Which feed is actually cheaper?
A price per tonne tells you almost nothing: you are buying water and energy in different proportions. Cents per megajoule is the number that ranks them.
Cheaper per megajoule of energy — the comparison that accounts for both water and energy density. It says nothing about protein, fibre or whether the diet works: that is what the feed calculator is for.
The starting figures are barley grain and maize silageat our library's indicative values — starting points from mid-2026, not quotes. Prices move with region, volume and season, so put your own in. Our feed values list the dry matter and energy for every feed, with the published source for each.
How it works
Cost per kilogram of dry matter = price per tonne ÷ 1000 ÷ (dry matter % ÷ 100). Cents per megajoule = that, divided by the feed’s energy density, times 100. A cheap wet feed and an expensive dry one routinely land in the same place — which is the point of doing it this way rather than comparing sticker prices.
This is the easy half
Cheapest per megajoule is not the same as best for the animal: protein, fibre and how much of it will physically fit still decide whether the diet works. The feed calculator takes all of that.