The Alltech 2026 Agri-Food Outlook puts global compound feed production at an estimated 1.44 billion metric tonnes in 2025, up 2.9% on the year. The survey covered 38,837 feed mills across 142 countries (Alltech).
Where the volume sits
Three countries — China, the United States and Brazil — produced 47.7% of the world's compound feed in 2025. The top ten producers between them accounted for 65.2%. Asia remained the centre of gravity for the industry, with growth driven by industrialisation, price-conscious consumers turning to poultry and aquaculture, and the continued shift in China from on-farm mixing to commercial feed.
North America: a contraction with composition
North American tonnage dropped 0.7% in 2025. The driver was a historically tight cattle cycle and a declining beef herd, but broiler and dairy feed both continued to grow — a reminder that the headline aggregate hides material structural change underneath.
What buyers should take from this
Two practical points for procurement teams.
First, the 2.9% global growth was uneven and increasingly regionalised. The Alltech data explicitly notes that growth was driven less by herd expansion than by productivity gains, structural change and shifts in how production is measured. Sourcing forecasts built off a single global growth number will mis-track local supply.
Second, the survey methodology — 38,837 mills across 142 countries — gives a useful denominator. If your usual supplier list represents fewer than a hundred of those mills, the market is materially deeper than your current contact set suggests. Categories under-served in your region are often well-served one or two countries over.
The full Alltech 2026 Agri-Food Outlook is available at alltech.com/agri-food-outlook.