Should you start producing your own pig feed?

What to consider before investing in on-farm feed production

Feed is one of the most important inputs in pig production. It has a major influence on production costs, feed efficiency, growth, animal health and the overall performance of the herd.

For many pig producers, the question is therefore not simply whether they can produce their own feed, but whether doing so makes technical and economic sense for their particular farm.

Producing feed on the farm can provide greater control over raw materials, feed formulation, grinding, mixing and production timing. It can also make it easier to use suitable home-grown crops and adapt diets to different groups of pigs.

But on-farm feed production also requires investment, storage capacity, technical knowledge, quality control and daily management.

So, when does producing your own pig feed make sense – and what should you consider before investing in a feed mill?

Feed is one of the largest costs in pig production

Feed represents a major part of the cost of producing pork. AHDB estimates that feed accounts for around 60% of the cost of pig production in its latest UK cost-of-production figures, illustrating how strongly feed efficiency and feed cost can influence farm economics.

This means that relatively small differences in feed cost or feed conversion can have a significant effect on the profitability of a pig operation.

However, the price of purchased feed alone should not determine whether producing feed yourself is worthwhile.

A proper assessment should include:

• Cost and availability of raw materials
• Current price of purchased compound feed
• Transport and handling costs
• Expected annual feed production
• Investment in the feed mill and storage
• Energy consumption
• Labour and maintenance
• Feed losses
• Quality control and analysis
• Financing and depreciation

The relevant comparison is therefore the total cost of producing feed on the farm versus the total cost of purchasing it.

Feed efficiency should also be considered. A cheaper feed is not necessarily the better option if it results in poorer feed conversion or production performance.

What do you gain by producing your own pig feed?

The main advantage of on-farm feed production is not necessarily that the feed will automatically be cheaper.

It is control.

When feed is produced on the farm, the producer controls the choice of raw materials, formulation, grinding, dosing and mixing processes.

This can make it easier to adapt diets to the nutritional requirements of different groups of pigs and to respond to changes in raw material availability and price.

Pig diets need to provide the appropriate balance of energy, protein, amino acids, minerals and other nutrients. The nutritional value of ingredients can vary, which makes both ingredient selection and accurate formulation important.

The Danish agricultural advisory organisation SEGES Innovation publishes detailed nutrient recommendations for pigs, illustrating how feed formulation needs to take the nutritional requirements of different categories of pigs into account.

With your own feed production, these decisions become part of the farm's own production strategy rather than being entirely dependent on a fixed commercial feed product.

Better use of home-grown raw materials

Many pig producers grow cereals or other crops that can potentially be used as feed ingredients.

On-farm feed production can provide an opportunity to use suitable home-grown raw materials directly in the feed chain.

Instead of selling grain and purchasing compound feed, the producer can potentially use the grain as part of the farm's own feed strategy.

But home-grown does not automatically mean suitable.

Raw materials need to be assessed according to their nutritional value, availability, quality and cost. Reliable feed formulation depends on knowing the nutritional characteristics of the ingredients being used.

The nutritional value of raw materials can vary considerably. Moisture content, storage conditions, contamination and changes in nutrient composition can all affect their value as feed ingredients.

This means that the value of home-grown grain depends not only on its market price, but also on its nutritional quality and how effectively it can be incorporated into the feed formulation.

Feed quality starts with the raw materials

Producing your own feed does not eliminate feed-quality risks. It means that the producer becomes responsible for managing them.

Storage conditions, moisture, contamination and deterioration can all affect feed ingredients.

Mycotoxins are one example. These naturally occurring toxins are produced by certain fungi and can enter the feed chain through contaminated crops. EFSA identifies mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and Fusarium toxins including deoxynivalenol as important contaminants in food and feed.

Some mycotoxins are particularly relevant to pigs and can affect animal health and performance.

For pig producers, this makes raw material inspection, correct storage and quality monitoring important parts of an on-farm feed strategy.

Producing your own feed gives you greater control over these processes – but also greater responsibility.

Grinding, dosing and mixing matter

A feed mill is more than a machine for grinding grain.

The production process normally involves several steps:

1. Receiving and storing raw materials
2. Cleaning where required
3. Grinding
4. Dosing
5. Mixing
6. Adding liquids or micro-ingredients where required
7. Storing and handling finished feed

Each step can affect the final feed.

Particle size is particularly important in pig feed because grinding affects both feed utilisation and gastric health.

Research by SEGES Innovation on Danish finishing pigs found that the degree of grinding involves a balance between feed efficiency and gastric health. The study showed differences in gastric lesions depending on particle size and highlighted that the appropriate degree of grinding can vary between herds.

This means that finer is not necessarily better. The grinding process should be designed around the nutritional requirements of the pigs while also taking animal health and practical feed handling into account.

Dosing accuracy and mixing quality are equally important. The finished feed needs to contain the intended proportions of the different ingredients and nutrients.

For producers mixing their own feed, quality control therefore needs to cover the entire process – from raw material reception and storage to grinding, dosing, mixing and finished feed.

Different pigs require different feed

A pig farm rarely has one single nutritional requirement.

Piglets, weaners, growers, finishers and sows have different nutritional needs. Requirements also change as pigs move through different stages of production.

This means that an on-farm feed mill can be particularly useful where the producer needs to manufacture several formulations.

Instead of relying entirely on a limited number of standard feed products, the producer can formulate diets according to:

• Pig category
• Age and production stage
• Nutritional requirements
• Available raw materials
• Nutritional quality of ingredients
• Current raw material prices
• Production objectives

Modern feed formulation is based on matching the nutrient requirements of the pig with the nutrient supply from available ingredients.

The Danish SEGES Innovation nutrient recommendations for pigs provide detailed guidance on nutrient requirements for different categories of pigs and are an example of how feed formulation can be adapted to the production stage.

For a farm producing several feed types, this flexibility can be an important advantage.

Does producing your own pig feed reduce costs?

It can – but there is no universal answer.

The economic benefit depends on the individual farm.

A pig operation with high and relatively stable feed consumption may have better conditions for spreading the fixed costs of a feed mill over a large volume of feed.

The calculation becomes particularly interesting when the farm has access to competitive raw materials, including suitable home-grown grain.

However, the calculation should include the complete cost of feed production rather than simply comparing the price of grain with the price of purchased feed.

A realistic calculation should include:

Raw materials + energy + labour + maintenance + storage + depreciation + financing + quality control + losses = cost of home-produced feed

The calculation should also consider the nutritional value and expected feeding performance of the resulting feed.

Only then can the producer determine whether the investment provides a genuine economic advantage.

The investment requires more than a feed mill

Producing your own feed also changes the way the farm operates.

The producer becomes responsible for:

• Purchasing and receiving raw materials
• Storage capacity and conditions
• Feed formulation
• Quality control and analysis
• Production planning
• Equipment maintenance
• Traceability
• Feed safety
• Stock management

This responsibility is also reflected in feed-safety requirements. In the EU, feed hygiene rules cover activities throughout the feed chain, including primary production, with requirements relating to hygiene, traceability and the registration or approval of relevant feed businesses.

FAO's guidance on good practices for the feed sector also covers farm-based feed mixers and producers, highlighting that feed safety and quality management are relevant not only to commercial feed manufacturers but also to on-farm production.

This is an important point: producing your own feed is not simply a matter of buying a grinder and mixer. It means taking responsibility for another part of the production chain.

When does on-farm pig feed production make sense?

There is no single herd size at which producing your own feed suddenly becomes profitable.

The decision depends on a combination of factors.

Own feed production may be worth considering when:

• You have a relatively high and stable feed requirement
• You have access to suitable raw materials at competitive prices
• You grow part of your own feed ingredients
• You want greater control over feed formulations
• You need several feed formulations
• Transport costs for purchased feed are significant
• You want greater control over feed quality and traceability
• You have sufficient storage capacity
• You have the management resources to operate a feed production system

It may be less attractive when:

• Feed consumption is relatively low
• Raw materials are expensive or difficult to source
• Storage capacity is limited
• There is insufficient technical or management capacity
• The investment cannot be spread over sufficient feed volume
• Quality control and feed safety cannot be managed properly

The important point is that farm size alone does not determine whether on-farm feed production makes sense. Feed volume, raw material prices, logistics, investment cost and management capacity all need to be considered together.

A feed mill should be designed around the farm

If the decision is to produce feed on the farm, the next question is how the system should be designed.

The feed mill should be based on the actual production requirements rather than on a standard plant size.

Important questions include:

• How much feed is required per year?
• How many different feed formulations are needed?
• Which raw materials will be used?
• How much storage capacity is required?
• Which ingredients need grinding?
• Is pelleting part of the feed strategy?
• How much flexibility is required between batches?
• What level of automation is appropriate?
• Is future expansion expected?

The answers determine the required capacity, storage, grinding, dosing, mixing and automation.

This is also where scalability becomes important. A feed mill designed around current production while allowing for future expansion can give the farm greater flexibility as production develops.

Real-world example: Premium Porc Group

The decision to produce feed in-house can also be illustrated by the experience of Premium Porc Group in Romania.

Premium Porc Group invested in a complete SKIOLD feed factory to produce feed for three of its production sites. The factory was delivered in 2018 and became operational in spring 2019.

According to the company's management, the investment was driven by the desire for greater control over feed production, including the ability to adjust recipes and raw materials internally. The company also considered factors such as investment cost, service and support when selecting its feed-mill supplier.

The example illustrates an important point: on-farm feed production is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The business case depends on the scale and structure of the operation, the available raw materials, the required feed formulations and the producer's ability to manage the feed-production process.

Producing your own feed is a strategic decision

For a pig producer, investing in a feed mill should not be viewed simply as buying equipment.

It is a decision to take responsibility for an additional part of the production chain.

The potential advantages are greater control, flexibility, better use of suitable raw materials and the ability to formulate diets around the actual needs of the herd.

But these benefits depend on good feed formulation, reliable equipment, accurate dosing and mixing, appropriate grinding, quality control and competent management.

The most important question is therefore not:

“Can we produce feed ourselves?”

but rather:

“Can we produce the right feed, at the right quality and at a competitive total cost?”

If the answer is yes, on-farm feed production can become an important part of an efficient, flexible and resilient pig production system.

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Sources and further reading

SEGES Innovation – Productive performance and gastric health at different grinding degrees in home-mixed finisher pig feed
https://www.landbrugsinfo.dk/public/e/4/0/foder_fodring_produktivitet_mavesundhed_forskellig_formalingsgrad_slagtegrisefoder

SEGES Innovation – Nutrient recommendations for pigs, 36th edition, 2026
https://www.landbrugsinfo.dk/-/media/landbrugsinfo/public/c/6/0/normer_for_naeringsstoffer_36_udgave_mai_2026.pdf

SEGES Innovation – Methods for improved hygiene in mixing systems for home-mixed feed
https://www.landbrugsinfo.dk/public/6/f/4/foder_ernaring_metoder_til_bedre_hygiejne_i_blandeanlag

University of Minnesota Extension – Mixing your own swine feed
https://extension.umn.edu/swine-nutrition/mixing-your-own-swine-feed

FAO – Good practices for the feed sector
https://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/1651201/

European Commission – Feed hygiene
https://food.ec.europa.eu/food-safety/animal-feed/feed-hygiene_en

EFSA – Mycotoxins
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/mycotoxins

SKIOLD – Premium Porc Group feed mill reference
https://skiold.com/blog/should-you-start-producing-your-own-pig-feed