A runout date is the date a feed location — or a whole feed type — is projected to be empty. It’s the single most practical output of your forecast: it tells you how long your feed will last and when you need a plan for what comes next.
What the date means
For each location, SilagePlan takes the measured tons remaining and divides by the projected per-day use to find the day the pile hits zero. When several locations hold the same feed type and are fed in sequence, the feed type’s runout date is when the last location in the sequence empties. On the Inventory page this appears in the Run Out Date column and in the forecast summary as Runout; the Inventory V2 forecast tool shows a Runout Date table per feed.
A runout date is a projection, not a promise — it is only as good as three inputs:
- Tons remaining — from your latest flight, converted through density and DM%. See Working with silage density.
- Per-day use — entered on the record or derived from measured usage between flights.
- The feeding order (Forecast Sequence) and each location’s open date — when each location starts being fed.
How runout dates update
Runout dates are recalculated whenever their inputs change:
- A new flight arrives. The projection re-anchors to freshly measured tons. If you fed faster or slower than projected — or lost more to shrink than expected — the runout date moves. This is why regular flights matter: each one corrects the forecast with reality.
- Consumption changes. Editing Used Tons Per Day on a record, or adjusting usage in a custom forecast, immediately shifts the projected empty date. See Adjust consumption rates.
- Records change. Corrections to density, DM%, or feed type change the tons in the projection, and the runout date follows.
In Auto Forecast mode these updates happen automatically. In Custom Forecast mode your edited plan drives the dates, so review your custom forecast after each new flight — or use Reset to re-base it on the latest measurements. See Create a forecast.
Reading runout dates well
- Watch the trend, not just the date. If a feed’s runout date pulls earlier after every flight, your real usage or shrink is higher than planned — catch it while you can still adjust rations or source feed.
- Check runout by feed type, not just totals. Total tons can look comfortable while one critical feed (for example, your only BMR corn silage) runs out mid-winter.
- Use transitions. The forecast tool lists upcoming transitions — dates when feeding moves from one location to the next — so runout never arrives as a surprise.
- Pair with shrink tracking. Consistent losses shorten every projection; see Tracking shrink between flights.
If no runout appears for a feed, there is usually no usage data yet for it — enter a per-day use on the record, or fly a second flight so usage can be measured.