Located in Norfolk County is a family farm with and incredible history. Mae Mart Farms dates back to 1886 and has been feeding people for over 7 generations.
“It makes us proud that even before Canada was here, we were here farming the land,” said Phillip Wiedrick.” “Our family has continued to look after the land soon my son will be able to steward the land.”
Today, the Wiedricks farm roughly 700 acres of land, raising chickens and pigs.
“In 1997 we built our first pig barn, and we started with sows, and it just continued to grow and now were up to 4000 sows farrow to half finish.”
With an increase in feed costs and a growing hog operation, in an effort to make their farm as efficient as possible the Wiedrick’s built their own feed mill.
“Feed has been a major cost of our production. We started with this small feed mill we built it to make 8 thousand tonnes a year and over 4 or 5 years we ramped up and needed 14 thousand tonnes of feed and we just wore this one out. In 2023 we built this new mill and got it rolling and were making 20 thousand tonnes a year pelleted.”
Phillip says by making their own feed it results in a 10 percent cost savings, but more importantly he’s able to grow the grain used to in the pig feed, making his operation more sustainable.
“What I like is having control of all the ingredients, using local grain we know how we treat our grain our grain goes to our animals. Then we use the manure that goes right back on the land to grow the grain, so we have the complete cycle.”
Philip says another benefit to making his own feed is his pigs are growing at a faster rate.
“We’re also having really good results with the feed mill, so our animals are performing slightly better than when we were buying commercial feed.”
Phillip says that building the feed mill was certainly a costly venture, but now that it’s been in operation he’s looking forward to the long-term savings of his self-sufficient feed operation.
“I don’t think it’s a fit for everybody, but I have a science degree, so I like the science of feed and nutrition, it’s definitely helped our farm advance.”
Philip says the feed mill was an investment in future generations, as when his son takes over regardless of fluctuating fuel and feed costs, he’ll always have the ability feed the animals in a more affordable manner despite
“Trying to leave the farm in a better situation from when we started and by doing that you have to take advantage of opportunities. We’re excited for what the future holds.”
Source : Ontario Pork