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ProTrition Expands La Vergne Feed Mill

Sep 21, 2026

A group gathers for the ribbon cutting in front of the new Protrition Feed Mill in La Verge

$6.4 million investment supported by $1 million AgTrack grant

On August 25, ProTrition, the joint venture feed manufacturing company owned by Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC) and Land O’ Lakes Purina, celebrated a $6.4 million investment to expand the La Vergne feed mill and build an upright blending facility, supported by a $1 million AgTrack grant from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

ProTrition manufactures and markets four feed brands — Co-op Feeds, Purina, Cumberland Mills, and Triple Crown. The expansion provides the company with a more efficient, expanded milling network to better serve its customers.

“Today, we are celebrating our customers, friends, employees, and ProTrition,” said Joe Huffine, former chief executive officer (CEO) of ProTrition, to a warehouse full of special guests, vendors, and employees. “We’re thankful for the support that we have and that we were able to receive a $1 million AgTrack grant from the Department of Agriculture. By combining our manufacturing efforts, we can produce feed more efficiently and expand our production capacity. This grant will allow us to grow our business and safely manufacture additional feeds.”

State and local officials emphasized agriculture’s importance to Tennessee’s economy, noting that Co-ops and their dealer networks serve communities statewide and that the AgTrack Program has funded dozens of infrastructure projects, including this facility, through significant legislative appropriations.

Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) Deputy Commissioner Ryan King, a former TFC employee, spoke at the celebration on behalf of Commissioner Andy Holt, emphasizing how important TFC, ProTrition and the Co-op family are to the state and to TDA. He also spoke about how delighted they were to help support ProTrition with the $1 million AgTrack grant.

guests walking through the warehouse

“Commissioner Holt has told me on several occasions that Co-op’s success is our state’s success, so just know that we want to make sure you succeed, and clearly you’re off to a wonderful start,” said King. “We’re celebrating something here that’s important to our industry. We have several of TFC’s board of directors here today. We appreciate our farmers in the state as well. Let’s all give them a round of applause as well.

“I will just for a second talk about what the Co-op means to the state. You all know that 40-plus member Co-ops are part of the Co-op system, and they expand out into nearly every single community of the state. Farmers like Benjie Daniel here and his fellow TFC board members sell grain to be used as feed ingredients and then, in turn, buy feed from those Co-ops. It’s a constant cycle and multiplier. Our Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP) has also been utilized well through the member Co-ops. Several products that are represented in that program flow right through those local Co-ops. So, I want to really express our appreciation for what the Co-op system means to the state and to the state’s ag economy.”

a group gathers to cut the ribbon in front of the new building in La Vergne

King emphasized that AgTrack Program grants would not be possible without the state’s bicameral legislature, comprising a 33-member Senate and a 99-member House of Representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly. He explained that members of the General Assembly put programs such as the AgTrack grant and TAEP in place, and TDA then administers them. One member of the House of Representatives, Robert Stevens, who represents District 13 (La Vergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro area), was on hand at the event.

“On behalf of the General Assembly, we want to support this wonderful business that is doing great things for the agricultural industry,” said Stevens. “Our commissioner and deputy commissioner, along with everyone who works with them at the Department of Agriculture, believe in this mission, and they want agriculture to be the best it can be in Tennessee. We are happy to support them and happy to support you in any way that we can.”

outside of the new Protrition Feed Mill

“We are really excited about this project,” said TFC Chief Executive Officer Joey Caldwell. “It is a collaboration that really speaks to the fact that the cooperative spirit is still alive and well. We look forward to what we believe this facility is going to do, not only for our local producers and this local economy, but also for our producers across the region that it will serve.”

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Following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement that a confirmed case of New World screwworm (NWS) was detected in Zavala County, Texas, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) is taking steps to protect livestock from the potential spread of this invasive pest.

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ProTrition Expands La Vergne Feed Mill

Sep 21, 2026

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