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Mitch, his father, Ronnie, and grandfather Arthur are three of the four generations of Felderhoffs who have operated their family business, Muenster Milling. Mitch holds the fifth generation, his son Nolan, who already has a product line named for him.
Thomas Otto/Tamauto Photography
The Felderhoffs have been making animal feed at Muenster Milling since 1932. At the mill on Main Street in Muenster, Texas, some of the animals that eat its feed adorn a mural designed by a local Girl Scout for her Gold Award project.
Photo by Christine Forrest
When Ronnie was 4 years old, he and his sister Gina left a lasting impression on the steps of the family’s mill.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Inside the mill, Muenster Milling’s president, Ronnie Felderhoff, in red, and vice president, Mitch Felderhoff, in black, visit with head extruder operator Scott Harris and mill manager Max Koesler. ”It’s a privilege to have them work with me,” Ronnie says of Muenster Milling’s two dozen staff members. ”I don’t introduce anybody as an employee, I introduce them as a co-worker. I think of them as family.”
Photo by Christine Forrest
After workers at the mill manufacture and bag the feed, a robotic arm — part of a packaging system that was added to in 2008 — grasps each bag from a conveyor and stacks it on a pallet for shipping.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Using a touch screen, Max Koesler operates the packaging system’s industrial inkjet printer, which prints each bag with a traceable code.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Muenster Milling is unique among pet food manufacturers in having its own elevator and buying grain from local farmers, the Felderhoffs say. They recently completed a gleaming 310,000-bushel elevator with self-cleaning hopper-bottom tanks and a covered loading area. Located a block from the mill, it took the place of a facility that was damaged in a powerful storm in 2011.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Adjacent to the new elevator is a 17,000-square-foot shipping warehouse and office that the Felderhoffs built in the 1990s. Fresh from the mill, bags of finished feed are stacked and ready to go to feed stores, pet stores and other independent retailers.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Though large sacks of pet food and animal feed are packaged using robotic equipment in the mill, small bags are still filled and sealed by hand in the warehouse.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Ronnie Felderhoff holds a handful of Muenster Natural pet food, which is produced with local grains, without chemical preservatives, and using the same kind of extruders that make breakfast cereals for people. In Muenster Milling’s tests, cats preferred the mouth feel of small rings like these over other shapes, he says.
Photo by Christine Forrest
Sharon Felderhoff, Ronnie’s wife and business partner, joined the company full time in 1989. With a master’s degree and experience in journalism, teaching and coaching, her first task was to computerize Muenster Milling’s bookkeeping. She is now the company’s treasurer and office manager.
Photo by Christine Forrest