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Commercial Animal Feed Licensing

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Commercial Animal Feed Licensing

Commercial Animal Feed Licensing

In Michigan, each physical location where commercial feed is manufactured must obtain a Michigan Commercial Feed License. Commercial feed includes all materials or combination of materials, including feed ingredients distributed or intended for distribution for use as animal feed or for mixing in animal feed.

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Label requirements

Label requirements for feed sold in bags or other containers

While certain types or categories of feed, e.g. pet food, or feeds containing non-protein nitrogen, may have additional requirements, the following basic information must appear on every commercial feed sold in Michigan in a bag or other container, except for customer-formula feeds, and must be legibly printed or written. It may appear on the bag or container itself or on an attached tag or label:

  • Net weight of the contents.
  • The product name and brand name if any.
  • The name and address of the licensee. (Make sure that the name and address on the label are the same as the one used on the license application.)
  • "Guaranteed Analysis" of the feed, stated in terms established by regulation as necessary to advise the user as to the feed's composition or to support claims made in the labeling (The guarantees must be based on laboratory methods published by the AOAC International).
  • Complete listing of all ingredients used in the feed (they must be listed using the official AAFCO defined ingredient name or the common or usual name of the ingredient if it is not so defined. Examples of acceptable common or usual names are those for which there is a regulation establishing the ingredient as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) or as a food additive approved for use in animal feed.
  • Adequate directions to provide for the safe and effective use of those feeds containing drugs or other feeds specified in the regulations.
  • Any other precautionary statements necessary for the safe and effective use of commercial feeds.
  • The date of manufacture, processing, packing, or re-packing, or a code representing the actual date or one that makes it possible to segregate specific lots or batches of feed.

Label Requirements for feed Sold in Bulk

A label containing the same information required for feed sold in bags or other containers is required for commercial feed sold in bulk. Instead of being placed on the bag or container, the label must accompany every single bulk shipment of the feed and be supplied to the purchaser at the time of delivery.

Label Requirements for Customer-formula Feeds

A document, which includes the following information, must be supplied to the purchaser of a customer-formula feed at the time of delivery:

  • The name and address of the mixer.
  • The name and address of the purchaser.
  • The date of delivery.
  • The product name and brand name, if any, and the number of pounds of each commercial feed (e.g. soybean meal, base mix, vitamin and/or mineral mix) used in the mixture and the name and number of pounds of the other ingredients (e.g. corn, oats, salt, molasses) added.
  • Adequate directions to provide for the safe and effective use of those feeds containing drugs or other feeds specified in the regulations.
  • Any other precautionary statements necessary for the safe and effective use of commercial feeds.

Typically, a delivery ticket or invoice is used to provide this information with a customer-formula feed.

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