Dairy & Livestock A SPECIAL PRODUCERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® CALIFORNIA ® Feed company supplies farms and backyard flocks
By Caleb Hampton Feed companies play an essential role in California’s poultry and livestock sectors. One such company, Bar ALE, stumbled into the business several decades ago. Stephen Davis, its chief operating officer and grand- son-in-law of Bar ALE’s co-founder, Paul Lewis, said the Williams-based company got its start selling bags used for chicken feed. “When the bags got returned, they’d have a little bit of feed left in the bottom,” he said. “They would vacuum out that feed, accumulate it and re-bag and sell it. That’s an accidental way they got into the feed business.” Today, at its mill in Colusa County, Bar ALE manufac- tures organic and conventional animal feeds for commer- cial farms and backyard chicken owners. “The chickens love the food, and the organic aspect is very important to us,” said Scott Farrell, a customer who manages a construction company and keeps chickens at his house in Contra Costa County. “When you’re eating a lot of eggs from these animals, you want to make sure you’re getting the healthiest type of egg that you can.” Bar ALE began making certified-organic feeds about a decade ago. Now, organic products comprise about two- thirds of its business. It also produces conventional and non-GMO feeds at its mill in Williams, selling the products across the western U.S. and as far as Alaska and Hawaii. “We compete with some of the biggest feed manufactur- ers and brand names in the world,” Davis said. That means carving out a niche so Bar ALE can stand out from its competitors. “Where we really shine is focusing on small batches that are fresh and have added value,” Davis said. “We use a lot of technologies that are geared toward maximizing performance for each species.” Much of the science and technology that goes into Bar ALE’s feeds comes from Alltech, an animal nutrition com- pany and longtime business partner. “They are the Lamborghini of ingredients and technol- ogy,” Bar ALE’s Matt Zappetini said, referring to Alltech’s yeast cells and other elements that the mill sources to boost the health benefits of its feeds. In the chicken feed, for example, the yeast cells “support gut health, promote good bugs and build up the defense system” of the birds, improving the overall health of the flock, Zappetini said. Other feed ingredients include sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, corn, wheat, barley and other grains. The chicken feed also contains oyster shells to promote harder egg- shells, and marigold flowers are added to enhance the yellow of the yolks. At the mill, employees assemble the feeds using several steps. “The easiest way to put it is that it’s similar to baking a cookie,” manager Joel Douglas said. “You’ve got a recipe, you’ve got ingredients, and you’re putting them together to come out with one final product.” First, ingredients are weighed precisely and mixed
Joel Douglas, manager of the Bar ALE mill in Williams, inspects a handful of the mill’s organic chicken feed.
See FEED, Page 12
October 4, 2023 Ag Alert 11
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