With an initial annual production capacity of 250,000 tonnes, the mill is located near the key growth areas for poultry and pig production and will benefit from proximity to raw material grain supply and logistics.

The feedmill is supported by an $800,000 grant from the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund and will service customers around western Victoria.

The opening of the feed mill comes after GrainCorp and partner Cargill sold their stake in Allied Mills Australia to Pacific Equity Partners, citing the need to create a flexible balance sheet.

The GRIIF funding has helped to generate 20 full-time jobs for the Lara site and 25 supply chain jobs in freight and logistics.

Henderson said this was an example of government working closely with local businesses to support jobs and growth for the Geelong and Corangamite regions.

The $29.5 million GRIIF includes $15m of federal government funding with $5 million each from Ford Australia and Alcoa.  

With private investment of more $100 million, the GRIIF has created more 840 full-time jobs. The funding comes on top of the Turnbull government’s $4.17 million investment in the Golden Plains Food Production precinct for the construction of a Barwon Water pipeline to support intensive agriculture.

The new food producing region will unlock $160 million in regional investment and create 770 jobs over the next decade.