Trailblazing programs! Village Feedmill Opens To Boost Rural Economy

A private sector-initiated Village-Level Feed Mill was launched on Monday in Kidapawan City to serve as a model of mini-feedmills which will utilize raw materials produced by local farmers and sold to poultry, hog and fish farmers in the communities.
Former Senator Panfilo Lacson, who now heads the Southseas Agri-Aqua Ventures Inc.(SAAVI), led the inauguration and commissioning of the feed mill owned by a local farmers cooperative which will be operated by SAAVI under a tolling agreement.
The feedmill funded by the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture was awarded to the Cotabato Livestock Poultry and Aquatic Agriculture Cooperative (COLIPA) in 2018 but had remained mothballed until 2021 because of the lack of a technical team to run it.
When Filipino-American farmer-scientist Rocky French came to North Cotabato to support me in my advocacies for Food Self-Sufficiency, I asked him to explore ways of operating the feedmill using local raw materials.
After a series of rehabilitation works and tests, the feedmill with a daily full capacity of 20 metric tons was finally made operational early this year using feed formulations made by Rocky French.
Under the tolling agreement signed by SAAVI Chairman Ping Lacson and COLIPA Chairperson Sovi Villarin, SAAVI will operate the mill and produce feeds which will be made available to the members of the cooperative.
Michael Coby Kriegshauser, CEO of the Scott Seed Company of Hereford, Texas who is supply the Sorghum seeds for SAAVI’s farms witnessed the signing.
SAAVI will also produce Aqua Feeds for its fishcage projects in Mindanao using the Sorghum that it has planted, corn produced by local farmers and other available local materials.
This is a feedmill model that I have envisioned for so long which I believe would provide village poultry, hog and fishcage farmers a distinct advantage of having access to fresh and quality feeds using locally produced materials.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#FarmingIsCommonSense!