Fourth- and fifth-generation millers: Johannes Priemeier (65) and his son Hannes (28) hold fresh flour in their hands in their new mill. © Marcus Schlaf
The Antersdorf mill in Simbach was destroyed by flooding in 2016. Müller Johann Priemeier continued anyway. The new building no longer has anything to do with a mill on the rushing stream. Tons of stainless steel and high-tech equipment make it one of the most modern organic mills in Europe. A visit.
Simbach am Inn – Johann Priemeier reaches for the remote control. It is located in the delivery zone of his brand-new organic mill in Simbach am Inn in the Rottal-Inn district. A tractor full of organic oats pulls up. The 65-year-old now has to skilfully adjust the small gear stick on the remote control, after all, he is using it to move a five-metre-long pipe into his load. The pipe is a huge vacuum cleaner that taps a sample before the tractor passes through the gate to the mill and unloads.
The remote-controlled mega vacuum cleaner is just one example of the many high-tech systems that the Priemeier family has installed in their new Antersdorf mill on four floors. It has only been in full operation for a few weeks. Stainless steel pipes shine everywhere, machines rustle, displays light up. Some systems shine like slot machines in neon pink. You can still smell fresh paint here, but also flour and roasted aromas like in a bakery.
Antersdorfer Mühle: That's why pests such as moths and beetles don't stand a chance
"Moisture is probably the miller's biggest enemy," says Priemeier, smelling the oat sample. "The sample allows us to analyze the grain in advance for its moisture and protein content." The sample is cleaned in a sieving machine, dust and stones are sorted out. The oats may contain a maximum of 12 to 13.5 percent moisture – otherwise they could become moldy in the silo warehouse.
Only organic farmers whose grain meets the criteria are allowed to continue to weigh and dump. If a batch is just a little too moist, it is pre-dried. Only then does it end up in one of the 72 silo cells, the temperature of which is checked by sensors around the clock. Everything here is hermetically sealed, is fully automatic and can be monitored via an app on the mobile phone. "Pests such as moths, grain beetles or mice don't stand a chance," says Priemeier.
From the storage silo to the packaging, no grain of grain is touched for hygiene reasons. The grains are blown through a pipe system. © Marcus Schlaf
In the factory, which no longer has anything to do with a picture-book mill with a wheel, there is not a wooden bushel. Stainless steel, concrete and plastic guarantee hygiene. "As an organic mill, we can't use chemicals – only technology," says Priemeier. "With the heat disinfestation system, we heat the mill to 50 degrees twice a year via the pipe system – so it sterilizes itself."
The path of oatmeal: from the oat grain in the field to muesli
Until the oatmeal ends up in the bag, each grain has to be blown through the huge pipe system to the fourth floor for cleaning and processing. The mill also processes wheat, rye, barley and spelt into flour and semolina. They supply 250 farmers from a radius of up to 120 kilometres. "In the future, we plan to process more than 200 tons of grain per day," says Priemeier.
Without mill wheel and stream: The modern Antersdorf mill in the Waltersdorf industrial estate in Simbach am Inn. © Marcus Schlaf
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Today, he and his son Hannes stand proudly in their new mill. The 28-year-old, a master miller with a master's degree in business administration, wants to continue the family business in the fifth generation. The senior, an organic pioneer who daringly converted the farm to the new concept in the 1970s, briefly thought about quitting in 2016 after the floods. But his children wanted to continue. The family buys a plot of land for a double-digit million sum and built a new building in 2020. "It's not just technology that keeps up with the future," says the senior boss. Also the offer. "We have three mills: an oat husk mill, a flour mill and a gluten-free mill."
The history of the Antersdorf mill
Johann Priemeier's great-great-grandfather founded the Antersdorf mill in 1884. He himself took over in the 1970s and converted the farm to 100 percent organic. He got the idea from "dropouts" from the city. The hippies lived on farms and practiced self-sufficiency in the cultivation of fruits, vegetables and grains. The young miller cleaned her oats, painted her grain – and recognized the potential of organic.
The family business grew from a one-man operation to one in which work was carried out in shifts. In 2016, the mill was destroyed by the flood of the century. The mill stream flooded them from the basement to the first floor. It was demolished at the beginning of May – and the much larger, new mill was opened after a construction period of two and a half years. The floor area alone measures 4200 square meters, the property around 14000 square meters. The silo tower is 40 meters high and the total of 72 silo cells create a storage capacity of 8500 tons.
We are sure that we are the most modern organic mill in Europe.
Johannes Priemeier
Each grain is cleaned and checked umpteen times. Not by eye, as Johann Priemeier's great-great-grandfather did. Until the oats turn into fine or coarse flakes, dozens of eyes scan them – i.e. high-resolution, powerful cameras.
Mini stones that trick sieves because they are the size of oat grains are sorted out by the "stone reader" by weighing them at breakneck speed. Then the technology has to be even more intelligent: The "Trieur" scans for shape – weed seeds, which are rounder than oats, are sorted out. Only now is the oats peeled – the "circulating air tarar" sorts out the lighter shells. "Photo sorting is the final boss," says Hannes Priemeier. Cameras scan the grains for color, surface and density. "The cameras, including one with infrared, detect discoloration that could indicate fungal infestation."
Infrared cameras scan the grain for possible fungal infestation. © Marcus Schlaf
Only now is it the turn of flaking: in the "steamer" the oats are treated with steam at 100 degrees for an hour. "This activates enzymes, causes the starch it contains to gelatinize and preserves the long-chain, healthy fats," says junior boss Hannes Priemeier, taking a handful of oats out of a control hatch. "If it weren't warm and moist, it would crumble like sand in the roller mill." But the flakes do not get into the miller's bag when they are moist. Once again, it's time to dry in the most modern mill in Lower Bavaria. (sco)
