Kwinana is now home to a new $100 million animal feed mill that’s set to pave the way for an expansion of poultry and pig production in WA.
WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis officially opened the new Weston Animal Nutrition facility at Hope Valley on July 25.
The feed mill, which took three years to build, will almost double the capacity of WAN’s previous mill in Bentley.
WAN general manager Ian Fairbain said the “state of the art” facility would help create local jobs, meet growing customer demand for poultry and pork feed, and support the local economy.
“This new mill is a massive vote of confidence in the future of WA’s agriculture industry, particularly in animal production for export,” he said.
“It is also already contributing to the local economy, with more than 200 direct jobs having been created during construction, which began in early 2021.”
Mr Fairbain said the feed mill can process more than 430,000 tonnes of grain at full capacity, and can produce 655,000t of feed per annum, which would be “a massive boost for farmers”.
“Additionally, the project has created 35 ongoing full-time jobs and a further 215 indirect jobs, while the mill itself is estimated to contribute $37m to the local economy each year,” he said.
![George Weston Foods Australia chief executive Paul Foster and WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis.](https://timesofsydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/5b4d0a2fc82886997421d421636e51fa38f357c4.jpg)
The WA Government supported the mill’s construction with a $700,000 grant.
Ms Jarvis said the mill’s opening was an indication of high optimism for the State’s pork and poultry industries.
She also talked up the State Government’s Diversifying WA initiative, an economic development framework designed to support the State’s industries in growing local businesses.
“There is a growing demand for stock feed and it is great to see a WA-based company fulfil this demand,” Ms Jarvis said.
“As part of Diversifying WA, the Cook Government is excited to support investment in local downstream processing and manufacturing of WA grains, which supports our local farmers through domestic processing of our grains and production of our stockfeed.
“That is why we provided $700,000 in funding through the State Government’s Value Add Investment Grant program to support more than $80m in investment by George Weston Foods.”
GWF operates the $120m Canning Vale bakery project, which provides around 90 per cent of WA’s bread products.
WAN and GWF have operated in Australia and New Zealand for more than 70 years.