Peace River farmers Joe Friesen
(l.), Kevin Peters, Russel Friesen
and Jason Neudorf say their joint
venture makes each of them more
efficient, and more profitable.
Joint ventures are
gaining ground across
farm country
What were they thinking? After all, it s not like there s a shortage of feed mills in Canada.
It s quality in, quality out, says Tim Keet, 47, who farms near Asquith, a half hour west of Saskatoon. That s something we really believe in.
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The we he s talking about are several members of his extended family who own independent chicken operations, and who now have created a joint venture feed mill to serve their barns.
By operating their own mill they re able to quickly adopt new feed ingredients, figure out if the ration provides a better return, and also ensure excellent turnaround time that isn t always available from the commercial mills.
We can see a new product on the market, pick it up and try it out next week,
Keet explains. I really like that we can do
it more or less instantly, rather than waiting
for the big boys to try it out.
Along with the compelling production
and economic reasons for a poultry operation
to have its own mill, there are also
sound business reasons to structure it as
a joint venture with other operations.
For example, they were able to design
and build a bigger and better quality mill
than the member poultry operations. It s
a mill than none of the single operations
could ever have afforded.
That mill will probably last 80 to
100 years, Keet says. It s an investment
in the future. We set it up for the
next generation.
The joint-venture participants were also
able to justify bringing a cousin in to run
the mill operation, which would never have
been feasible for a single farm.
I could have [economically] justified
