2.5–3.0 T/H Carp Feed Extruder Machine in the United States

Project Background – The Bait Carp Market in the Southern US

The southeastern United States has a substantial bait carp industry. Fishermen use live or processed bait carp for catching larger game fish like bass and catfish. Bait carp are typically smaller than food fish, with harvest sizes of 100-300 grams. They require a sinking feed with moderate protein (28-32%) and enough water stability to hold together for 30-45 minutes.

The cooperative had been buying sinking feed from a large mill in Mississippi. The feed quality was consistent, but the price had increased 40% in three years. The cooperative's board decided that on-farm feed production was the only way to control costs long-term. They had space in their existing feed processing building. They had the auxiliary equipment. Only the extruder was missing.

Why the SPHS120*2 was the Right Choice

The SPHS120*2 fish feed extruder has a 90kW main motor and twin screws with 120mm diameter. Output is rated at 1.5-2.0 tons per hour for floating feed. For dense sinking carp feed, output is about 2.5-3.0 tons per hour because less expansion allows faster screw speeds. The cooperative's target was 2,000 tons per year, which required about 8 tons per day running one shift. The SPHS120*2 could handle that load easily.

• Motor & power: 90kW main motor, ran on existing 150A three-phase service — no electrical upgrade needed.
• Capacity fit: 2.5–3.0 t/h for sinking feed, exceeding the 8 t/day requirement.
• Twin-screw advantage: Consistent pressure even with high-fiber ingredients like wheat middlings, helping the cooperative keep feed costs low.
• Model comparison: The larger SPHS150*2 was considered but deemed unnecessary for their volume.

Raw Materials – Local Grains at Competitive Prices

The cooperative is located in an agricultural region. Wheat middlings are available from local flour mills at low cost. Corn gluten meal comes from a starch plant in Kentucky. Soybean meal is produced in Arkansas. Fish meal is the only imported ingredient, sourced from a processor in Louisiana that uses Gulf menhaden.

Grow-out Feed Formulation (Bait Carp)

• Protein level: 30% for grow-out; fingerling feed has 35% protein (20% fish meal, less wheat middlings).
• Fiber content: Approximately 7%.

Extrusion Parameters for Sinking Feed

Pellet Sizes and Sink Rates

The cooperative produces three pellet sizes for different life stages:

• Fry feed: 1.5 mm
• Fingerling feed: 3 mm
• Grow-out feed: 5 mm

The 5mm pellets sink at a rate of 12-15 cm per second in still water at 22°C. In a 2-meter column test, they reached the bottom in about 14 seconds – ideal for bait carp feeding behavior. The pellets remain intact for 40-45 minutes in warm pond water. The cooperative attributes this stability to complete starch gelatinization achieved by the twin-screw extruder and differential-speed conditioner.

Transition from Commercial Feed to Farm-Made Feed

The transition was phased over three months with careful monitoring:

1. Month 1: 25% farm-made feed, 75% commercial feed – no growth differences observed.
2. Month 2: 50% farm-made, 50% commercial – still no differences.
3. Month 3: 75% farm-made, 25% commercial – fish performance remained consistent.
4. After 90 days: 100% farm-made feed – growth rates matched historical averages.

Feed conversion ratios improved slightly, from 1.8 to 1.75. The cooperative's manager estimates the saving at $80 per ton of feed compared to the commercial supplier.

Shipping – From Qingdao to Houston

• Port of departure: Qingdao, China (November shipment).
• Port of destination: Houston, Texas – closest major port to Arkansas with regular container service from Asia.
• Sea freight duration: 35 days.
• Customs clearance: 5 days at Houston (efficient for industrial machinery).
• Import duty: 3.9% on extruders from China to the US (no VAT).
• Landed cost: About 12% above FOB price.
• Inland transport: 500 miles by truck from Houston to Arkansas.
• Installation: Two weeks, with the cooperative's forklift offloading the container.

Installation and Operator Training

Installation was supervised by a service engineer from RICHI's distributor in Memphis, Tennessee. The SPHS120*2 weighs about 5 tons. The cooperative poured a reinforced concrete foundation based on RICHI's drawings. Electrical installation was handled by a local contractor – the machine required a 150A 480V three-phase connection with a soft starter.

Four operators trained for one week. Key skills developed during training:

• Adjusting conditioner temperature for different formulations.
• Changing dies and cleaning the die face.
• Monitoring pellet quality and density.
• Adjusting cutter speed for different pellet lengths (now running at 550 RPM for 5mm pellets).

Problems During the First Three Months

Three main issues required attention:

1. Inconsistent pellet density: Some pellets floated instead of sinking. The cause was uneven conditioning. The cooperative adjusted conditioner paddles and increased retention time from 90 to 120 seconds, reducing density variation from 8% to 2%.
2. Die plugging: Plugged after six hours due to fine fiber in wheat middlings. The solution was installing a 0.5mm screen on the hammer mill, resulting in finer grind and less plugging – die now runs 12 hours between cleanings.
3. Dryer capacity mismatch: The extruder produced 3.0 t/h but the belt dryer was rated for only 2.0 t/h. The cooperative upgraded the dryer in the second month, resolving the bottleneck.

Customer Feedback – What Cooperative Members Say

Additional Products – Feed for Other Species

The SPHS120*2 carp feed extruder machine in the United States is not dedicated only to bait carp. The cooperative produces three other feeds on the same machine:

Operational Data After Ten Months

Die Life by Pellet Size

• 5mm carp die: 1,200 hours
• 3mm die: 900 hours
• 1.5mm fry die: 650 hours

The 90kW main motor draws 82kW at normal load for sinking feed. Power cost is about $12 per hour – considered acceptable by the cooperative's management.

Technical Support from RICHI

RICHI's distributor in Memphis provided excellent support:

• A service engineer visited three times during the first two months to dial in the screw configuration for sinking feed.
• RICHI brought extensive US experience: carp feed extruder machine in Arkansas to other cooperatives, carp feed extruder machine in Mississippi to a large bait farm, and carp feed extruder machine in Alabama to a feed mill serving the catfish industry.
• The engineer provided setting data from these installations to accelerate startup.
• RICHI Machinery supplied a complete spare parts package: two spare dies (3mm and 5mm), one set of screws, barrel liners, and 150 shear bolts.
• A 24/7 technical hotline resolved two issues (temperature sensor and cutter motor) within hours.

The Future of On-Farm Feed Production in the US Bait Industry

The bait carp industry in the United States produces about 30,000 tons of fish annually. Feed consumption is about 50,000 tons. Most feed is still purchased from large commercial mills. The cooperative in Arkansas proved that on-farm extrusion is viable for a mid-sized producer.

Other cooperatives have taken notice. Representatives from groups in Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas have visited the Arkansas facility since the extruder started running. RICHI has received inquiries from three other US cooperatives for similar SPHS extruders.

For any aquaculture operation looking to reduce feed costs, the same opportunity exists. The carp feed extruder machine in the United States that the Arkansas cooperative purchased is not the largest model. But it has the capacity, efficiency, and reliability that a mid-sized producer needs.

One SPHS120*2, a formulation built around local wheat middlings and corn gluten meal, and a commitment to quality – that was enough to take control of feed costs and produce sinking pellets that Arkansas bait carp farmers now trust.