TENNESSEE FARMERS COOPERATIVE 55th ANNIVERSARY IN COOPERATIVE RESEARCH FARMS
October 9, 2020 2:01 pm | by Dave Ott | Posted in Uncategorized
COOPERATIVE RESEARCH FARMS PRESS RELEASE
Richmond, Virginia – Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC), headquartered in LaVergne, Tenn., was recognized for their 55th year of membership in Cooperative Research Farms (CRF) during the CRF Board of Directors October 2020 meeting.
“Tennessee Farmers active participation and membership in CRF has been a major component of the success of CRF. TFC has been a dedicated research partner since 1965 and have collaborated in CRF’s innovations across multiple species of research,” noted David Ott, CRF General Manager.
As a member of CRF, TFC participates in determining the research direction, designing specific trials to achieve the members’ objectives, networking with industry experts in nutrition and feed production, and has access to 3,242 CRF’s proprietary research trials.
“For 55 years, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative has collaborated with CRF to develop the highest quality feed and nutrition products the Southeast has seen. Not only in product development but we utilize the expertise of top nutritionists from all over the world which proves to be valuable for our producer-owners. Animal agriculture has changed a lot over the last 55 years and will undoubtedly continue to change. As our industry progresses, our cooperative system has the support for innovative nutritional and managerial concepts and products for the future,” stated Todd Steen, Ruminant Nutritionist with TFC.
CRF is a multi-national organization of feed manufacturers in North America and Europe. For 66 years, CRF members have worked together conducting thousands of nutrition and management related research trials for the benefit of their customers.
In addition to TFC, the other members include Federated Co-operatives, Ltd., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Kalmbach Feeds, Inc., Upper Sandusky, Ohio; and Sollio Agriculture, Montreal, Quebec. The combined scope of the CRF members represents more than 4.56 million tons of final feed equivalents, 20 member owned feed mills manufacturing feeds of the highest quality, 1,034 employees working to provide superior animal nutrition products and 60 highly skilled individuals employed in research, development and technical support.
Visit the CRF website at www.crfarms.org.
About Tennessee Farmers Cooperative
Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC) is recognized as one of the strongest federated farm supply cooperative systems in the nation. TFC is a federated cooperative made up of 52 member cooperatives and 11 associate members throughout Tennessee and neighboring states, with over 70,000 member-owners. Co-op offers quality products in over 164 retail outlets.
With feed mills in each of the state’s three grand divisions, east, middle, and west, Co-op has developed facilities that allow for the production of rations for multiple species, including swine, dairy cattle, equine, poultry, beef cattle, sheep and goats, and wildlife. Through the years, the feed mills have been expanded, modified, and remodeled as customers’ feed demands have changed. The feed mills once produced 75 percent bulk feed, whereas today the plants are producing a 50-50 mix of bagged and bulk feeds for customers across Tennessee and seven adjoining states.
“Mills are placed strategically across the state, so we can provide product to our stores and farmer-owners within a 175-mile radius,” noted TFC Feed, Home and Fleet Manager Joe Huffine.
As Tennessee livestock diversity evolved, so did the TFC feed mills. Dairy, poultry and swine feeds once dominated production, but today beef and equine feeds hold the top spots.
In recent years, the Co-op facilities have utilized available capacity to produce feeds for other companies to allow the feed mills to grow their footprint and to become more efficient.
Huffine credits the high-quality of Co-ops feed to the research initiative it has with partners at the University of Tennessee and Cooperative Research Farms. “TFC collects data from these research trials that allow continuous improvements to its formulations” said Huffine.
Co-op prides themselves on serving everyone including their member-owners for 75 years. With specialists around each corner, Co-op has a solution for every problem from cattle to row crops to backyard gardening. Co-op is for everyone.
For more information about TFC and its members visit www.ourcoop.com.