Strategic Feed Budget

NB: Calculations are based on Farmax’s Predictive Growth Forecaster which is based on New Zealand specific weather and environmental conditions for your area, hence this tool is not suitable for use outside of New Zealand.

• Demand is where the herd information is supplied so as to calculate what your ongoing demand will be during the year.
• Supply will take any incoming or captured pasture information so you have an idea of what you are growing as pasture during the year. Default Daily growth is calculated via the Farmax Predictive Growth Forecaster algorithm.
• Summary will show your surplus or deficit information so you can plan what crops or supplements are needed to ensure you meet your intake needs.

To access your Strategic Feed Budget go to the Analysis tab and then select Strategic Feed Budget.

Demand

To generate the Feed Demand you need to Add a Herd, click Add Data then enter the following details:

• Farm location, this only appears if you have multiple farms available
• Season, this automatically defaults to the current season 
• Profile available water, if you are unsure please leave as average.
• Name
• Calving date
• Breed
• Number of cows
• Annual milk production
• Number of cows

Once all the details are entered, select Save and then enter the number of cows that are dry or milking each month. Now you will be able to see your graph by clicking on the Show Graph button. 

Default Feed demand figures are calculated using the Farmax Predictive Growth Forecaster algorithm once you have entered your herd information. You can however alter these should you wish to.

To add additional herds to the Feed Demand select Add Herd. A second herd table is populated besides the first and will show as a different colour in the graph.

Supply

Feed supply has 4 areas, Pasture growth, Nitrogen, Supplement and Crop. To view these input areas, click the Edit data button. Your predicted Daily growth is derived from the Grazing area, Conserved area and Farmax Pasture Growth Forecaster information. Daily growth is automatically calculated, though you can edit the information if you wish to. The Nitrogen, Supplement and Crop tables allow you to enter your other feed products and options to review how you may be situated against your Feed demand.

To enter your Crop and Supplement feed supply: 

• Choose a supplement or crop option from the drop down box.
• Enter the DM per head you intend to feed to your stock for the appropriate month.
• Click Save Changes, then Show graph to review your Supply vs Demand graph.

Nitrogen feed supply for each month:

• Enter the proposed area of nitrogen to be applied for the month.
• Enter the rate of Nitrogen per Ha.
• Enter the response rate for the Nitrogen.

This will calculate the predicted extra growth in kg of dry matter you will receive from the proposed application.

Summary

The chart shows the any feed surplus as a positive above the baseline (green), and any deficit below the baseline in yellow.

• In the View data pane it will show a non-editable table view of the summary.
• Select the Feed Supply breakdown tab to see the details of your feed.

If any changes are made select the recalculate to change the graph.