Feed mill planning tool
Feed Mill Raw-Material Storage Days Calculator
Work out how many days of raw-material cover your silos give, the reorder point, safety stock and the tonnage and volume you need for a target number of cover days.
How do you size raw-material storage for a feed mill?
Multiply daily raw-material consumption by the number of cover days you want, add safety stock, then divide by bulk density to get the volume the silos must hold. Cover days are a risk decision, not an engineering one: plants next to domestic grain supply commonly hold 7 to 15 days, while import-dependent plants often hold 30 to 60 days because vessel scheduling and port congestion, not consumption, set the exposure.
Reviewed August 2026. Planning estimate — not a quotation.
Run the numbers
Result
- Daily raw-material consumption
- 179.2 t/day
- Current days of cover
- 25.1 days
- Reorder point
- 5,555 t
- Safety stock
- 1,792 t
- Tonnage for 45 days cover
- 9,856 t
- Required storage volume
- 15,257 m³
- Silos at 1,500 m³
- 11
Below the reorder point — a single delayed shipment stops production.
Includes a 5% unusable-volume allowance.
Indicative count — ingredient separation usually requires more, smaller bins.
Cover scenarios
| Cover days | Tonnage required | Volume required |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 3,046 t | 4,716 m³ |
| 15 days | 4,480 t | 6,935 m³ |
| 30 days | 7,168 t | 11,096 m³ |
| 45 days | 9,856 t | 15,257 m³ |
| 60 days | 12,544 t | 19,418 m³ |
Your inputs travel with the request so you never retype them. Nothing is sent until you review and submit the RFQ yourself.
What this tool calculates
- Converts current inventory into days of cover at your real consumption rate.
- Calculates the reorder point from supplier lead time plus your safety margin.
- Sizes the tonnage and cubic-metre volume needed for a target number of cover days.
- Gives an indicative silo count at your chosen unit size.
- Flags when current cover is below the reorder point.
What it cannot do
- It is a planning tool, not inventory-management software, and holds no live stock data.
- It treats the raw-material basket as one aggregate; individual ingredients need separate runs.
- It does not model spoilage, insect activity, aeration or hot-spot risk in long storage.
- It does not price the silos.
Who this is for
- Plants planning silo capacity for a new build or an expansion
- Import-dependent mills deciding how much cover justifies the capital
- Operations teams setting reorder points and safety stock
- Buyers checking whether a supplier's proposed storage matches their supply risk
Input definitions
- Annual finished feed production (t/yr)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 56000 t/yr.
- Bulk raw-material inclusion (%)
- Share of finished feed weight coming from bulk-stored raw materials.
- Operating days per year (d)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 300 d.
- Current raw-material inventory (t)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 4500 t.
- Supplier lead time (days)
- Door to door, order to discharge.
- Safety margin (days)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 10 days.
- Target cover (days)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 45 days.
- Average bulk density (t/m³)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 0.68 t/m³.
- Silo unit volume (m³)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 1500 m³.
Methodology
Daily consumption = annual production × raw-material inclusion ÷ operating days. Days of cover = current inventory ÷ daily consumption. Reorder point = daily consumption × (lead time + safety days). Required tonnage = daily consumption × target cover days, plus safety stock. Required volume = required tonnage ÷ bulk density. Silo count = required volume ÷ unit silo volume, rounded up.
Assumptions
- Consumption is even across operating days; seasonal peaks are not modelled.
- Bulk density is entered as the weighted average of the raw-material basket, in tonnes per cubic metre.
- Silos are assumed usable to about 95 percent of nominal volume, which is applied automatically.
- Raw-material inclusion is the share of finished feed weight coming from bulk-stored materials.
- Lead time is door-to-door from order to discharge, not the supplier's dispatch promise.
Worked example — import-dependent 56,000 t/year plant
Inputs
- 56,000 t/year finished feed, 96 percent bulk raw-material inclusion, 300 operating days
- Current inventory 4,500 t, bulk density 0.68 t/m³, lead time 21 days, safety 10 days
- Target cover 45 days, silo unit 1,500 m³
Outputs
- Daily consumption about 179 t/day
- Current cover about 25 days
- Reorder point about 5,555 t — current stock is below it
- Required for 45 days: about 8,064 t, roughly 12,500 m³, about 9 silos of 1,500 m³
How to read it. The plant is running below its own reorder point, which means any vessel delay becomes a production stoppage. The choice is between more capital in silos and a tighter contracted supply schedule — both are legitimate, but the exposure should be an explicit decision rather than an accident.
Limitations
- A single aggregate figure hides the real constraint, which is usually the number of separate ingredient bins rather than total volume.
- Import-dependent plants should stress-test against a missed vessel, not against average lead time.
- Indicative sizing for discussion with suppliers; final silo design depends on material flow properties, site layout and structural conditions.
All figures are indicative planning estimates for budgeting and supplier discussion. They are not quotations, guarantees or professional engineering, nutritional, legal or financial advice. Have results reviewed by the responsible professionals before you commit capital.
Frequently asked questions
How many days of raw material should a feed mill store?
How do you calculate silo capacity for a feed mill?
Is it better to have fewer large silos or more small ones?
What happens if raw-material storage is undersized?
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Turn the result into comparable quotations
FeedMatch Group is a supplier-neutral B2B procurement platform. Describe the requirement once and we qualify relevant manufacturers and suppliers, normalise offers to the same battery limits and guarantees, and return a like-for-like comparison. FeedMatch does not manufacture feed or feed-mill machinery.