State of the Feed Industry in 2026

Executive summary

The global feed industry entered 2026 from a position of scale, operational stress, and strategic transition. Alltech’s 2026 Agri-Food Outlook, based on data from 142 countries and 38,837 feed mills, estimates that world feed production reached 1.44 billion metric tons in 2025, up 2.9 percent from 2024.

Asia remained the largest production region at 559.3 million metric tons, followed by North America at 288.6 million and Europe at 274.1 million. The top 10 countries accounted for 65.2 percent of global output, with China, the United States, and Brazil alone contributing 47.7 percent.

Volume is the most reliable anchor for global market sizing. Revenue estimates for 2026 vary widely across commercial reports — from about USD 503 billion to USD 686 billion — because scopes differ materially. Some cover compound feed only, while others include broader animal feed, additives, or pet nutrition. For a C-suite audience, this report therefore treats global tonnage as the primary market-size metric and uses value ranges only as directional context.

The industry’s central strategic reality is that growth is no longer driven only by more animals. It is increasingly driven by modernization, formalization, precision nutrition, ingredient flexibility, sustainability reporting, disease management, and the gradual movement from on-farm mixing to industrial complete feed — especially in Asia and parts of Africa. Margin protection now depends on formulation accuracy, procurement visibility, traceability, environmental accounting, and rapid scenario planning.

Key takeaways

• Larger and more concentrated at the country level, yet fragmented at the company level. The top 10 countries produced 65.2 percent of global feed in 2025, but the world’s largest manufacturers still hold only a modest share of total tonnage — leaving room for software-led standardization and consolidation.
• Poultry remains the anchor, swine remains huge, and aquaculture is the strongest structural growth story. 2025 species data show broiler feed at 400.4 million metric tons, pig feed at 380.9 million, dairy at 170.3, beef at 134.2, aquaculture at 55.5, and pet food at 39.3.
• Ingredient economics improved from the 2022–2023 shock, but 2026 is not a low-volatility environment. Soybean meal, soybeans, and maize all sit well below 2023 averages, while fishmeal has firmed again in 2026.
• Regulation is moving from generic compliance to data-intensive compliance. The EU deforestation regulation now points to a 30 December 2026 application date for large and medium operators, while sustainability, antimicrobial stewardship, and feed-safety reporting become more measurable and auditable.

Market size and growth

From a long view, the industry has expanded from just over 1.0 billion metric tons in 2016 to 1.44 billion in 2025 — endpoint growth of roughly 40 percent over nine years, or about 3.8 percent CAGR. Public Alltech releases show milestone levels of about 1.032 billion metric tons in 2016, 1.103 in 2018, 1.188 in 2020, 1.266 in 2022, 1.396 in 2024, and 1.440 in 2025. Because public summaries reflect revisions and evolving measurement coverage, these are directional milestones rather than a perfectly back-cast official series. This report’s base case puts 2026 at about 1.47 billion metric tons and 2030 at about 1.58 billion, as poultry, aquaculture, pet nutrition, and industrialization in emerging markets offset maturity in Europe and North America.

The absolute value of the market is less certain than its volume. For 2026, commercial estimates span roughly USD 503 billion to USD 686 billion, while one compound-feed estimate places 2026 at about USD 614 billion. The range exists because analysts include different combinations of complete feed, premixes, additives, specialty nutrition, and pet food. Value is best presented as a range; volume as the core fact.

Regional segmentation

Regionally, the market remains highly uneven. In 2025, Asia produced 559.3 million metric tons, North America 288.6 million, Europe 274.1 million, Latin America 204.4 million, Africa 64.2 million, the Middle East 38.3 million, and Oceania 11.1 million. Because public Alltech data publish Asia as a single block, this report analytically splits it into South Asia (~82 mmt) and East Asia (~477 mmt, including Southeast Asia). That split is a report estimate, not an official Alltech figure.

Species segmentation

Species segmentation is also concentrated. Public Alltech tables for 2025 show broilers at 400.4 million metric tons, layers at 180.1, pigs at 380.9, dairy at 170.3, beef at 134.2, aquaculture at 55.5, pets at 39.3, and equine at 10.2. This report maps those into poultry (broiler + layer), swine, ruminant (dairy + beef), aquaculture, pets, and an “others” residual covering equine, turkey, and species not separately published.

Poultry is still the industry’s anchor, but aquaculture is the best pure growth story. OECD-FAO projects poultry consumption to expand much faster than pig meat through 2034, while aquaculture remains the primary driver of growth in fish and seafood supply.

Production, trade, and raw material economics

Finished feed is still predominantly produced close to the animal, not traded globally like grain or soybeans — which is why feed tonnage by region is a workable proxy for feed consumption by region. The more international part of the system is the raw material basket: maize, soybeans, soybean meal, vegetable oils, amino acids, vitamins, and a narrower set of specialty proteins such as fishmeal. USDA projects global oilseed trade at a record 217 million tons in 2026–2027, soybean exports at 189 million tons, and oilseed-meal trade at 119 million tons.

For formulation economics, the raw material picture improved materially from the 2022–2023 inflation spike, but the recovery is uneven. Maize averaged USD 252.7 per metric ton in 2023, USD 190.6 in 2024, and USD 203.2 in 2025, then firmed to USD 214.0 in April 2026. Soybeans reset from USD 598 to USD 414 before rebounding to USD 463. Soybean meal fell from USD 541 to USD 366, then rose to USD 415. Fishmeal stayed sticky near USD 1,700 through 2025 before climbing to USD 1,933 in April 2026.

These moves are one reason 2025 feed growth was possible even in a difficult disease and macro environment. Lower soy-complex prices and more manageable maize levels helped poultry, swine, dairy, and some aquaculture producers restore margins. Alltech explicitly links 2025 growth in several countries to lower ingredient prices, modernization, and stronger profitability.

Alternative proteins are advancing, but not yet scaling fast enough to displace mainstream protein meals. Insect-meal research remains optimistic on sustainability and functionality in aquaculture and specialty feed, yet recent work argues insect-based livestock feeds remain too expensive to compete head-to-head with soy meal and fishmeal in large commodity rations. The near-term use case is aquaculture, pet food, young animal feeds, and premium sustainability claims — not bulk replacement across species.

Technology, innovation, and case evidence

The technology stack of the feed industry is shifting from isolated least-cost formulation to an integrated digital operating model. Peer-reviewed work in 2024 and 2025 highlights advanced formulation, decision support, machine learning, data acquisition, multi-objective optimization, and sustainability metrics in modern animal nutrition. Feeds are now formulated not only for cost and performance, but also for resilience, gut health, environmental claims, and traceability.

In biological innovation, enzymes and probiotics remain two of the most scalable, commercially proven levers. Novonesis describes its animal biosolutions portfolio as a combination of probiotics, microbes, and enzymes aimed at feed efficiency, animal health, silage stability, and aquaculture performance. The category’s importance was reinforced in 2025, when Novonesis agreed to acquire dsm-firmenich’s share of the Feed Enzyme Alliance for EUR 1.5 billion — a strong signal that feed enzymes are a core profit pool, not a side category.

In sustainability tools, dsm-firmenich’s Sustell platform shows how environmental accounting is moving into mainstream feed workflows. Positioned as a life-cycle assessment service for animal-protein value chains, Sustell was endorsed under the GMP+ Feed LCA standard in May 2026 — moving carbon and environmental footprinting from “nice to have” marketing into auditable operational infrastructure. In plant and mill automation, Bühler’s Mercury MES integrates plant control, traceability, and uptime management, and its PelletingPro service delivered a reported 20 percent reduction in pelleting energy at Swiss feed company UFA.

Mini cases

• Digital pelleting and plant optimization. UFA’s collaboration with Bühler shows the feed mill of the future is not hypothetical — a 20 percent pelleting energy saving is material in a margin-compressed industry.
• Environmental accounting going mainstream. Sustell’s 2026 GMP+ endorsement shows feed footprinting moving toward a standard operating requirement for mills selling into export, branded protein, or sustainability-sensitive channels.
• Enzymes remain strategic. The dissolution of the Feed Enzyme Alliance and Novonesis’ buyout confirm specialty enzymes are central to innovation, margin improvement, and competitive positioning.
• Alternative proteins are real, but not yet commodity-scale. Protix leads on insect-based ingredients, while academic literature still emphasizes cost as the key adoption constraint — investable and strategic, but still premium.

Regulation, sustainability, and resilience

Regulation now affects feed economics through market access, not only through safety compliance. The most important near-term example is the EU Deforestation Regulation. Per the European Commission’s current implementation page, entry into application is now 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators, and 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators. Because soy and cattle are explicitly in scope, the regulation matters directly for ingredient sourcing and for mills serving beef, dairy, poultry, and swine value chains linked to EU markets.

On antimicrobial resistance, the signal is equally clear. WOAH’s ninth annual report found a 5 percent global reduction in antimicrobial use in animals between 2020 and 2022 among consistent reporters, but roughly one quarter of members still report use for growth promotion. For feed companies, gut health, vaccines, biosecurity, probiotics, enzymes, and precision nutrition increasingly matter for regulatory and brand risk, not only productivity.

Feed safety remains foundational. FAO’s Global Feed Safety Platform and the Codex Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding remain reference points for building feed-safety systems, and the FAO-IFIF manual links Codex guidance to safer trade. Sustainability measurement is standardizing too: the Global Feed LCA Institute database, FAO LEAP methods, and FEFAC’s Feed Sustainability Charter all push the market toward both a performance story and a proof story.

From a resilience standpoint, Alltech’s 2026 survey identifies disease management, severe weather and recovery, global politics and macroeconomics, changing consumer preferences, and high production costs with low returns as the main trends shaping global feed production. Resilience is no longer a procurement issue alone — it is a formulation, plant, compliance, and commercial issue.

Competitive landscape

The global feed industry is concentrated enough to reward scale, but fragmented enough to leave major room for differentiation. The top 10 countries produced 65.2 percent of world output in 2025, yet WATT Global Media’s 2025 analysis shows 146 companies producing at least 1 million metric tons in 2024, together making nearly 573 million metric tons. Against Alltech’s 1.396 billion metric ton total for 2024, that implies a concentration ratio of only about 41 percent for the ranked largest firms — significant but far from oligopolistic.

The current top tier is dominated by Chinese groups, large integrated protein companies, and a smaller set of multinational nutrition businesses. Based on 2025 world output of 1.44 billion metric tons, each leading company individually controls only about 1–2 percent of global tonnage — reinforcing how localized and competitive the business remains.

M&A activity since 2024 confirms where strategic capital is going. Cargill acquired two U.S. feed mills from Compana Pet Brands in September 2024. In September 2025, ADM and Alltech announced a North American joint venture launching in early 2026, with ADM contributing 11 U.S. feed mills and Alltech contributing U.S. and Canadian operations. In October 2025, De Heus signed to acquire CJ Feed & Care’s operations across Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea, Cambodia, and the Philippines — 17 feed mills — completing the deal in 2026. The dominant logic: local plant density, regional expansion, and a portfolio shift toward higher-value nutrition platforms.

Methodology and citations

This report prioritizes official and primary sources wherever possible. Global production tonnage is anchored in Alltech’s public survey releases and the 2026 Agri-Food Outlook. Trade and commodity outlooks use USDA FAS and WASDE; price data use the World Bank Pink Sheet. Sustainability and regulatory material draw on the European Commission, FAO, Codex, IFIF, GFLI, and WOAH. Innovation sections combine recent peer-reviewed reviews with official company disclosures. Competitive analysis relies on public snippets from WATT Global Media’s ranking, supported by company releases and recent transaction disclosures.

Open questions and limitations

• No single official global revenue series exists. Market value is presented as a range, not a false-precision point estimate.
• Asian subregional splits are modeled. Alltech publishes Asia as one region, so South Asia and East Asia are estimated here for usability.
• Mapped species categories aggregate unpublished residual species. “Others” includes equine and categories not separately exposed in public summary tables.
• Company market shares are indicative. Public access to full WATT rankings is limited, and many private firms do not disclose feed-only volumes in a standardized way.

Citations