Estimate what it costs to feed your livestock, based on animal type, herd size, and feed price. Enter your details below to get a daily, monthly, and annual feed cost estimate.
Select Livestock Type
Livestock Details
Feed Information
Daily Consumption
Daily feed consumption is estimated as a percentage of body weight
What Is a Livestock Feed Cost Calculator?
Feed typically accounts for 50 to 70 percent of total livestock production costs, making it the single biggest lever a farmer has over profitability. This calculator estimates your feed spend by working from how much dry matter an animal needs to eat each day, based on its body weight and species, then applying your feed price to that daily requirement across your herd and feeding period.
How to Calculate Feed Costs
Step 1: Identify the animal type and average body weight of the livestock you’re feeding.
Step 2: Determine the daily dry matter intake as a percentage of body weight, which varies by species.
Step 3: Enter your feed price, expressed per kilogram, and the number of animals and feeding days.
Step 4: The calculator multiplies these together to give you daily, monthly, and total feeding costs.
Feed Cost Formula
Daily Dry Matter Intake (kg) = Body Weight (kg) × Intake Percentage
Daily Feed Cost = Daily Dry Matter Intake × Feed Price per kg
Total Feed Cost = Daily Feed Cost × Number of Animals × Number of Days
Daily Dry Matter Intake by Animal Type
Dry matter intake as a percentage of body weight varies considerably between species and production stage:
- Beef cattle: 2.0 to 2.5 percent of body weight
- Dairy cattle: 3.0 to 3.5 percent of body weight, reflecting the higher energy demands of milk production
- Sheep: 2.0 to 3.0 percent of body weight
- Goats: 3.0 to 4.0 percent of body weight
These figures are general guidelines. Lactating, pregnant, or growing animals typically need feed toward the higher end of their species range, while mature animals at maintenance can often be fed toward the lower end.
Worked Example
Say you’re feeding 20 beef cattle, each averaging 450 kg, over a 30-day period, using a feed priced at R3.50 per kilogram, and you’re targeting 2.2 percent of body weight in daily dry matter intake.
Daily Dry Matter Intake = 450 kg × 0.022 = 9.9 kg per animal per day
Daily Feed Cost = 9.9 kg × R3.50 = R34.65 per animal per day
Total Feed Cost = R34.65 × 20 animals × 30 days = R20,790
Common Feed Types and Indicative Costs in South Africa
Feed prices in South Africa vary significantly by region, season, and whether you’re buying in bulk or by the bag, so treat the figures below as rough starting points rather than fixed prices. As a general guide, based on typical marketplace listings:
- Lucerne bales: Often sold in 50 kg bales, priced roughly R1.40 to R1.70 per kg depending on grade and region.
- Maize (yellow corn): Commonly sold in 50 kg bags, priced roughly R2.50 to R3.00 per kg, though this tracks SAFEX commodity prices and can move significantly month to month.
- Commercial dairy meal and concentrates: Typically priced higher than raw grain or lucerne, reflecting the added protein and mineral content formulated for specific production stages.
Because these prices move with the season and with grain markets, it’s worth checking current local pricing from your usual supplier or co-op rather than relying on a fixed figure for budgeting purposes.
Tips to Reduce Feed Costs
- Match feed quality to the animal’s actual production stage, since overfeeding high-protein concentrate to animals at maintenance wastes money without improving performance.
- Extend the grazing season where possible through rotational grazing, which reduces reliance on purchased feed during peak pasture growth periods.
- Buy feed in bulk during harvest season, when grain and roughage prices are typically at their lowest.
- Get feed tested where possible, since two batches of the same feed type can vary in energy and protein content, affecting how much you actually need to feed to meet requirements.