Dairy Feed Cost Per CWT

Feed cost per hundredweight (CWT, or per 100 lbs of milk) is one of the core efficiency metrics dairy producers track, since feed is typically the single largest input cost in milk production and this figure lets you compare your operation against industry benchmarks or track your own trend over time. The calculator starts by inflating your reported daily feed cost per cow by a shrinkage percentage, since not all feed purchased actually reaches the cow — spoilage, refusal (feed cows won't eat and it gets discarded), and handling waste typically account for 2-5% of purchased feed, so the "effective" cost per cow is higher than the sticker price on the feed bill. That adjusted cost is then divided by daily milk production per cow to get cost per pound of milk, and multiplied by 100 to express it as cost per CWT — the standard unit U.S. dairy pricing uses.

A cost-per-gallon figure is derived using the standard conversion that a gallon of milk weighs about 8.6 lbs. The herd-level figures (daily, monthly, annual) simply multiply the per-cow feed cost by herd size and scale up by calendar time, using an average 30.44-day month. The Income Over Feed Cost (IOFC) estimate assumes a flat $20/cwt milk price (20 cents per pound) to approximate how much margin remains after feed costs — a useful directional number, but real milk prices swing with milk-component pricing, class pricing, and regional basis, so you should substitute your actual milk check price for a meaningful IOFC figure rather than relying on this fixed assumption.