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Daily Ration & Cost Calculator.

Calculate daily, weekly, and monthly feed costs for your swine operation. Enter pig count, feed rate, and cost per ton to project expenses.

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Load example Daily Ration & Cost data to see the full workflow

Herd & Feed Inputs

When to use

  • Estimating monthly feed budgets for finishing barns
  • Comparing cost implications of diet changes (e.g., phase diet adjustments)
  • Calculating cash flow requirements for feed purchasing
  • Benchmarking feed cost per pig per day against industry averages
  • Presenting feed program economics to lenders or integrators

Do not use for

  • As a substitute for a full ration formulation by a swine nutritionist
  • When feed is delivered on a custom basis with variable ingredient costs (use a full formulation model instead)

Use actual feed delivery records, not theoretical intake

Theoretical intake from NRC or breed standards may underestimate actual consumption by 10–15% in real barn conditions. When possible, use 4-week rolling delivery averages from your feed mill invoices to set the feed-per-pig input.

Feed price per ton should include delivery and handling

Quoted feed prices from mills often exclude freight ($5–20/ton) and may not include mill surcharges. Use the all-in delivered cost when entering the price per ton to get an accurate cost per pig per day.

Daily feed rates change with barn temperature

Pigs below their lower critical temperature (~60°F for finishers) increase voluntary feed intake to maintain body heat. In cold-weather barns without adequate ventilation, actual intake may be 10–15% above thermoneutral estimates — adjust your feed-per-pig input accordingly.

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Method

Daily feed total (lbs) = number of pigs ×\times feed per pig per day. Cost per lb = feed cost per ton ÷\div 2,000. Daily cost = daily feed total ×\times cost per lb. Weekly and 30-day projections scale linearly. Cost per pig per day = daily cost ÷\div number of pigs. All computation is client-side — no data leaves your browser.

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Validated

Last validated 2026-04-08. Calculations are designed for planning and documentation support; verify procurement decisions against manufacturer specifications or institutional SOPs.

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How to cite

How to Cite

ConductScience Swine Daily Ration & Cost Calculator (v1.0). ConductScience, Inc. 2026. Available at: https://conductscience.com/tools/swine-daily-ration-cost-calculator

National Research Council. Nutrient Requirements of Swine. 11th ed. National Academies Press, 2012.

Feed Budgeting in Commercial Swine Operations

Accurate feed cost tracking is the single most important financial discipline in swine production. Feed represents 60–70% of total variable costs, making even small errors in ration cost estimation significant at scale.

Key cost drivers: - Feed price per ton: Corn and soybean meal — the two largest ingredients — are commodity-priced and volatile. Locking in feed costs through forward contracts or on-farm storage smooths cash flow. - Feed per pig per day: Increases with pig weight (body weight^0.75 metabolic scaling), stage of production, and environmental temperature. - Group size: Cost savings from bulk purchasing scale linearly — a 500-head barn has very different per-unit economics than a 50-head operation.
Phase-specific daily feed rates (corn-soy, ad lib): - Nursery (12–50 lbs): 0.8–1.5 lbs/day - Grower (50–130 lbs): 3–5 lbs/day - Finisher (130–280 lbs): 5–8 lbs/day - Gestating sow: 4–5.5 lbs/day - Lactating sow: 12–16 lbs/day

Projecting Feed Costs Over Time

Rolling feed cost projections help producers plan cash flow and evaluate the economics of diet changes. The framework:

Daily cost = (Feed per pig/day ×\times Pigs) ×\times (Feed price/ton ÷\div 2000)

Projecting 30 days forward provides a single-month cash requirement for feed, which can be compared against expected revenue at market weight. Sensitivity analysis — varying feed price ±$25/ton — shows the range of outcomes and informs decision-making on forward contracts.

Practical benchmarks (2023–2026 corn-soy rations): - 0.80–1.00/pig/day:Low−costscenario(corn<0.80–1.00/pig/day: Low-cost scenario (corn <4.50/bu, SBOM <$350/ton) - $1.00–1.20/pig/day: Typical scenario - $1.20–1.50/pig/day: High-cost scenario (drought years, basis disruptions)

Export the CSV and track these figures monthly to spot trends before they erode margins.

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