Buying and the market
FOB plant vs delivered: freight in feed buying
FOB plant is a feed's price at the plant before freight; delivered is its price landed at a named market. On the USDA board, DDGS delivered to the Pacific Northwest has averaged $84 to $102 a ton over the Midwest FOB plant median in every year since 2022, and on a cheap feed the gap can be half the plant price.
Updated Oct 22, 2026
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FOB plant is the price of a feedstuff at the plant or mill, before any freight; delivered is the price landed at the market the quote names, freight included. On the USDA board the gap between them is often bigger than a year's price move: DDGS delivered to the Pacific Northwest has averaged $84 to $102 a ton over the Midwest FOB plant median in every year since 2022.
How USDA marks the basis
Every line in USDA's weekly feedstuffs reports ends in a freight code, and the processor report's notes spell them out: FOB or DLVD (delivered), then the mode, T for truck, R for rail, B for barge, or a combination such as T/R. An FOB plant price is what the feed costs at the plant, and the buyer arranges and pays the haul. A delivered price includes the haul to the destination in the region name, such as the Pacific Northwest, Portland, Southern California, St. Louis or the Kansas City region.
Most quotes are FOB. In the three feedstuffs reports dated Oct 16, 2026, 79 of the 99 price lines were FOB plant and 20 were delivered. The delivered quotes cluster where feed is shipped in rather than made, such as the Pacific Northwest, Portland, Southern California, St. Louis and the Kansas City region, while the Corn Belt states quote FOB plant. The regional board labels every quote with its basis.
The mode moves the price too. USDA quoted Central US corn gluten feed pellets three ways that week, all FOB: $149.57 a ton by truck, $143.75 by rail and $137.50 by barge. The board averages a region's modes into one figure ($144) and keeps the basis beside it.
What the board shows: delivered over FOB since 2022
| Feed: delivered vs FOB plant | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DDGS: Pacific Northwest vs national FOB median | $102 | $84 | $90 | $84 | $89 |
| Soybean meal: Pacific Northwest vs Illinois | $55 | $59 | $56 | $41 | $52 |
| Soybean meal: Portland vs Illinois | $87 | $93 | $101 | $74 | $91 |
| Soybean meal: Southern California vs Illinois | $55 | $63 | $64 | $53 | $62 |
| Corn gluten feed: Kansas City region vs Central US | $89 | $89 | $76 | $85 | $103 |
| Corn gluten meal: St. Louis vs Central US | $102 | $123 | $147 | $139 | $144 |
| Feather meal: Kansas City region vs Arkansas | $33 | $28 | $19 | $11 | $13 |
Source: USDA AMS weekly feedstuffs reports as published on this board, Feb 7, 2022 through Oct 12, 2026 (2022 from Feb 7, 2026 through Oct 12). Each cell is the average weekly gap between the delivered quote and the FOB plant quote named. The gap is not a freight rate: the two quotes come from different sellers and markets.
- The gap holds in dollars while prices move. DDGS fell from an average $252 a ton FOB plant in 2022 to $153 in 2025, but the Pacific Northwest delivered quote stayed $84 to $102 above it every year. As a share of the plant price the gap grew from 41 percent in 2022 to 55 percent in 2025.
- Corn gluten feed shows it most. Delivered to the Kansas City region it ran $76 to $103 a ton over the Central US FOB price each year, while the FOB price fell from $211 in 2022 to $114 in 2025. In 2026 through Oct 12 the gap averaged 77 percent of the FOB price.
- On an expensive feed the same haul barely shows. Feather meal delivered to the Kansas City region ran $11 to $33 a ton over the Arkansas plant price, 3 to 6 percent of a feed that averaged $350 to $580 a ton.
The gaps are not freight rates. A delivered quote and an FOB quote come from different sellers in different markets, and the delivered market's own supply and demand sit in its price as well. What they show is how much a destination has paid over the plant, the room freight has to fit in.
The table above is the latest week on the regional board, with the basis each region's quotes carry.
Worked example: DDGS against soybean meal, at the plant and delivered
On the board for the week of Oct 12, 2026, DDGS was $193 a ton FOB plant (the national median of 11 regions, $193.33 before rounding) and $293.25 delivered to the Pacific Northwest. Soybean meal was $381.50 FOB plant (the national median) and $443.30 delivered to the Pacific Northwest.
- Protein in a ton. At the board's book values a ton of DDGS (90 percent dry matter, 29.5 percent crude protein) carries 531 pounds of crude protein, and a ton of soybean meal (89 and 53.5 percent) carries 952.
- At the plant. DDGS: $193.33 ÷ 531 = $0.364 a pound of protein. Soybean meal: $381.50 ÷ 952 = $0.401. DDGS costs 91 percent of soybean meal per pound of protein, which is where the cheapest-protein board ranks it.
- Delivered to the Pacific Northwest. DDGS: $293.25 ÷ 531 = $0.552. Soybean meal: $443.30 ÷ 952 = $0.466. Delivered, DDGS costs 119 percent of soybean meal per pound of protein.
The delivered gap was $100 a ton on DDGS and $62 on soybean meal, and DDGS spreads its gap over 531 pounds of protein against soybean meal's 952: 19 cents a pound of protein against 6.5 cents. A feed with less nutrient per ton pays more freight per unit of nutrient, which is how a ranking built on FOB prices can reorder once freight is in. The delivered feed cost calculator adds a reader's own haul and shrink to any quote.
Haul radius
Wet feeds carry the most water per ton and travel the shortest distance. University of Georgia Extension calls wet distillers grains most practical within 30 to 35 miles of the plant, and WDGS vs DDGS works out the freight that erases the wet discount on a dry-matter basis. What is corn gluten feed? does the same for wet and dry gluten feed.
The latest USDA week
DDGS was $188 per ton as of Oct 26, 2026 (national median across 11 FOB plant regions, USDA). Soybean meal was $352 per ton as of Oct 26, 2026 (national median across 5 FOB plant regions, USDA).
The Ration reports USDA's prices with the freight basis each was published on. It carries no freight data of its own, so the delivered cost at a given farm is the board price plus that farm's haul.
Try it
Delivered cost per ton is the board price plus freight and handling, divided by (1 − shrink) to spread the loss over the feed that survives. Freight converts to $/ton from a per-load rate (rate ÷ load weight) or a per-mile rate (rate × miles ÷ load weight). The dry-matter cost divides by the dry-matter fraction; cost per pound of protein and energy then divides by 2,000 lb times the nutrient percent, using the same CP/TDN/DM book values as the site's leaderboard (from named extension and NRC feed tables, listed on the methodology page). The corn and soybean-meal comparison uses the latest USDA board price for each. This is a price screen on one or two nutrients, not a feeding recommendation: inclusion limits, amino-acid balance, effective fiber and palatability are the nutritionist's call.
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Common questions
What does FOB plant mean for feed?
The price at the plant or mill, before freight; the buyer arranges and pays the haul from there. Most USDA feedstuff quotes are FOB: 79 of the 99 price lines in the reports dated Oct 16, 2026.
What does DLVD mean in a USDA feed report?
Delivered: the price includes freight to the market named in the region column. The letters after it give the mode, T for truck, R for rail, B for barge and T/R for truck or rail.
How much does freight add to the price of DDGS?
On the USDA board, DDGS delivered to the Pacific Northwest averaged $84 to $102 a ton more than the Midwest FOB plant median in each year from 2022 through 2026. That gap is wider than freight alone, since the two quotes come from different markets.
Why is the cheapest feed price not the cheapest feed?
Because freight is paid per ton, not per pound of nutrient. In the week of Oct 12, 2026 DDGS cost 91 percent of soybean meal per pound of protein at the plant and 119 percent delivered to the Pacific Northwest.
What is a haul radius in feed buying?
The distance a feed can travel before freight erases its price advantage. Wet feeds have the shortest: University of Georgia Extension puts wet distillers grains at 30 to 35 miles from the plant.