c. 1973

McMillen Feed Mills Feed Sack

Central Soya's story began in 1916 when Dale McMillen bought the Transfer Grain Elevator in Fort Wayne and founded Wayne Feed Company. He pioneered the concentrate feed concept propelling his feed company into great financial success. By the mid 1920s, Wayne Feed was shipping 4,000 carloads daily by rail. In 1929 McMillen merged his company with American Milling Company to form Allied Mills where he experimented with a relatively new crop- soybeans. In 1934 he opened Central Soya in Decatur, Indiana on the site of an old abandoned sugar mill and within a month was producing Master Mix concentrate feeds using soybean meal as the key protein. The company would become a major force in the northeast Indiana economy, as well as a leader in soybean research and development. This 100-pound feed sack held Master Mix Layer Concentrate chicken feed. The sack is made of cotton and is printed in blue and red ink on both sides.