Field bean calculation tool
Would you like to start growing a new crop on your farm? Think carefully before you start. A crop or feed such as field beans offers a lot of potential, but how do you calculate that potential? After all, the market is not (yet) well developed and cultivation costs and yields are often not well known. Toasting is also something we are not familiar with from common arable crops. That is why we have created a handy tool that allows you, as an arable farmer or livestock farmer, to estimate the value of the crop. With strong price fluctuations, it is important to calculate a few scenarios yourself. Standard values are already entered and target values are also listed. The yield, for example, is highly dependent on the type of soil. The more you adjust the various parameters to your specific business situation, the closer the result will be to reality.
It is a simple tool based on a spreadsheet.
The tool comprises three tabs. The first tab contains the cultivation costs and yields. You can adjust the yellow cells to suit the situation of your company or region. The tool uses this information to calculate your cultivation balance and the selling price required to break even.
The second tab calculates the value as feed on the basis of the www.voederwaardeprijzen.nl. The feed value prices are updated monthly, including in the tool. If you still want to adjust them, you can. Take the figures from the table for VEM (yellow) or VEVI (blue), depending on whether you work with dairy or beef cattle, and convert them from cents to EUR.
You can also calculate the benefits of replacing concentrated feed, soya and/or maize meal with field beans.
The third tab calculates the extent to which toast can be justified in terms of added value. Here too, you can adjust the VEM and DVE surcharge prices in line with current feed value prices. After all, if the protein price is high, the investment will be recouped more quickly.
This tool was developed within the Revival project ‘Field beans from field to feed’
