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What's in your Ration?
Check out the feeding value of the different ingredients in your ration/meal by clicking on the different feed types below.

Barley

Description:

High energy, low protein feed. High in starch and possible risk of acidosis at high feeding levels.

  • 86.6% dry matter
  • 1UFL/Kg as fed (1.16 UFL/kgDM)
  • 103g PDIE/kgDM
  • 11% crude protein
  • 5% crude fibre

Wheat

Description:

High energy, low protein feed. High in starch and higher risk of acidosis than barley as more rapidly digested.

  • 86.6% dry matter
  • 1UFL/Kg as fed (1.16 UFL/kgDM)
  • 106g PDIE/kgDM
  • 11% crude protein
  • 3% crude fibre

Maize Grain

Description:

Very high energy, low protein feed. High starch but slower to be digested than barley or wheat.

  • 86% dry matter
  • 1.05UFL/kg as fed (1.22UFL/kgDM)
  • 120g PDIE/kgDM
  • 10% crude protein
  • 3% crude fibre

Soya Bean Meal

Description:

High energy, high protein feed. Excellent quality protein. By product of soya oil extraction.

  • 86.2% dry matter
  • 1UFL/Kg as fed (1.16 UFL/kgDM)
  • 269g PDIE/kgDM
  • 48% crude protein
  • 5% crude fibre

Citrus Pulp

Description:

High energy, high fibre feed. Very low in protein. High in calcium, low in phosphorus. Composed of dried peel, pulp and seeds of oranges and other citrus fruits.

  • 87.5% dry matter
  • 1UFL/Kg as fed (1.14 UFL/kgDM)
  • 91g PDIE/kgDM
  • 7% crude protein
  • 13% crude fibre

Beet Pulp

Description:

High energy, high fibre feed. By product of sugar extraction from beet.

  • 88% dry matter
  • 1UFL/Kg as fed (1.14 UFL/kgDM)
  • 110g PDIE/kgDM
  • 10% crude protein
  • 20% crude fibre

Soya Hulls

Description:

Medium energy, high fibre feed. Good ‘filler’ option. Ideal supplement at grass. By product of the de-hulling of soya beans.

  • 88% dry matter
  • 0.88UFL/kg as fed (1.01 UFL/kgDM)
  • 107g PDIE/kgDM
  • 12% crude protein
  • 40% crude fibre

Rapeseed Meal

Description:

Medium energy, high protein feed. Poorer quality protein relative to soya. By product of rapeseed oil extraction.

  • 86% dry matter
  • 0.9UFL/kg as fed (1.05 UFL/kgDM)
  • 151g PDIE/kgDM
  • 39% crude protein
  • 13.5% crude fibre

Maize Gluten

Description:

Moderate energy, moderate protein feed. By product of maize processing into bioethanol.

  • 86% dry matter
  • 0.89UFL/kg as fed (1.04UFL/kgDM)
  • 125g PDIE/kgDM
  • 24% crude protein
  • 9% crude fibre

Maize Distillers

Description:

High energy, high protein feed. By product of maize processing into bioethanol.

  • 89% dry matter
  • 1UFL/kg as fed (1.16UFL/kgDM)
  • 134g PDIE/kgDM
  • 30% crude protein
  • 10% crude fibre

Sunflower Meal

Description:

Low energy, high protein feed but protein is of poor quality. By product of sunflower oil extract.

  • 89% dry matter
  • 0.68UFL/kg as fed (0.76UFL/kgDM)
  • 118g PDIE/kgDM
  • 34% crude protein
  • 26% crude fibre

Palm Kernel Exp

Description:

Low/medium energy, high fibre feed. Medium protein. By product of palm oil extract.

  • 89% dry matter
  • 0.85UFL/kg as fed (0.96UFL/kgDM)
  • 143g PDIE/kgDM
  • 16% crude protein
  • 24% crude fibre

Wheat Feed (Pollard)

Description:

Low energy, medium protein feed. By-product of flour manufacture.

  • 88% dry matter
  • 0.76UFL/kg as fed (0.87UFL/kgDM)
  • 90g PDIE/kgDM
  • 18% crude protein
  • 10% crude fibre
Key issues to consider when buying ration
  • Get quoted the overall nutrient content i.e. UFL/kg, protein, minerals and fibre of your ration/meal.
  • A high energy meal/ration should be 0.94UFL/kg as fed.
  • Grass is a good source of protein and so low protein high energy rations should be fed to stock at grass.
  • The level of protein needed depends on stock being fed e.g. young stock will require higher protein in their diet to grow frame.
  • A cheaper ration/meal may not be better value than a more expensive ration if poorer quality ingredients are used.
Key nutritional terms explained

UFL (Energy) – One UFL is the net energy content of 1kg of air-dried standard barley. Soya hulls have a UFL value of 0.88UFL per kg as fed so 1kg of soya hulls contains 88% of the energy of 1kg of barley.

CP% (Crude Protein %) - Is calculated from the total level of nitrogen in the feed and doesn’t give an accurate indication of the protein which will be available to the animal. Ask for PDI values to get true protein availability from feed.

Crude fibre – Is the total amount of fibre in the feed. The digestibility of fibre can vary e.g. fibre from citrus pulp is more digestable and so provides more energy than fibre from palm kernel.