AB "Kauno grūdai," one of the largest feed and premix producers in the Baltic countries, announces that it is discontinuing its mobile mill service. Company representatives state that their long-standing experience in feed production has led them to understand that mobile feed processing mills do not provide long-term sustainable benefits to either livestock farms or the manufacturer.
Precise Recipe Execution - Only Achievable in the Factory
According to Vytautas Žilvytis, the head of the cattle farming department at AB "Kauno grūdai," for three decades, the company has been producing feeds for Lithuanian farms using both mobile mills and the factory located in Kaunas. "Our experts have tried everything over the years and constantly follow the latest trends in cattle farming. Some time ago, mobile mills seemed indispensable - providing convenience and speed to the customer. However, alongside the mobile mill, we always had a functioning, high-capacity factory. Over time, this allowed us to compare the results of farms that chose different feed production methods and we quickly realized that the factory is our major strength, capable of offering farms professional, comprehensive, and most beneficial solutions," says Vytautas Žilvytis.
One of the main drawbacks of mobile mills, according to the speaker, is the lack of precision. "In feed production, micro-additions are important. Over the years of using mobile mills, we noticed that even a slight deviation in the quantity of certain ingredients can degrade the quality of the feed, which later reflects in poorer milk results. Deviating from precise feed recipes, a significant amount of raw materials is wasted due to constant adjustments," shares the speaker. "Based on years of experience, I can confidently say that precise recipe adherence is the key to efficiency and economic benefit."
Exceptional Work Methods
According to the speaker, there is still a misconception in the market that mobile mill service is faster, requires no long waits, and is cheaper. "As experts in animal feeding, we prefer to rely on accurate calculations - we have set up a system where we track each customer's daily feeding ration and feed consumption. Therefore, with the help of automated formulas, we plan production quantities and feed delivery. Our customers no longer need to worry about orders or delivery," says V. Žilvytis.
The speaker emphasizes that transparency allows for building strong trust between the team and customers. "Unlike our competitors, we have our own laboratory, we are certified with the international quality standard 'GMP+,' and we ensure the quality of the raw materials used in our feeds. This is our responsibility to the customer because we only purchase raw materials from certified suppliers. Later, in the laboratory, we test our final products. Doing all this and ensuring quality using a mobile mill would be extremely complex. Therefore, ultimately, to ensure the highest quality, reliability, and fulfill our promise of efficiency to customers, we decided to discontinue the mobile mill service."
As V. Žilvytis further explains, unlike with a mobile mill, feed production in the factory avoids toxin contamination. "Ultimately, all quality balances lean towards the factory side - production here is continuous, raw materials do not stand still, so mold is avoided," affirms V. Žilvytis.
The company offers both granulated and bulk feed to customers, and the produced products are additionally analyzed in the "Eurofins agro" milk testing laboratory, providing customers with a feed quality declaration.
Producing for the Most Efficient Lithuanian Dairy Farms
V. Žilvytis leads a team of ten experienced experts, including feeding consultants, technological formulation specialists, and managers. Speaking about his team, Vytautas explains that in the last decade, department specialists actively draw experience from abroad. "Dairy farms abroad are significantly larger, with higher aspirations. From there came the realization that it is not enough to just have high genetic potential animals - it is necessary to ensure optimal conditions for their housing and proper feeding. It is the latter factor that poses the most challenges for farmers. Especially in Lithuanian weather conditions, where it often rains, is humid, and the sun scorches, when plants crave moisture. For this reason, grass feeds have very different nutritional values, requiring the need to compensate with high-quality compound feeds. Initially, the idea of feeding cows with factory-made compound feeds seemed risky due to the cost, until practice and figures proved otherwise. We ourselves have seen the advantages: the same raw materials from the same manufacturers, precise recipe execution, desired grinding fraction, homogeneous mixing," says V. Žilvytis. "I have to admit that after starting to feed the animals with feed produced in our factory, milk fluctuations decreased, health improved. Modern rations are supplemented with micro-dosing of biologically active substances. Ensuring the homogeneity of biologically active substances by using mobile mills or directly putting raw materials into mixers would be extremely difficult."
Speaking about the team's work, the head of the cattle farming department, V. Žilvytis, emphasizes that the company's specialists work with precisely calculated methods developed in-house, and the results of customers' farms speak for themselves.
One such customer, Lukšių Žemės Ūkio Bendrovė, has been working with "Kauno grūdai" for the third year, raising about 1000 cows. Lukšių ŽŪB is officially recognized as one of the most efficient farms in Lithuania. Kastytis Krištolaitis, the head of the company with over 30 years of experience in livestock farming, says that one of the most important things in partnership is mutual trust between the farmer and the feed producer to achieve the set goal. "The goal of every farm is efficiency, better milk yield results, and high-quality milk parameters. Our farm enjoys increasing milk yields every year. Without a doubt, many factors influence this - genetics, herd management, feeding, and others. I can say that through years of work in agriculture, I have had various experiences and lessons, and trusting a professional feed producer in the factory was one of the better decisions. Having a reliable and professional feeding partner greatly facilitates farm work, saves time and resources. It ensures not only feed quality but also eliminates a lot of worries about raw material storage, manpower, or equipment. There are always challenges with livestock, so it is important to have a professional team at a phone's distance, capable of offering necessary solutions quickly," shared K. Krištolaitis.