Livestock Feed Cost Calculator – Daily

Feed is 60–70% of livestock variable cost, so the tool prices your ration per head and per herd per day, month or feeding period. Enter each ration component (hay, silage, grain, concentrate) with its daily kg per head and price per tonne. Worked example: 50 steers on 8 kg hay ($180/t) + 3 kg corn ($260/t) + 0.2 kg mineral–premix ($700/t): per head per day = 8×0.18 + 3×0.26 + 0.2×0.70 = $2.36; herd = $118/day, $3,590/month. Over a 150-day finish that is $354 per head of feed; at 1.8 kg average daily gain the feed cost of gain is $2.36 ÷ 1.8 = $1.31/kg. Every $20/t hay move swings the herd monthly bill by about $240.

1. 1

   Step 1

   Enter animal numbers and feeding days.

2. 2

   Step 2

   List ration components: kg per head per day and $/tonne.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Read daily, monthly and period totals.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Add daily gain to see feed cost per kg of gain.

• 1

  Feed is typically 60–70% of variable livestock cost

• 2

  Cost per kg gain is the number to optimize, not cost per day

• 3

  Buy hay by the tonne and weigh a few bales

• 4

  Phase-feed: lower protein as animals mature

• Forgetting 5–10% feed waste in bunks and storage

• Pricing hay per bale without weighing — bales vary ±20%

• Leaving mineral and additive costs out of the ration

• Ignoring shrink and moisture when buying silage per tonne