Cattle Days on Feed & Cost of Gain Calculator (Feedlot / Backgrounding)
Plan a feeding period for cattle: days on feed and finish date from in-weight, out-weight and average daily gain, dry-matter intake and feed-to-gain ratio, tons of ration, feed cost, yardage and interest, total cost of gain per pound, breakeven sale price, projected hot carcass weight and the margin at your fed-cattle price.
How it works
days = gain ÷ ADG · DMI ≈ mid-weight × 2.0–2.4% · as-fed = DMI ÷ ration DM · F:G = DMI ÷ ADG · cost of gain = (feed + yardage + interest) ÷ gain · breakeven $/cwt = (feeder cost + feeding costs) ÷ out weight × 100 · HCW ≈ 63% of live
A feeding period is budgeted from the weight to be added and the rate at which cattle add it: the days follow directly, intake is a steady fraction of body weight, and dividing intake by gain gives the feed-to-gain ratio that determines how many tons a pen eats. Cost of gain adds the daily charges that run whether cattle grow or not — yardage and interest on the money tied up in the animal — which is why faster gain lowers the cost per pound even when the ration is dearer. The breakeven sale price folds the feeder's purchase cost into the finished weight, and the margin is the thin difference between that and the fed price, moved more by cattle markets than by anything in the barn.
Worked example
Fifty 750-lb steers gaining 3.5 lb a day reach 1,400 lb in 186 days, eating about 23.6 lb of dry matter a day (32.8 lb as-fed at 72% DM) for a 6.76:1 feed-to-gain — 3.05 tons each, roughly 153 tons for the pen at about $703 a head. With $93 of yardage and $76 of interest, cost of gain is $1.34 a pound and the breakeven is $196/cwt against a $1,875 feeder; at $185/cwt fed price the sale brings $2,590 and the pen loses about $157 a head. The carcasses hang near 882 lb.
Frequently asked questions
What ADG and F:G should I expect?
Yearling steers on a high-grain finishing ration: 3.3–4.0 lb/day at 5.5–6.5 lb DM per lb of gain; calf-feds gain slower but convert better; growing rations and grass run 1.5–2.5 lb/day at 7–10:1. Heat, mud and health setbacks cut ADG first.
Why does the breakeven exceed the fed price so often?
Feeder cattle are bid up to whatever the finishing margin will bear, so margins are thin or negative for stretches and made up in others; feedlots manage it with hedges, forward contracts and price-risk tools rather than expecting a profit on every pen.
Related calculators
Livestock planning figures from extension services and typical small-farm practice. Breeds, genetics, forage quality, climate and management change every number here — use the results as a starting budget and adjust to your own records, veterinarian and local regulations.