Feed Ingredient Procurement Consulting for Livestock Producers
When Feed Costs Are Higher Than They Should Be.
Have you ever compared feed ingredient costs with another producer and realized you might be paying more for the same ingredient? Or received a benchmarking report that showed your operation ranking below peers on feed costs? Do you have a lender or a boss now pushing for lower costs?
Those moments happen all the time in livestock production. They’re usually the point where a producer realizes the question isn’t whether feed costs matter; it’s whether their operation has the time and market intelligence to address them properly.
For most producers, procurement isn’t the primary job. You’re managing herd health, labor, facilities, and margins simultaneously. Scrutinizing ingredient prices and monitoring commodity markets falls down the list. NutriQuest Procurement Solutions exists to close that gap.
What NutriQuest Procurement Consulting Covers
NutriQuest’s procurement team works across the full range of feed ingredient categories — from feed milling ingredients and bulk commodities to relative value analysis and buy/sell merchandising. The focus is on the ingredients where independent market expertise creates the most value.
What the team covers:
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Feed milling and bulk ingredient purchasing
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Relative value analysis across ingredient categories
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Buy/sell merchandising of specific ingredients
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Purchasing agent services: NutriQuest sources and executes purchases on the producer’s behalf
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Grain purchase timing guidance, provided in conjunction with other ingredient strategies
How It Works
Every new client relationship starts the same way: NutriQuest reviews the last six months of the operation’s purchase history. That review establishes what the operation has been buying, what it has been paying, and where the gaps are relative to market conditions. You can’t improve what you haven’t measured, and that purchase history review is the foundation for everything that follows.
From there, the engagement adapts to what the operation actually needs. Some producers want a periodic advisory review where NutriQuest analyzes ingredient prices and flags opportunities. Others want NutriQuest acting as a purchasing agent, sourcing and executing all non-grain ingredient purchases on their behalf. Most engagements fall somewhere in between. The structure is determined by what your operation needs rather than a fixed service package.
Engagement Level
What it looks like
Typical Cadence
Advisory
NutriQuest reviews ingredient pricing and reports where opportunities exist with current suppliers. The producer retains full control of all purchasing decisions.
Quarterly or as needed
Hybrid / Merchandising
NutriQuest merchandizes specific ingredients on a buy/sell bid basis, or manages purchasing for specific ingredient categories only.
Varies by need
Purchasing Agent
NutriQuest sources and executes all non-grain ingredient purchases on the producer’s behalf. The producer pays vendors directly; NutriQuest charges a service fee.
Active — multiple touchpoints per week during volatile markets
Who This Service Is For
NutriQuest Procurement Solutions can work with livestock producers and operations of all sizes where feed ingredient cost is a meaningful driver of profitability. Current clients primarily fall into one of two camps:
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Producers wearing multiple hats who know feed costs deserve more attention but don’t have the time or market access to give it. NutriQuest brings the expertise so they don’t have to build it internally.
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Operations with a dedicated buyer or procurement manager who wants periodic validation that they’re getting competitive pricing and who may need to demonstrate that to leadership or lenders. An independent review from NutriQuest provides that third-party confidence.
Meet the Procurement Solutions Team
Mark McCulley, MBA
Vice President, Consulting Services
Mark brings 25+ years of procurement and supply chain experience to the livestock feed ingredient market. His MBA in Finance from Oklahoma State grounds the market analysis in financial rigor — the ability to model the real economic impact of an ingredient decision, not just compare line-item prices. That combination of commodity market depth and financial discipline is what separates useful procurement advice from simple price comparison. Mark partners directly with each client to understand their operation before making any recommendations. Every engagement starts with the same question: what does your purchase history actually tell us?
Camissa Hummel
Senior Feed Ingredient Merchandiser
Camissa brings more than 20 years of experience in global and domestic feed ingredient sourcing, purchasing, and sales management to the NutriQuest procurement team. Her career spans 16 years at ADM Animal Nutrition and a role as Vice President of Sales Operations at Kent Nutrition Group — a background that combines deep commodity market knowledge with the sales operations experience to translate that knowledge into real results for clients. At NutriQuest, Camissa manages supplier relationships, ingredient analysis, and sourcing for the procurement program. Her B.S. in Agronomy and Chemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia grounds her market expertise in the science behind the ingredients — which matters when the question isn't just what an ingredient costs, but what it's actually worth in a ration.