''It is a significant re-investment into the area.''
Insurance funds and more investment had helped to secure the plant's future.
There was also likely to be at least one new job created once the plant was operational, Mr Brown said.
At its peak, 50 firefighters and 19 crews were on site to fight the blaze on December 4.
It took several hours to bring it under control and hot spots were still being dampened down the following day.
During the blaze, three firefighters received minor burns.
The company lost significant plant equipment but fire crews were able to save the press tower, where stock pellets were made.
Mr Brown said no jobs had been lost.
Since the fire, bulk dairy feed supplies for customers had continued with feed transported down from the company's North Island mills, and a pop-up distribution centre was set up in Timaru; two staff from Ashburton were temporarily redeployed there.
Mr Brown said the site was recently cleared of damaged building remains using remote-controlled diggers, purely for safety purposes, the same as used in the Christchurch earthquakes.
The company planned to mirror the previous build, to speed up consenting processes, but there would be additional plant features on site such as a molasses block plant and a new robot for packing and bagging.
Mr Brown said there were also two urea silage stores being built to allow a self-service facility for spreaders during the season.
He said the company had a lot of support from Ashburton District Council.
The rebuild was expected to be 50% complete by the beginning of the calving season in August, and fully completed by the same time in 2019.
-By Toni Williams
Central Rural Life
