A Guide to Feed Budgeting

Forward planning forage supplies helps understand whether you will have enough conserved forage to meet the livestock demand – this is becoming more critical as weather is fluctuating more from the seasonal norms.   A key part of planning is to know how much feed is available and roughly how much you need. The following pages present tables showing the number of animal feeding days supplied by either one 700kg bale of silage or one cubic metre of pit silage for the main beef, sheep and dairy enterprises. The number of animal feed days will depend on how wet the silage is, i.e. its dry matter (DM), and its energy content, measured as metabolisable energy (ME).  So to utilise this infomation you need:

• Your silage analysed to measure its dry matter and energy content, i.e. its feed value
• To weigh some bales and/or measure the height x width x depth of your silage clamp

The tables available within the booklet are an early guide to whether you have enough forage – a farm specific plan should be carried out once the silage analysis is available

Download the ‘A Guide to Feed Budgeting’ booklet to access all of the relevant feed tables.  Additionally the booklet has a few options that may help with your feed budgeting and the simple clear messages can then be adapted for fan individual circumstance.  Contact the FAS advice line or your local consultant to discuss further.

Download A Guide to Feed Budgeting