Country: Mongolia
Client Type: Mid-size integrated beef cattle and sheep feedlot (8,500 head cattle, 12,000 sheep, feedlot-to-finish operation)
Feed Type: Ruminant complete feed pellets (barley-wheat bran-hay-rapeseed meal based)
Equipment: Hongyang HYPM-508 ring die pellet mill with extended double-layer conditioner, SFSP hammer mill, twin-shaft paddle mixer, counter-flow cooler
Annual Feed Output: 22,000 tonnes
Key Result: PDI improved from 86.2% to 94.6%; winter daily weight gain increased 15% (from 0.72 to 0.83 kg/day for cattle); annual feed cost saving approximately MNT 87 million
Background
Mongolia’s livestock sector is the backbone of the national economy, with a herd reaching 64.7 million head as of 2023, predominantly managed through traditional free-range grazing across the country’s 112 million hectares of pastureland. However, this extensive system faces mounting structural pressures. The Asian Development Bank identified overgrazing and climate change as the primary drivers of pasture degradation, noting that stocking rates exceed carrying capacity across all regions — from 106% in the west to an unsustainable 2,672% in the Ulaanbaatar corridor. The ADB report characterized Mongolia’s livestock sector as operating under a “user and custodian” model rather than a “producer and breeder” system, with herders treating animal numbers as a form of savings rather than focusing on productivity per head.
The “dzud” phenomenon — severe winters following dry summers, characterized by deep snow, ice cover, and temperatures plunging below -40°C — has become more frequent under climate change. Between 2000 and 2023, Mongolia experienced six major dzud events. The winter of 2023-2024 alone caused estimated livestock losses exceeding 5.9 million head, concentrated among animals that entered winter in poor body condition due to insufficient supplemental feeding. Mongolia’s Vision 2050 development strategy explicitly prioritizes the transition “from total livestock quantity toward overall productivity,” with Phase 1 (2021-2030) targeting modernized feed production as a foundational pillar.
A mid-size integrated feedlot operation in Töv Province, approximately 120 kilometers southwest of Ulaanbaatar, recognized the urgency of this transition. The operation maintained 8,500 beef cattle and 12,000 sheep on a combined grazing-finishing model, sourcing hay from 170,000 hectares of allocated winter pasture. After the 2023-2024 dzud losses, the management team concluded that reliance on hay-only winter supplementation was no longer viable. They sought to establish an on-site compound feed pelleting facility capable of operating reliably through the Mongolian winter, when ambient temperatures routinely fall to -30°C and occasionally reach -40°C.
The Challenge
The feedlot previously wintered cattle on a diet of native grass hay supplemented with loose barley and wheat bran, manually distributed twice daily using tractor-drawn feeders. Three interlinked problems drove the decision to invest in pelleting:
Seasonal weight loss. Internal records from winter 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 showed average daily weight loss of 180-220 grams per head per day during the five-month cold period (November through March). Cattle entering winter at 380-420 kg typically emerged in April at 340-370 kg — a net loss of 40-50 kg per animal representing approximately MNT 320,000-400,000 in forgone market value per head at prevailing beef prices.
Feed wastage. Loose hay and grain feeding under windy steppe conditions resulted in estimated wastage rates of 25-30%, as light particles blew across the feeding grounds before consumption. Sheep were particularly affected, with fine barley grains lost into snow cover and inaccessible to the flock.
Inconsistent supplemental feed quality. The operation had trialed purchasing compound feed from a mill near Ulaanbaatar during the 2023 winter, but pellet durability was erratic. Laboratory analysis of purchased lots showed Pellet Durability Index (PDI) values fluctuating between 83% and 88%. Transport over 120 kilometers of partially paved and gravel roads — combined with freezing temperatures that embrittled poorly conditioned pellets — meant that fines at the feeding bunk regularly exceeded 18% by weight upon arrival.
The veterinary team documented a recurring pattern: cattle with higher fine-particle intake showed increased incidence of ruminal acidosis, likely caused by rapid fermentation of fine carbohydrate particles bypassing normal rumination. This observation aligned with established ruminant nutrition research showing that pellet integrity directly influences rumen health in feedlot cattle.
Hongyang’s Solution
In August 2025, Liyang Hongyang Feed Machinery Co., Ltd. delivered and commissioned a complete pelleting line centered on the HYPM-508 ring die pellet mill, configured as follows:
Pellet Mill: HYPM-508, 132 kW main motor, 508 mm ring die inner diameter
Ring Die: Stainless steel X46Cr13, vacuum hardened to HRC 54-56, 6.0 mm hole diameter, compression ratio 1:8.5
Conditioning System: Extended double-layer conditioner with steam jacket insulation (retention time 55-70 seconds, mash temperature target 75-80°C at die inlet)
Auxiliary Equipment: Hongyang SFSP hammer mill (90 kW, 3.0 mm screen), twin-shaft paddle mixer (1,000 kg/batch), counter-flow cooler with insulated air intake
Design Throughput: 4.0-4.5 tonnes/hour on ruminant complete feed
Three engineering decisions proved critical to successful winter operation:
Cold-climate conditioning design. Mongolian winters mean grain stored in unheated silos can reach -25°C or lower at feeding time. Standard single-layer conditioners with 20-30 seconds retention cannot bring frozen mash to gelatinization temperature. Hongyang’s engineering team specified an extended double-layer conditioner with an effective retention time of 55-70 seconds and steam injection at 5.0 bar — higher than the typical 3.5-4.0 bar used in temperate climates. The conditioner jacket was wrapped with 50 mm mineral wool insulation and clad in galvanized steel to minimize heat loss. During commissioning trials at -28°C ambient, the system consistently achieved mash temperatures of 75-80°C at the die inlet, enabling starch gelatinization rates of 35-38% as confirmed by iodine staining tests.
Ring die compression ratio optimization for ruminant diets. The operation’s feed formulation — 35% barley, 20% wheat bran, 25% native grass hay (ground to 3.0 mm), 15% rapeseed meal, 5% mineral-vitamin premix — presented a challenging pelleting profile. High fiber content from hay and bran reduces natural binding, while the coarse grind favored by ruminant nutrition (1.5-2.5 mm) provides less surface area for starch gelatinization compared to fine-grind poultry diets. Hongyang’s application team conducted a four-day on-site trial with the actual winter formulation, testing compression ratios of 1:7, 1:8.5, and 1:10. The 1:8.5 ratio — using a 6.0 mm die with an effective compression length of 51 mm — delivered the optimal balance: PDI of 94.6% (Holmen method, tested after 24-hour freeze at -30°C to simulate winter transport conditions) with specific energy consumption of 22.4 kWh/tonne at the pellet mill motor. The 1:10 ratio marginally increased PDI to 95.8% but raised specific energy to 27.1 kWh/tonne, a 21% increase the operation’s diesel-generator power cost structure could not absorb. The 1:7 ratio produced PDI of only 89.3%, below the operation’s 90% minimum target.
Freeze-resistant die preheating procedure. Before each winter production shift, the ring die and rollers were preheated by running the mill at no load with steam flowing through the conditioner for 25-30 minutes, raising die temperature to 28-32°C before first mash introduction. This procedure — documented in a Mongolian-language standard operating procedure (SOP) developed jointly by Hongyang engineers and the feedlot’s maintenance team — eliminated cold-start die blockage events that had been identified as a risk during the design review phase.
Results
After twelve months of operation, including a full winter cycle (November 2025 through March 2026), the feedlot’s internal production and veterinary records documented the following:
Metric Pre-Hongyang (Winter 2023-2024) Post-Hongyang (Winter 2025-2026) Change
— — — —
Pellet Durability Index (PDI) 86.2% (purchased feed) 94.6% (on-site) +8.4 points
Feed fines at bunk 18.3% 5.1% -13.2 points
Cattle winter daily gain -0.18 kg/day (loss) +0.83 kg/day (gain) +1.01 kg/day net
Sheep winter daily gain -0.06 kg/day (loss) +0.19 kg/day (gain) +0.25 kg/day net
Feed wastage rate 27% 6% -21 points
Pellet mill specific energy — 22.4 kWh/tonne —
Ring die throughput life — 7,200 tonnes (ongoing) —
Annual feed cost (22,000 t) MNT 3.41 billion MNT 3.32 billion -MNT 87 million
The transition from winter weight loss to winter weight gain represents the most economically significant outcome. For cattle alone, the shift from losing 0.18 kg/day to gaining 0.83 kg/day over 150 winter days represents a net improvement of approximately 151 kg per head — equivalent to additional marketable weight valued at roughly MNT 1.2 million per animal at April 2026 wholesale beef prices. Across 8,500 cattle, the projected annual revenue gain exceeds MNT 10 billion.
Feed wastage reduction from 27% to 6% — a 21-percentage-point improvement — accounts for a significant share of the MNT 87 million annual feed cost saving. The pellet form eliminated the wind-loss problem that had plagued loose hay and grain feeding on the open steppe, while improved durability ensured pellets remained intact through mechanical auger distribution and freezing conditions.
The ring die completed 7,200 tonnes of throughput by June 2026 and remained in service, with bore wear measurements during monthly inspections showing uniform wear patterns well within Hongyang’s projected replacement threshold of 8,500-9,000 tonnes — consistent with the performance documented in the company’s Estonia cold-climate reference case.
Customer Feedback
Batbayar Ganbold, the feedlot’s operations manager, reflected on the project in a June 2026 review:
“We considered equipment from Chinese, European, and Russian suppliers. Hongyang won on technical preparation. Their engineers spent a week on-site before we signed the contract, measuring our barley moisture content, testing our hay grinding characteristics, and analyzing our winter temperature records from the previous five years. They came back with a ring die compression ratio and conditioning specification calculated specifically for our raw materials and our climate — not a catalog recommendation. No other supplier did that level of homework.”
Ganbold noted that the feedlot’s winter mortality rate — which had reached 6.2% during the 2023-2024 dzud — fell to 1.7% in 2025-2026, which he attributed primarily to animals entering and maintaining better body condition on the pelleted complete feed. He added that the feedlot has expanded its finishing capacity by 2,000 head and recommended Hongyang to a neighboring operation in Selenge Province facing similar winter feed challenges.
Conclusion
The Töv Province case demonstrates that compound feed pelleting with properly engineered ring die technology can fundamentally transform winter livestock management in Mongolia’s extreme continental climate. Hongyang’s HYPM-508 delivered stable, high-durability ruminant feed pellets through six consecutive winter months with ambient temperatures reaching -35°C, enabling the operation to convert seasonal weight loss into consistent weight gain. The three technical pillars of success — extended conditioning for frozen raw materials, precision compression ratio matching for high-fiber ruminant diets, and freeze-resistant operating procedures — provide a replicable reference for Mongolia’s broader feed sector modernization under Vision 2050.
The case also highlights a broader lesson for feed equipment procurement in developing livestock economies: the value of application engineering outweighs catalog specifications. As Mongolia’s compound feed market grows — 6Wresearch projects the sector to expand steadily through 2031, driven by government policy incentives for intensified production — equipment suppliers who invest in on-site formulation analysis and climate-specific engineering will be best positioned to support the country’s transition from extensive grazing to productive, resilient feedlot systems.
Post time: Jun-27-2026
