About Farm Manager
What is Farm Manager?
Farm Manager is a South African farm planning website with free calculators and guides for livestock and poultry farmers. It helps you estimate feed costs, finishing margins, hay and supplement spend, and poultry feed per bird before you buy — plus a developing app for livestock records and reports.
Farm Manager is a South African farm planning website built for livestock and poultry farmers who need clear numbers before they buy feed, place animals or commit to a season’s supplement or hay spend. The public tools on this site help you compare costs, run what-if scenarios and understand feeding plans in plain language — on your phone, in the kraal or with your feed supplier.
What Farm Manager is
Farm Manager brings together free farm calculators, practical planning guides and a developing farm management app. The calculators and guides on this website are open to everyone. They focus on feed costs, livestock finishing plans, hay and wrapped bale costs, supplement and lick planning, poultry feed costs per bird, and feed value comparison by dry matter and protein.
The farm management app (currently in beta) is separate from the public calculators. It is for farmers who want to track livestock records, feed usage, health notes and reports in one place.
Who it is for
Farm Manager is for cattle, sheep, goat and poultry farmers — from smallholders costing out a single batch to commercial operators checking margins before prices move. It is especially useful when you need a quick answer and do not have time to build a spreadsheet, but still want figures you can explain to a partner, worker or banker.
The tools are written for South African conditions: bag prices in rands, veld supplement programmes, winter hay planning, feedlot finishing and broiler or layer feed programmes.
Why the calculators were built
Farming decisions often come down to quick numbers: how much feed is needed, what a batch may cost, whether hay or supplements are affordable, and whether a feeding or finishing plan looks viable at today’s selling price.
The calculators were built because those questions come up repeatedly — at the co-op, before buying weaners, when lick price changes, or when deciding whether to make or buy hay. Farm Manager turns the same steps farmers already use into simple tools with clear inputs and clear results, so you can compare options before money is spent.
Built for practical livestock planning
Livestock planning is not about perfect predictions. It is about entering realistic figures — animal numbers, weights, feed prices, intake rates and selling prices — and seeing whether a plan still makes sense when one input moves.
Farm Manager helps with that kind of day-to-day planning: estimating feedlot profit before you buy cattle, comparing two supplement products by cost per animal, working out how many hay bales you need for winter, or checking poultry feed cost per bird against an expected selling price.
Each tool is a planning aid, not a guarantee. Animal performance, weather, feed quality and market prices will differ from farm to farm. Use the results to guide decisions, then confirm feeding programmes with your feed supplier, nutritionist or veterinarian where needed.
What farmers can use Farm Manager for
On this website you can:
- Browse all tools on the farm calculators page
- Read step-by-step help on the farm planning guides page
- Plan cattle feedlot feed costs, weight gain and projected profit with the Cattle Feedlot Calculator
- Track feeder cattle progress between weigh-ins with the Cattle Weight Gain and Feeder Progress Calculator
- Compare feeds by dry matter, crude protein and bag price with the Feed Value Calculator
- Calculate supplement intake, bags required and herd cost with the Supplement & Lick Calculator
- Estimate broiler, layer and pullet feed cost per bird with the Poultry Feed Calculator
- Work out true hay bale cost, daily requirements and seasonal bale needs with the Hay Bale Cost Calculator
Farmers typically use these tools before placing an order, signing for weaners, locking in a finishing ration or budgeting for winter. Run a base scenario, then adjust feed price or selling price to see how sensitive your margin is.
Our approach
Farm Manager focuses on simple, practical tools with clear inputs, clear results and farmer-friendly explanations. You should not need training to run a calculation. Fields match what you would write on a notepad or discuss with your feed rep — bag weight, price per ton, number of animals, days on feed, grams of lick per head per day.
Results are shown in plain language alongside the numbers, and the planning guides explain the ideas behind them — such as average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, dry matter intake and feed value comparison — without assuming a technical background.
The site is mobile-friendly so you can run a quick check on the farm. Calculators stay free and do not require an account. The app login is only for farmers using the beta farm management features.
Made for South African farm conditions
On a South African farm, decisions often hinge on numbers that change from week to week — feed prices per bag, bale costs per load, how many animals you are feeding, daily supplement intake and whether margins still look workable after input costs move.
Enter your own bag weights, animal numbers, bale prices and lick intake, then compare scenarios before you commit to feed, hay or supplement spend. The tools stay simple so you can get practical answers quickly, whether you are in the kraal, on the road or talking to your feed supplier.
Planning tools, not guarantees
Farm Manager calculators are intended for planning and comparison. Results depend on user inputs, current prices, feed labels, animal performance and farm conditions.
Always check results against your own farm records, feed labels, supplier prices and professional advice from your nutritionist, veterinarian or financial adviser where needed. The calculators do not replace balanced rations, veterinary care or formal financial reporting.
Future direction
Farm Manager is being developed toward broader livestock, feed, health and reporting tools. The farm management app (currently in beta) aims to bring records, feed tracking, animal health notes and reports together in one place for farmers who want practical visibility over their operation.
If you have questions, feedback or want to get in touch, visit the contact page.