Machinery category
Feed production lines, feed mills and pelleting plants
A feed production line is sized from the annual tonnage you must deliver, the formulations it must handle and the net run hours left after cleaning and formula changeovers — not from a pellet mill rating. This page helps you prepare an animal feed, aquafeed or premix project — intake, grinding, batching, mixing, conditioning, pelleting or extrusion, cooling, coating and bagging — up to the point where manufacturers can quote comparably. Before any manufacturer is contacted you must confirm formulations and species, tonnes per hour, pellet or extrudate specification, raw-material intake and storage, utilities and acceptance criteria. It is for feed producers, integrators, aquaculture and livestock groups, agro-industrial companies and public entities.
Next step: Calculate annual tonnage and bag output from your rated capacity and shift model, then complete the RFQ blocks and send the brief for human review.
Direct answers
What is a feed production line?
A feed production line is the intake, grinding, batching, mixing, conditioning, pelleting or extrusion, cooling, coating and bagging equipment that converts raw ingredients into finished animal feed or aquafeed at industrial rates. It is specified by tonnes per hour, formulations and product specification.
How do I size a feed mill?
Take the annual tonnage you must deliver, divide by net run hours after cleaning and formula changeovers, and use that tonnes-per-hour figure as the design point. State the recipe count and the hardest formulation separately, because they determine mixer, conditioner and die sizing.
What is the difference between pelleting and extrusion?
Pelleting compresses conditioned mash through a die and suits most livestock and poultry feed. Extrusion cooks under higher pressure and temperature and is used for aquafeed and petfood where floating, sinking or expansion behaviour and high fat inclusion are required. The two have different capacity, energy and utility profiles.
Typical scope
- • Raw-material intake, cleaning, storage silos and dosing
- • Grinding: hammer mills, roller mills and sieving
- • Batching, weighing, micro-dosing and mixing
- • Conditioning, pelleting or extrusion, and die/knife configuration
- • Cooling, crumbling, screening, liquid coating and vacuum coating
- • Bagging, big-bag, bulk loadout, dust control and plant automation
Confirm before manufacturers are contacted
- • Species, formulations and number of recipes the plant must run
- • Rated capacity in tonnes per hour and required annual tonnage
- • Pellet diameter, durability, moisture and fat inclusion targets
- • Raw-material mix, intake logistics and required silo storage days
- • Steam, electrical, compressed-air and dust-extraction capacity on site
- • Bagging formats, bulk loadout and traceability requirements
Who this is for: Animal feed and aquafeed producers, poultry, dairy and livestock integrators, aquaculture groups, agro-industrial companies, cooperatives and public bodies.
Feed production lines, feed mills and pelleting plants calculator
Enter your own figures to see the planning numbers a manufacturer needs, then turn them into a structured brief. Inputs, assumptions and limitations are yours: this is indicative planning only, not an engineering design, a supplier quotation, a performance guarantee or a financing approval.
Inputs
Planning results
- Net run hours per year
- 4,773 h
- Indicative annual output
- 40,573 tonnes
- Output per operating day
- 135 tonnes
- Equivalent bags per year
- 1,622,933
26.7 h allowed for formula changeovers
at 85% utilisation
25 kg bags
Serious project review, supplier routing and financing-pathway discussion generally start from an expected total project value of USD 250,000. Buyers are never automatically connected to a manufacturer: David and the human team review qualifying projects first.
Generated project brief
Project brief — Feed production lines, feed mills and pelleting plants Product / process: (to confirm) Country: (to confirm) Indicative budget: (to confirm) Timeline: (to confirm) Planning assumptions and results: - Rated capacity: 10 t/h at 85% utilisation - Shift model: 8 h x 2 shifts x 300 days (net 4,773 run hours/year) - Formulations: 8, 20 min flush per formula change - Indicative annual output: 40,573 tonnes (1,622,933 bags of 25 kg) Must be confirmed before manufacturers are contacted: - Species, formulations and number of recipes the plant must run - Rated capacity in tonnes per hour and required annual tonnage - Pellet diameter, durability, moisture and fat inclusion targets - Raw-material mix, intake logistics and required silo storage days - Steam, electrical, compressed-air and dust-extraction capacity on site - Bagging formats, bulk loadout and traceability requirements Acceptance criteria to agree: FAT and SAT scope, measurement method, sample period, tolerances, downtime and out-of-range behaviour. Note: indicative planning only. Not an engineering design, quotation, performance guarantee or financing approval.
Structured RFQ checklist & production-line planner
Enter your capacity assumptions to get an indicative annual output and CAPEX planning band, then confirm the eleven RFQ blocks manufacturers need before they can quote comparably. Each block links to the readiness page and to a real person on WhatsApp.
Inputs
Indicative planning result
- Nominal capacity
- 4.80M units/year
- Effective at 75% OEE
- 3.60M units/year
- CAPEX planning band
- USD 5.04M – 15.12M
- RFQ readiness
- 0% (0/11)
Inputs, assumptions and limitations: the band is derived from your own capacity figures and a broad CAPEX intensity range per project family. It excludes building works, land, duties, working capital and local installation conditions. Indicative planning only — not an engineering design, supplier quotation, performance guarantee or financing approval.
Industrial RFQ readiness — eleven blocks
How do I prepare an RFQ for a custom production line?
Work through the eleven checklist blocks below: product and capacity, inputs and outputs, process and equipment scope, automation and quality, site and utilities, installation and service, budget and timeline, compliance, open assumptions and acceptance-test criteria. Complete blocks make supplier quotations comparable.
How accurate is the planning calculator?
It is an indicative planning estimate derived from your own capacity inputs and a broad CAPEX intensity band per project family. It is not an engineering design, a supplier quotation, a performance guarantee or a financing approval.
What is the minimum project size for human review?
Formal project review, supplier routing and financing-pathway discussion generally start from an expected total project value of USD 250,000. Below that, planning guidance and calculators remain available.
Does Global B2B Group connect buyers directly to manufacturers?
No. Buyers are never automatically connected to a manufacturer or supplier. David and the human team review qualifying projects before any appropriate external routing.
Buyers are never automatically connected to a manufacturer or supplier. David and the human team review qualifying projects before any appropriate external routing. WhatsApp is a technology-assisted, human-reviewed way to start or continue a project conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the number of recipes change the specification?
Every formula change costs run time for flushing and cleaning, and multi-recipe plants need more silos, micro-dosing accuracy and sequencing control. A plant running four formulations differs materially from one running twenty at the same nominal tonnes per hour, so the recipe count belongs in the RFQ.
What raw-material information do manufacturers need?
Ingredient list and inclusion ranges, bulk densities, moisture, fibre and fat content, delivery format (bulk, big-bag, bag), intake rate, seasonality, and how many days of storage each ingredient requires on site.
What acceptance criteria should a feed line include?
Rated tonnes per hour at a named reference formulation, pellet durability index, fines percentage, moisture and temperature after cooling, mixing homogeneity (CV), specific energy consumption, and the sample period and tolerances used to verify these at FAT and SAT.
Related planning paths
Global B2B Group is not a machinery manufacturer, engineering contractor, EPC contractor, bank, lender, pricing authority or automatic buyer–supplier marketplace. All figures on this page are indicative planning values based on your own inputs.