Feed Tracking Overview

Feed records what you fed, to which pens and groups, and what it cost — so you can answer the question every operation asks in a dry year: what is it costing me per head per day to keep these cattle?

Where to Find It

Open Production → Feed from the navigation menu.

Feed tracking is a Premium feature. On a lower plan the section shows an upgrade card instead of the log.

The Three Screens

The buttons in the Feeding Log header move between them.

How It Fits Together

1. Build your feed list first. Add the hay, grain and mineral you actually buy, each with the unit you buy it in and what it typically costs. See Managing Your Feed List.
2. Record each feeding — which group or pasture, how many head, how much of which feed, and what it cost. See Recording a Feeding.
3. Read the cost report to see what each set of cattle is costing you. See The Feed Cost Report.

You cannot record a feeding until at least one feed exists, because the feed is what supplies the unit every quantity is measured in.

Two Things Worth Understanding Up Front

Costs Are Snapshotted, Not Looked Up

When you save a feeding, the unit, the cost per unit and the head count are written onto that entry. Editing the feed’s default cost later, or moving animals out of the group, never rewrites what a past feeding cost. Your history stays as it was on the day.

This Is Consumption, Not Cash Spend

The Feed Cost report shows the allocated cost of feed consumed in the range you pick. Hay bought in October is often eaten across November and December, so the two numbers rarely match. For money actually leaving the account, use Financials.

What Feed Does Not Do (Yet)

• It does not track inventory. There is no running bale or ton count — a feeding records what went out, not what is left in the barn.
• It does not apply medicated-feed withdrawal to animals. A feed can be marked medicated with a withdrawal period, and you are warned when you pick it, but no withdrawal date is written onto the animals. Record that as a treatment if you need it tracked — see Tracking Withdrawal and Booster Dates.
• It does not post to Financials. Feed costs and financial transactions are recorded separately.

Tips

• Set a default cost on each feed. It is filled in automatically every time, so most feedings become three fields and a save.
• Be consistent about what you feed. A group and the pasture it is standing in are two different targets — pick one and stick to it, or the cost report splits the same cattle across two cards.