Zietz speaks on Cargill at Rotary

Harvey Huber introduced John Zietz, the U.S. Barley Supply Chain Manager and Malting Barley Procurement for Spiritwood and Sheboygan malting plants, at the March 16 Rotary meeting.

Zietz joined the Spiritwood plant in 2001 and has been with Cargill 31 years. He has moved around to various communities throughout the United States since beginning his work with Cargill. He grew up in north central North Dakota and has a degree in agriculture economics from North Dakota State University. He is a past chair of the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce and has also been very active on the agriculture committee.

Zietz gave a brief update on the history of the malting plant. The plant was started in 1970 and was originally owned by the Ladish family and then sold to Cargill. There are 85 employees working at the Spiritwood plant. The Spiritwood plant primarily uses barley grown around the North Dakota area.

Most of the products come in and go out by rail. Some barley comes from Montana and as far away as Wyoming and Idaho. In North Dakota, the bulk of the barley is called “six row” and the barley product that comes from Montana and Idaho is “two row.” Some two-row barley is also grown in the western part of North Dakota. When running at full capacity, the plant can produce enough malt for 25.6 million 12-ounce beers a day.

The Rotary meeting was presided over by Vice Chair Dan Kunzman, Bob Badal gave the invocation and Larry Hoffman and Bev Kennison led the music with Irish tunes. Harold Bensch collected “Happy Dollars” for Rotary projects.

Don Redmann reminded members to keep selling their Rotary brunch and raffle tickets. The date for the brunch is April 18 at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Student guests at the meeting were Jaime Kessler and Philip Mangin from Jamestown High School. Dave Smette’s daughter, Carol Smette-Howe, a veterinarian from Grand Rapids, Minn., was also a guest at the meeting.

The program for today is in the hands of Lyman Keim. Invocation will be given by Mark Olson, sergeant at arms is Tim Ottmar and music leader is Larry Hoffman.

Tags: community, clubs, rotary, cargill, zietz