Zanella Milling - A Behind The Scene Look
- Editor
- Jul 26
- 2 min read
The Boys and Girls Club Along The Allegheny continued its “How It’s Made Tour” this summer with a stop at Zanella Milling in West Sunbury.
The kids learned a little bit of history about the place and got a behind the scene glimpse at what exactly is done at Zanella Milling and even got to meet Rose Snow the Butler Fair Ambassador and “Crazy” Mary Snow an advocate of the Butler County Farm Bureau which promotes and supports agriculture in Butler County.
Butler County at one time, was named the “Buckwheat County” because of the large amount of buckwheat grown and milled into flour. Zanella Milling who has/had a hefty part in this processing, processes twenty to thirty tons of buckwheat in a single season. Due to the fast turnover of the buckwheat crop and the fact that it does not require much fertilizer or ideal soil conditions, farmers looked to it as a quick cash crop in the fall. Buckwheat is usually planted on July 4th and harvested in October.
By products of the buckwheat crop, the hulls (the outer layers of the seed) and mids are used to feed both animals and people. The hulls are actually used to fill pillows and are used in animal trapping. The second shells of the buckwheat are known as mids and are highly nutritious and used in animal feeds to increase protein levels.
The finished product of the buckwheat milling is a well-processed pure buckwheat flour and is what Zanella Milling is widely known for. Zanella Milling carries a full line of buckwheat flour, corn meal and whole wheat flour. Zanella Milling products are distributed to over one hundred different retail stores and other mills throughout Butler County, as well as shipped all over the United States.
The mill which has been a part of Butler County since 1897 was formerly known as the Phoenix Company and was the a state of the art flour mill in its day and sat exactly where Zanella Milling sits today.
The mill has changed many owners since that time and was eventually purchased by John and Anita Zanella in 1983. The store today mills many products for animal feed such as cows, horses, pigs, sheep, goats etc. as well as a variety of flour for retail and commercial customers.
The store carries an extensive line of hardware products ranging from fencing, canning, nuts and bolts, gardening supplies to chickens and ducks.
Special thanks to Mark Zanella for guiding our tour.
Stop by and say hello to John and the crew and tell them “Crazy Mary “ sent you.
