Kalmbach Feeds Awarded $300K Rail Grant to Support $125M Expansion Near Upper Sandusky

On July 24, 2025, the Ohio Rail Development Commission approved a $300,000 grant to Kalmbach Feeds, Inc. to install a new rail spur at its feed mill near Upper Sandusky. The new spur will directly serve the feed mill and a new pet foods facility.  This project is estimated at more than $125 million.

Kalmbach Feeds is a family-owned Ohio company founded in 1963 in Upper Sandusky.  The company currently has operations in four states. Kalmbach Feeds produces a variety of animal feeds and nutrition for livestock such as horses, cows and chickens. They are now planning to expand their product line to include pet foods for dogs and cats. The new facility, however, must be separated physically from other aspects of the operation in Upper Sandusky due to the significantly different regulatory structure for feed operations as compared to pet food operations. Kalmbach plans to locate the new pet foods plant on a parcel at their northernmost facility, the MPK Feeds Plant. Raw materials will be shipped to the facility via rail to the newly constructed Rail Receiving and Transload facility, and then transloaded to the new pet foods facility where the materials will be processed, packaged and shipped to customers via truck.  Upon completion of this project, Kalmbach Feeds will commit to hiring 213 new employees, retaining 509 existing employees, and ship/receive 400 new rail cars per year at their Upper Sandusky-area operations.

“We are happy to partner with Kalmbach Feeds and support them in this endeavor.  The new siding will improve the company’s operations and allow for their continued growth in Ohio,” said Matthew Dietrich, Executive Director, Ohio Rail Development Commission.

“We’re grateful for our partnership with the Ohio Rail Development Commission in bringing this new industrial rail siding project to fruition,” said Kalmbach Feeds, Inc. President Paul Kalmbach, Jr. “This rail infrastructure upgrade significantly improves our ability to receive high-quality ingredients, enabling us to produce the premium feeds our customers expect with greater speed and reliability.”