# How to compare feed ingredients on protein and energy > To compare two feedstuffs, price the nutrient, not the ton. Convert each board price to a cost per pound of crude protein and per pound of energy on a dry-matter basis, then rank the result against corn for energy and soybean meal for protein. _Updated Jul 10, 2026._ To compare two feedstuffs, price the nutrient, not the ton. A dollar-per-ton price tells you what a truckload costs, not what the protein or energy inside it costs, and those are the numbers a ration is built on. The fix is two divisions that turn any board price into a cost per pound of crude protein and a cost per pound of energy, on a dry-matter basis, so a 40-dollar-a-ton hull and a 400-dollar-a-ton meal can be lined up on even terms. ## Why dollars per ton misleads Two things hide inside a per-ton price. The first is water. A feed sold at 65 percent moisture is more than half water by weight, and water carries no nutrient, so its real feed costs far more per ton than the sticker says. The second is nutrient density. A ton of soybean meal and a ton of soybean hulls cost very different money because one is packed with protein and the other with fiber. Strip both out and you can compare feeds that look nothing alike. ## The two divisions Here is the arithmetic, the same one a dairy or feedlot nutritionist does by hand. First move the price to a dry-matter basis: divide the as-fed price by the dry-matter fraction, so a 155-dollar feed at 90 percent dry matter is about 172 dollars per ton of dry matter. Then divide by the pounds of the nutrient in a ton, which is 2000 times the nutrient's percent. For DDGS at about 29.5 percent crude protein that is 172 divided by 590, roughly 29 cents per pound of protein. Do the same with the energy percent for a cost per pound of energy. The coefficients are book values from named extension and NRC feed tables, listed on the methodology page. ## The corn and soybean-meal benchmark A cost per pound of protein means nothing until you have something to measure it against. The benchmark is corn for energy and soybean meal for protein, the two commodities every ration leans on. When a feedstuff delivers a pound of protein cheaper than soybean meal does, or a pound of energy cheaper than corn, the swap is worth a look. The corn-and-soybean-meal guide covers why those two anchor everything. ## Worked example: this week's board [Table: Lowest cost per pound of crude protein](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-protein) ([data](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-protein.md)) The table above ranks every feedstuff by its cost per pound of crude protein this week, cheapest first, against soybean meal. A feed below 100 percent of soybean meal is buying protein for less than the benchmark right now. [Chart: The anchors and DDGS ($/ton, as-fed)](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-energy) ([data](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-energy.md) — chart image: https://the-ration.com/charts/leaderboard/cheapest-energy/chart.png) The chart tracks the same idea for energy against corn. Read the two together: a feed can be cheap protein and dear energy at once, and the ranking tells you which job it is worth buying it for. This is the whole engine of the site. The Ration ranks the board on cost per unit of nutrient and shows the coefficients it uses. It ranks feeds; it does not tell a reader what to feed. Effective fiber, palatability and inclusion limits are the nutritionist's call, not a price table's. ## Related data + guides - [Cheapest protein this week](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-protein) - [Cheapest energy this week](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-energy) - [The corn and soybean-meal benchmark](https://the-ration.com/guides/the-corn-and-soybean-meal-benchmark) ## Common questions ### How do you compare feed ingredients on price? Convert each feed's price to a cost per pound of protein and per pound of energy on a dry-matter basis, then rank them against corn and soybean meal. A per-ton price alone hides moisture and nutrient density. ### How do you calculate cost per pound of protein? Divide the as-fed price by the dry-matter fraction to get a dry-matter price, then divide that by 2000 times the crude-protein percent. The result is dollars per pound of crude protein. ### Why is dollars per ton not enough to compare feeds? Because a ton of a wet or low-nutrient feed carries far less protein or energy than a ton of a dense one. Water and fiber both add weight without adding nutrient, so per-ton prices are not comparable across feeds. ### What is the benchmark for feed value? Corn for energy and soybean meal for protein. A feedstuff that delivers a nutrient cheaper than those two is beating the benchmark that week. --- Canonical URL: https://the-ration.com/guides/how-to-compare-feed-ingredients-on-protein-and-energy