How Much Does a 50 Pound Bag of Horse Feed Cost

On a recent visit to an area farm, the owner confided that she was considering making a feed change.  She said she did not have any problems with the current product she was using, but she thought she could go less expensive product since she was done showing for the season.

The current product she was feeding was $19.99 per 50lb bag.  She mentioned there was a local mill that had a feed for only $12.99, and the ingredients listed were the same.

I reviewed the tag with the customer and pointed out a few obvious differences.

1. Feed ingredients are not listed on the tag in order of inclusion, like pet foods or foods for human consumption.
2. Although the protein levels appeared to be the same, the bargain feed did not  guaranteed the amounts of limiting amino acids for the horse, lysine, methionine and threonine.
3. The amount of vitamins and minerals were based on the proper feed rate for the horses weight.
4. There was no mention of added biotin, prebiotics and probiotics, or chelating of vitamins and minerals.

We then did the math to see what she would save on 1 horse per day on the bargain feed.

Current Feed:   $19.99 /50lbs= $0.40 cents per pound

• Feeding rate: 0.25 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight
• 1200 x 0.25 = 3lbs per day
• 3lbs x 0.40 = $1.20 per day

Bargain Feed:  $12.99/50 pounds= $0.26 cents per pound

• Feeding Rate: 1%-2% Of Horse Body Weight per day for Maintenance
• 1200 x 1.0 % = 12lbs per day
• 12lbs x 0.26 = $3.12@ day
• But it could go as high as 2% feed rate!
• 1200 x 2.0% = 24lbs per day
• 24lbs x 0.26 cents = $6.24 PER DAY!!

So, $1.20 per day vs.  $3.12 to $6.24 per day.  The value feed would cost an additional $1.92 -$5.04 per day to maintain a 1200 pound horse based on the manufacturer's recommendations for a 1200 pound maintenance level horse.

The current feed was indeed a better value!  Now, this may be an extreme difference, but it does pay in the end to always do the math, even if the feeding rates or prices aren't so different.  And don't forget to factor in the value of additional things found in higher priced feeds such as prebiotics, probiotics, and biotin, that might not necessarily be reflected in the feeding rates.

I was recently called to a boarding and lesson barn to help the owner evaluate her feed program.  With the rising costs of bedding, labor, insurance, electricity and hay, she wanted to look at options at saving money.

The farm housed about 40 Thoroughbreds.   Twelve of the horses were active in a lesson program, and the other horses activity levels ranged from pleasure maintanece to moderate work/show.   The Body Condition Scores of the horses ranged from 4 to 6, and the owner explained that some of the horses were harder keepers than others, with daily grain intake ranging from 1 to 18 pounds of grain per day per horse.

We examined the hay and found it to be a good quality timothy grass mix.  The horses were getting about 1.5% of their body weight per day in hay. For grain, she was using an economy feed that was priced at $8.99 per bag.  She felt that with the large number of horses on the farm and rising cost she could not afford the premium feeds that were almost $14 per bag.

When we examined the feed tag from the manufacturer, the suggested feed rate was 1 pound per hundred pounds of body weight (that's 10 lbs of feed for a 1000 lb horse!), and the fortification of the product was minimal.  The owner then explained that she and the boarders did purchase supplements to provide added biotin, yeast culture, copper, zinc and selenium.  Some of the hard keepers were also given a fat supplement.

To determine how much she was spending on feed, we did the following math:

• Current Feeding Program = 10 lbs feed + supplements
  • ~ $8.99 per bag / 50 lbs per bag = $0.18 per pound
  • ~ $0.18 per pound X average 10 lb per day feeding = $1.80 per day per horse
  • ~ Plus the various costs of nutritional supplements to make up for the lack in feed
• Proposed Feeding Program = 5 lbs feed + no supplements
  • ~ $14.00 per bag / 50 lbs per bag = $0.28 per pound
  • ~ $0.28 per pound X average 5 lb per day feeding = $1.40 per day per horse
  • ~ No need for nutritional supplements!

When we calculated the cost per horse per day based on feed consumption and supplements, some of the horses exceeded $3 per day!  When we compared that to the feed rates on the premium line feeds, not to mention complete fortification levels and the time savings in not having to sort out servings of supplements every day, the premium feed was a better value in the long run.

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Source: https://www.horsefeedblog.com/tag/price-of-feed/

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