Least-Cost Rations and Optimal Livestock Feeding Policy

In evaluating feeding policy in livestock production, it is generally assumed that an optimal feeding policy will involve using least-cost rations throughout the production process. It is demonstrated that this assumption may not be valid when the supply of some of the feedstuffs used for livestock feeding is limited. A method for testing the validity of this assumption is presented for a linear programming model of an integrated crop and intensive beef production enterprise in which some of the crops may be used for livestock feeding, and an iterative solution procedure is proposed for cases where this assumption is not valid.