Terrena yesterday inaugurated its new factory at its Ingrandes-sur-Vienne site.
President of Terrena, Hubert Garaud, explained that the company had turned its focus to ecologically intensive agriculture since 2008. This led it to invest 2 million Euro with French companies, Volarex (Ile-et-Vilaine) and Sofiprotéol (Paris), in a bid to produce an innovative process for the production of livestock feed.
Housed in a former factory site, Terrena Ingrandes-sur-Vienne, the new production unit called Ekoranda was inaugurated with great fanfare yesterday.
The plant utilizes extrusion technology in its production. After being crushed, the oil-protein crops (flax, lupine, sunflower meal, etc) are cooked and then mixed under pressure with water at high temperatures.
In the end, the final feed produced is more digestible for animals to consume (cows, young pigs, etc).
"A beneficial technique not only for the animals but also for consumers because it improves the nutritional profile of meat and milk preserving polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6) and for the environment by limiting the release of methane from ruminants while reducing nitrogen fertilizer on these crops, "says Terrena.
Locally, it is also "a market for oilseed" Ekoranda aims to "grow up to 3,000 acres of flax and 500 hectares of lupins in the region" to supply the production demands.
