Feedworks spreads its wings by moving into livestock housing, design and project management

During a conversation with our good friends at Feedworks, Managing Partner Malcolm Mottram revealed plans for the company’s move into livestock shed design, construction and project amanagement.
The company’s initial focus will be on the poultry and pig industries.
“Feedworks has recruited long term livestock industry expert Adrian Kelly with his colleague Joshua Mill to head up the new business unit to be known as Paxoma, within the overall Feedworks enterprise,” Malcolm informed Poultry Digest on March 20.
“Paxoma will offer complete constructions with equipment installed and will include earthworks, concrete pour – all stages that our future clients need to fulfill their requirements,” he said.
“Why now and what prospect for expansion do you predict in what has become a very competitive market?” we asked.
“There are new builds in the poultry product market that are growing in lock step with population as well as consumption growth in Australia.
“Currently, these new builds are accounting for around $250 million a year and supply in some sectors is only just keeping pace with consumer demand,” Malcolm said.
“Further, new and powerful investment in agricultural and livestock production in particular, is emerging from pension funds both local and from international players.
“While this is a welcome development it comes with a need to improve efficiencies and housing design and construction is critical to that aim,” Malcolm stated.
“We have acquired distribution in Australia from large and highly respected livestock equipment suppliers, Cumberland and AP equipment.
“Both are highly respected global brands that offer leading edge solutions for current and future production.
“Though livestock production, and poultry in particular, are vital for food security, the competitive nature of retailing in Australia contributes to skinny returns for producers.
“Combine this with increasing costs of feed, land, energy and labour, and the need for improved efficiency at all levels of the supply chain becomes obvious.
“Over the past 25 years, as feed and animal nutrition specialists, Feedworks has learnt from this long growth period the importance of taking advantage of all aspects of existing and emerging technology to assist our clients to be more efficient and therefore profitable.
“Accordingly, we have expanded from not only feed and nutrition services to equipment supply, like feed material analysis and automated feed systems, particularly in the pig industry.
“Though the pig and poultry sectors were the early foundation of the company, we moved to provide services to other vital industries such as the beef and dairy sectors.
“New developments in data management, AI, alternative energy sources and energy saving, as well as consumer preferences, dictate a more sophisticated approach to all aspects of livestock production,” Malcolm told Poultry Digest.
“Apart from being shed builders, we want to offer consultancy, sustained after-sales services and the ability of an extended client base to pick and choose from our expanding operations.
“We are aware that the cost of construction is constantly rising as are the complexities of dealing with regulation and council requirements.
“Guiding investors or potential investors around the process will be a critical element of what we offer with not only Paxoma, but our already established skill base in nutrition and feed mill production.
“Also, our knowledge of the whole of supply chain operations can help those entering the industry to avoid expensive mistakes.
“In regard to the consumer, and by extension retail preferences, we have to recognise that despite what scientific evidence suggests about free range, a large section of the public want to buy product produced under ‘alternative housing systems’.
“Current free range layer production accounts for at least half of the total market for eggs and the demand for free range broiler production will probably reach 20% in the near future.
“There are systems, like winter gardens and pasture reared, using semi-enclosed housing that cater for these demands and also have reduced biosecurity risk and improve performance efficiency.
“By adding livestock housing solutions to our overall established business, we are closing the circle as a company that offers all the critical skills and solutions needed to build and maintain efficient, welfare friendly and profitable protein production,” Malcolm concluded.