First, consider dairy manure and soybean meal. Dairy manure is certainly a better buy in terms of cost per unit of protein or energy. However, palatability and digestibility are certainly different. Second, consider that on the basis of cost per pound of crude protein, soybean meal is usually a better buy than fish meal. Shelled corn and soybean meal are readily available, widely used concentrate feeds in dairy rations throughout the United States.
Shelled corn is a high energy concentrate, while soybean meal is a high protein concentrate.
Specific equations determine value per ton for selected commodities, while simultaneous equations determine value per ton for any feed. If a feed is not a good buy, then you would be better off buying soybean meal and corn to supply your energy and protein needs. In the case of wet forages, these values are very liberal price estimates because it assumes the energy and protein of the forage in question to be worth the same as that in corn and soybean meal. This is rarely the case, as wet forages are generally not as marketable as concentrated feeds. To move between sheets, click the sheet tabs at the bottom of the screen.