Forage Yield Calculator

Calculate forage yield per acre, total forage tons, dry matter yield, hay bales, grazing days, carrying capacity, and forage value. Use this forage yield calculator for hay fields, pasture, silage, alfalfa, grass hay, mixed forage, and grazing plans.

Calculate Forage Yield

Total Forage Yield = Field Acres × Yield Per Acre × Cuttings.
Your result will appear here.

How the forage yield calculator works

Forage yield:
Enter field acres, yield per acre, and number of cuttings to estimate total forage yield.

Dry matter yield:
The calculator uses moisture percentage to estimate dry matter pounds and dry matter tons.

Bales produced:
Total forage pounds after harvest and storage loss are divided by bale weight to estimate bale count.

Grazing capacity:
Usable forage is compared with animal daily demand to estimate grazing days and head supported.

Why use a forage yield calculator?

A forage yield calculator helps estimate hay, pasture, silage, or forage production before feeding, selling, or grazing.

It can help compare acres, yield per acre, cuttings, moisture, dry matter, bale count, harvest loss, storage loss, grazing days, and forage value.

What your result means

Your result shows estimated total forage pounds, total forage tons, dry matter yield, harvest-adjusted yield, storage-adjusted yield, bales produced, grazing days, head supported, forage value, production cost, and net forage value. These are estimates based on the values you enter.

Forage yield formulas

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate forage yield?

Multiply field acres by yield per acre and number of cuttings. If yield is entered in tons per acre, multiply by 2,000 to convert to pounds.

How do you calculate dry matter yield?

Subtract forage moisture percentage from 100 to get dry matter percentage, then multiply total forage weight by the dry matter percentage.

How do you estimate bales produced?

Calculate total forage pounds after harvest and storage loss, then divide by average bale weight.

Why include harvest and storage loss?

Forage can be lost during cutting, curing, raking, baling, hauling, storage, weather exposure, and feeding. Loss estimates give a more realistic usable yield.