Treatment of
Mink Food Manufacturing Wastes
G. EARL TORGERSEN, Consulting Engineer
Engineering Associates
Salt Lake City, Utah
INTRODUCTION
In an attempt to provide suitable solutions for treatment of wastes it is sometimes necessary to attempt solutions which are somewhat unorthodox but suited to
the situation at hand. This paper presents a solution to a particular problem in
waste treatment which was peculiarly applicable at the time and place it was applied. It is somewhat doubtful if similar circumstances justifying a similar solution would occur very frequently. However, the method used for the treatment of
the wastes and the success derived therefrom warrant a report of the solution.
HISTORY
The Fur Breeders Agriculture Cooperative was formed in 1939 by a small
group of mink ranchers -- five persons to be exact -- for the purpose of producing
feed for mink and other fur bearing animals at a cost which hopefully would be
less than the ranchers could attain individually. The venture has been a success
and now the Cooperative numbers about 425 separate ranchers in Utah, Southern
Idaho and Southwest Wyoming. The Cooperative operates plants in Fields Landing, California, Turlock, California, Fort Bragg, California, Santa Barbara California and at Midvale and Logan, Utah., The California plants are strictly supply
houses for the plants in Utah, processing and freezing fish and poultry by-products
for shipment to Utah plants.
As is indicated in the list of ingredients in Table I, me typical feed mix is
composed of many and varied items which are obtained from suppliers all over the
nation. As an example, each year the Cooperative will purchase about three million lbs of tripe from St. Joseph, Mo., some eight to 10 million lbs of cereal
from Kellogg Co., (the Cooperative is the largest single customer of Kellogg
Co.), millions of lbs of fish and poultry from California, Florida and Colorado,
and varying amounts of vitamins, anti-biotics, minerals, cottage cheese and
other products as necessary to make up the feed upon which the mink thrive.
The Cooperative maintains an excellent laboratory for research and product
testing and has contributed heavily to cancer research studies in cooperation with
tne Salk Institute, University of California at Los Angeles and with the University
of Utah. The laboratory is the largest volume tester with electrophoresis equipment in the United States running tests on all of their breeding stock at least four
times each year. For purposes of improving on the breed and checking on effectiveness of the feed products, the Cooperative maintains 600 female mink at the
Midvale plant site, the headquarters. At this location can be seen all types of
mink ranging from almost pure white to pure black.
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