Pricing and Costs of Livestock Feed and Nutrition

Provide livestock nutrition with your budget in mind

Food animal producers in the U.S., for the most part, don't need to start supplementing with livestock feed until grazing is unavailable in the winter. However, they should prepare themselves and their operations by calculating the pricing and costs of livestock feed and nutrition well before the first frost. Once demand goes up in the winter, feed prices increase, and livestock feeding operation budgets can suffer severely without advance preparation. Depending on the area, winter-feeding can consume up to 60% of a producer's total annual cost to raise or keep an animal.

Research optimal livestock feed and nutrition, and keep your costs manageable with budget-minded feeding options:

1. Spend the most with livestock feed companies that distribute pre-mixed sweet and pelleted feeds and additives for specialty operations.

2. Keep your costs down with custom-mixed livestock feeds for large feeding operations and limited grazing.

3. Minimize feeding expenses with extended grazing and silage-based livestock feeding programs for optimal return on investment.

 

Find traditional livestock feed suppliers that carry ready-made feeds and supplements

Buying traditional supplements and grain-based feeds for livestock can absorb more than 70% of your livestock operation's budget. That figure is rising as the world economy focuses more on alternative, plant-based fuels, and grain prices continue to increase as production focus shifts to the biofuels industry. If you require pre-mixed feeds for your operation, buy in bulk - or from wholesale suppliers - whenever possible. Always compare feed nutrients on a dry-matter basis to know what you're getting. You may be able to buy a locally milled feed that is comparable to a higher-priced national brand in a nutrient comparison.
Try: Find wholesale livestock feed suppliers that carry the complete line of Purina Mills livestock products, and use the company's feeding cost calculator as you plan your feeding program. The Cornell University Cooperative Extension Feed Cost Calculator is dairy-specific, but yields cost per-head, per-day based on dry matter nutrient values listed on the feed bag.

Customize your livestock feeds to control nutrient content and cost

Many large, commercial livestock feeding operations include feed mills and fodder factories to produce custom-mixed livestock feed. The operation will buy livestock feed oats, corn, millet, beet pulp, peanut hulls and other fillers and minerals. Keep in mind that custom feeds can be the least expensive, or the most expensive, animal feeding option depending on the ingredients used.
Try: Use the least-cost feed formulation tools available with Feedsoft feed formulation software. Keep up with feed ingredient prices by subscribing to Feedstuffs agribusiness news. If you're in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., use the buying power of Wenger's Feed Mill to purchase raw ingredients for your feed milling operation, or have Wenger's mill custom feed for you based on your desired nutrient content. Get free feed formulation software from Winfeed.

Rely on a range-feeding program, or use cattle feed products to supplement silage feeding

Commercial cattle feed nutrition is always improving, but producers face a sharp increase in consumer demand for naturally-fed food animals. Improve forage options with hay and silage supplements, and extended grazing practices can keep feeding costs down to between $1 and $1.50 per head, per day in your cattle operation. Improve silage palatability and safety - and extend the life of your silage - with inoculants to eliminate spoilage microbes such as bacilli, enterobacteria, clostridia, yeasts and molds. The inoculants add 1 to 10 cents per head, per day to your silage feeding costs.
Try: Use the cost calculator from Crystalyx Brand Supplements to determine your cost per-head, per-day for forage-feeding supplementation. Maximize the cost-effectiveness of your silage with the help of inoculants to increase digestibility at QualitySilage.com.

 

• Regularly inspect your livestock and cattle feeds for evidence of mold. Corn used in livestock feeds sometimes carries aflatoxin mold, which can seriously sicken and kill your stock. If you find mold when you buy the feed, return the feed to the dealer. You may be eligible for a refund, or at the very least, you will let the dealer know their feed is moldy.

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