In an otherwise conventional star feeder, equipment longevity is greatly enhanced by providing a readily replaceable shear edge at the downstreammost (in the direction of rotor rotation) portion of the feeder housing inlet, adjacent the clearance between the rotating pocketed rotor and the housing. Preferably one or more plates defining the shear edge are mounted by fasteners, such as screw threaded fasteners, to the housing. Where the feeder is retrofit, with the replaceable shear edge, a recess may be formed in the housing to accept and position the one or more shear plates. A shear plate may have a number of openings elongated in a dimension intersecting the clearance adjacent the inlet, and by loosening or tightening fasteners the position of the plate shear edge may be adjusted with respect to the clearance to provide an effectively new shear edge when it becomes worn. At least the shear edge portion of the shear plate may be of a hard wear resistant material, e.g. having a Brinnell Hardness at least 10% greater than that of the housing, and between about 350-450. A removable protective baffle is preferably disposed in the inlet in a position above and protecting the shear edge.