Feed budgeting basics for grazing farms
A feed budget answers one question: does the feed I have, plus the feed I am growing, cover what the stock will eat? Here is how to answer it with three numbers.
The three numbers
Supply starts with average pasture cover in kgDM/ha across the milking platform or grazing block, plus the growth rate — how many kilograms of dry matter per hectare per day the farm is adding. Demand is stock numbers multiplied by intake per head.
If cover plus growth exceeds demand, feed is building. If demand exceeds supply, the gap has to come from somewhere: supplement, a slower round, or fewer mouths.
Days of feed ahead
A practical way to use the budget is days of feed ahead: usable cover divided by daily demand. It converts an abstract cover figure into something you can plan around — if you have 18 days of feed ahead and the round is 25 days, you know exactly how much the budget needs to find.
The Pasture Ai feed budget calculator does this arithmetic from your own assessments, using the MJME measured from your pasture rather than a book value.
Setting round length
Round length is the budget's main lever. Shortening the round lifts average cover and quality when growth is strong; lengthening it stretches feed when growth slows. The right round length for the week comes from the budget, not the calendar.
- Measure cover weekly so growth rate is real, not assumed
- Recalculate demand when stock numbers or intake change
- Use your pasture's own MJME for energy balance decisions
- Revisit the budget after every walk — conditions move faster than the season