Apply for financingPasture and stocking rate
Convert animal count and an animal unit equivalent into herd AU and forage demand. This stocking rate calculator compares that demand with usable dry forage for the grazing period you enter.
Estimated pasture required for this herd and period
93.60acres
Grazing planning estimate, not a guaranteed carrying capacity. One month is 30 days; the default is 26 lb dry matter per AU per day. Verify animal unit equivalents, forage production, harvest efficiency and residual cover locally. Dengaro is a financing broker, a brand of Funding Routes LLC, not a lender; this page does not finance livestock or pasture.
How it works
The standard planning convention is one animal unit for a 1,000 lb beef cow with or without a nursing calf, consuming 26 lb of dry forage per day. A 30-day animal unit month (AUM) is therefore 780 lb of dry matter at the default intake. Enter an appropriate AU equivalent per head for the animal class; do not treat every species, age or weight as one AU. Use forage production for the same period as the grazing days. The harvest percentage is the share of total production actually eaten after allowing for residual cover, trampling, fouling and other losses, not simply the share removed from the pasture.
Formula
Herd AUM = herd AU × grazing days ÷ 30. Dry matter demand = herd AU × daily lb per AU × days. Usable forage = acres × dry forage lb per acre × harvest percent ÷ 100. Required acres = demand ÷ usable forage per acre. Stocking rate = herd AUM ÷ acres. Whole animals supported = usable forage ÷ (AU per head × daily lb per AU × days), rounded down.
Example
Twenty animals at 1 AU each require 20 × 26 × 90 = 46,800 lb of dry matter, or 60 AUM. A 100-acre pasture producing 2,000 lb DM per acre with 25% actually eaten supplies 50,000 lb. The estimated requirement is 93.6 acres, the stocking rate is 0.60 AUM per acre for this period, and 21 whole animals could be supported under those assumptions. The herd leaves a 3,200 lb forage balance.
Tips
A 25% harvest efficiency may represent 50% of production left for the stand and another 25% lost rather than eaten. It is not a universal grazing target. Measure local forage, reduce the estimate for drought or inaccessible ground, and preserve the residual cover your grazing adviser recommends. A single-season calculation cannot establish sustainable long-term carrying capacity.
Scope
The AU/head input is an assumption you control. For example, a 1,500 lb mature cow may be planned at 1.5 AU, but bulls, heifers, sheep and other animals need class-specific equivalents rather than a universal weight conversion. Consult local extension guidance. Dengaro is a financing broker, a brand of Funding Routes LLC, not a lender; this forage result is not an offer to finance livestock or land.
Important questions
You enter the animal unit equivalent appropriate to your livestock class. The default of 1 represents the conventional 1,000 lb cow unit. The tool multiplies that equivalent by head count; it does not silently infer nutrition needs from body weight. For mixed herds, calculate each class separately and add their AU demand before assessing the same pasture once.
AU describes relative animal demand. AUM adds time: 1 AU grazing for 30 days is 1 AUM. This page reports stocking rate in AUM per acre for your full grazing period, not instantaneous AU per acre in a rotational paddock. At the default 26 lb per AU per day, 1 AUM represents 780 lb of dry forage; changing the daily intake changes that feed equivalent.
Only if that forage is genuinely available to those animals during that period and has not been counted for another use. Otherwise enter period-specific production. Do not multiply an annual yield by the number of grazing months or reuse the same forage inventory for several herds.
No. The estimate assumes the entered yield, harvest efficiency and animal intake are achievable. Drought, terrain, water access, seasonal growth, animal performance and recovery time can all reduce usable capacity. Review actual pasture residuals and animal condition with a local grazing adviser, and adjust stocking promptly.