ADM to end flour milling at Lincoln, Nebraska plant as part of US network optimization
Of the approximately 65 employees at the Lincoln facility, about 30 will be affected by the mill closing.
USA – ADM Milling Co. will cease flour milling operations at its Lincoln, Nebraska, US, complex, the company announced on Jan. 15, continuing a multi-year strategy to streamline and optimize its flour milling footprint across the United States.
Non-milling activities at the site, including flour packaging and the production of extruded products, will continue and are not affected by the decision.
The Lincoln mill currently has a daily flour milling capacity of 10,000 hundredweight (cwts) and grain storage capacity of about 3 million bushels.
Once milling operations stop, ADM will rely on other facilities in its regional network to supply customers previously served from Lincoln.
Tedd Kruse, president of ADM Milling, said the closure aligns with the company’s long-term strategic plan focused on network efficiency and reliability.
“This is a continuation of a strategic plan we have been executing against over the last five years,” Kruse told Milling & Baking News, a sister publication of World Grain.
Kruse added that ADM operates flour mills in nearby Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Illinois, providing sufficient capacity and logistical coverage to maintain supply continuity.
Of the approximately 65 employees at the Lincoln facility, about 30 will be affected by the flour mill closure. ADM said it is exploring opportunities for impacted workers at other area ADM facilities, while employees who leave the company will receive severance.
Despite the end of milling, the Lincoln site will remain an active production location. Products that will continue to be produced include packaged flour in sizes ranging from 2 pounds to 25 pounds.
These include patent flour, both organic and conventional, self-rising flour, white flour tortilla mix and other blended flour products.
The facility also manufactures an extruded pre-gelatinized wheat flour sold under the Aquatex brand, which is used by bakers and food manufacturers as a functional ingredient in batters, sauces, dry mixes and pet food applications.
Following the Lincoln closure, ADM will operate 17 flour mills in the United States with a combined daily milling capacity of 248,500 cwts, according to data from the 2026 Grain & Milling Annual published by Sosland Publishing. ADM will remain the second-largest flour milling company in the country.
The Lincoln mill has a long history in US flour milling. Originally known as Gooch Milling & Elevator Co., its roots date back to 1908, when Herbert E. Gooch built a 400-cwt flour mill.
The site expanded several times in the early 20th century and at one point included a corn mill and feed plant.
After financial difficulties in the late 1930s, the business was acquired by John J. Vanier in 1939, producing bakery flour and family flour, as well as pasta and bread sold under the Gooch’s Best and Martha Gooch brands.
ADM acquired the Lincoln mill in 1970 as part of its purchase of Vanier’s flour milling business, a deal that established ADM as one of the largest flour milling companies in the United States.
In recent years, the company has closed several older mills as part of its modernization efforts, including facilities in New Braunfels, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Salina, Kansas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; and a mill and gluten facility in Iowa.
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