Star of the West Milling expands storage capacity

New bins at Star of the West Milling Co. in Churchville will greatly expand storage capacity on site. Photograph by Kristina Gabalski

Star of the West Milling expands storage capacity

An expansion project at Star of the West Milling Co., in Churchville, will help ease the need for more wheat storage at the facility. Manager Francois Lachance said four new metal wheat storage bins will be constructed on the company's property on South Main Street in the village. The bins are 60 feet in diameter and 73 feet 4 inches tall (to the eaves). The bins will hold 187,500 bushels of wheat each, bringing the total capacity of the mill to 750,000 bushels, Lachance said. Currently, the mill has the capacity to store 250,000 bushels and with the mill going through 11,000 bushels of wheat a day, there is a little more than 21 days worth of wheat in storage at a time.

"With the mill running six days a week, that's just not enough," Lachance said. "We desperately need more storage."

Lachance said the original storage expansion plan called for concrete silos, but the cost became prohibitive, so the company decided to go with the metal bins instead. The bins create a "win-win situation" Lachance said, for both the mill and for local growers.

Farmers in New York state grow about six million bushels of wheat each year and Star of the West mills half of that crop - three million bushels - into flour. Farmers want to be able to sell their wheat locally and with limited storage, some farmers have had to haul their wheat out of state when storage at Star of the West has been full, according to the mill manager. "Farmers have to truck it to Pennsylvania rather than come here," he said.

Star of the West mills soft wheat into pastry and cake flour. Most of the wheat comes from New York state and if those supplies run low, the company buys soft wheat from Canada. Flour milled in Churchville is not sold retail, but is used by commercial bakeries for products like cookies, cakes, doughnuts and crackers. Pennant Foods in Rochester uses Star of the West flour to make a baking mix used by Dunkin' Donuts for the doughnuts it bakes. A large bakery in Buffalo uses Star of the West flour exclusively for the sandwich cookies it makes, buying between 600,000 and one million pounds of flour a week. Lachance also said that King Arthur Flour in Vermont purchases flour from Star of the West for their pastry products. Star of the West sells 70 percent of its flour in bulk and the other 30 percent in 50 and 100 pound bags.

Churchville Mayor Nancy Steedman said the village has enjoyed working with Lachance and Star of the West. "They have been great partners in the village," she said. Village officials are very pleased about the storage expansion which Steedman called "very beneficial to residents." She said Star of the West fixed long-standing drainage problems for residents on Howard Street along the south border of the mill's property as part of the expansion project. The project went through the planning and village boards very smoothly, Steedman said, with not many residents speaking out about the expansion.

Village resident Paul Miller feels differently. Miller lives on Fitch Street which borders the Star of the West property.

He said he is very disappointed about the expansion and feels the approval by the village board was irresponsible. "This is not going to help the village," Miller said. Miller said opponents tried to encourage officials to find another location for the storage bins. He is worried that neighbors on the south side of Fitch Street won't see the winter sun because of the height of the bins and added that he is fearful that winds could cause ice to fall from the bins and hit nearby houses. Miller also expressed concerns over possible increases in electric rates and more truck traffic in the village.

Lachance said despite the increased storage space, the mill will still process three million bushels of wheat regardless, so there will be no increase in truck traffic. Lachance said there are more trucks at certain times of the year, especially at harvest time, but overall, about 20 trucks a day come and go from the mill.

Some history
The Churchville flour mill dates back to 1810 and was built by Samuel Church on the banks of Black Creek near the Buffalo Road bridge, Lachance said. The original mill burned and was rebuilt at its current location near the railroad. Lachance said its "very unique today" to have an industry that has done the same thing in one location for that length of time. The current owners, Star of the West, are based in Frankenmuth, Michigan, but Lachance said they have a firm commitment to Churchville. When the mill was faced with the need for more storage, they started to consider building elsewhere, but always came back to Churchville. "It's a great location, the last thing we wanted to do was move," he said.

The property is zoned industrial and Lachance said flour milling is about as environmentally friendly as an industry can get. "We have one ingredient, produce a wholesome product and we use all of it." He added that there is no air or water pollution created by the process and nothing is wasted, every part of the wheat can be eaten by either people or animals.

He said about 75 percent of the wheat they receive is milled into flour, the other 25 percent goes into bran cereals or is used for animal feed. The Wegmans egg farm in Wolcott buys all of its chicken feed from Star of the West, Lachance said.

Star of the West is concerned about its neighbors and how operations will affect those living and working in the village. Lachance said, "We want to be good neighbors."

Work is underway on the new storage bins and Lachance said the project should be complete sometime in the fall.