What does it cost per day to feed your dry suckler cows?

[Oldmacdonald]

What does it cost per day to feed your dry suckler cows?

Feed cost only.

 

[Davy_g]

Feed cost only makes it interesting. As my dry period is over the housed period they get hay and / or straw. Both bought in and some minerals. Both are cheaper than my home made silage.
Glad its not cost to keep per year. Thats always creeping up.

 

[dannewhouse]

Depends what you value a bale at, just costs to get it there or market value at time of feeding.

Always wondered about the straw and a protein type diet for cheapness

 

[AftonShepherd]

A lot cheaper than last year anyway. Moved to outwintering on rough hill ground and so far my 70 cows have eaten approx 1 tonne of free access minerals and 22 bales of haylage. Compared to feeding pit silage, straw and a bite of cake through a mixer wagon it's nothing.

 

[harperfarmer]

Mine are on 36kg wholecrop oats/day and a month pre calving add 1kg rapemeal/soya blend a day. I'm paid to grow the wholecrop at approx £240/acre so it all depends what opportunity costs are factored in. Also get 100grams/head/day of a dry cow mineral.

 

[Andrew1983]

28kgs of pit silage and add lib straw a day for dry cows.

 

[Oldmacdonald]

28kgs of pit silage and add lib straw a day for dry cows.

How much do you think that costs?

 

[hendrebc]

Cows getting half and half straw and hay. All bought in straw at £80/t and hay first 2 loads were rough stuff at £95/t and now on some more expensive better stuff. Say it averaged £110/t it would be near enough. So half way between that is £95/tonne for their feed.
They are eating about 10kg of dry matter each per day as they are quite small cows. Hay and straw is about 90% dry matter so there is 900kg of dry matter in a tonne of that feed. A tonne at £95 would feed 90 cows for a day so £1.05 a day per cow.
Bigger cows would eat more than 10kg of dry matter though the limousines I had before would be nearer 14kg.

 

[Optimus]

Mine get 2.5 bales of silage.1 bale of straw. molasses an minerals.

 

[Nearly]

Bought in 3rd quality silage at £10 bale. One bale between 10 cows every other day.
Straw the other day.
About £1 a day then? Would normally be double that.
£700 costs for year to produce a £750 calf.

 

[puntabrava]

I took 28 tons of stewardship hay to a man with 250 sucklers and they ate it in 6 days‍.

 

[Nearly]

Roughly £2500 of hay / 250 beasts £10 each for 6 days. £1.66 a day.
Not daft but it adds up quickly.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

£1.07/day inc minerals. Mixture of hay/haylage/wheat straw all bought in so easy to cost

 

[Skintagain]

I took 28 tons of stewardship hay to a man with 250 sucklers and they ate it in 6 days‍.

Must have been too good

 

[puntabrava]

Must have been too good

I wouldn’t go that far I don’t think.

 

[Andrew1983]

28kgs of pit silage and add lib straw a day for dry cows.

Rough calculation….. £1.20. We switched to mainly pit silage this year and tbh it was a lot easier to cost things out with bales, you know how many bales come off an acre, know what the rent and fert had cost you, know what mowing baling and wrapping cost etc etc. I know what rental value, fert, and ensiling in the pit costs but I can only guesstimate what’s in there tonage wise.

Straw would be costing me £0.65 a head a day.

 

[Oldmacdonald]

All these cheap diets giving the cows enough protein and energy pre calving??

 

[Skintagain]

These sucklers don’t leave a lot to finance Pit, shed, loader, insurance, water, electric, fencing, gates, handling equipment etc etc

 

[hendrebc]

Mine will he going oit to calve in April. When we calved earlier inside it was ad lib silage for 2 months before calving ££££

All these cheap diets giving the cows enough protein and energy pre calving??

 

[AngusLad]

Cows roughing it on the hill get 1kg/1.5kg high mag suckler rolls which averages out at around 40p/day. Heifers etc in the shed are on restricted pit silage, minerals and ad lib straw are around £1.25