Welcome, my name is John and this is my story.

A Father's Legacy

Before my birth, doctors told my mother I probably would never see my father because he had rheumatic fever. However, an older couple, who were both doctors, saved his life. Those same doctors also told him that if he wanted to live a long life he would need to raise his own food because his health system would not tolerate most processing ingredients used in commercial food processing. My father left this world in November, 2011, at the age of 92.

A Simple Goal

The time was 1946-1947 and like many other families, we lived on a small farm with a dozen cows, a few chickens and a couple of hogs. We raised the feed we could and bought the rest. When I was 5, I would drive the tractor to get fields ready to plant and I had two cows to milk by hand. One morning after a rain, my dad and I were watching the cows eat when we noticed shelled corn lying on the cement. This corn had been through the cows but was not absorbed. It was all wasted, and I remember my dad saying, “I paid for every kernel of that corn.” For the first 17 years of my life, I watched my father try to come up with better ways of processing grain so that it didn't go to waste.

Self-sufficiency

I finally left home and went to school and got my education in the world. At age 24, I bought a farm and started on my own family. We farmed, using all the knowledge we had learned from our parents. We raised all of our food for the family. If we needed to buy fruit, we had an organic source in Michigan. If we needed staples, my wife belonged to a food co-op that could get organic supplies. My job (off the farm) brought in the money to keep the bills paid. I worked as a tool and die designer, tool and die maker, product engineer, and industrial engineer, and held titles of Supervisor and Manager in different companies.

New Experiences

In 1995, I started to feel there was more to do than work for someone as an employee. After some time, I emptied a 20' X 24' end of my machine shed and bought  a couple machines to start my own business. All along the way, I was raising cattle, hogs, chickens and turkeys. Constantly, I was reminded of the feed being wasted, but I really didn't have time to do anything about it. After I left my job and went on my own, I had several farmers bringing in their feed grinders for repair. I think I am a slow learner, because I had to listen to these farmers and work on their grinders for a few years, while still feeding my cattle, hogs and poultry, before an idea started to grow in my mind - a better way to crush grain.

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity 

This idea made me recall many things that had happened in my life and conversations that I had with some of the old timers.  I started researching and studying from books and articles that came my way. I believe that somehow I was led to try to make a better “mousetrap” - a better way to efficiently process and utilize the world’s grain resources. One day, I was doing some work for an old timer who had built his own sorghum mill, and I was explaining to him this idea I had. He took me to his farm and showed me a pair of rolls and a frame that held them , which came from a flour mill that had burned in 1900. I paid him $60 for those pieces and started studying them (lots of German engineering). This is when I started building my first grain crushing machine.

A New Approach to an Age-Old Process

The major difference in my machine is that it crushes grain without cutting it, preserving the germ pouch. By not rupturing or destroying the germ pouch, all of the original nutrients in the grain are still present. There is no need to put any additives or preservatives into the grain. I have samples of various grains that have been crushed over a year ago, and they are still as fresh today as they were on the day I crushed them.  

I Believe

• My process can make a big difference in the way we produce food and feed in the world today
• There are monetary benefits, as well as health benefits, to be gained by crushing grain
• We have to do a better job, as a society, in preserving and extending our limited resources
• Our grain crushing machine can help farmers and processors find that "sweet spot" where profit meets healthy practices, and everyone benefits

Join Us!

As of today, I have built seven machines to crush grain. The last 4 are operational and have different capacities of output. If you want to learn more about our machine or  have any grain processing needs whatsoever, please call us at 419-790-8868 or 419-375-0102.  We look forward to hearing from you soon.

These are the four sizes of wheat that comes out of our machine after running through two sets of roles.  We have two smaller roles that we can run it through.  These sizes can be all mixed or any combination depending on texture, taste and nutrition desired.  You choose, be careful you will get exactly what you want!!  Once again, this is not processed in any way.  The ingredients are -- WHEAT--.  We have done this with corn, popcorn, flax and coffee.