Livestock Feed Calculator
Calculate daily and seasonal feed requirements for a herd or flock.
Please note: Planning figures based on published averages. Soil type, climate, variety, season and local practice all shift these results substantially. Base real decisions on a soil test, local extension guidance and the product label — particularly for fertiliser, lime and any crop protection product, where the label is a legal document.
What the Livestock Feed Calculator does
Feed budgets start from dry matter intake as a share of bodyweight, because that is what governs how much an animal can physically eat. Converting to the weight you actually handle means dividing by the feed’s dry matter and adding an allowance for what gets trodden in.
Formula
DM per head per day = Bodyweight × Intake % ÷ 100Total DM = DM per head × Head × DaysAs fed = Total DM ÷ Feed dry matter × (1 + Wastage)
Inputs explained
| Input | Unit | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animal class | one of 11 options | Yes | — |
| Number of animals | number | Yes | Accepts 1 or more. |
| Average bodyweight | number | Optional | Leave at 0 to use the typical weight for this class. Accepts 0 or more. |
| Weight unit | one of 4 options | Yes | — |
| Dry matter intake | % | Optional | As a percentage of bodyweight. Leave at 0 to use the class default. |
| Days to feed | number | Yes | Accepts 1 or more. |
| Feed wastage | % | Optional | — |
| Dry matter of the feed | % | Yes | Hay is about 85%, silage 30%, fresh grass 20%. |
| Feed price per tonne | selected currency | Optional | Accepts 0 or more. |
| Currency | one of 10 options | Optional | — |
How to use it
- Choose Animal class and Weight unit.
- Enter Number of animals, Days to feed and Dry matter of the feed.
- Optionally add Average bodyweight, Dry matter intake and Feed wastage.
- Select Calculate.
Worked example
Fifty beef cows at 550 kg eating 2.5% of bodyweight, fed hay at 85% dry matter for 90 days with 15% wastage.
- Class
- Beef cow
- Head
- 50
- Days
- 90
- Feed DM
- 85%
- Wastage
- 15%
13.75 kg DM per head per day, so 61.9 tonnes of dry matter. As hay with wastage that is 83.7 tonnes to buy.
Frequently asked questions
Why does dry matter matter so much?
Because water carries no nutrition. Silage at 30% dry matter means 70% of the weight you cart is water — the animal must eat over three times the tonnage to get the same feed value as hay.
How much feed does a cow eat?
Roughly 2.5% of bodyweight in dry matter, rising to 3.5% for a lactating dairy cow. A 550 kg beef cow eats about 14 kg of dry matter a day.