SUNRICE’s animal nutrition business, CopRice, has confirmed plans to establish one of Australia’s largest ruminant nutrition milling facilities at Coleambally in the Riverina.

Over the next nine months, CopRice will convert the SunRice mill in Coleambally, currently under care and maintenance, into a ruminant nutrition mill capable of producing mash and blended stockfeed to meet growing domestic and international demand in the dairy, sheep and beef markets.

In addition to over 80,000 tonnes of storage, grain handling capacity, and warehousing and containerisation capability, the Coleambally site also offers proximity and access to readily available cereal grains and by-products from the Riverina region, such as wheat, barley, corn, almond hulls and cotton seed.

The Coleambally site conversion will, once operational, initially employ 10 full time workers on an ongoing basis.

Within 12 months of opening, it is anticipated that the Coleambally mill will be the largest volume contributor for the CopRice business.

To meet increasing customer demand for improved on-farm performance of stockfeed products, an integral part of the project will be the utilisation of CopRice’s expertise and the existing Leeton mill to manufacture advanced nutrition concentrate pellets, which will be added to the mash and blend products from Coleambally.

SunRice chief executive officer, Rob Gordon, said for over 30 years CopRice had converted rice by-products into world class animal nutrition.

“With the conversion of the Coleambally facility, we will now extend that expertise to other agricultural by-products from the Riverina – a region that remains the cornerstone of our business,” he said.

“We are excited to be continuing our investment in the Riverina and especially in Coleambally, which has been core to SunRice’s success, and about the opportunities this facility will provide for local employment and businesses.

“The Coleambally facility will provide the platform for CopRice to become a leading Australian ruminant animal nutrition producer, as we move from a pellet-only business to offering a complete range of pellets, mash, blends and concentrates.”

Source: SunRice