Darling Ingredients Inc. announced the opening on July 1, 2019, of its third organic fertilizer production facility in Fremont, Neb. The facility is located on a 10-acre site and has the ability to produce 35,000 tons of Nature Safe Natural & Organic Fertilizers annually.

The new plant and finished product storage are designed to meet the needs of organic growers operating in the central region of the U.S. Since the early 1990s, Darling has operated Nature Safe out of its original Henderson, Ky., plant, where it will continue to produce premium fertilizer for customers in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions of the country. Darling also had announced the opening of a new organic fertilizer plant in Turlock, Cal., in January serve the West.

"The company is focused on a U.S. growth strategy where it could leverage Darling's diverse supply of animal ingredients into the organic fertilizer market," Darling vice president of organic fertilizer and innovation Mike Manning said. With long-established U.S. rendering facilities that produce feather meal, blood meal and meat and bone meal, the company's Nature Safe brand produces the highest-quality organic fertilizers on the market with cost-effective proficiency. The Nebraska organic fertilizer facility will utilize product from several nearby Darling rendering plants.

Related:Darling opens organic fertilizer plant in California

The Fremont plant began production July 1 and brought on a new management team. Pat Wiegert joins Darling Ingredients as plant manager, and Kirk Carls, central regional commercial business manager, will execute Nature Safe's central region go-to-market strategies.

Darling is a global developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients, creating a wide range of ingredients and specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, technical, fuel, bioenergy and fertilizer industries. With operations on five continents, the company collects and transforms all aspects of animal byproduct streams into useable and specialty ingredients such as gelatin, edible fats, feed-grade fats, animal proteins and meals, plasma, pet food ingredients, organic fertilizers, yellow grease, fuel feedstocks, green energy, natural casings and hides.

Darling also recovers and converts recycled oils (used cooking oil and animal fats) into valuable feed and fuel ingredients and collects and processes residual bakery products into feed ingredients. In addition, the company provides environmental services, such as grease trap collection and disposal services to food service establishments. It sells its products domestically and internationally and operates within three industry segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients and Fuel Ingredients.