From FCR to farm-gate value: the numbers a small farm should track

You don't need a finance team to know whether a batch is making money. You need five numbers, all derivable from records you (should) already keep: what you stocked, what you fed, what died, and how the fish are growing. Here's what each number is, what records it needs, and the honest limits of each.

1. FCR — feed conversion ratio

FCR = feed used (kg) ÷ weight gained (kg). It is the single biggest lever on cost for most farms, because feed is usually 50–70% of production cost. It needs: feed quantities per batch, and at least two biomass samplings to establish gain. An FCR that drifts upward mid-cycle is an early warning — of overfeeding, disease, or water-quality stress — weeks before it shows up anywhere else.

2. Cost per kg of gain

Feed cost so far ÷ weight gained so far. Add stocking cost (fry/juveniles) and a rough daily overhead if you want the fuller picture, but even feed-only cost per kg lets you compare batches honestly. If one pond produces gain at 2.10 and another at 2.90 in the same currency, you have a management question worth asking today, not at harvest.

3. Break-even price per kg

Projected total cost ÷ projected harvest biomass. This is the price below which the batch loses money. Knowing it changes negotiations: a buyer's offer isn't 'low' or 'high' in the abstract — it's above or below a number you can defend.

4. Survival-adjusted forecast

Any harvest projection that ignores mortality flatters you. Apply your actual survival rate (current count ÷ stocked count) to projected biomass before you multiply by price. The difference between an optimistic and an honest forecast is routinely 10–20% — enough to turn a paper profit into a real loss.

5. Value on hold

When a batch is inside a treatment withholding period, it legally cannot be sold yet. Its sale value isn't lost — it's delayed. Knowing how much value is on hold and when it frees up is a cashflow-timing number: it tells you what you can promise a buyer and when. It also makes the cost of treatment decisions visible in currency, not just days.

The honest limits

These are decision-support numbers, not accounting — they won't replace your books
Projections are only as good as your sampling cadence; weigh fish regularly or the growth curve is fiction
Use your own achieved prices, not market wishes
One bad number usually means one missing record — fix the record, not the formula

Provamar derives all five per batch automatically from your daily records — FCR, cost per kg, break-even, survival-adjusted forecast, and the sale value on hold during withholding periods, in your currency.

See your batch economics

Provamar supports certification readiness and evidence management. It does not certify farms, issue certificates, or replace a regulator, certifier, auditor, vet or competent authority. This guide is practical record-keeping education, not veterinary, legal or regulatory advice — always confirm requirements with your certifier and local rules.