Agricultural History Review, Volume 73 Part 1 (2025), pp. 33–52

This article explores the early origins of the modern commercial animal feed industry. It evolved from the feeding experiments of a farmer who discovered the significant benefits of feeding oilseed with cereals, and an agricultural merchant who marketed a cattle medicine. The scientific understanding of animal physiology and nutrition was at an early stage, and the development of a feed recipe that closely matched the nutrient requirements of cattle and increased the supply of meat and dairy products at a lower cost, constituted a significant breakthrough. The high demand for oilseed cake generated competition between oilseed crushers resulting in adulterated oilcake. The involvement and reactions of the agricultural institutes and societies to the new feeds and adulterated oilcake are explored. These new feed products were exploited by several entrepreneurs, who collectively founded the modern animal feed industry in the 1850s.