“The installation of an additional mixing line is the first project we have undertaken together since the cooperatives became part of our production company,” stresses Sönke Voss, Head of the Feedstuff unit at AGRAVIS. In early 2016, regional Raiffeisen cooperatives had acquired 50 per cent of shares in AGRAVIS Kraftfutterwerke Münsterland GmbH, which produces more than 700,000 tonnes of compound feed per year at its locations in Münster and Dorsten. This way, the cooperatives, which had already been buying the feed produced in Münster and Dorsten, became shareholders.
Ready for the future with the cooperative model
For the two production sites in Münster and Dorsten, which had previously been operated solely by AGRAVIS, the step meant that sales of most of their produced tonnage to the new shareholders would be guaranteed for the long term. “In a market environment shaped by fierce competition and steady increase of production capacity despite declining numbers of livestock, being able to run our plants at capacity is an enormous advantage,” explains Voss. With a cooperative model like the one in Münster, which is also being practised successfully in other regions of AGRAVIS’ area of operation, our own locations can safely go forward into the future.
Increased annual capacity
The new mixing line, which produces pig and poultry feed, increases the annual capacity of the Münster plant by 90,000 tonnes. Cooperatives collecting feed can be served more quickly, the waiting times for trucks are reduced significantly.
The new machine – it is the sixth at the Münster location – is also state-of-the-art in terms of technology and energy efficiency. Heiko Almann, Managing Director of AGRAVIS Kraftfutterwerke Münsterland GmbH, is particularly proud of the prototype of a highly modern grinding machine.
