A quick step by step guide to enable users to quickly, simply and efficiently calculate their farm or paddocks pasture production based on PastureKey estimates of biomass.
- Tick paddocks currently being grazed.
- Only selected paddocks contribute to your 'whole-farm' feed budget.
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!
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.
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 to the data that was originally loaded
If you would like more support please contact Cibo Labs Support team support@cibolabs.com.au