Feed runway calculator
Feed runway is the number of days the feed in stock will last at the current rate of use. Enter the stock, the daily use and your supplier lead time to get the run-out date and the date to order by, and add a weekly ration increase so the answer accounts for the stock growing.
- Days of feed left
- Run-out and order-by dates
- Accounts for a growing ration
- Runs in the browser, no sign-up
Calculate feed runway
For one feed item, or all items if they are used interchangeably.
The total fed per day across the units that use this feed.
How much daily use rises each week as the stock grows. Your own figure.
From placing the order to feed on site. Adds the order-by date.
- Feed runway
- - days
- Runs out on
- -
- Order by
- -
Calculations run in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored.
How is feed runway calculated?
At a steady rate, runway is the feed in stock divided by the daily use. 3,000 kg of feed used at 150 kg a day lasts 20 days. The order-by date is the run-out date minus the supplier lead time: with a 7-day lead time, that order has to go in within 13 days.
On a growing cycle the rate is not steady. As the animals gain weight the ration rises with them, so each week eats more than the one before, and a runway worked out from today's use is always too long. The calculator compounds a weekly increase day by day, so the date it gives is the date the feed actually runs out.
Why a flat runway misleads
The error is small in the first week and large by the fourth. A stock that looks like a month of feed at today's ration can run out days earlier on a cycle where the ration climbs every week, and the shortfall arrives exactly when the biomass is largest and a missed feeding costs the most.
Per feed item, not per warehouse
Runway only means something per feed item. A warehouse full of starter feed does not help a pond that has moved on to grower pellets. Work it out for each item in use, and for the item the stock is about to move on to next, because that is the one most often forgotten.
AquaOS works this out continuously from confirmed feedings and feed stock, per feed item, and rolls every unit's plan into a farm-wide procurement forecast, so the order date is known before anyone counts bags.
Frequently asked questions
How much feed stock should a farm keep?
Enough to cover the supplier lead time plus a margin for delays, at the ration the stock will need by the time the next delivery arrives, not at today's. The right margin depends on how reliable the supplier is and how far the farm is from it, which is why the calculator takes the lead time as an input rather than suggesting a number.
How do I estimate the weekly ration increase?
Compare the daily feed use of this week with the same figure a week earlier on the same units, or read it off the feed table: the ration at next week's expected weight against the ration at today's. Recalculate whenever a sampling changes the weight.
Should runway be calculated per pond or for the farm?
Per feed item across the farm, because stock is held and ordered per item. The daily use that goes into it is the sum of every pond or tank on that item, which is why a runway worked out from a farm-wide feeding plan is more reliable than one estimated from warehouse withdrawals.
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