A group of prairie farmers wants to create their own market for feed peas by building a peacan meal plant near Miniota, Man.
Farmers within a 200 kilometre radius of Miniota want to form a co-operative to build the plant, which will blend peas and canola meal to produce a hog feed ingredient.
Larry Walker, a director for the PeaCan Meal Co-operative Ltd., said the venture offers an opportunity for pulse growers and hog producers.
Pulse growers buying shares in the co-op will guarantee themselves a market for peas, Walker said. Meanwhile, hog producers buying shares can secure a steady supply of consistent quality peacan meal.
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The centrepiece of the project will be a $700,000 plant to clean and crush peas before blending them with canola meal.
According to Walker, the plant is expected to need 500,000 bushels of peas in its first year of production on a single shift.
The canola meal will be hauled in from crushing plants such as the one at Harrowby, Man.
The processing plant, which could swing into production as early as September, will initially sell directly to large, independent hog operations and feed mills.
However, the potential of offering condominium pea storage will also be considered.
Walker said a feasibility study and business plan are completed. Meetings were scheduled for March 28-30 to help gauge the level of interest among producers.
Increased hog production and an expansion of the pulse industry both favor starting the peacan plant, said Walker.
Pulse growers joining the co-op won’t have to pay to ship their peas to other markets, he said.
Peacan meal is being billed in Western Canada as a low-cost alternative to soymeal.
Using the pea and canola meal blend as a feed ingredient can save hog producers $3.50 per animal, said Jim Gowans, owner and operator of Gowans Feed Consulting in Red Deer.
He based that estimate on mid-March soybean prices, which he described as volatile.
Gowans said peas are palatable and high in protein and lysine, one of the amino acids that hogs most need in their diet.
Canola meal contains the amino acids methionine and threonine, which are also important in a hog’s diet.
“They’re a very nice combination,” said Gowans. “They’re a little bit lower on energy, but everything else is as good or higher (than soymeal).”
Weight a factor
He noted, however, that the peacan blend is less suitable than soymeal when feeding hogs between five and 20 kilograms. There are also fewer cost savings at that stage of a hog’s growth.
The Alberta Pulse Growers surveyed hog producers a year ago to learn how many of them were using peas as a feed ingredient.
About half the producers said they fed peas to their hogs, according to Janette McDonald, general manager of the association.
“Peas don’t have a protein advantage over soy, but they certainly have an energy and lysine advantage over soy.”
