Income Over & Feed Cost
Computes IOFC per cow/day
Feed is the biggest cost on any dairy, so the number that matters most each day is income over feed cost. Enter milk and ration figures to weigh milk income against feed cost and get your IOFC per cow per day against the benchmark.
Enter your cow & ration
Next: hold the ration — at ₹592/cow/day you keep 66% of milk value, a excellent margin. Track IOFC weekly: the cheapest way to lift it is usually one more kg of milk (worth ₹32 to IOFC), not cheaper feed that costs you yield.
IOFC = milk yield × component-adjusted milk price − DMI × ration cost (per kg DM). Milk:feed price ratio = milk price ÷ feed cost per kg DM (USDA gauge: ~3:1 break-even). Benchmark band = IOFC ÷ milk value vs Penn State / UW IOFC series. Planning estimate — verify with your actual milk cheque and a current ration cost.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Income over feed cost — key facts
- IOFC
- milk value − feed cost (per cow/day)
- Milk value
- milk yield × milk price
- Feed cost
- DMI (kg) × ration cost per kg DM
- Milk:feed ratio
- milk price ÷ feed cost per kg DM
- Break-even ratio
- ≈ 3:1 (USDA milk-feed gauge)
- Healthy band
- IOFC keeps 45–55% of milk value
- Poor band
- feed cost over 65% of milk value
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing uploaded
IOFC benchmark bands (share of milk value kept)
| Band | IOFC share of milk value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | ≥ 55% | feed cost ≤45% of milk value — efficient, profitable |
| Good | 45–55% | feed cost 45–55% — solid working margin |
| Acceptable | 35–45% | feed cost 55–65% — watch ration cost & yield |
| Poor | < 35% | feed cost >65% — margin squeezed or feeding inefficient |
Relative ration cost per kg dry matter
| Feed | Relative cost / kg DM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maize / corn silage | 0.13 | cheap energy base of most TMRs |
| Grass / legume hay | 0.20 | forage; varies with quality |
| Ground maize grain | 0.25 | energy concentrate |
| Wheat bran | 0.22 | fibrous energy |
| Soybean meal | 0.45 | protein concentrate |
| Cottonseed (whole) | 0.38 | energy + protein + fibre |
| Bypass fat | 1.10 | energy-dense top-up |
| Mineral / vitamin premix | 1.50 | small inclusion, high unit cost |
| Blended high-group TMR (typical) | 0.24 | what most lactating cows eat |
| Blended low-group / forage TMR | 0.19 | cheaper, lower energy |
Source: USDA milk-feed price ratio; Penn State Extension and University of Wisconsin income-over-feed-cost benchmarking; Dairy One / extension relative feed-cost summaries. Relative costs are currency-neutral indices for sanity-checking a blended ration cost.
Why income over feed cost is the number to watch
On a dairy, purchased and home-grown feed is the single largest variable cost, so the margin between what milk earns and what feed costs is where most of the day-to-day money is won or lost. Income over feed cost strips the dairy down to that one comparison: the milk a cow sells against the feed she eats. It deliberately ignores labour, depreciation and overheads, because those barely change when you tweak a ration — what changes is milk and feed. That focus is exactly why nutritionists and milk-recording schemes track IOFC weekly rather than annual profit.
This calculator puts milk income on one pan of a balance scale and feed cost on the other, with the IOFC gap as the headline figure. Behind it sits a benchmark band showing what share of milk value you keep, and the milk-to-feed price ratio against the ~3:1 break-even gauge. Turn on component pricing and richer milk is credited for its fat and protein. Then act on the biggest lever — on most herds, adding a kg of milk beats trimming feed. Pair it with the Dairy Cow Energy Balance, Fat-Corrected Milk and TMR Ration Cost tools for the full feeding picture.
How to use it — 5 steps
- 1
Enter the milk
Type milk yield per cow per day and the milk price. If you are paid on fat and protein, switch on component pricing and enter the percentages.
- 2
Enter the feed
Add dry-matter intake (kg/day) and the ration cost per kg of dry matter from your blended diet.
- 3
Set the herd
Enter how many cows and pick your currency so the herd total and chips match.
- 4
Read the balance
See IOFC per cow per day, the herd total, the milk:feed ratio and the benchmark band.
- 5
Act on the lever
Apply the biggest-lever recommendation — usually push yield and milk quality rather than cut feed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is income over feed cost (IOFC)?+
Income over feed cost is the milk income a cow earns each day minus the cost of the feed she eats: IOFC = milk value − feed cost. Milk value is milk yield (kg or L) × the milk price; feed cost is dry-matter intake (kg) × the ration cost per kg of dry matter. Because feed is by far the largest variable cost on a dairy, IOFC is the single number that tells you whether today's ration is actually making money.
How is IOFC calculated?+
IOFC per cow per day = (milk yield × milk price) − (dry-matter intake × ration cost per kg DM). For example, 38 kg of milk at $0.40 is $15.20 of milk value, and 24 kg of dry matter at $0.24/kg is $5.76 of feed, so IOFC = 15.20 − 5.76 = $9.44 per cow per day. Multiply by the number of cows for the herd figure.
What is a good income over feed cost per cow?+
Rather than a fixed currency figure (which varies by country and year), a robust gauge is the share of milk value you keep after feed: an efficient herd retains roughly 45–55% of milk income as IOFC, meaning feed costs about 45–55% of the milk cheque. Above 55% retained is excellent; below about 35% retained (feed eating over 65% of milk value) signals an expensive ration or low yield. In US dollar terms a high-producing herd often targets around $9–12 per cow per day.
What is the milk-to-feed price ratio?+
The milk-to-feed price ratio is the milk price divided by the feed cost per kg of dry matter. USDA publishes a milk-feed ratio as a national gauge: a ratio around 3:1 is the long-run break-even, above it expansion tends to pay, and below about 2.5:1 margins get squeezed. The calculator shows your ratio and flags which band you are in.
Why does milk fat and protein change the answer?+
Many milk markets pay on components — fat and protein — not just volume, under multiple component pricing. A richer 4.2% fat, 3.4% protein milk is worth more per kg than a thin 3.6% fat milk at the same volume. Turn on component pricing and the tool lifts the effective milk price for fat and protein above a base composition, so high-quality milk is credited properly in the IOFC.
Should I cut feed to improve IOFC?+
Usually no. Cutting feed lowers feed cost but typically drops milk faster than it saves money, so IOFC falls. Because each extra kg of milk adds its full value to IOFC, the cheapest way to raise IOFC is normally one more kg of milk — through intake, cow comfort and ration quality — not cheaper feed. Only trim feed when cows are genuinely over-fed or the ration carries expensive ingredients that don't pay for themselves.
Is 28 litres of milk profitable at my feed cost?+
It depends on the milk price and ration cost. At, say, ₹32/L that is ₹896 of milk value; if she eats 19 kg DM at ₹16/kg that is ₹304 of feed, leaving an IOFC of ₹592 per cow per day — feed is about 34% of milk value, a healthy margin. Enter your own numbers to see the exact figure and the benchmark band.
What's the difference between IOFC and dairy profit?+
IOFC covers only milk income minus feed cost. Whole-enterprise dairy profit also subtracts labour, breeding, health, depreciation, interest and overheads. IOFC is deliberately narrow: it isolates the part of the margin a feeding decision actually moves, which is why it is the daily ration-decision KPI. Use IOFC for day-to-day feeding calls and a full enterprise budget for the annual picture.
Which lever moves IOFC the most?+
The calculator compares a 10% change in milk yield, milk price and ration cost and names the biggest mover. On most high-producing herds the answer is yield, because milk income is large relative to feed cost — so a small lift in litres beats a small cut in feed price. When feed is very expensive relative to milk, ration cost becomes the dominant lever.
What ration cost per kg of dry matter should I use?+
Use your actual blended ration cost. As a sanity check, a typical lactating high-group TMR runs around 0.24 cost units per kg DM and a cheaper forage-based low-group diet around 0.19, with concentrates like soybean meal far higher and forages like maize silage far lower. The reference table on this page lists relative costs per kg DM for common feeds.
Does this work in any currency?+
Yes. Pick your currency symbol and enter the milk price and ration cost in that currency; the IOFC, herd total and stat chips all use it. The milk-to-feed price ratio and the benchmark share of milk value are currency-independent, so the verdict is valid whatever currency you use.
Should I use kg or litres of milk?+
Either, as long as the milk price matches. Enter milk in kg with a per-kg price, or in litres with a per-litre price — the maths is the same. One litre of milk weighs about 1.03 kg, so per-kg and per-litre figures differ by only a few percent. Keep yield and price in the same unit.
Are the figures precise?+
They are solid planning figures from the standard IOFC formula and published milk-feed and IOFC benchmarks. Real margin depends on your exact milk cheque (including component and quality premiums and deductions) and your true delivered ration cost. Treat the output as a working estimate, refresh prices regularly, and use it to compare feeding scenarios.