US poultry Co-op builds feed storage unit

Just north of Harrisonburg in Virginia, two 45 m (148 ft) high grain silos store corn transported by rail from the Midwest. The first corn shipment was received in mid April.

According to President and General Manager James Mason, with its new storage capacity, VPGC also can negotiate its own prices for corn.

The VPGC processes 130,000 turkeys a week and sells its products to more than 200 customers. However, input costs – price of corn and soybeans to feed and grow a bird to 40 pounds (18 kg) – overshadow everything, said Mason.

“Our costs will be more than $35 million higher this year than the fiscal year that ended in March,” Mason said. “The grain storage facility is one way to mitigate that cost.”

Another way to mitigate the costs is to the number of birds on the farms by 10% and to process a slightly lighter bird. Those reductions will be spread evenly over the co-op’s 156 growers.

 

 

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