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weight at a specified amount per day.
Another major reason for the program is to allow the farmer the option to use alternate feeds which can provide the same nutrients at a lower cost. When the farmer decides which feed he wishes to use, he should send a sample of it to VPI for testing of nutrient values. Those figures are then entered into the computer program.
Mr. Welch gave an example of his cattle operation and how he uses the program. He has a 600 pound medium frame steer which he wants to gain two and one-half pounds per day. Working with feed that he has grown himself, and soybean oil meal, which he must purchase, he has determined the daily amounts required by this animal. Feeding him 22 pounds of com silage with 32 to 40 percent dry matter, two pounds of orchardgrass hay, five pounds of ground com, and one pound of soybean oil meal, called 44 percent, will provide the animal with all the food he can eat, and needs to eat, to gain two and half pounds per day.
The program will also calculate the feed cost per animal per day. For the 600 pound steer, the per ton prices for the com silage, orchardgrass hay, and ground com were estimated, since Mr. Welch grows this feed on his own land. Mr. Welch purchases the soybean oil meal for $255 per ton. At $15 a ton for the com silage, $15 a ton for the orchardgrass hay, and $140 a ton for the ground com, the amounts needed by the steer daily total 66 cents. This amount can be multiplied by the number of head of the same weight to figure total daily costs for each weight group. 11
Jeremy Turnbull also makes use of this program. He tends to 25 heifers in Huntly, not far from Mr. Welch’s farm, and normally feeds them hay and com. He purchases
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