Intensive ag facitilies put Dalby on the map

Dalby's proximity to the key market have led leading cattle supplement manufacturer Performance Feeds to set up shop in town.

SNEAK PEEK: Customers and suppliers were treated to a tour at the opening of the new Performance Feeds plant in Dalby. Picture: Emily Bradfield

AGRICULTURE has proved an asset to the Western Downs this week as a leading cattle supplement manufacturer expanded in to the region.

Performance Feeds opened its doors in Knight St, Dalby, inviting suppliers and customers to celebrate the official opening on Tuesday and tour the new plant.

Specialising in liquid supplements, the new Dalby plant has been in planning for the last two and a half years and is Performance Feeds' fourth location in Australia.

General manager Scott Sloss said Dalby's proximity to feedlots made it a perfect location for the new site.

"Our biggest market is feedlots and that has certainly grown, most of our customers are based on the Western Downs in Queensland,” Mr Sloss said.

"We're certainly understanding of what this mill will be able to do for our business in the future and most importantly what it will do for our customer's businesses and what we can assure them from a quality product moving forward.”

Mayor Paul McVeigh said the new business was great news for Dalby as it would enhance intensive agriculture in the region.

"Agriculture is the backbone of our region, we're such a reliable region for productivity,” Cr McVeigh said at the official opening.

"One of the great things we have in the region is intensive ag, in the Western Downs alone we have over 260,000 head of cattle on feed at any one time and, just last year, the Western Downs Regional Council approved either new facilities or expansions to feedlots of over 40,000 head.

"We have huge numbers of cattle in our region, so one of the things that drives our region is businesses like this.

"It creates jobs, it creates demand and it creates utilisation of great resources in our towns,” he said.