ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and Feedstuffs named Westway Feed Products’ Houston, Texas, facility, as its 2025 Feed Facility of the Year. This prestigious award is presented annually to a feed facility demonstrating outstanding commitment to quality, safety, productivity, regulatory compliance, employee development and customer relations. Through the Feed Facility of the Year program, the AFIA also raised approximately $11,500 for the Equipment Manufacturers Committee (EMC) scholarship, supporting the development of future leaders in the industry.
“One of the things that makes Westway’s Houston team outstanding is a culture of placing their people first by creating a safe and rewarding work environment that allows both customers and employees to thrive,” said Gary Huddleston, AFIA’s director of feed manufacturing and regulatory affairs.
Through initiatives like the Lead Employee and Operator of the Month Programs, the team celebrates achievements, reinforcing a positive and engaged workplace. Westway Feed Products’ Houston, Texas, facility, led by manager Tommy Flowers, achieved both the highest employee safety score and highest sustainability score while manufacturing 116,806 tons of liquid feed in 2024.
“We are proud of the team at Westway’s Houston plant. They have embraced our company’s values and strategy that focuses on safety, a high performing team and customer centricity. This has led to employee recognitions, a focus on customer service and efficient plant production. The Houston plant is supported by efforts from our sales, technical, operations, formulations, accounting, administration, procurement and safety teams. Winning AFIA’s Feed Facility of the Year award is a great honor for our team,” stated Blaine Blackburn, president of Westway Feed.
The AFIA and Feedstuffs would also like to extend congratulations to the following semifinalists in the 2025 Feed Facility of the Year program:
- BioZyme, St. Joseph, Mo. – highest premix and ingredient facility and highest productivity and efficiency score.
- Famo Feeds, Freeport, Minn. – highest commercial dry facility score.
- Mountaire Scotland County Feed Mill, Maxton, N.C. – highest integrator facility score.
- Ridley Feed Ingredients, Mendota, Ill.
- Western Milling, Goshen, Calif.
- TransAgra International’s Storm Lake, Iowa, facility – highest quality and food safety score.
- Mountaire Middlesboro, Middlesboro, Del.
- Quality Liquid Feeds, Comstock Park, Mich.
The AFIA has been recognizing excellent feed manufacturing facilities through the Feed Facility of the Year program since 1985. While the program has undergone some modifications over the years, a key reason why facilities participate is that they receive comprehensive benchmarking reports following their participation, providing them with valuable insights into how their facilities compare to others so that they may work on continuous improvement. Since 2024, the program donates proceeds of the program to the EMC scholarship fund, which is administered through the Institute for Feed Education and Research, to provide scholarships to college students seeking careers in the feed industry. Learn more about the Feed Facility of the Year program at afia.org/FFY.
About AFIA
Founded in 1909, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), based in Arlington, Va., is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to representing the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the U.S. animal food industry and its suppliers. The organization’s membership is comprised of over 650 domestic and international companies that represent the total feed industry—manufacturers of commercial and integrated feed and pet food, ingredient suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, industry support and equipment manufacturers. AFIA’s members manufacture more than 75% of the feed and 70% of the non-whole grain ingredients used in the country. AFIA is also recognized as the leader on international industry developments, and holds membership in the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF).
— American Feed Industry Association
