When least-cost feed becomes highest-cost production

The least-cost formula usually wins the meeting before birds have eaten a single pellet. The saving is visible, immediate and easy to place in a budget. Performance risk is less cooperative. It appears several weeks later, often in another department, and is rarely traced back to the original formulation decision.

I have reviewed cases where a less expensive formula met every declared nutrient specification. Nothing was technically deficient, but ingredient limits had been relaxed, nutrient safety margins reduced and several small changes made simultaneously to capture the lowest calculated cost. Feed price declined. So did predictability.