A quick step by step starting guide to enable users to quickly, simply and efficiently calculate their farm and/or paddocks pasture production through PastureKey outputs to match forage supply with feed demand of your operations.
Why the Feed Budget Calculator Matters?How to use the Calculator?
Quick Start
1. Select Paddocks (for Paddock-level ONLY)
3. Assess & Set Usable biomass (%)
4. Set Minimum Residual Biomass (Kg Dm/Ha)
6. Select Livestock Type and Class
7. Set livestock liveweight & production level
8. Set stock numbers & Wastage
9. View Grazing Days - Auto-calculated
10. Paddock-level: Repeat Steps 1-9 for each grazed Paddock.
Why use the Forage Budget Calculator?
Obtain the number of grazing days left in your paddocks or overall farm to:
- Plan ahead
- Prevent overgrazing
- Avoid running out of feed
Be prepared before pasture biomass levels become critical.
How to use the Calculator?
Select which Calculator Type and Production System you wish to use. Choose between Farm or Paddock Level calculators.
If you select a Paddock-level Forage Budgeting Calculator
➤ Tick the paddocks you want to include/exclude to get your total available grazing days
Once selected or if you select a Farm-level Forage Budgeting Calculator
➤ Fill out (ALL) white columns – blue cells are auto-calculated with your PastureKey data
➤ Results appear instantly as you enter data!
Quick Start
1. Select Paddocks (Paddock-level ONLY)
- Tick paddocks currently being grazed.
- Only selected paddocks contribute to your 'whole-farm' feed budget.
2. Populating the Data
- Blue columns = not editable/auto-calculated - fields populated with PastureKey Data.
- White columns = editable, require your livestock management preferences.
3. Assess & Set Usable biomass (%)
Estimate % of pasture that stock won’t eat:
→ Weeds, unpalatable material, dry standing & unpalatable feed.
4. Set Minimum Residual Biomass (Kg Dm/Ha)
Set your grazing limit:
→ This is the amount of feed you want to leave behind to maintain ground cover and ensure stock can still access feed.
5. Pasture Growth Rate
This is pre-filled using Cibo Labs data.
→ You are able to manually adjust based on local conditions.
6. Select Livestock Type and Class
Choose one livestock class per paddock or one class for the entire farm:
Set average daily growth rate or weaning % (AE), or Frame and Age parameters (DSE) of your herds, mobs or flocks.
- AE (Cattle): British, Crossbred, Tropical (steers, heifers, breeders).
- DSE (Mixed): Sheep (Breeds & Class: Ewes, Rams, Wethers, weaners & lambs), Goats (Billy, Nannies, Kids), Cattle (Breeds - British, Crossbred, Tropical & Class: steers, heifers, breeders).
7. Set livestock liveweight & production level
- Enter average liveweight.
- Choose Production: e.g Cattle operation (AE) - Calculator
- AE: Cattle Steers/Heifers - Select ADG (0.0–1.0 kg/day)
- AE: Breeders - Select Weaning % (60–90%)
- Choose Production: e.g Sheep, Cattle, Goats (DSE) - Calculator
- DSE: Select Frame Size & Age (Sheep & Goats) - Merino or meat sheep
- DSE: Select Liveweight & ADG (Cattle)
8. Set stock numbers & Wastage
- Input Number # of animals grazing.
- Select Wastage % e.g. (20–45%) for trampling & fouling.
9. View Grazing Days - Auto-calculated
Once all fields are filled, the total available grazing days for the whole-farm summary and per paddock are calculated.
10. Paddock-level: Repeat Steps 1-9 for each grazed Paddock.
The more paddocks you complete, the clearer your whole-farm feed budget becomes.
Tip: Repeat for all paddocks with or without stock for the next mob movement. Use results to make proactive grazing decisions and avoid feed shortages.
Additional navigation tools:
There are three additional functions at the bottom of the calculators.
Load from Excel- Allows the user to load data for inputs of columns from an excel data set.
Save to Excel - Allows the user to save the calculator outputs to excel.
Reset table data - Resets the calculator.
If you would like more support please contact Cibo Labs Support team support@cibolabs.com.au