According to one state agriculture official, 2017 could see at least one more announcement of a major dairy processing plant coming to Indiana.
Ted McKinney, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said he remains bullish about milk processing in the state as the state dairy strategy enters its third year of implementation.
"The Indiana Dairy Strategy is steady as she goes and still looking good," he said, even as a new administration takes the reins of power.
McKinney, who was reappointed as ISDA director by Gov. Eric Holcomb, said the new administration remains committed to economic development efforts in the state agriculture industry, including dairy processing.
"We're still talking to several people," McKinney said, referring to his efforts to attract either new processors or expand existing facilities. He refused to mention specific names but added that one or more announcements are possible this year.
In March of 2016, the first tangible results from the dairy strategy occurred when Walmart picked Indiana as the home of one of the largest milk processing plants in the nation —a 250,000-square-foot processing facility in Fort Wayne. Construction began late last year and should be finished by this fall.
Once complete, the new Walmart plant will supply milk to more than 600 Walmart stores and Sam's Club locations in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and northern Kentucky.
According to the Indiana Board of Animal Health's January newsletter, Walmart "will purchase milk directly from independent producers as well as Grassland Dairy Products of Wisconsin."
Anne Hatfield, Walmart's director of communication, said the company is "looking in to potential suppliers" but refused to confirm specific names.
Also in 2016, infrastructure plans for a large cheese plant at the Fair Oaks Farms complex in Newton County were approved by county officials there. That action was considered to be the first of several local approvals needed to green light the project. McKinney said Fair Oaks officials are waiting for the appropriate time to make a formal announcement.
Looking to 2017, McKinney said Gov. Holcomb and Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who holds the title of secretary of agriculture, are committed to economic development in agriculture, and that the momentum from 2016 carries over into 2017.