Prestage Farms
Animal Nutrition
Prestage Farms operates four feed mills to manufacture feed for the
animals it produces.
To produce such an immense amount of finished feed requires the purchase of considerable feed ingredients. Over 365,000 bushels of corn, 5,000 tons of soybean meal, and 175,000 bushels of wheat are purchased weekly from local and national sources. Over 220 ingredient cars are delivered to Prestage Farms by railroad weekly. Other ingredients include vitamin and mineral premixes; major minerals such as calcium carbonate, phosphorus, and salt; and some meat byproducts for the turkey feeds.
All incoming ingredients are assessed to determine if they are of the quality and consistency that Prestage Farms demands. Only the finest ingredients are used to produce feeds for Prestage's animals.
Through laboratory analyses,
Prestage eliminates poor suppliers and locates any deficiencies in the
ingredients. The nutrient content
of each ingredient is determined and is used for feed
formulation purposes. Prestage's complex formulation program maintains
a nutrient matrix for each ingredient; these data are used to formulate each diet
to meet the exact needs of the animals.
Younger animals require high protein and low energy diets; whereas, older animals require much more energy for body maintenance. The individual diets are formulated to ensure that the animals get exactly the nutrients needed for growth and maintenance with as little waste as possible.