Stocking Rate Calculator
Compares your growth against your demand. Nothing more.
Work out Stocking Rate. Compares your growth against your demand. Nothing more. States the assumption instead of hiding it.
Daily dry matter balance
+275 kg
1.92 LU/ha · demand 625 kg, growth 900 kg
A livestock unit is conventionally a 650 kg dairy cow, and expressing a mixed herd in LU is how different classes of stock get compared at all. Fifty 500 kg cattle and one hundred 250 kg ones eat the same. Utilisation is the number that quietly decides everything. Set stocking wastes half the grass grown; a tight rotation can utilise 80% or more, which is close to doubling the farm without buying an acre. Growth rate has to be measured, not assumed. It swings from near zero in winter to over 100 kg DM/ha/day at spring peak, and a plate meter walked weekly is what makes a rotation work. Assuming an average is how paddocks get grazed bare in a drought.
How the Stocking Rate Calculator works
Daily dry matter demand against measured grass growth, with livestock units per hectare and the paddock count a rotation needs. It deliberately does not tell you what your land will carry.
Also known as: how many cattle per hectare · grass budget calculator · livestock units per acre · how many paddocks for rotational grazing
Frequently asked questions
What is a livestock unit?
Conventionally a 650 kg dairy cow. Expressing mixed stock in LU is how a herd of 500 kg cattle and one of 250 kg ones get compared on the same scale.
How much grass does a cow eat?
Around 2 to 3% of liveweight in dry matter daily, so a 500 kg animal eats 10 to 15 kg DM a day. Lactating animals sit at the top of that range.
How many paddocks does a rotation need?
Enough that every paddock rests while the others are grazed: (rest days + grazing days) ÷ grazing days. Three days on and 21 off needs eight.
Why will this not tell me my carrying capacity?
Because it depends on soil, rainfall, season, sward composition and a grass measurement no web page can make — and it is regulated in most jurisdictions. Measure the grass rather than assuming a growth rate.
What does utilisation mean?
The share of grass grown that actually gets eaten rather than trampled or gone to seed. Set stocking wastes about half; a tight rotation can reach 80%, which nearly doubles the farm without buying land.
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