 million people every day by supplying flour, grains and specialty ingredients to many large bread and bakery companies in the country, Goldberg says, plus major consumer packaged goods, retail and foodservice companies.
Specialty space
While wheat is the core of the Ardent Mills business, the company sees vast opportunity in what it calls Emerging Nutrition, finding new uses that highlight the benefits of alternative grains like chickpeas, lentils, sorghum, flax and more, and helping growers who want to move into organic production of wheat and alternative grains.
Recent additions have added even more capabilities to the Ardent Mills roster, including acquisition of Stone Mill, a specialty grain-cleaning facility in Richardton, N.D., which focuses on connecting chickpea and lentil growers in the Pacific Northwest to global and domestic markets, and an organic grains elevator in Klamath Falls, Ore.
Ardent Mills is also investing in advanced milling capabilities within its Emerging Nutrition portfolio, expanding its ability to bring alternative grains and pulses to customers in a broader range of formats and applications.
At the same time, Ardent Mills continues to invest in its core flour business. The company is expanding its Commerce City, Colo., facility and opened a state-of-the-art mill near Tampa, Fla., that produces 1.8 million pounds of flour a day.
