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Beef Tools & Calculators

GrazFeed is a program developed by CSIRO that can be used to predict animal performance on pasture and or supplements and or estimate the amount of supplement or ration required to meet a required performance level.

Features:
Feed includes pasture and supplements
Useful training tool for understanding nutrition
Free android app with limited features and display
Detailed reports provided

Requirements:
Knowledge of pasture amount and quality
Reasonable computer skills

A range of tools that estimates how long a paddock will last, or how many stock can be run. Includes a summer budgeting tool to estimate how long summer feed will last and a winter feed budget tool to estimate whether pasture targets for livestock will be met.

Difficulty level:
Range of feed budgeting tools (pasture based) and references such as image libraries and pasture growth
Reference tables provided

Suitable for:
Requires good estimates of feed on offer (FOO)
Some tools require estimates of pasture growth rates, decay rates and how much stock will eat

Simple calculator of how much of two feed supplements to meet specific energy or protein requirements of an animal.

Difficulty level:
Simple to use for a 2 ration mix

Suitable for:
Requires knowledge of animal requirements for energy and protein
Estimates for 2 feeds – one must be higher than requirements

An app that determines the minimum feed requirement for a range of animals as well as formulate rations, compare supplement feed costs and costs on a per head or for the total period ‘as fed’.

Difficulty level:
Free app and very simple to use
All reference data built in

Suitable for:
No allowance for pasture
One off result not stored

It is used to calculate longer term quantities and costs to feed classes of stock over an estimated feeding period.
Difficulty level:
Simple cumulative spreadsheet estimating cost and total tonnage over likely drought/feeding period
Downloadable spreadsheet
Suitable for:
Requires estimate of how much will be fed for how long

Estimates shortfalls in pasture (as energy) from the pasture
Difficulty level:
Requires knowledge of pasture availability, quality and growth; animal energy requirements
Suitable for:
Drought Feeding and management of Beef Cattle Could be used/adapted for sheep

A step by step worksheet to estimate how much an animal needs to eat and the feed quality to meet their energy and protein requirements; compares feeds (cost /MJ), total cost of feeding period and how much the flock/mob require per day.

Difficulty level:
Step by step calculation for each measure of interest (e.g. feed cost comparison; minimum quality of supplement required)

Suitable for:
Requires knowledge of an animal’s energy and protein requirements
Print and fill in – need a calculator

This NSW Calculator is the big brother to their Drought Feed Calculator that allows you to develop feed rations. This tool also includes pasture. Entries can be saved as a pdf or spreadsheet in the desktop version.

Features:
Free and simple to use
Includes pasture in the diet using simple slides
App and desktop version

Requirements:
Some skill in pasture assessment