Land O'Lakes Purina Feed and J.D. Heiskell & Company have announced the formation of a joint venture feed and grain company in California's San Joaquin Valley. The new company will be called "Golden State Feed and Grain" and will have its principal offices in Tulare, California. The entity will operate Land O'Lakes Purina Feed's feed mill in Hanford, California and J.D. Heiskell & Company's feed mill in Pixley, California, and sell rolled grains, mixed feeds, mineral blends, commodity blends and other value-added products to central California livestock feeders.
J.D. Heiskell & Company will continue to sell feed commodities and byproducts under its own name.
"We formed this partnership to capture many advantages our united businesses can bring to the animal agriculture community in this market," said Heiskell Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ryan Pellett. "We've combined the purchasing power of J.D. Heiskell's commodity trading business with Land O'Lakes Purina Feeds' market-leading proprietary nutrition products to create a peerless array of competitively priced products for local feeders. We have increased both our inbound and outbound transportation options with locations in two counties and on the two major railroads serving the state. Consolidation of production capacity in this market was inevitable and we think that this strategic partnership accomplishes that in a way that will strongly benefit our shared customer base."
"We are excited about this venture, which is grounded in a shared commitment to serving California agriculture, and in particular the region's dairy industry," said Dave Hoogmoed, president of Land O'Lakes Purina Feed Division. "By encouraging the unique strengths of our two organizations, I am confident we will be able to achieve increased efficiencies and deliver enhanced value to our feed customers."
Golden State Feed and Grain will employ many of the production, sales and office personnel that worked for its two founding firms and will be headquartered at 116 West Cedar Avenue in Tulare.
—From J.D. Heiskell & Co. news release
