ProTrition expands La Vergne Feed Mill
$6.4 million investment supported by $1 million AgTrack grant
Story and photos by Page Haynes
Whether raising cattle or swine, acres of row crops, or vegetables and peanuts, Southern farmers stay busy from sunup to sundown. Through iOn August 25, ProTrition, the joint venture feed manufacturing company owned by Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC) and Land O’ Lakes Purina, celebrated a $6.4 million investment to expand the La Vergne feed mill and build an upright blending facility, supported by a $1 million AgTrack grant from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
ProTrition manufactures and markets four feed brands — Co-op Feeds, Purina, Cumberland Mills, and Triple Crown. The expansion provides the company with a more efficient, expanded milling network to better serve its customers.
In addition to a ribbon-cutting ceremony, facility visitors were treated to feed mill tours, door prize drawings, lunch, visits with vendors, and a hat bar. At the hat bar, attendees could select from a variety of hats and Co-op logo patches, which a representative from The Worx Group would use to create a personalized souvenir from the event. Student representatives from FFA and 4-H were also present to show their support for ProTrition’s newest venture.
“Today, we are celebrating our customers, friends, employees, and ProTrition,” said Joe Huffine, former chief executive officer (CEO) of ProTrition, to a warehouse full of special guests, vendors, and employees. “We’re thankful for the support that we have and that we were able to receive a $1 million AgTrack grant from the Department of Agriculture. By combining our manufacturing efforts, we can produce feed more efficiently and expand our production capacity. This grant will allow us to grow our business and safely manufacture additional feeds.”
TFC Board Chairman Benjie Daniel joined other TFC board members at the ribbon-cutting event and voiced his approval of the investment.
“I think it’s valuable for the system, not just for ProTrition, but the whole development of the property,” said Daniel. “It will be good for Tennessee Farmers Cooperative and its member Co-ops in the coming years. Having this side of the warehouse available if we need it at some point for something else is nice, too. It’s really been built for the future, so that’s a good thing for the system.”
State and local officials emphasized agriculture’s importance to Tennessee’s economy, noting that Co-ops and their dealer networks serve communities statewide and that the AgTrack Program has funded dozens of infrastructure projects, including this facility, through significant legislative appropriations.
Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) Deputy Commissioner Ryan King, a former TFC employee, spoke at the celebration on behalf of Commissioner Andy Holt, emphasizing how important TFC, ProTrition, and the Co-op family are to the state and to TDA. He also spoke about how delighted they were to help support ProTrition with the $1 million AgTrack grant.
“Commissioner Holt has told me on several occasions that Co-op’s success is our state’s success, so just know that we want to make sure you succeed, and clearly you’re off to a wonderful start,” said King. “We’re celebrating something here that’s important to our industry. We have several of TFC’s board of directors here today. We appreciate our farmers in the state as well. Let’s all give them a round of applause.
A crowd of customers, friends, employees, and coworkers gather around former CEO of ProTrition Joe Huffine as he cuts the ribbon for the grand opening of the joint venture feed manufacturing company owned by Tennessee Farmers Cooperative and Land O’Lakes Purina. The group celebrated a $6.4 million investment to expand the La Vergne feed mill and build an upright blending facility, supported by a $1 million AgTrack grant from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
Every table was full as participants listened to comments from invited officials, guests, and the ProTrition team. Visitors stayed for door prize drawings and lunch after the program.
The family of Kerri Yarbrough came to the celebration to see the new office breakroom that was named “Kerri’s Kitchen” in memory of the longtime employee. From left are ProTrition’s Anthony Poff; Randy, Darnell, Bryan, and Bryleigh Yarbrough; and Trish and Joe Huffine.
Joe Huffine, former ProTrition CEO, welcomes participants to the grand opening celebration.
“I will just for a second talk about what the Co-op means to the state. You all know that 40-plus member Co-ops are part of the Co-op system, and they expand out into nearly every single community of the state. Farmers like Benjie Daniel here and his fellow TFC board members sell grain to be used as feed ingredients and then, in turn, buy feed from those Co-ops. It’s a constant cycle and multiplier. Our Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP) has also been utilized well through the member Co-ops. Several products that are represented in that program flow right through those local Co-ops. So, I want to really express our appreciation for what the Co-op system means to the state and to the state’s ag economy.”
King emphasized that AgTrack Program grants would not be possible without the state’s bicameral legislature, comprising a 33-member Senate and a 99-member House of Representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly. He explained that members of the General Assembly put programs such as the AgTrack grant and TAEP in place, and TDA then administers them. One member of the House of Representatives, Robert Stevens, who represents District 13 (La Vergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro area), was on hand at the event.
“What a great day this is,” said Representative Stevens. “This is an amazing facility, and there’s a lot of great stuff going on here in La Vergne. This Co-op is very special to me. My dad used to work here in the ’80s and ’90s. Whenever I drive by and see it, I think of all the times that I came to work with him here.
“The General Assembly loves agriculture. It’s our number one industry in Tennessee, and I’m a big believer in supporting the things that you’re good at, and we’re successful in investing in those. Our General Assembly has appropriated millions and millions of dollars for our AgTrack program, and this facility was a recipient of $1 million to make upgrades here to your program. We are very excited about that, and we’re honored to support you and hope that it’s a big success.
“On behalf of the General Assembly, we want to assist this wonderful business that is doing great things for the agricultural industry. Our commissioner and deputy commissioner, along with everyone who works with them at the Department of Agriculture, believe in this mission, and they want agriculture to be the best it can be in Tennessee. We are happy to assist them and happy to support you in any way that we can.”
The program also honored long-standing partners and employees, including naming the new office break room “Kerri’s Kitchen” in memory of longtime employee Kerri Yarbrough and presenting an outstanding service award to Dorris Milling for decades of dependable hauling for the Nashville Feed Mill, from its first bulk load to its last.
“We are really excited about this project,” said TFC Chief Executive Officer Joey Caldwell. “It is a collaboration that really speaks to the fact that the cooperative spirit is still alive and well. We look forward to what we believe this facility is going to do, not only for our local producers and this local economy, but also for our producers across the region that it will serve.”
Facility visitors were treated to tours of the new office building and warehouse along with the feed mill to show how ProTrition feed is mixed, bagged, weighed, and packed before loading onto trailers.
Glad to show their support were members from FFA chapters in Rutherford County, front row from left: Emilee Chase, Sophie Lamb, Leighton Wakefield, and Allie Grace Jackson. Back row, from left: Katie Parks, Ames Bryant, Cohen Bryant, Nick Bettis, Preston Shields, Richard Terry, and Briana Mosley.
TFC CEO Joey Caldwell takes a moment to visit with Tennessee Department of Agriculture staff members Jacob Tipton and Boyd Barker.
The new ProTrition office houses room for corporate office employees and a breakroom and connects the warehouse behind it to the existing feed mill’s warehouse for additional storage capacity. A tent was set up to the side of the building for visitors to register for door prizes at the ribbon-cutting event.
By Page Haynes,
Contact phaynes@ourcoop.com