Standalone planning tool
Feed mill calculator: capacity, energy and cost
Short answer
A feed mill is sized from the tonnage it must produce, not from a machine catalogue. Enter annual tonnage, the operating pattern, line utilisation, the process route and your own energy and labour rates, and this calculator returns the effective and nameplate tonnes per hour, raw-material storage tonnage, kWh per tonne, estimated connected load and the conversion cost per tonne. Those figures are the basis of a feed mill RFQ that every manufacturer can quote on the same terms.
Feed mill capacity calculator
Nameplate tonnes per hour describe a machine; a feed mill project needs the capacity your annual plan actually requires. Enter the tonnage you must produce and how the plant will be run, and the calculator returns the effective t/h, the nameplate capacity to put in the feed mill RFQ and the raw-material storage tonnage. The result carries straight into the RFQ checklist below.
Changeovers, cleaning, maintenance and packing stops.
Effective capacity required
15.63 t/h
Annual tonnage ÷ effective production hours
Nameplate capacity to quote
17.36 t/h
Effective t/h with 10% headroom
Effective production hours
3,840 h/year
From 4,800 gross hours
Average daily throughput
200.0 t/day
Sets intake and despatch rates
Raw-material storage
4,200 t
Silo and warehouse cover requested
These figures are written into the RFQ checklist in the planning tool below.
Energy and operating cost
The process route sets the energy profile. Every rate below is yours to edit — use measured plant data or supplier-confirmed figures where you have them. The defaults are conservative planning placeholders, not prices.
Pre-filled from the process route; overwrite with your own figure.
Your own budget assumption — FeedMatch does not publish supplier prices.
Specific energy
26.0 kWh/t
From the selected process route
Estimated connected load
609 kW
Process demand at nameplate rate + 35% diversity
Annual electricity
1,560 MWh/year
218,400 per year at your rate
Energy cost per tonne
3.64
Electricity only
Conversion cost per tonne
19.64
Energy, labour, maintenance, packaging
Annual conversion cost
1,178,400
At 60,000 t/year
Indicative equipment budget
7,812,500
Your cost-per-t/h assumption × nameplate capacity
Conversion cost breakdown (per tonne)
- Electricity3.64
- Steam / drying energy3.50
- Labour4.00
- Maintenance & wear parts2.50
- Packaging6.00
Planning arithmetic only. These figures are not a quotation, a price list or a performance guarantee. Every feed project request is reviewed manually by FeedMatch Group, and supplier outreach by our team happens only after internal approval.
Turn these numbers into an RFQ
The planning tool on the feed mill project page writes the capacity basis straight into a structured RFQ checklist, and the full RFQ form submits your project for review.
Local focus: United Kingdom and Spain
FeedMatch works with commercial feed producers internationally, and two European markets come up constantly in project requests: the United Kingdom and Spain. The engineering is the same everywhere; the procurement basis is not. Below is what changes in each market before you request quotations.
Commercial feed-mill projects in the United Kingdom
UK buyers are usually working with an existing site, an established customer base and an assurance scheme, so the requirement is as much about installation, service and compliance documentation as it is about the machinery.
- Scope the line against UK feed-business registration and the assurance scheme your customers audit against (for example UFAS or FEMAS) before equipment is selected — sampling points, segregation and cleaning access are design decisions, not add-ons.
- Quote in a single currency and state the delivery basis explicitly: post-Brexit imports of EU-built process equipment carry customs clearance, documentation and inland haulage that global datasheets never include.
- Confirm electrical scope against UK site supply, plus CE/UKCA marking, machinery documentation and lifting or access requirements for the building you actually have.
- Ask every supplier for named UK service capability and spare-part lead time — an offer that only has continental service is a different offer, whatever the price says.
Proyectos de plantas de piensos en España
Spain is one of Europe's largest compound-feed producers, with dense pig, poultry, cattle and aquaculture demand. Regional authority, site conditions, energy cost and Spanish-language service and documentation shape the scope more than the equipment brand does.
- Spanish feed manufacturing is concentrated in strong livestock regions such as Catalonia, Aragón, Castilla y León, Murcia and Andalusia, and the receiving site's building, access and utilities usually shape the layout more than the machine list does.
- Registration as a feed business is handled through the competent authority of the autonomous community, and customer-facing assurance (for example GMP+ or a sector scheme) affects sampling, segregation and documentation — decide this before the line is configured.
- Intra-EU supply avoids customs clearance but not the rest: state Incoterms, installation, commissioning, translation of manuals and operator training in Spanish in the quotation scope.
- Require CE marking, documentation in Spanish and a named Spanish-speaking service contact with realistic spare-part lead time to the region.
FeedMatch Group is an independent procurement platform, not a manufacturer, installer or regulatory adviser. Registration, assurance and compliance obligations must be confirmed with the competent authority in your country. Every feed project request is reviewed manually by FeedMatch Group, and supplier outreach by our team happens only after internal approval.
Feed mill calculator FAQs
How do I calculate feed mill capacity?
Divide the annual tonnage the plant must produce by the effective production hours — shifts per day x hours per shift x operating days per year, multiplied by realistic line utilisation. Then add headroom, normally around 10%, for changeovers, cleaning and recovery after stops. That figure, not a catalogue number, is the nameplate capacity manufacturers should quote.
How much electricity does a feed mill use per tonne?
Specific energy depends on the process route. Mash production with grinding and mixing alone is typically in the low teens of kWh per tonne, pelleting normally sits in the twenties, and extrusion with drying is several times higher because of the thermal load. Use your own measured or supplier-confirmed figures where you have them; the defaults here are planning placeholders only.
What is the conversion cost per tonne of feed?
Conversion cost is what it costs to turn raw materials into finished feed: electricity, steam or drying energy, labour, maintenance and wear parts, and packaging. It excludes raw materials, financing and depreciation. Calculating it before you buy equipment shows whether a cheaper line is actually cheaper across its life.
Can this calculator give me a feed mill price?
No. It returns indicative planning arithmetic from the rates you enter. Real pricing requires a technical specification and current supplier quotations. FeedMatch structures the requirement into one RFQ so manufacturers quote the same scope, and every request is reviewed manually before any supplier introduction.
What do I do with these numbers?
Carry the nameplate capacity, storage tonnage, connected load and conversion cost into the feed mill RFQ so every supplier quotes the same basis. The planning tool on the feed mill project page writes them into a structured RFQ checklist automatically, and the full RFQ form submits the project for review.