STOUGHTON - The Stoughton Feed Processing plant is located on Highway 13 just east of the town. It employs six full-time people and two students.
John Sponheimer has been part of the feed mill team for 1 1/2 years and moved to the town from B.C. with his family. He spent 34 years in Alberta, five in Tisdale and eight years in B.C. before making Stoughton his home.
Processing feed is not simply unloading a semi of durum wheat and putting it in a bin. There is a detailed and delicate process to making feed.
This mill is dedicated to serving the agricultural community and specializes in producing high quality feed mixes for various livestock, including cattle, swine and chickens. Most chicken farms are located in Ontario and B.C., with the majority of livestock in Saskatchewan being hogs and cattle, but bison are seen more all the time.
Sponheimer emphasizes that quality and precision is of the utmost importance.
They begin their feed production process by sourcing premium grains and meals, such as corn, barley, durum wheat, soya meal and distilled corn, which are then meticulously mixed to create a nutritionally-balanced feed to meet the specific needs of different animals.
This commitment ensures that livestock receive the essential nutrients required for optimal health and productivity.
Sponheimer has a background in feed mill work and is a hands-on kind of guy.
When a semi comes into the plant with an ingredient the truck is unloaded at the south side of the mill and placed in the holding bins. This is where it stays until it is needed. A sample of composite is taken to the lab, so they know the quality of the ingredient.
From there it is transferred to the inside bins and weighed. It is once again moved to the mixer, with the proper amounts of soya, limestone, grains and micro ingredients. It is mixed into a mash feed and can stay in this form or be made into pellets.
Trucks are loaded with the completed feed on the north side of the mill.
Each bin of feed made must have a certain amount of protein, fiber and minerals, and usually has 50 per cent corn for carbs. Each batch is tested for such.
It is critical that the feed has certain percentages of each item that is added to be the proper portion for bone growth and muscle strength in the animals.
Each bag of feed is labeled with the contents of ingredients just as it is done for humans with food labels.
To make two tonnes of feed takes approximately 20 minutes. Pellets take a little longer and most feed delivery trucks can hold 27 tonnes.
Presently, 65 per cent of the feed made at the mill goes to the Pig Improvement Company (PIC) south of Carlyle and 25-30 per cent of the feed is delivered to Hypor north of Kisbey.
On the average, six semi loads of feed are delivered daily to the farms by Goudy Transport, LNW and LIM trucking companies. Nine loads of feed are made daily, which is over 200 tonnes per day.
A round trip to Hypor can take five hours, which is usually taken care of by LNW or LIM.
Sponheimer said they do their best to source seeds that are grown by local and area farmers, as they want to promote local as much as possible.
