In the latest quarter for which data are available - April to June 2014 - the average price per tonne for cattle/calf feed was £236, while pig feed averaged £260, poultry feed cost £280 and sheep feed averaged £239, according to Animal Feed Statistics for Great Britain from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The graph below shows the average price of a tonne of compound feed for each species in the UK from the first quarter of 2006 to second quarter of 2014.

Peak prices for all species were reached in the first half of 2013. Poultry feed prices peaked at £311 per tonne, pig feeds at £290, sheep feed at £257 and cattle feed at £253.

Average compound feed prices by main livestock categories in Great Britain (quarterly; January 2006 to June 2014)
Source: Defra
(1) Excludes prices for calf milk substitutes.
(2) The average poultry feed price is weighted by production of compounds from sales compounders only and excludes production from integrated poultry units.
(3) The trends in sheep feed prices may not reflect those of individual compounds; they are weighted by the very seasonal production of compounds in each month. Summer prices are largely influenced by changes to the prices of finishing compounds, whereas winter prices are largely influenced by breeding compounds.

Further Reading

You can view the full report from Defra by clicking here.