If you are a cattle farmer in Farming Simulator 25 and you keep cows or buffalo, sooner or later you will have to prepare TMR - Total Mixed Ration or simply Total Mixed Ration. This is the best type of food for cows if you want to maximize milk and productivity. Here you will learn how to make TMR from scratch.

TMR is a balanced mixture of hay, silage, straw and mineral supplement. If you mix the ingredients properly, you will get TMR, which is one of the best animal feeds. But if you over or under-mix something, you get Forage, which is also suitable for feeding cows and buffalo, but the result will be a little worse.

Note that the manual will not give you instructions on how to grow grass, silage, hay or straw. There's also nothing about how to care for the aforementioned animals, it's purely about making and mixing TMR.

What you need to make TMR

    1. A feed mixer - a machine that knows how to mix ingredients.

    2. ingredients:

• Hay - mandatory.
• Silage (silage) - mandatory.
• Straw - not compulsory, but desirable (makes feed cheaper).
• Mineral feed - optional if not using automatic farms.

You can produce the ingredients yourself. But if you want to simplify your task, you can go straight to the store. The objects section sells bales of hay, silage and straw of different sizes. Mineral supplement is sold in pallets in the "Animals" section. You can buy a container of UNIA Karma 16 at once if larger volumes are needed.

Choosing a mixer

To mix the ingredients you will need a special mixer. There are 2 main types of feed mixers - trailed (requiring a tractor) and self-propelled (driving themselves). Self-propelled models are more expensive, but can pick up ingredients right off the ground. This is handy if you don't want to mess around with bales.

Trailed ones are simpler and cheaper, but require more powerful machinery Trailed feed mixers are cheaper, but to pull this equipment you will need more powerful machinery. They are almost identical in function, both can prepare TMR.

Understanding ratios

Once the equipment is selected, the new challenge is to get the proportions right. Hay and silage are the main components. Straw and mineral additives complete the recipe, but if they are in excess, the mixture will spoil. Take this into account.

All proportions are displayed in the upper left corner of the screen if the help bar is enabled. Observe the indicators to cook the TMR correctly.

Once all bars are in the green zone - you have a ready TMR. If any of them are out of bounds - you have forage.

Mixing TMR with a trailer mixer

The process starts with loading a bale of silage, then hay is added. After that, you can carefully add a little straw - it should take up no more than 10-15% of the total mass. 

If you want, you can add a little mineral supplement, but keep the proportions. Watch the scales on the screen.

If you see "Total Mixed Ration" in the lower right corner, you have done everything correctly. If it says "Forage" then the proportions are off.

Errors in proportions and how to correct them

If you have overdone the straw or mineral supplement, you can correct the situation. Just add more hay or silage to equalize the total volume and reduce the percentage of the "wrong" ingredient.

In some cases, it is easier to dump some of the mix on the ground and add the correct ingredient again.

Using a self-propelled feed mixer

Self-propelled mixers have one big advantage - they can pick up ingredients right off the ground. 

Simply spread silage, hay and straw on the ground, drive up with a bucket and collect them.

The proportions panel will also be displayed on the screen. 

The principle of mixing remains the same: keep the balance, watch the indicators and you will end up with quality forage.

Tips for optimal mixing

One of the most universal recipes is: two bales of hay, two bales of silage, one bale of straw and a little mineral supplement.

However, bales can be of different volumes, so everything needs to be adjusted on the spot. Try, experiment, and you will quickly realize which mix works best for you.

Don't forget that it is better to make small portions and check the proportions more often than to spoil the whole tank of expensive feed.