In 2004, three livestock feed specialists saw an opportunity to shake up the animal feed industry in the Northeast.
A new feed company hadn’t come to the region in decades, and farmers were facing the increasing cost of doing business. With limited options, competition was reduced, and prices could increase with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.
Enter the new kid on the block: Phoenix Feeds & Nutrition. We shook up the game by providing a more affordable option that gave dairy and livestock producers new ways to succeed.
“When it comes to running a business, especially in agriculture, there’s a lot to rise above, like market fluctuations, unpredictable growing seasons, and consolidation,” said Co-owner, President, and General Manager David Santos. “Due to our size, Phoenix can be flexible and more agile. Lower overhead allows us to offer the best possible price so farmers can succeed.”
Reflecting on 20 years in business, Santos says Phoenix’s success comes from more than selling commodities like corn or soy at competitive prices. Farmers turn to Phoenix for nutritional services and dairy consulting. With an in-house nutritionist team and over 20 independent nutritionists, we’re able to deliver results that increase farm profits.
For example, Goodrich Family Farm in Salisbury, Vermont, has seen an eight to nine percent increase in pounds of components per cow (combined fat and protein in the milk) since 2021, when they began working with Phoenix Nutritionist David Burnham. This has improved the farm’s profitability and better positioned it to thrive in the highly competitive dairy farming industry—all without adding cows.
“With how our operation runs and how we do things day to day, we are just a more efficient machine than we were prior to working with David and Phoenix,” co-owner Chase Goodrich said.
Phoenix started out in a small flat storage facility in New Haven, Vermont, and moved to a rail-side facility, increasing capacity and productivity. In 2012, we built a state-of-the-art feed mill in New Haven to increase production and efficiency using automated technology and digital accuracy.
Farmers saw value in the approach. Phoenix expanded to become a leader in dairy nutrition, customer service, and pricing across New England and New York. It’s why, for example, we can deliver feed hours away from our New Haven, Vermont facility to farms in upstate New York while still competing with the feed dealer that’s much closer.
Tim Keck of Butterville Farms in Adams, New York, says the cost savings have been significant. Since switching in late 2023, the farm has saved about 10 percent a month on its feed bill.
“Without the stress of worrying about feed coming in and the cost of it,” Keck said.
In 2017, we acquired a feed pelleting mill in Brandon, Vermont, allowing for further expansion of our product line and services. And, another mill in Augusta, Maine, in 2023, providing dairy and livestock producers in Maine with a hyper-local option for mixed feed, pellets, commodities, and nutrition services. The acquisition has also made deliveries more efficient across New England and New York.
We’re also committed to sustainable and people-centered practices. In 2016, we built a five-acre 720kW solar array and became one of the first feed mills in the Northeast to generate renewable energy for feed manufacturing. In 2017, we created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), granting company stock to our over 80 employees.
“Essentially, it’s a retirement plan for employees at no cost to them. Participants receive dollars from Phoenix in their ESOP plan based on how successful and profitable the company is every year,” Chief Financial Officer Shannon Kayhart said. “We hope that people will work better together to make things more efficient here at Phoenix, which will make things better for the farms and grow your retirement account. Overall, creating an ownership culture here is what we’re trying to do.”
Learn more about Phoenix or explore current job postings.
