The Feed Milling Process: An Analysis of Pelletization, Liquid Application, and Their Effects on Animal Production

Many of my colleagues and conversations in the animal feed industry focus on additives, ingredients, benefits, and formulation. Other cross-cutting issues have also emerged strongly, such as sustainability. However, feed manufacturing is often overlooked, despite being an almost ubiquitous process of great technical and economic importance.

In this regard, commercial prospecting often fails to yield the desired or expected results, not because it lacks effectiveness or a compelling ROI at the farm level, but because it does not align with the manufacturing process.

In this context, I would like to share with you this paper, recently published by Bergeron et al. (2026) in the Journal of Applied Poultry Research, titled "The feed milling process: A focus on pelleting, liquid application, and their effects on animal production," whose CONCLUSIONS and applications are as follows:

- The objective of the feed processing plant is to efficiently produce high-quality complete feed that meets the nutritional needs of poultry for growth, production, and reproduction.

- From the receipt of ingredients to the final delivery of feed to the poultry farm, the feed processing industry has become a complex entity requiring automation, specific controls, and the latest technologies that enable better tracking of ingredients, formulation, dosing, mixing, and pelleting.

- The form and quality of the feed depend on the ingredients used, the pelletizing process, and how it is transported from the plant to the feeder on the farm. While pellet quality, as measured by the Total Disintegration Index (PDI), is an indicator that can be used to adjust processing procedures, it does not necessarily equate to the nutritional adequacy and balance of the final feed consumed by the bird.

- The use of liquid ingredients is key to improving the flexibility and efficiency of both the formulation and the food processing process. From there, various processes work together to feed the poultry, ultimately producing the safe and affordable food that people expect.

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