Feed mill planning tool
Make vs Buy Feed Calculator
Compare buying finished feed with producing it in your own feed mill: own cost per tonne including capital charge, annual difference and simple payback, using your own prices and costs.
When does it pay to make feed instead of buying it?
Making feed pays when your own ingredient cost plus conversion cost plus the annual capital charge for the mill is lower per tonne than the delivered price of bought feed — at a volume you will actually run. The capital charge is what most comparisons leave out: spread the mill investment over its life at your cost of money, divide by annual tonnes, and add it to your per-tonne cost before comparing.
Reviewed October 2026. Planning estimate — not a quotation.
Run the numbers
Result
- Own production cost per tonne
- USD 484/t
- Annual difference vs buying
- Make saves USD 2,183,470
- Capital charge per tonne
- USD 18.6/t
- Simple cash payback
- 2.7 years
- Source
- Calculated from the values you entered — no external price, nutrient or supplier database is used.
- Date
- Calculator reviewed October 2026; result calculated now from your inputs
- Currency
- USD — money figures are in US dollars as entered
- Reliability
- Preliminary planning estimate — not a quotation, not a guarantee.
Volume sensitivity
| Volume | Own cost per tonne | Annual difference |
|---|---|---|
| 30,000 t | USD 502/t | USD 533,470 |
| 45,000 t | USD 490/t | USD 1,358,470 |
| 60,000 t | USD 484/t | USD 2,183,470 |
| 75,000 t | USD 480/t | USD 3,008,470 |
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
- Calculates own production cost per tonne including an annual capital charge.
- Compares it with your delivered bought-feed price.
- Shows the annual difference and a simple cash payback.
- Tests how the answer changes at lower volumes.
What it cannot do
- It has no feed, ingredient or equipment prices — all inputs are yours.
- It does not model working capital, ingredient price risk, tax or staff recruitment.
- It does not replace a feasibility study.
Who this is for
- Integrators and large farms buying finished feed today
- Investors assessing a feed mill against a supply contract
- Feed buyers preparing for a renegotiation with their current supplier
Input definitions
- Annual feed requirement (t/yr)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 60000 t/yr.
- Bought feed, delivered (USD/t)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 520 USD/t.
- Own ingredient cost, delivered (USD/t)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 430 USD/t.
- Own conversion cost (USD/t)
- Labour, energy, maintenance, packaging, overheads.
- Feed mill investment (USD)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 9000000 USD.
- Depreciation life (years)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 15 years.
- Cost of capital (%)
- Entered by you. Default used for the worked example: 9 %.
Methodology
Capital recovery factor = r(1+r)^n ÷ ((1+r)^n − 1). Annual capital charge = CAPEX × factor. Own cost/t = ingredients/t + conversion/t + capital charge ÷ annual tonnes. Annual difference = (bought price − own cost) × tonnes. Simple payback = CAPEX ÷ (bought price − ingredients − conversion) × tonnes.
Assumptions
- Conversion cost covers labour, energy, maintenance, packaging and overheads per tonne.
- Ingredient cost is delivered to your mill (see the landed cost calculator).
- Default values are illustrative inputs only.
Worked example — illustrative inputs
Inputs
- 60,000 t/yr, bought feed 520 USD/t
- Own ingredients 430 USD/t, conversion 35 USD/t
- CAPEX USD 9 million, 15 years, 9%
Outputs
- Capital charge about 19 USD/t
- Own cost about 484 USD/t
- Annual difference about USD 2.2 million
- Simple payback about 2.7 years
How to read it. Example inputs only. At half the volume the capital charge doubles per tonne — the decision rests on how many tonnes you will really run.
Limitations
- Indicative planning figure. Final economics depend on formula, volume, site, financing and country.
- Running below design volume raises the capital charge per tonne sharply — check the volume table.
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.
Sources and data
- Inputs: every number comes from what you enter. Default values are illustrative only, not market data.
- Method: the arithmetic described under "Methodology" above, applied to your inputs. No external price, nutrient or supplier database is used.
- Last reviewed: October 2026, by FeedMatch Group.
What can change the result?
- · Animal numbers and cycle length
- · Intake curve and stage split
- · Mortality, waste and shrinkage allowance
- · Feed price per tonne
- · Season, climate and management effects
AI agents may use FeedMatch calculators to structure preliminary feed requirements and RFQs. Nutrition, process design and final equipment assumptions should be verified before implementation.
Frequently asked questions
What volume justifies an own feed mill?
Why include a capital charge?
Can I buy part and make part?
Is the payback a guarantee?
Equipment and market context
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.