What to consider when mixing your own feed

Mixing your own feed can save you money in the short term, but can also cost you in the long term if you do not pay attention to sourcing the optimal ingredients.

- Janine Ryan

Livestock farmers have had a tough time over the past few years due to the high price of commodities, such as maize. These have led to an increase in the price of feed. For most livestock operations, feed constitutes the largest percentage of all input costs, and an increase in the price of feed inevitably leads to a drop in a farmer’s profit margin. When a farmer buys animal feed, he or she is not only paying for the commodities used in the feed, but also for the cost of processing. As such, many farmers have turned to mixing their own on-farm rations to help lower their feeding costs.

While it may seem like a good way to manage input costs more effectively, farmers should be cautious when deciding on this approach. Mixing feed is not simply a matter of putting a few ingredients together, particularly as livestock operations exist to make a profit. Inferior feed will have a direct impact on the production efficiency of a farmer’s animals, and while a farmer may thus be saving money in the short term, mixing his or her own feed could end up costing him or her over the long term.

Formulating balanced and nutritionally appropriate feed requires a deep understanding of animal nutrition, as well as access to accurate nutritional information for various feed ingredients. Without proper knowledge and resources, it’s challenging to ensure that the feed meets the animals’ specific needs. It is also important to remember that animals’ feed requirements change depending on the stage of production they are in, and so it is also important for the farmer to fully understand what is required for each stage of production.