A quantitative framework for livestock development planning: Part 3—Feed demand and supply

The quantity and quality of feed available throughout the cycle of the seasons is a powerful constraint upon the rate at which livestock populations may expand and the rate at which they produce. To investigate this constraint in a national livestock development planning context it was necessary to develop an accounting system to interface feed demand with feed supply in what has been termed a Feed Balance Sheet. This presents feed deficits and/or surpluses within identified livestock production systems. The paper deals mainly with ruminant livestock populations grazing natural and improved grasslands and utilizing crop residues and agro-industrial by-products. The data illustrating the way in which the accounting system was developed are drawn from information on Sudanese livestock populations.