Calf Notes.com

Calf Note #40 - Cost of milk vs. milk replacer

Introduction. Producers often have expressed the concern that milk replacer is more expensive than whole milk. In almost every case, this is a false assumption. The worksheet below can be used to determine the savings per calf and per year that milk replacer would contribute to a calf raising operation.

This calculator updates each time a number is entered and requires at least a 3.0 version of Netscape or Internet Explorer.

Number of calves fed per year:
Average age at weaning (days):
Net price of whole milk (per lb):		$
Price of milk replacer (per lb):		$
The net savings to provide an equivalent amount of solids from milk replacer would be:
Results Per calf:		$
Results Per year:		$

The following assumptions were made:

Amount of milk replacer powder fed per day = 454 grams (1 lb)
Solids content of whole milk = 12.5%