Excerpts from the report Summary: Recent technological developments and shifts in the production and consumption of mixed feeds have had marked effects on the size and operation of feed manufacturing plants. The mixed feed industry has been decentralizing manufacturing facilities, specializing production, and adding pelleting and bulk handling operations. These changes have resulted in changed labor requirements and costs of operation. This report provides information to help feed manufacturers make investment decisions on whether to modify existing plants or to build new ones. Analyses in the report show the effects on costs of size of plant, number of shifts, hours of operation, and utilization of the rated capacity of the plant. Estimates of investment requirements and costs are included for 54 model plants--nine different operations in each of six different plant sizes ranging from 80- to 300-ton capacity for an 8-hour day and from 40- to 100-percent utilization of rated capacity. The effects of variations in the proportion of total plant output which is pelleted and/or packaged are estimated.