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Forage Quality Value Calculator

Translate a forage lab report into milk, ration, and margin signals — and decide where this forage actually fits in your herd.

Andrew Hunt · The Bullvine
Your forage test isn't a report card. It's a margin signal.

Crude NDF and "looks good" don't pay your feed bill. Kinetics, shrink, and the milk response you can defend in front of your nutritionist do. Punch in your lab numbers and your milk price, and this tool will tell you what this forage is worth per ton DM, per cow per day, and across your herd over a year — plus where it actually belongs in the ration.

Pair this with the pillar: Dairy Cow Nutrition 2026: Ration Formulation, Forage Quality & Feed Efficiency →

What this forage is worth

Live updates as you type. Defaults shown — replace with your numbers.
Forage Quality Score
—
0–100
Cost / ton DM (shrink-adj)
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$/ton dry matter
Net margin / cow / day
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vs. baseline forage
Annual herd impact
—
over 365 days
Break-even milk response
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lb/cow/day to justify

Setup

Pick your forage and depth of inputs.
Forage type
Lab detail
Methane / feed-efficiency lens

Herd & milk value

Used for $/cow/day and annual herd math.
Per cow average. Use 1 kg ≈ 2.205 lb.
Component-adjusted mailbox or net check. Default ≈ March 2026 FMMO planning number.
Lactating cow daily dry matter intake.
Share of total ration DM coming from this forage.

Enter lab results

Defaults loaded for the selected forage. Type over them.
2026 elite corn silage > 58%. Low signal < 45%.
Top-end corn silage < 10%. Fill-limited > 12%.
Corn silage / mixed forage with corn.
Mature silage target > 75%. Low < 65%.

Cost, shrink & expected response

Where the margin actually shows up.
All-in: growing or purchased + harvest + storage.
From bunker face to cow. 8–15% typical, > 20% red flag.
What you'd pay for the next-best feed on a DM basis.
vs. an average baseline forage. Negative numbers allowed.

Forage Quality Score

0–100 composite. Heavier weight on kinetics than crude content.
— / 100
—

Enter your numbers to score this forage.

Digestibility
0
Fill / uNDF240
0
Energy / starch
0
Protein
0
Cost & shrink
0
Awaiting inputs.
Key bottleneck: —

Where this forage fits

Planning recommendation, not a prescription.
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High group
—
Mid / late lactation
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Heifers
—
Dry / far-off cows
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Limit / reformulate

Copy results for your nutritionist

Plain-text summary, ready to paste in an email or chat. 
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How this is calculated

All formulas visible. Tweak assumptions, don't trust black boxes.
Cost & intake math
DM cost / ton = as-fed cost ÷ DM%
Shrink-adjusted DM cost = DM cost ÷ (1 − shrink%)
Daily forage DM intake = total DMI × forage inclusion%
Feed cost / cow / day = (daily forage DM lb ÷ 2,000) × shrink-adj DM cost

Inclusion is on a DM basis. We never divide by zero — invalid inputs are clamped and flagged.

Margin & break-even
Milk response value = expected milk response (lb) × (milk value $/cwt ÷ 100)
Replacement-feed offset = (daily forage DM lb ÷ 2,000) × (replacement $/ton DM − shrink-adj DM cost)
Net margin / cow / day = milk response value + replacement-feed offset
Annual herd impact = net margin × herd size × 365
Break-even milk response = max(0, shrink-adj feed cost − replacement-feed cost) ÷ (milk value ÷ 100)

"Replacement-feed offset" credits this forage when it displaces something more expensive on a DM basis. If your replacement cost is lower than this forage's shrink-adjusted cost, the offset goes negative and shows up in your break-even.

Forage Quality Score (0–100)

Composite of five sub-scores, each 0–100, weighted then averaged. Default weights:

Score = 0.30 × Digestibility + 0.20 × Fill + 0.20 × Energy + 0.10 × Protein + 0.20 × Cost

Sub-score targets (anchor / saturation):

Digestibility ← NDFd30 (corn silage 45→62; haylage 40→58; dry hay 35→55)
Fill ← uNDF240 (good ≤ 9, poor ≥ 14% DM) — inverted scale
Energy ← Starch × IVSD for corn-silage modes; NDFd-driven for haylage/hay
Protein ← CP vs. forage-type target (corn silage 7→10, haylage 18→24, hay 14→20)
Cost ← shrink-adj $/ton DM vs. replacement (lower is better)

If a lab number isn't entered (lite mode), the sub-score is held at neutral (60) and clearly labeled rather than guessed.

Classification bands
  • Green — Push this forage: Score ≥ 75 and shrink-adj cost ≤ replacement cost. Build the high-group ration around it.
  • Yellow — Use strategically: Score 55–74, or score ≥ 75 with cost premium. Belongs in mid group, dilution, or with offsetting feeds.
  • Limit or reformulate: Score < 55 or shrink > 20% or cost > replacement and break-even is unrealistic. Heifers/dry only, or sell, or fix shrink.

The band is a planning starter, not a clinical instruction. Confirm with your nutritionist using your CNCPS / NASEM ration model.

Caveats & honest limits
  • This is a planning estimate, not a NASEM ration model. It will not predict rumen kinetics or AA balance.
  • "Milk response" defaults are conservative. Your real number depends on baseline ration, parity, and stage of lactation.
  • Fermentation profile, mycotoxins, ash, and ash-corrected NDF are not modeled here. Always cross-check the lab report.
  • Numbers are clamped to plausible ranges to avoid NaN/Infinity. Extreme inputs may be flagged in red.