The total amount of feed delivered by NI merchants has crossed 3m tonnes for the first time.

Data published by DAERA shows that in 2025, total feed usage was up 6.6% to 3.049mt as farmers took advantage of high output prices and relatively cheap grain to drive on production.

Cattle is the biggest user of feed, accounting for over half of sales. Around two-thirds are dairy compounds and dairy coarse mixes and blends. In 2025, sales of dairy feed were up 10%, while beef compounds and mixes rose 7%.

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The next big user of feed is the poultry sector, with 992,800t sold in 2025. The figures reflect the recent shift in output within the sector as producers drift away from broiler and into layer production. Broiler feed was down 4% in 2025 at 474,100t, while feed going to layers was up 16.4% at 438,400t.

In the pig sector, feed usage has been little changed in recent years and in 2025, 251,900t was delivered by NI feed mills, down slightly on the 256,000t from the previous year.

That leaves the sheep sector, which is historically a low user of feed. Only around 2% of all feed goes to sheep, with just 70,700t delivered in 2025, although that figure was up 4% on the previous year.

Growth

Over the last five years, the DAERA data shows that NI feed mill deliveries are up 21% and when compared to 2010, it is a 47% increase.

That growth since 2010 is mainly due to an increasing intensification in the dairy sector as producers look to drive on yield per cow. Over the period dairy compound sales are up 67%.

There has also been significant growth in poultry feed, especially to layers, with feed deliveries to egg producers up 117% since 2010.