Didion Milling
Overview
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At
Didion Milling, Inc., making a difference in local, national, and international
communities remains a driving mission, a goal the company set forth nearly 40
years ago. Now comprising a sister company, Didion Ethanol, LLC, Didion Milling
utilizes produce grown in Wisconsin to create healthy, nutrient-rich corn meals,
corn grits, soy flours, high-protein blended foods, and other supplemented
processed grains. Didion Milling purchases corn and soybeans in raw
commodities, then transforms them to offer a complete line of ingredients to
food processors across the globe. Didion Milling concurrently spearheads
numerous famine relief efforts that provide daily sustenance for more than 8
million people living in impoverished countries. In 2006, Didion Milling and
Didion Ethanol broke ground on an ethanol plant located in close proximity to
the company’s dry corn mill, expanding manufacturing capabilities in the
sustainable energy marketplace to an even greater degree. Now considered one of
the most efficient fuel production facilities in the United States, Didion
Milling’s corn mill employs a complex fractionation process specifically
designed to utilize every portion of a corn kernel. Didion Milling then
transfers the fractionated corn to Didion Ethanol’s technologically advanced
plant, creating environmentally friendly fuel sources that offer consumers an
alternative to foreign oil. Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol strive to avoid
excessive energy and water consumption in the ethanol fabrication process. So
far, the amount of energy the companies have saved is enough to provide
electricity and heat to more than 800 homes for a year. Dedicating considerable
resources to creating a standardized system that controls yields and energy
consumption, Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol aim to become the world’s most
sustainable producers of ethanol in the near future. In May 2009, Didion
Milling and Didion Ethanol instituted a water-recycling program at the plant,
reducing water usage to less than 2.7 gallons of water per each gallon of
ethanol extruded from the fractionated corn. Through this manufacturing
innovation, Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol cut water consumption by 26
percent, saving more than 129,000 gallons of water each day. One of many ways
in which Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol make a positive impact on the environment,
recent upgrades at the companies’ Wisconsin facilities serve as inspiration for
other domestic and international food and fuel producers.