RBS Research

Report 207

Feed Mill Operations 

of Agricultural

Cooperatives

United States

Department of

Agriculture
Abstract This report analyzes the feed mill operations of over 200 farm supply and marketing

cooperatives. They were surveyed about their 2004 feed mill ownership, production,

type of feed produced, method of sales, and feed form. The cooperatives were also

asked what animal types they produced feed for and how the feed was sold.

Questions asked were similar to ones used in 1984, 1975, 1969, and 1959 surveys.

The data was also sorted into 10 standard U.S. farm production regions and 7 feed mill

sizes. 

Key words: Cooperatives, feed mills, feed production, feed type, and feed sales.

Feed Mill Operations of Agricultural Cooperatives

E. Eldon Eversull

Research Report 207

September 2005
Preface This report studied 2004 cooperative feed mill production and compared and contrasted this production with production reported in prior studies conducted in 1984, 1975,

1969, and 1959. Cooperatives included in the study were chosen because they had

feed sales of over $500,000. Surveys were sent to 646 cooperatives, with over 200

usable surveys returned. Estimates for non-respondents were made based on prior

responses and published information. The study also focused on regional and feed mill

size differences. 

While this study is not a comprehensive census of all cooperative feed manufacturers,

the information presented is comparable to the prior studies and can be used by cooperative managers and boards of directors as a basis for comparing trends in feed sales

in their region and by size of feed mill. The author thanks the cooperatives that participated in this study.

i
Contents Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii

Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Feed Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

All Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

ii
Highlights Feed operations of 220 agricultural cooperatives were analyzed in this report. The

cooperatives provided information about their sales, feed mill ownership, production,

type of feed produced, method of sales, and feed form. They also provided information

on what animal types the feed was produced for and how the feed was sold.

Information collected was expanded for non-respondents and compared to prior surveys conducted in 1984, 1975, 1969, and 1959.

Respondent cooperatives comprised about a third of all cooperatives that have over

$500,000 in feed sales. The survey found:

● The Corn Belt and Lake States have a combined 80 percent of respondent

cooperative feed production. 

● Complete feed is produced 83 percent of the time; supplement, 12 percent;

and premix, 5 percent.

● Feed was sold in bulk for 90 percent of feed sales and in bags for 10 percent.

● Meal was the most common feed type (72 percent), with pellets second at 14

percent, followed by coarse-textured (11 percent), liquid (2 percent), and cubes

and blocks (1 and 0.4 percent, respectively).

● Hog feed, at 53 percent, was most often produced, while dairy feed comprised

17 percent of production and beef comprised 14 percent.

● Over half of the feed produced was sold at retail; 17 percent, wholesale; 15

percent, custom grind and mix; 9 percent custom fed to others’ animals; and 6

percent fed to animals owned by the respondent cooperative.

There have been a number of changes in feed mill operations as six major regional

cooperatives have ceased operations and one has converted to an investor-owned

firm. There have been regional shifts in livestock production and farmer-owned ethanol

plants have made distiller’s grains widely available for livestock feed.

iii
Feed Mill Operations of Agricultural

Cooperatives 

E. Eldon Eversull

Rural Development

Agricultural cooperatives sold about $7 billion in

feed in 2004, more than double the sales reported in

the 1984 feed study. This report is the fifth in a series of

studies of cooperative feed mills; the prior studies

were conducted in 1984, 1975, 1969, and 1959. The

prior studies were a census of all U.S. feed manufacturers and were conducted in a partnership with

another USDA agency, the Economic Research Service. 

Many changes have occurred in the past 20 years

for cooperative feed manufacturers. Six of the major

cooperative feed manufacturers no longer exist. Their

manufacturing facilities have not been lost though.

Prior to these cooperatives ceasing operations,

alliances were developed with other cooperatives to

incorporate most of the feed mills into existing cooperatives. This trend continued until one cooperative

became the leading cooperative feed manufacturer.

This same cooperative purchased a major investorowned feed manufacturer and has become the largest

U.S. feed manufacturer. Also, one large cooperative

feed manufacturer converted to an investor-owned

firm.

So, the more than doubling in the dollar amount

of feed sales for cooperatives over the last 20 years is a

combination of business expansion, purchase of an

investor-owned feed manufacturing firm, and

increased ingredient costs, minus the loss of the cooperative that converted to an investor-owned firm and

other such changes. In the prior studies, cooperatives

had a market share of 20 to 22 percent of feed produced. However, with the dramatic growth in sales,

cooperative market share for feed has probably also

grown.

Survey

The 2004 survey was designed to be comparable

with the prior studies. The survey was much simpler

than prior surveys, with the survey instrument consisting of seven questions on one page. The survey

focused on: ownership type (cooperative, LLC, joint

venture, or other); type of feed sold (complete, supplement, and premix); how feed was sold (bag or bulk);

the feed form (meal, coarse-textured, pellets, cubes,

blocks, or liquid); and animal types (hog, beef, dairy,

sheep/goat, broiler, starter-grower/layer-breeder,

turkey, horse, aquaculture, pet, and other). The final

question asked whether feed sales were wholesale,

retail, fed to own animals, custom-fed to others’ animals, or custom grind and mix for others.

The survey was sent to 646 cooperatives that had

at least $500,000 in feed sales in any of the prior 5

years. There are many more cooperatives with feed

sales, but it was expected that few with sales less than

$500,000 had either feed mills or the resources available to respond to the survey. Almost 300 surveys were

returned, although about 70 were returned incomplete

or blank and not used in this study. Of the 70, 15 confirmed that they did not have a feed mill. So, with 220

usable surveys or about 33 percent of those sent, data

was analyzed based on those returned while data from

non-respondents is based on their prior responses to

our surveys and other information gathered over the

last 20 years. 

1
Feed Operations

Since the last study there have been numerous

changes in the feed industry. Hog production continues toward concentration in larger growers and vertical integration among feed production, hog production, and meat packers. Hog production has also seen

movement from traditional production areas of the

Corn Belt, Lake States, and Northern Plains to the

Appalachian, Southeast, and Mountain states due to

pollution and odor issues. Global markets have

opened the U.S. borders to meats produced overseas.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow

disease, has closed the U.S. borders several times to

importation of live animals and has impacted export

markets. Avian flu has had large impacts on foreign

production and could become a domestic concern.

And, the large increase in ethanol production has

made the byproduct, distiller’s grain, a competitive

alternative to traditional feed production.

Feed Mill Production

Estimated and actual cooperative feed mill production for 2004 and prior studies is presented in table

1. Feed production is up about 16 percent from 1984 to

2004. Feed production is up especially in the Corn Belt,

Pacific, and Lake States. The Corn Belt, with 36 percent

of cooperative production, and Lake States, with 28

percent, remain the top production regions. Much of

this increase in production is due to the acquisition of

an investor-owned feed manufacturer by a cooperative.

Information in this section includes estimates of

nonrespondent feed production. This information is

based on previous USDA surveys and from other published information—often from press releases and

other sources within the cooperatives themselves

when new acquisitions or combinations have been

made. 

The survey did not ask for feed sales by State or

region. Instead, feed sales by State from RBS’s annual

survey of cooperatives, feed sales from prior surveys,

and knowledge of cooperative feed mill locations were

used to allocate feed production to States. Allocation

of feed production by this method may mean over- or

under-estimates, but the scope of the study was narrowed so that respondents were not unduly burdened

with a complicated survey instrument. Most cooperatives produce and sell feed in one State, so allocation

2

Table 1—Cooperative feed mill production, 2004, 1984, 1975, and 1969

2004 1984 1975 1969

Feed Percent Feed Percent Feed Percent Feed Percent

Region 1 produced 2 of total produced of total produced of total produced of total

1,000 tons Percent 1,000 tons Percent 1,000 tons Percent 1,000 tons Percent

Northeast 676.6 2.47 2,846.5 11.93 2,871.5 14.02 3,231.6 15.57

Lake States 7,584.4 27.64 4,868.0 20.41 4,660.9 22.75 3,776.4 18.19

Corn Belt 9,996.5 36.44 5,184.9 21.73 4,750.4 23.19 6,146.1 29.60

Northern Plains 2,180.6 7.95 1,973.3 8.27 2,203.8 10.76 2,060.5 9.92

Appalachian 1,491.7 5.44 2,025.3 8.49 1,034.0 5.05 1,080.5 5.20

Southeast 666.9 2.43 3,642.5 15.27 1,454.4 7.10 1,205.5 5.81

Delta 91.9 0.33 570.2 2.39 1,005.7 4.91 705.3 3.40

Southern Plains 93.7 0.34 1,365.0 5.72 513.6 2.51 657.8 3.17

Mountain 847.2 3.09 929.0 3.89 541.6 2.64 462.1 2.23

Pacific 3,805.4 13.87 452.1 1.90 1,450.2 7.08 1,435.3 6.91

———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————

U.S. 27,435.0 100.00 23,856.8 100.00 20,486.1 100.00 20,761.1 100.00

1 Standard farm production regions used, Northeast: ME, NH, VT, NY, MA, RI, CT, PA, NJ, DE, MD, and DC. Lake States: MI, WI, and MN.

Corn Belt: OH, IN, IL, IA, and MO. Northern Plains: ND, SD, NE, and KS. Appalachian: VA, WV, KY, TN, and NC. Southeast: SC, GA, AL,

and FL. Delta States: MS, LA, and AR. Southern Plains: OK and TX. Mountain: MT, ID, WY, CO, UT, NV, AZ, and NM. Pacific: WA, OR, CA,

HI, and AK.

2 Feed produced was expanded to include both survey respondents and nonrespondents. Respondents comprised 7,532 thousand tons out

of the total of 27,435 thousand tons.
of feed production is generally simple except for the

handful of cooperative feed manufacturers that have

multi-state operations. 

All Respondents

All further analysis in this study will mainly discuss respondents to the 2004 and 1984 feed mill surveys. Table 2 shows feed production by region and

feed mill size. As in 1984, the Corn Belt had the highest

concentration of cooperative feed mills and feed production. Over half of all feed production occurred in

the Corn Belt and over one-third of the feed mills were

located in this region. The Lake States again had the

second highest production and number of feed mills.

Significant changes occurred in the Northeast, where a

cooperative ceased operations and in the Southeast,

where a cooperative converted to an investor-owned

firm.

By feed mill size, most respondents in 2004 and

1984 had feed mills that produced from 1,000 to 9,999

tons per year. Only 56 feed mills had production of

over 100,000 tons per year, yet they produced 53 percent of the total.

Average Production

Average feed mill production in 2004 was almost

double the production of 1984 (table 3). Part of the

increase in production was probably due to the fact

that the survey was sent to cooperatives whose feed

sales were at least $500,000. Average feed mill production was about double in the Lake States, Corn Belt,

Northern Plains, and Appalachian regions. The other

regions had smaller average feed mill production than

1984, and in the case of the Pacific region, considerably

smaller. Questions about capacity utilization were not

asked in the current survey, but 16 respondents provided this information and overall capacity utilization

was 56 percent. Capacity utilization was 70 percent in

1984. Feed mill production peaked with an average of

216,042 tons per year for the largest feed mills.

For products other than feed, there have been

some ownership changes in the cooperative community where some cooperatives have joined together to

own facilities through joint ventures or limited liability

companies (LLCs). This survey found that less than 1

percent of the respondents had some alternative form

of feed mill ownership. The Lake States, Corn Belt, and

Northern Plains all had one respondent that owned a

feed mill with another cooperative(s) through an LLC.

3

Table 2—Respondent feed production by region and by feed mill size, 2004 and 1984

2004 1984 2004 1984

Feed Feed Feed Feed Feed Feed Feed Feed

production mills production mills production mills production mills

Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number

Region Feed Mill Tons/Year 

Northeast 0.59 4 11.93 212 <999 0.06 9 0.10 77

Lake States 25.31 84 20.41 411 1,000 to 9,999 4.79 99 10.96 737

Corn Belt 54.59 135 21.73 585 10,000 to 24,999 7.69 54 17.32 547

Northern Plains 9.20 64 8.27 344 25,000 to 49,999 18.87 67 17.11 247

Appalachian 5.94 11 8.49 113 50,000 to 74,999 10.58 33 16.71 129

Southeast 1.33 3 15.27 77 75,000 to 99,999 5.35 11 6.93 54

Delta 1.01 10 2.39 28 100,000+ 52.65 56 30.87 122

Southern Plains 1.20 6 5.72 60

Mountain 0.76 10 3.89 51

Pacific 0.05 2 1.90 32

All 100.00 329 100.00 1,913 All 100.00 329 100.00 1,913

1,000 tons 1,000 tons

Total sales 7,796.1 23,856.8
Complete, Supplement, or Premix

Formula feed is produced according to exacting

specifications to satisfy different animal groups’ physiological and environmental needs. Feed production is

usually classified further into specific feed types. The

types used in this report are complete, supplement,

and premix. 1 In table 4, feed production is presented

by type of feed, region, and size of feed mill.

Comparing 2004 to 1984, by region, complete

feed production rose about the same amount as supplement feed fell. Complete feed production increased

greatly over the 1984 average in all but the Northeast,

Lake States and Southeast. From 1984 to 2004, complete feed production increased while supplement

decreased (chart 1).

By feed mill size, mills producing from less than

999 tons to 74,999 tons annually had fairly similar production ratios from 1984 to 2004, with complete feed

about 70 to 79 percent of production. Feed mills producing from 75,000 to 99,999 tons produced more supplement feed (30 percent) and less complete feed (65

percent). Production at feed mills with a volume of

over 100,000 tons also differed from the average—they

produced over 90 percent complete feed and only 6

percent supplement.

Bag or Bulk

Feed production is sold by the bag or in bulk. Bag

sales are usually to smaller accounts, either delivered

or picked up by the customer. Bulk sales are usually

delivered to the customer and unloaded into their storage bins. By region, 11 percent of feed production was

sold in bags, with the remainder, 89 percent, sold in

bulk (table 5). Especially noticeable were deviations

from the average bag sales occurring in Northeast,

Appalachian, Southern Plains, and Pacific regions. In

1969, bag feed sales were more popular, comprising 26

percent of total cooperative sales (chart 2). 

Bag sales were used over half the time for feed

mills with less than 999 tons of production. Bulk sales

generally increased as feed mill size increased, peaking

at 93 percent of sales for feed mills with over 100,000-

ton production.

Feed Type

In 1984, the use of pellet feed had increased

greatly from prior studies to just about half of feed

production. Pellet feed included crumbles in 1984,

while the 2004 survey asked for pellet feed alone and

the category “coarse-textured” was added.

Respondents in 2004 had dropped pellet feed to 14

percent of total production while meal was 72 percent

and coarse-textured 11 percent (table 6). This compares

to 49 percent meal in 1984 and 47 percent pellets (chart

3). Much of this drop in pellet feed is probably due to

several of the larger cooperative feed manufacturers

4

Table 3—Average feed mill production by region and by feed mill size, 2004 and 1984

2004 1984 2004

Average feed Average feed Average feed

mill production mill production mill production

Tons/year Tons/year

Region Feed Mill Tons/Year 

Northeast 11,506 13,427 <999 517

Lake States 23,493 11,844 1,000 to 9,999 4,557

Corn Belt 31,526 8,863 10,000 to 24,999 15,376

Northern Plains 11,208 5,736 25,000 to 49,999 34,221

Appalachian 42,095 17,923 50,000 to 74,999 58,934

Southeast 34,671 47,305 75,000 to 99,999 83,355

Delta 7,895 20,364 100,000+ 216,042

Southern Plains 15,594 22,750

Mountain 5,959 18,216

Pacific 2,123 14,128

All 23,696 12,471 All 23,696

1 There are both primary and secondary feed manufacturing.

Primary feed manufacturing is further classified into complete,

supplement, super concentrate, and premix. For definitions of

these terms, please see [Brainich and Eversull].
5

Table 4—Complete, supplement, and premix feed production by region and by feed mill size, 2004 and 1984 

Complete Supplement Premix Complete Supplement Premix

Percent Percent

2004

Region Feed Mill Tons/Year

Northeast 70.4 28.7 0.9 <999 77.0 15.9 7.1

Lake States 75.9 15.8 8.4 1,000 to 9,999 73.8 19.7 6.5

Corn Belt 86.6 9.3 4.1 10,000 to 24,999 70.3 23.5 6.2

Northern Plains 78.7 17.7 3.6 25,000 to 49,999 78.8 15.3 5.9

Appalachian 93.9 6.1 0.0 50,000 to 74,999 75.6 14.5 9.9

Southeast 52.2 47.6 0.2 75,000 to 99,999 64.7 29.8 5.6

Delta 83.8 8.0 8.2 100,000+ 90.8 6.2 3.0

Southern Plains 99.4 0.5 0.1

Mountain 83.1 14.5 2.4

Pacific 97.8 2.2 0.0

All 83.2 12.0 4.8 All 83.2 12.0 4.8

1984

All 74.0 20.0 6.0

Chart 1—Complete, Supplement, and Premix Feed Production, 2004 and 1984

Premix

2004 Supplement 1984

Complete
6

Table 5—Bag and bulk feed production by region and by feed mill size, 2004

Bag Bulk Bag Bulk

--------------Percent-------------- --------------Percent--------------

Region Feed Mill Tons/Year

Northeast 21.6 78.4 <999 51.3 48.7

Lake States 9.5 90.5 1,000 to 9,999 29.2 70.8

Corn Belt 6.8 93.2 10,000 to 24,999 14.9 85.1

Northern Plains 10.1 89.9 25,000 to 49,999 9.0 91.0

Appalachian 33.1 66.9 50,000 to 74,999 18.2 81.8

Southeast 4.1 95.9 75,000 to 99,999 7.9 92.1

Delta 31.5 68.5 100,000+ 7.3 92.7

Southern Plains 63.6 36.4

Mountain 19.3 80.7

Pacific 56.9 43.1

All 10.5 89.5 All 10.5 89.5

Chart 2—Bag and Bulk Feed Production, 2004 and 1969

Bag

2004 1969

Bulk
7

Table 6—Feed production by region and by feed mill size, 2004 and 1984 

CoarseItem Meal textured Pellets1 Cubes Blocks Liquid

Percent

Region, 2004

Northeast 51.2 33.6 14.0 0.0 0.6 0.6

Lake States 74.5 10.6 12.6 0.2 0.3 1.8

Corn Belt 81.5 6.8 9.9 0.4 0.3 1.2

Northern Plains 63.7 16.1 13.9 4.0 1.0 1.3

Appalachian 31.6 24.3 41.6 1.4 1.0 0.0

Southeast 1.1 6.7 91.9 0.2 0.1 0.0

Delta 23.0 25.9 46.1 5.1 0.0 0.0

Southern Plains 9.3 49.8 9.6 26.9 0.9 3.5

Mountain 11.8 37.4 3.3 2.3 2.3 42.9

Pacific 4.3 70.1 25.6 0.0 0.0 0.0

All 71.9 10.8 14.3 1.1 0.4 1.6

Region, 1984

Northeast 46.6 n.a. 53.1 0.0 0.0 0.2

Lake States 73.2 n.a. 25.8 0.4 0.1 0.4

Corn Belt 53.4 n.a. 42.7 2.5 1.1 0.3

Northern Plains 57.3 n.a. 32.3 7.5 2.1 0.8

Appalachian 19.8 n.a. 76.3 0.8 2.8 0.3

Southeast 46.1 n.a. 53.7 0.1 0.0 0.2

Delta 23.4 n.a. 70.6 6.0 0.0 0.0

Southern Plains 34.4 n.a. 50.2 13.5 1.7 0.3

Mountain 68.7 n.a. 18.1 7.7 2.9 2.6

Pacific 43.2 n.a. 56.5 0.3 0.0 0.0

All 49.4 n.a. 47.1 2.2 0.9 0.4

Feed Mill Tons/Year, 2004

<999 46.4 43.4 5.0 0.0 0.3 5.0

1,000 to 9,999 44.7 31.9 14.1 3.9 2.6 2.9

10,000 to 24,999 71.1 19.6 6.3 1.3 0.3 1.4

25,000 to 49,999 69.4 14.2 10.9 1.4 0.7 3.4

50,000 to 74,999 71.1 18.9 5.4 2.5 0.3 1.8

75,000 to 99,999 42.8 22.0 31.9 0.0 0.4 2.9

100,000+ 78.4 3.6 16.6 0.5 0.2 0.7

All 71.9 10.8 14.3 1.1 0.4 1.6

1 Pellets included pellets and crumbles in 1984.

n.a. = Category not asked in 1984.
not responding to the survey. Meal production

increased in the Corn Belt, while pellets increased in

the Southeast. 

Feed mills with less than 999 tons of production

made about equal amounts of meal and coarse-textured feed. They also made the most liquid feed. Feed

mills with 10,000 tons to 74,999 tons of production

made about the average amount of meal feed, 70 percent. Feed mills with 75,000 to 99,999 tons of production made the most pellet feed (32 percent). 

Animal Type

Hog feed was most often (53 percent) produced

by the respondents, while dairy feed was the mostproduced feed in the 1984 survey (table 7). Hog feed

was the highest-produced feed in the Lake States, Corn

Belt, Northern Plains, and Mountain regions while

beef feed was the most-produced feed in the Southern

Plains and Pacific regions. Dairy feed was the mostoften-produced feed in the Northeast, Appalachian,

Southeast, and Delta regions. Added to the 2004 survey were three new animal types—sheep/goat, aquaculture, and pets. In total, the three new animal types

accounted for about 1.5 percent of cooperative feed

production.

Hog feed was the most-often-produced feed in

2004, while dairy was in 1984 (chart 4). Dairy feed

moved to second place in 2004, and beef remained

third. Broiler feed fell from 5th most-produced in 1984

to 6th in 2004.

Hog feed was the most-often-produced feed for

those feed mills with annual production from 25,000

tons per year to over 100,000 tons. Feed mills producing between less than 999 tons per year and 9,999 tons

focused on beef feed. Feed mills producing between

10,000 tons per year and 24,999 were about evenly split

between hog and dairy feeds. 

Feed Distribution

By a large margin, respondent cooperatives distributed the feed they produced through retail sales

(table 8). This is very different from the distribution

pattern found in 1984, in which wholesale sales and

retail sales were about equally used. Again, several

large cooperatives that did not respond to this survey

have feed sales that are known to be heavily weighted

toward wholesale sales and thus may have skewed

survey results.

Retail sales increased by about 20 percentage

points over 1984, while wholesale sales dropped about

the same amount. At 17 percent, wholesale sales were

still much smaller than those in 1984 (chart 5). Custom

grind and mix dropped 6 percentage points as did

feeding to own animals; while feeding to others’ ani8

Chart 3— Feed Production, 2004 and 1984

Percent

80

60

40

20

0

meal coarse pellets cubes blocks liquid

textured

2004

1984
9

Table 7—Cooperative feed production by animal type, region, and feed mill size, 2004 and 1984

Sheep/ Starter-grower/

Item Hog Beef1 Dairy goat1 Broiler layer-breeder Turkey Horse Aquaculture Pet Other

Percent

Region, 2004Northeast 2.3 6.0 80.3 2.8 0.0 1.2 0.0 3.1 0.0 1.7 2.6

Lake States 49.9 6.0 30.9 0.5 0.5 2.1 7.3 2.0 0.0 0.7 0.2

Corn Belt 67.5 10.9 6.0 0.8 2.0 10.4 0.7 0.9 0.0 0.3 0.5

Northern Plains 39.4 32.4 10.6 1.8 3.0 6.1 2.1 2.1 0.0 1.2 1.4

Appalachian 2.2 30.7 41.9 1.7 0.4 3.2 0.0 13.1 0.0 0.6 6.1

Southeast 0.1 41.4 57.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

Delta 3.2 36.4 49.5 0.1 0.2 1.9 0.0 7.0 0.0 1.5 0.2

Southern Plains 4.0 66.8 11.0 0.4 2.9 0.5 0.0 10.4 0.1 0.3 3.7

Mountain 18.4 15.3 13.8 1.6 0.8 0.4 0.3 6.2 0.1 0.7 42.4

Pacific 17.8 23.8 0.0 34.9 0.0 4.3 0.0 15.0 0.0 4.3 0.0

All 53.4 14.2 16.5 0.9 1.6 7.0 2.4 2.3 0.0 0.5 1.2

Region, 1984Northeast 3.2 3.2 61.7 n.a. 0.9 20.3 2.4 5.6 n.a. n.a. 2.7

Lake States 21.6 4.7 61.0 n.a. 0.2 7.8 2.0 0.8 n.a. n.a. 2.0

Corn Belt 47.6 12.1 22.1 n.a. 0.4 3.8 2.4 1.1 n.a. n.a. 10.4

Northern Plains 31.4 50.7 11.3 n.a. 0.8 3.9 0.3 0.9 n.a. n.a. 0.8

Appalachian 9.8 5.1 39.4 n.a. 7.0 10.3 20.3 3.6 n.a. n.a. 4.5

Southeast 3.5 1.1 31.6 n.a. 38.2 22.2 1.8 0.4 n.a. n.a. 1.3

Delta 2.5 21.1 25.2 n.a. 30.6 8.6 0.0 3.6 n.a. n.a. 8.4

Southern Plains 7.3 56.2 25.3 n.a. 0.0 4.4 0.0 3.1 n.a. n.a. 3.6

Mountain 8.7 33.4 32.7 n.a. 0.9 1.1 18.1 1.5 n.a. n.a. 3.6

Pacific 0.9 17.3 74.5 n.a. 0.1 3.8 0.0 0.1 n.a. n.a. 3.4

All 18.0 12.4 38.2 n.a. 9.6 11.1 4.6 1.9 n.a. n.a. 4.2

Feed Mill Tons/Year, 2004<999 7.0 61.1 15.4 1.5 0.2 2.2 0.0 9.6 0.2 1.9 0.7

1,000 to 9,999 22.1 38.0 23.1 2.2 0.8 1.7 0.8 8.2 0.1 2.3 0.6

10,000 to 24,999 31.1 21.4 36.9 2.1 0.7 2.7 0.3 3.5 0.0 0.8 0.6

25,000 to 49,999 54.4 12.7 21.6 1.1 1.0 3.1 1.0 2.1 0.0 0.8 2.4

50,000 to 74,999 45.7 14.3 25.4 0.7 1.0 8.7 1.2 2.3 0.0 0.2 0.4

75,000 to 99,999 42.0 18.1 36.7 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.2 1.5 0.0 0.6 0.0

100,000+ 61.7 11.1 7.5 0.6 2.3 9.8 3.9 1.7 0.0 0.3 1.2

All 53.4 14.2 16.5 0.9 1.6 7.0 2.4 2.3 0.0 0.5 1.2

1 Beef and sheep were combined in 1984, n.a. = not available.
mals grew by almost 9 percentage points. Retail sales

were used at least 90 percent of the time in the

Northeast, Appalachian, Delta, Southern Plains, and

Pacific regions.

Feed mills with production of less than 999 tons

per year almost exclusively used retail sales. Feed

mills producing from 75,000 to over 100,000 tons per

year used wholesale sales about 24 percent of the time.

These same feed mills also custom-fed their feed to

others’ animals for over 10 percent of their feed sales.

Summary

There have been a number of changes since the

last cooperative feed survey. Six major regional cooperatives have ceased operations. However, most of

their feed facilities have been consolidated into the

cooperative system, and feed production continues.

One cooperative has become both the largest cooperative feed manufacturer and largest U.S. feed manufacturer. With large numbers of joint ventures or LLCs

occurring in the cooperative system, it was thought

that, because feed mills are expensive to build and

operate, there might be a number of feed operations

owned as LLCs or joint ventures. The survey found

only three cooperative feed facilities owned as LLCs.

Most feed is still sold as complete and in bulk

form. Feed sales were heavily weighted towards meal

sales and more than half of the feed sold was hog feed. 

In the last study 20 years ago, more feed was

being fed to livestock owned by the cooperative feed

mill. This time, respondent cooperatives were not the

larger cooperatives that are more likely to own livestock. The rate of feeding to own livestock fell from 13

percent to 6 percent overall while the largest feed mills

fed about 9 percent of their feed to their own animals

and 11 percent was custom-fed to others’ animals.

Because the survey was not sent to cooperatives

with less than $500,000 in sales, many small feed mills

were probably not documented. Although capacity

was not covered by the survey, there appeared to be

more than sufficient feed mill capacity, with excess

capacity more than likely. Some animal production has

moved out of regions with surplus corn and soybean

production to areas where animal production odor and

pollution were not large concerns. Ethanol plants were

also changing feed production, with their byproducts

readily available as a feed source in a number of

regions. 

10

Chart 3— Feed Production by Animal Types, 2004 and 1984

Percent

60

40

20

0

hog dairy beef layer horse

2004

1984
11

Table 8—Method of feed distribution by region and by feed mill size, 2004 and 1984

Fed to own Custom fed to Custom grind

Item Wholesale Retail animals others' animals and mix

Percent

Region, 2004

Northeast 5.9 94.1 0.0 0.0 0.0

Lake States 16.3 61.3 0.1 5.2 17.1

Corn Belt 18.6 41.5 9.9 14.1 15.9

Northern Plains 10.4 73.3 2.1 0.0 14.2

Appalachian 4.2 95.8 0.0 0.0 0.0

Southeast 95.4 3.8 0.0 0.0 0.7

Delta 0.8 91.9 0.0 2.5 4.8

Southern Plains 0.8 99.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

Mountain 1.9 32.3 42.0 3.3 20.6

Pacific 4.3 95.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

All 16.9 53.5 6.0 9.1 14.5

Region, 1984

Northeast 63.9 31.2 0.0 0.0 4.9

Lake States 17.7 42.2 0.2 0.4 39.5

Corn Belt 46.5 29.1 0.5 0.1 23.8

Northern Plains 32.5 37.4 0.3 0.6 29.2

Appalachian 55.1 15.2 28.6 0.0 1.1

Southeast 9.3 26.8 61.8 0.1 2.0

Delta 48.3 6.8 43.7 0.0 1.3

Southern Plains 26.4 2.8 0.0 7.5 63.4

Mountain 12.5 78.5 0.0 4.2 4.8

Pacific 0.5 98.7 0.0 0.0 0.8

All 33.0 32.5 13.4 0.8 20.3

Feed Mill Tons/Year, 2004

<999 0.0 92.1 0.0 0.0 7.9

1,000 to 9,999 3.3 80.5 1.2 2.1 12.9

10,000 to 24,999 2.3 71.7 1.9 2.2 21.9

25,000 to 49,999 8.0 68.0 4.6 8.9 10.6

50,000 to 74,999 8.5 80.8 4.2 3.0 3.6

75,000 to 99,999 24.8 57.9 0.0 17.3 0.0

100,000+ 24.2 37.5 8.5 11.2 18.6

All 16.9 53.5 6.0 9.1 14.5
Bibliography

Brainich, Eric, and E. Eldon Eversull, Feed

Manufacturing by Cooperatives, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Rural Business-Cooperative Service,

RR 89, April 1990.

Gessner, Anne L., Integrated Feed Operations Through

Farmer Cooperatives, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Farmer Cooperative Service, GR 100, April 1962.

Mather, J. Warren and John M. Bailey, Cooperatives

Position in Feed Manufacturing, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Farmer Cooperative Service, RR 25,

November 1973.

Vosloh, Carl J. Jr., Structure of the Feed Manufacturing

Industry, 1975, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Economics, Statistics, and Cooperative Service, SB

596, 1978.

12

Chart 5— Feed Distribution, 2004 and 1984

Percent

60

40

20

0

wholesale retail fed to own custom fed custom grind

animals to others’ and mix

animals

2004

1984
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Rural Business–Cooperative Service

Stop 3250

Washington, D.C. 20250-3250

Rural Business–Cooperative Service (RBS) provides research,

management, and educational assistance to cooperatives to

strengthen the economic position of farmers and other rural

residents. It works directly with cooperative leaders and

Federal and State agencies to improve organization,

leadership, and operation of cooperatives and to give guidance

to further development.

The cooperative segment of RBS (1) helps farmers and other

rural residents develop cooperatives to obtain supplies and

services at lower cost and to get better prices for products they

sell; (2) advises rural residents on developing existing

resources through cooperative action to enhance rural living;

(3) helps cooperatives improve services and operating

efficiency; (4) informs members, directors, employees, and the

public on how cooperatives work and benefit their members

and their communities; and (5) encourages international

cooperative programs. RBS also publishes research and

educational materials and issues Rural Cooperatives magazine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race,

color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex,

marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual

orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or

because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from

any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply

to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille,

large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET

Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). 

To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director,

Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or

(202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider

and employer.