Since the purchase of Oegema Grains’ first ever location in Eugene, OR in 1986, we have grown not only in terms of square, production, markets, and technical advancements, but even more so, in skill and expertise. Our employees across North America personify Oegema Grains – whether they’ve been with us for fifteen, thirty, or three years, they are millers at heart with a deep understanding of the commodities they mill, the equipment they operate and the finished ingredients they produce. 

As our 35th anniversary approaches, we want to outline some of our milestones and accomplishments, including the evolution of our mill locations over the years. Each step along the way made our company what it is today, and we are proud to share our journey with you.

1980s – Foundations

In 1986, Oegema Grains’ purchased its first property: Zellner Milling in Eugene, Oregon. This was quickly followed by the acquisition of the mill formerly known as NorOats in Ansgar, Iowa.

 

In addition to establishing Oegema Grains’ presence in the Midwest and opening up East coast markets, the mill also became the largest employer in the region. Today, it’s known for its impressive size and cleanliness, and is widely recognized as the most technically advanced oat mill in North America.

2000s – Innovation & Growth

The first year of the millennium, 2001, was an important year for Oegema Grains. With the purchase of a mill in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, we added 58 new employees to our family. The mill is an “origin mill,” meaning that the oats are delivered directly from local farms to the mill by truck, limiting farmer risk and better protecting their interests.

 

In the same year, Oegema Grains constructed its Eugene MPF, bringing chemical-free and organic oat fiber to the marketplace. Our scientists and technical specialists made a breakthrough discovery when they developed a proprietary mechanical process that produced the first ever organic oat fiber without the use of chemical treatment.

In 2004, Oegema Grains purchased our St. Peter cleaning facility, adding the capability to export organic and Non-GMO soybeans that are purchased directly from Midwest American growers.

 

Our expansion continued with the commission of the St. Ansgar C-Mill in 2007, which doubled production capabilities with all-new equipment and set the tone for an elevated level of scale & scope in the areas of ingredient production and food safety. 

2010s – Expansion

Oegema Grains’ C-mill investment in St. Ansgar was followed by the 2011 St. Ansgar warehouse expansion, which also added a can line to the production facility. In 2010, the company purchased a mill in Marion, Indiana, which allowed entrance to the organic and Non-GMO corn market. In 2012, the company completed the another warehouse expansion there, increasing storage capacity for Non-GMO products by 93,910 square feet, and increasing packaged material production by 36% since 2010.

In the same year, Oegema Grains added Enreco, based in Newton, WI, to its facilities. This marked our entrance into the whole and ground flax seed market. This venture expanded in 2013 with the purchase of the Saskatoon flax facility, which expanded our purchasing and cleaning capabilities of whole and ground flax seed.

In 2014, 2 facility expansions were completed: the Yorkton facility addition and the St. Ansgar MPF facility. In St. Ansgar, the completion of this fiber plant expanded our production capacity for chemical-free and organic oat fibers and specialty flours to a second location. Both expansions allowed Oegema Grains to provide more employment opportunities to area residents. Between 2001 and 2014, both Yorkton and Saskatoon locations saw a 94% increase of salaried employees; by 2015, that number had increased to 124%.

 

We continued expanding and improving in 2015 with the addition of color sorting and conveyance technology at our St. Peter, MN, facility. We also expanded the capacity of our Marion, IN, warehouse in 2016, adding maintenance and cleaning upgrades in eastward and westward expansions.

Gluten-Free Investment

In 2013 and 2016, we were proud to install new equipment lines at our Yorkton and St. Ansgar facilities that allowed for the production of Gluten-Free oat products, serving our Gluten-Free and gluten sensitive customers by expanding our capabilities to meet their needs at double the purity required by the FDA.

Today

In 2021, we are proud to note that our expansions over the years mean that our team of committed technicians has grown significantly. Since 2001, the number of employees at our Yorkton, Saskatoon, and Rycroft locations has seen a marked 265% increase from 2001 and a 63% increase from 2015.

In addition to this growth in our staff, we also commissioned a B-mill at our Yorkton facility in 2020. 

Our 35th anniversary isn’t just a celebration of our success. It’s a celebration of the relationships we’ve built with customers, a dedicated team, and the communities we serve. We look forward to sharing more of our story in 2021.

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Explore the art of making organic rolled oats at Oegema Grains.

When you picture a traditional bowl of oatmeal, you’re probably picturing rolled, “old-fashioned” oats. Their recognizable shape and delicious toasted taste makes for a classic bowl that you can dress up–or dress down–however you like. Ever wondered how Oegema Grains processes rolled oats, or how many different varieties there are? We’ll walk you through it.

After oats are dehulled (the process that separates the oat’s husk from its groat) they’re cleaned and kilned. Then, whole grain groats begin their own journey towards perfection. They’re steamed and then rolled through a flaker to impart their quintessential flat shape and wholesome flavor. The flaking process can produce a variety of oat products, from quick-cooking rolled oats to thick rolled oats, depending on how our highly-skilled operators set up the flaker.

A great source of soluble fiber due to the presence of beta glucans, all of our varieties of rolled oats are a heart-healthy choice when it comes to getting your whole grains.

Before flaking, our quick rolled oats are made cut from whole oat groats (aka steel cut oats). Those cut groats are then rolled slightly thinner than their regular rolled counterparts. These smaller, thinner flakes absorb water much faster and cook in as little as two minutes. If you’re looking for oatmeal that will be ready even faster, try our instant rolled oats, which are made from our smallest pieces of steel cut and rolled very thin. This results in the quickest cooking time in the rolled oat family (just add hot water or milk!). Seeking a denser bite? We also offer an industry-first quick-cooking steel cut that creates a texture-rich and nutrient-dense oat product that’s perfect for breads, energy bars, granola, and hot cereal.

A great source of soluble fiber due to the presence of beta glucans, all of our varieties of rolled oats are a heart-healthy choice when it comes to getting your whole grains. Not only are they delicious at breakfast time (or dinner–be honest, we’ve all been there), they’re also an incredibly versatile cooking and baking ingredient. Our baby rolled oats are the perfect nutritional addition to baked goods, and make a beautiful topping to sweet treats. They’re also ideal for instant oatmeal due to their high-absorption rate. Our signature oat crush, made from shredded oat flakes, adds texture and acts as a thickening agent in cooking or baking due to its flour-like consistency.

Regular rolled oats, the essential “old-fashioned” oats, are most widely known for making a delicious bowl of breakfast cereal. Old-fashioned oats cook faster than most steel-cut oats, making them an excellent option for quick-cooking oat products.

Their rich flavor and unique texture also makes them perfect for granola bars, cookies, muffins, flatbreads, cereals, and beverages. They also perform wonderfully in savory recipes, such as the base for a veggie burger patty. No matter how you’re using them, our rolled oats provide the flavor and nutrition you can expect from Oegema Grains.

As always, Oegema Grains prides itself on delivering consistent, quality oat products that meet customer specifications every time. Whether you’re getting quick cooking, regular, thick, or baby rolled oats, Oegema Grains’ organic rolled oats are always flavorful, aromatic, and perfectly toasted.

To learn more about the art of milling, read more here.

Email us or give us a call to get in contact with an oat expert!

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Procurement

We buy directly from the farmers whenever possible. Before the oats even make it to our facility, we have already invested in helping our farmers grow the best possible crop. Our procurement strategy provides a dependable market for the farmer, gives them access to our direct delivery points and provides both parties with the opportunity to build the most important part of any business transaction—a strong, long-lasting relationship. Oegema Grains’ crop scientists work with farmers to ensure that they’re growing the best oat variety for their environment, managing everything from soil testing to seed identification. Our free and voluntary Sustainable Grower Program helps farmers improve their operations, which in turn means our customers get an uncompromised quality of oats.

Cleaning

Oats are transported to our mills by rail and truck. Upon entering the mill, oats are immediately cleaned and sorted to remove any foreign material that made its way to the mill from the farm. In this process, oats pass through various types of equipment specifically designed to remove contaminants.

Dehulling

Here’s where the fun comes in: inside of our dehulling equipment, the oats are launched against a rubber ring which compresses the oat end to end and pops off the outer hull layer, leaving only the internal kernel known as a “groat” (the yummy part). Our mill operators are trained to balance throughput and dehulling speed, aiming for high efficiency of hull removal that doesn’t result in too many broken groats. 

Kilning (It’s what makes the oats taste good)

Kilning, or running groat material through a steam-heated kiln, serves two purposes: Although it is primarily used to ensure shelf stability to neutralize the enzymes that lead to rancidity, it also adds that great traditional toasty oat flavor we are known for. Oegema Grains has over thirty years of experience perfecting the art of time and temperature when it comes to the kilning of our oats, and that expertise is apparent in our finished products.

Separation and Flaking

After kilning, our freshly toasted groats are separated into whole oat groats and broken groats. The latter are used to make steel cut oats of various sizes, but we can also “cut” whole groats into steel cut, if needed. When we produce Certified Gluten-free oats, extra cleaning is performed to remove any traces of glutenous foreign grains such as wheat, barley, or rye. To learn more about Gluten-free oats, click here!

Next comes the flaking process, where the magic continues, during which the groats are rolled into specific products for our discerning customers.

Our operators know how to make specific adjustments to our equipment to meet all of our customers’ requirements everytime. Whole oat groats become either thick rolled or regular rolled oats, depending on specifications and flaker settings. Steel cut groats become quick cooking or instant oats. We have the ability to customize mill these products to produce various thicknesses, absorptions and particle sizes based on our customer’s demands. 

At this stage, both types of groats can also be sent to the bran mill to become oat bran or whole oat flour, two products that remain favorites with our customers.

Testing and Packaging

Before packaging, we ensure that nothing compromises the quality and consistency of our products. At every stage of our validated system, our employees use Oegema Grains’ customer-designed control screens that are specific to our unique processes. Our customized production software allows us to quickly access traceability info for every ton at a moment’s notice. Our on-site quality teams are the last line of defense between our mills and our customer’s products—this team takes their jobs very seriously. All our products are samples and tested to ensure they meet our customer’s specifications and expectations. This combination of the latest technology, internal process control and process data collection along with well-trained, experienced operators and lab techs make Oegema Grains products—consistently delicious every time. 

In the final step in the process, oat products are packaged into various retail and food service size packages up to our industrial sizes of 25 lb. bags, 50 lb. bags, totes (supersacks), and railcars or bulk trucks.

Our People

No part of the milling process would be what it is without the great people who work directly with farmers and keep our mills running 24/7. With plenty of reasons to stay with us for the long haul—from participating in producing healthy products, to plenty of opportunities for career growth—it’s no surprise that many of our employees have been with us for 20+ years. The dedication of our employees is what sets us apart, and our customers directly benefit from their high level of commitment and performance.

The Oegema Grains difference happens because our passionate group of people make good things happen all along the way—from farm to table.

Email us or give us a call to get in contact with an oat expert!

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…Oegema Grains offers a wide selection of ingredients to produce customized blends, including oats, fiber, barley, red and white wheat, flax, triticale, rye, rice, pumpkin and sesame seeds, and white and yellow corn.

Convenient                                                                  

With blending facilities strategically located on-site at both our Eugene, Oregon and St. Ansgar, Iowa mills, Oegema Grains offers a wide selection of ingredients to produce customized blends, including oats, fiber, barley, red and white wheat, flax, triticale, rye, rice, pumpkin and sesame seeds, and white and yellow corn. If you have an existing blend you’d like us to match, we’ll meet your specific function and label requirements. If you’re looking to create a new mix, we’re happy to work directly with you and your team to help formulate the right combination for your specific needs. We are well-versed in the procurement, production and blending of Certified Organic and gluten-free ingredients and we are directly involved in the supply chain in a way that guarantees that any imported commodities are audited by our in-house team, FSMA approved and supplied with the same food safety and security as products from our industry leading mills.

Cost-Effective

When you choose a value-added blend instead of formulating with individualized ingredients, you save on procurement, inventory, storage, transportation and packaging costs, significantly reducing the final cost of the product while also minimizing shipping issues.

For shipping, you have plenty of cost-saving options. After your blend is completed and ready to ship, your product can be delivered via bulk truck, placed into industrial totes, or into various bag sizes. Tap into our retail packaging services for even more cost savings.

Good Things For Good People

As the world’s largest organic oat processor, we take pride not only in supplying good things for good people but also by making that process as smooth as possible. With mills on both the West Coast and in the Midwest, your products can be manufactured closest to you.

If you’d like to find out more information on custom blends or you’d like to contact one of our experts, check out this page.

Email us or give us a call at 541.687.8000 to get in contact with an expert.

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Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye first bred in the 1950s.

Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye first bred in the 1950s. Triticale retains the robust and disease-resistant qualities of rye while offering advantages for milling and baking also found in wheat.

Versatile Applications

Triticale, with its clean aroma and flavor, is a versatile grain viable for use in a wide variety of sweet and savory products. The mild flavor of this component, a subtle blend of nutty and earthy, can effectively enhance the textural and nutritive properties of products without detracting from the overall impact on the palate.

Triticale is also versatile in that it can be utilized in a variety of forms. As a flour, it creates a moist, chewy, dense texture for breads, cookies, muffins, and bars. When used in flake form, it functions similarly to rolled oats, particularly effective as hot cereal or in cookie or muffin recipes that typically require oats. Whole triticale berries—comprised of the grain’s most nutritive elements, germ, bran, and endosperm—offer a texture similar to that of sunflower seed kernels ideal for breads, granolas, salads, waffles, and more.

High Nutritional Value

Triticale is highly nutritious, rich in protein and dietary fiber as well as minerals and vitamins, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, thiamin, and folate. It is also free of cholesterol and trans-fatty acids, making it ideal for health food applications. When ground into a meal, triticale can be used to add nutritional value to smoothies, batters, or doughs. Because triticale contains no animal byproducts, it can also be used in vegan food products.

Grain Millers’ Promise: Quality, Custom Products & Service

At Oegema Grains, we provide whole and rolled triticale in Organic, Non-GMO, and Conventional forms. With our single-source advantage, we are positioned to provide our partners with quality ingredients, tailored formulations, and personalized expertise in research and development of new products.

If you would like to request a sample or further discuss Oegema Grains’ triticale products and applications, we would love the opportunity to speak with you. We specialize in partnering with food and beverage developers to create unique, innovative ingredients that help you succeed.

Email us or give us a call at 541.687.8000 to get in contact with an expert.

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Although oats are naturally gluten-free, they can become contaminated by gluten-containing grains as the supply moves from the field, to on-farm storage, to trucks and railcars and eventually through the mill. In 2008, Oegema Grains began pioneering a proprietary gluten-free oat production process, giving us the ability to remove gluten-containing grains from the oat stream and offering the purest possible oat products. Thus meeting nutritional desires and dietary needs of the growing gluten-free consumer base.

In 2008, Oegema Grains began pioneering a proprietary gluten-free oat production process…

After installation of our gluten-free milling system, it wasn’t as simple as notifying the industry we now had gluten-free oat products. The certification process involved multiple on-site visits and nearly 1,000 individual samples. Our gluten-free milling flow was audited from top to bottom for its ability to produce oat products that met the FDA’s standards time and time again. We completed the certification with the help of BRCGS, utilizing their Gluten-Free Management System. We continue to operate this system with same stringent checkpoints and robust sampling procedures we used to achieve our certification.

Why Gluten-Free Oats?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and crossbreeds such as triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye). Celiac disease; a genetic autoimmune disease that limits a person’s ability to digest gluten, affects 1 in 100 people worldwide. It is estimated that another 6-7% of the population may have a sensitivity or intolerance to gluten. In an effort to regulate the food system, the FDA set a limit of 20 parts per million (ppm) for the unavoidable presence of gluten in foods that are labeled as “gluten-free.” This amount is so low that it is tolerated by most people with Celiac disease.

Gluten-Free Oats Production Process

Oegema Grains’ gluten-free oats are processed in a way that effectively removes all wheat, barley, rye and hybridized grains that may possibly arrive at our facilities with the oats. Through our dedicated gluten-free cleaning process, we isolate a highly pure groat stream that is further purified and refined in our dedicated gluten-free milling system. (A groat is the nutritious grain of an oat after its outer husk has been removed. Groats are rolled into the “rolled oats” that we know and love).

Oegema Grains dedicated gluten-free milling system took years to develop and perfect, and we regard it as Top Secret! Although the machinery we use in the process are important, our team of mill operators are a vital part of the process, responsible for monitoring and adjusting the equipment. Our millers have been educated about celiac disease and have been trained on both Oegema Grains gluten-free milling practices and the specifics of gluten-free testing.

Oegema Grains dedicated gluten-free milling system took years to develop and perfect, and we regard it as Top Secret!

Our dedicated mill operators would tell you they could not perform their duties without the help of our lab staff who are responsible for verifying all gluten-free samples meet our <10ppm gluten specification. Our lab staff performs the rigors of gluten-free testing in dedicated gluten-free clean rooms.

How Does the Gluten-Free Equipment Work?

While cleaning and purifying grain stream is simple in concept, there’s a lot that goes into deploying this technology to and repeatedly achieves the desired results. We like to think that there are equal parts art and science that go into configuring and operating grain cleaning systems. So, we don’t know whether to call our millers artists or scientists, but in reality, they are a little bit of both. We’ll just settle on calling them awesome!

Our 4-generations of oat milling experience led us to believe we could achieve <10ppm on every load of oats from any of our dedicated farmers and the installation of our gluten-free lines and their continued performance has a proven this to be true. Our record of achieving gluten-free results through processing was proven to exceed that of the Purity Protocol strategy of excluding the presence of gluten-containing grains only at the farm and transportation levels of the supply chain. 

Our 4-generations of oat milling experience led us to believe we could achieve <10ppm on every load of oats from any of our dedicated farmers…

In direct cross-examination of Purity Protocol gluten-free oats and Oegema Grains gluten-free oats, a 2018 study completed by the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America showed Oegema Grains’ gluten-free oats in the table below. During the completion the study Oegema Grains gluten-free products were analyzed using a ≈70% larger sample pool than that of the Purity Protocol gluten-free products. A copy of that study is available here for download.

Seed cleaning of grains has existed for decades if not centuries. In order for farm purity programs to be successful, harvested grain which will be used for seed in upcoming crop years, periodically requires cleaning to mitigate increased contamination levels other grains and weed seeds in subsequent crops. With our knowledge that oats are routinely purified for seed planting, we thought, “Why not then also for consumption?”

Oegema Grains Oats Exceed Gluten-Free Regulations

In addition to rigorous process, we take samples of the gluten-free groat stream every 3 minutes of production to further ensure that it is pure. In order for oats to be certified gluten-free, gluten levels must be less than .002% or 20 ppm.

Our goal was never to merely meet the strict regulatory limit of 20 ppm—we wanted to see just how pure we could get our oat products! We’ve perfected our gluten-free production process to the point where most of our customers depend on us to supply oat ingredients that are less than 10 ppm–a 100% improvement in the purity level required for gluten-free labeling.

Gluten-Free Oat Production Doubled

The need for certified gluten-free oats has continued to rise. In response, we have invested in a major expansion at our oat mill in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. This expansion has more than tripled our gluten-free production capacity, giving us one of the most advanced oat mills in the world strategically located in the heart of some of the most fertile oat acreage in North America. We can depend on our local oat farmers to supply us with the best oats on the continent that we care for and mill into the highest quality gluten-free oats from Oegema Grains, they are receiving much more than a standard oat-based ingredient. As with all our products, the work we do producing gluten-free products is more than processing, it’s our promise.

Other Gluten-Free Grains and Seeds

Oegema Grains offers many other grains, seeds, and pulses that are naturally gluten-free. These ingredients can be great alternatives to gluten-containing grains. They do not encounter gluten throughout their process and do not require any additional processing to ensure they are gluten-free.

• Corn, corn meal, corn flour, corn grits, corn bran
• Flax, flax meal
• Brown and white long-grain rice
• Soybeans (non-GMO natto, white hilum, high protein)
• Quinoa (white, red, black, tricolor)
• Tapioca starch
• Amaranth
• Lentils (green, brown, black, split red)
• Mustard (brown, yellow)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Chia seeds
• Sesame seeds

In addition to being a gluten free oat supplier, Oegema Grains also offers certifications such as organically certified, non-GMO, kosher, and halal.

We specialize in partnering with food and beverage developers to create unique, innovative ingredients that help you succeed. If you have questions about our gluten-free ingredients, or anything else, we’re always happy to help you.

Email us or give us a call at 519.633.0075 to get in contact with an expert.

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