Livestock Feed Calculator
Feed cost per day, per head, per year.
Livestock Feed Calculator
Daily feed = animals x body weight x intake % / 100; daily cost = daily tons x cost per ton.
Calculated instantly
Embed this calculator
Put this calculator on your own site with the snippet below. The frame contains the tool only, reports its own height, and carries a visible link back to the full page. Embedding is free; keep the attribution link as it is, and do not wrap the frame in a way that hides it.
Preparing the embed code for this page...
What This Calculator Does
The Livestock Feed Calculator estimates daily feed weight and cost for a herd from the number of animals, average body weight, daily intake as a percentage of body weight, and feed price per ton. It is a budgeting tool for dry matter demand, not a ration formulation.
How It Works
Each animal eats a percentage of its body weight per day, so animals times weight times intake percent divided by 100 gives pounds of feed per day. Dividing by 2,000 converts to tons, which is multiplied by the price per ton for daily cost and by 365 for an annual figure. Feed per head per day is shown separately so you can check the ration against a label.
Example
Twenty head averaging 1,000 lb at 2.5 percent intake eat 20 x 1,000 x 0.025 = 500 lb of feed a day, or 0.25 tons. At $300 per ton that is $75 a day and $27,375 a year. Each animal eats 25 lb a day.
Formula
animals x body weight x intake % / 100daily pounds / 2000daily tons x cost per tondaily cost x 365Reading the Results
Feed per day
Total pounds across the herd. It is only as good as the intake percentage, which varies with feed quality, weather, and animal stage.
Annual feed cost
Daily cost projected across a full year at the same price and intake. Real costs move with seasons and feed quality, so treat it as a budget baseline.
Feed per head per day
The ration check. Compare it with the feeding guide for the animal class and the dry matter content of the feed.
Sources and References
National Academies - Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle
Dry matter intake and nutrient requirements
The standard reference for intake and ration formulation by class, weight, and production stage.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service - feed price reports
Regional feed and hay prices
A source for current prices; the calculator uses the price you enter.
References identify the method or data behind this calculator. Where a standard or tariff changes, the current edition applies, and the assumptions stated above take precedence over a remembered figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What intake percentage should I use?
Mature dry cattle often eat about 2-2.5 percent of body weight in dry matter; growing or lactating animals can exceed 3 percent. Sheep and goats differ, and feed quality changes intake. Use a ration guide for the specific class rather than a single herd average.
Is this dry matter or as-fed weight?
The percentage is normally a dry matter figure. If you weigh out as-fed silage or hay, divide the dry matter requirement by the feed dry matter fraction to get the as-fed weight. For hay at 88 percent dry matter, 25 lb of dry matter is about 28.4 lb as fed.
Does the calculator include waste?
No. It estimates what the animals eat, not what you put in the feeder. Round bales, outdoor feeding, and storage losses can add 5-15 percent. Add a waste factor to the order quantity, not to the animal requirement.
Can I use this for poultry or pigs?
It works arithmetically, but the intake percentages are different and poultry rations are usually formulated by age and production stage rather than body weight percentage. Use the species-specific feeding guide and treat this as a rough cost estimate only.
Why is the annual cost so sensitive to the price per ton?
Feed is bought in tons but eaten in pounds, so a small price change multiplies across the whole herd and the whole year. A $20 per ton difference on 91 tons is $1,825 a year. Locking in quality feed at a known price matters more than a small change in intake.