Livestock & Animal Husbandry
Feed, Forage & Ration Formulation
The largest livestock cost, formulated against what you actually grew.
Feed is the dominant variable cost in every livestock enterprise, and rations are frequently formulated against book values rather than the analysed forage in the clamp. This module holds forage analyses, formulates rations against them, tracks purchased feed contracts and intake, and reconciles the ration fed with the performance achieved.
- 12 capabilities
- 3 linked schemes
- Offline capable
- 12
- Capabilities in this module
- 5
- Interactive tools
- 3
- Linked support schemes
- 5
- Data integrations
- 5
- Measures reported
The ground reality
What is actually happening in feed & forage in the UK
Feed input values moved materially in recent official statistics as part of the wider input cost picture, and forage quality varies enough between seasons and clamps that a ration formulated on last year's figures can be substantially wrong. Forage analysis is inexpensive relative to the cost of the error it prevents.
Figures are as published at the time of writing. Farm policy and payment rates change frequently — verify against the primary source before relying on any number here.
In the field
Feed & forage, as it actually looks
Photography from working UK holdings alongside the interface that records it. Every frame below is a commissioned slot: the brief is stated until the photograph is taken.
Feed & Forage — a walkthrough
A working pass through feed & forage: entering the record once, and watching it appear in the evidence pack, the calendar and the scheme application without being typed again.
- 0:00 What the module is for
- 0:48 Entering the record
- 2:05 Where it appears next
- 3:20 The evidence pack
Photography slots state their own brief until the shot is commissioned, so the layout never shifts when real images arrive.
Capabilities
What Feed & Forage does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Forage analysis record by clamp, bale batch and cut
- Ration formulation against analysed forage rather than book values
- Least-cost formulation with nutrient constraint setting
Operate and monitor
- Dry matter intake prediction and monitoring
- Purchased feed contract management with volume, price and delivery
- Straights and blend comparison on cost per unit of energy and protein
Comply and evidence
- Mineral and trace element supplementation planning
- Feed stock forecasting with run-out date projection
- Mixer wagon load sheet generation and feed-out recording
Analyse and improve
- Feed refusal and wastage tracking
- Feed cost per litre, per kilogram of gain or per egg
- Forage stock reconciliation against the grassland module
Interactive
Tools you actually use, not screens you read
These are working interfaces inside the module — maps, calculators, planners and dashboards that respond to your own holding data.
Ration formulator with live forage analysis input and least-cost optimisation
Ration formulator with live forage analysis input and least-cost optimisation
ToolFeed stock run-out projection chart
Feed stock run-out projection chart
ChartCost per megajoule of energy comparator across feeds
Cost per megajoule of energy comparator across feeds
ToolDry matter intake versus predicted requirement tracker
Dry matter intake versus predicted requirement tracker
ToolMixer wagon load sheet builder
Mixer wagon load sheet builder
BuilderEnd to end
How Feed & Forage runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Analyse every forage source
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Set the performance target and requirement
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Formulate the ration at least cost
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Generate the load sheet
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Feed out and record
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Monitor intake and refusals
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Reconcile stock and project run-out
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Review performance against the ration fed
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Who uses it
Built around four real jobs, not one generic user
Each of these people needs something different from the same record. The module is designed so none of them has to work around the others.
Dairy farmer
Total mixed ration
Needs the ration reformulated when the clamp changes.
Beef finisher
Intensive finishing
Needs least-cost formulation against a moving feed market.
Feed adviser
Nutrition consultancy
Needs client forage analyses and intake data in one place.
Feed merchant
Supply
Needs forward visibility of customer requirements.
Schemes and funding
Support schemes this module works with
Agrivencia holds these schemes as data, so eligibility, payment rates, caps and windows update the day they change rather than at the next software release.
Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Contribute towards the cost of specified equipment and technology that improves productivity, slurry management or animal health and welfare.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandImproving Farm Productivity Grant
Support investment in robotics, automation and on-farm energy that raises productivity.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandSustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Pay farmers for environmental actions taken alongside food production, as the principal replacement for area-based direct payments in England.
Defra / Rural Payments AgencyRates, caps and windows change frequently and sometimes without notice. Always confirm against the current published scheme rules before applying.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Feed cost per unit of output
- 02Dry matter intake achieved
- 03Forage in the diet percentage
- 04Feed wastage percentage
- 05Days of feed stock remaining
Traceability
The chain behind one batch
Livestock traceability is statutory, the reporting window is short, and it runs through a different national system in each nation. The record is assembled as the animal moves rather than reconstructed at audit.
BATCH-B754CD
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Born on holding
- Who
- Holding of birth
- Evidence
- Ear tag applied and registered
- Held in
- British Cattle Movement Service
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Health intervention
- Who
- Veterinary practice
- Evidence
- Medicine record with withdrawal period
- Held in
- Medicine book
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Moved
- Who
- Haulier
- Evidence
- Statutory movement report within the reporting window
- Held in
- British Cattle Movement Service
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Received
- Who
- Destination holding
- Evidence
- Arrival recorded, standstill applied
- Held in
- Holding register
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Slaughtered
- Who
- Approved abattoir
- Evidence
- Kill sheet, classification and food chain information
- Held in
- FSA
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Sold
- Who
- Buyer
- Evidence
- Batch linked to the carcase and the holding of origin
- Held in
- Platform record
Take the record with you
Obligation calendar
What feed & forage asks of you, and when
Windows, deadlines and recurring obligations for England. Set a different nation and the calendar reconfigures; farm across a border and it shows both, reconciled.
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February 1 entry
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3 February: Animal Health and Welfare Pathway
Rolling application.
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March 1 entry
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8 March: Set the performance target and requirement
A recurring step in feed & forage.
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April 1 entry
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20 April: Adding Value Grant
Round-based.
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May 1 entry
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18 May: Generate the load sheet
A recurring step in feed & forage.
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June 2 entries
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5 June: Farming Transformation Fund
Round-based by theme.
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15 June: Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Two windows in 2026: window one from 30 June, window two from September.
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July 3 entries
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6 July: Formulate the ration at least cost
A recurring step in feed & forage.
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14 July: Slurry Infrastructure Grant
Round-based.
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17 July: Water Management Grant
Round-based.
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October 2 entries
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5 October: Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Round-based, usually open for a defined application period.
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22 October: Analyse every forage source
A recurring step in feed & forage.
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November 2 entries
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12 November: Improving Farm Productivity Grant
Round-based.
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27 November: Environmental Land Management Capital Grants
Round-based, with rapid allocation once open.
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December 1 entry
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26 December: Countryside Stewardship
Rolling and round-based depending on the tier and option group.
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Questions answered
What people ask about Feed & Forage
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Feed & Forage is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Formulating on stale analyses. Mitigated by requiring current analysis per clamp. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
Documents
Take it away with you
Everything here is printable and works on a kitchen table with no signal. Where a document asks for an email address, it says so on the button rather than after you press it.
Formulate Against the Clamp, Not the Book: Practical Ration Planning
The practical handbook for feed & forage: what the rules require, what the evidence has to show, and the mistakes that cost people money.
feed & forage — evidence checklist
Every document an audit or a claim asks for, in the order it is asked for, with the validity period of each.
feed & forage — record template
The record structure the module uses, as a spreadsheet, so a business not yet on the platform can start keeping it correctly today.
Data model reference
Entities, fields and integration points for feed & forage, for advisers and software partners.
See Feed & Forage running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours