AgriWebb’s Weight Forecaster Tool enables you to plan more effectively for upcoming sales and key production events like joining. Using actual or assumed average daily gains (ADG), this tool provides accurate forecasting for data backed decision making.
Use this tool to forecast weight gain for a group of livestock up to 3 months in advance. For comparing the current weight of different livestock groups, see the Weight Insights tool.
Visit the Web App and navigate to Livestock > Individuals and select Weight Forecaster to get started.
To access the Weight Forecaster, you'll need to be subscribed to the Individual Animal Management (IAM) Performance plan.
If animals do not have any weight data recorded they will not appear in the Weight Forecaster figures or charts.
Select Livestock to Analyse
Firstly, select the cohort of cattle or sheep that you're looking to forecast for. There are a few options for selecting animals:
Use the Filters on the Livestock tab to select based on specific criteria in the filters options e.g location, age class, breed, tag colour.
Select a management group of animals (easiest way is through the Enterprises page)
Select from past live sessions or weight records via the Activity page. Click on a session, then click 'view all animals' to retrieve just that selection of animals.
It is only possible to view 1000 animals at a time in the weight forecaster. If more then 1000 animals are selected, only the first 1000 animals will be shown.
Once you have selected your cattle or sheep in the Livestock List, you can click the 'Weight Forecaster' tab.
Set Target Weight and/or Date
If you have a target weight and/or date that you are trying to reach, enter these into the respective fields on the left to adjust the charts and headline numbers.
If you don't have a target date, you can leave this blank and we will project ahead by 3 months.
If you don't have a target weight, you can leave this blank and we will identify the top and bottom 20% automatically.
Visualise Weight Projections
The following information is shown at the top of the page:
Average last weight - including date (or date range) of last weight recorded for the selected cohort.
Average projected weight - at target date if set, otherwise 3 months from today
Average Assumed or Actual Average Daily Gain (ADG) - This is the assumed or actual ADG of the animals at the target date if set otherwise 3 months from today. The assumed ADG is from the ADG record and the actual ADG is based on the last 2 weights recorded.
Average Required Average Daily Gain (ADG) - The average ADG needed for those under target to reach the target weight for the date selected. This only shows if you have entered a target weight.
There is the option on the right to select from Actual ADG or Assumed ADG for the projections.
Weight Over Time
Use this chart to identify "How long should I hold animals for?" For the selected cohort you can see when, over time, the animals will reach the target weight. Plus, use it to identify top and bottom performers using the 3 groupings, drilling in further using the "individual weights" toggle.
The graph will plot the minimum and maximum target weights with the target date. If a target weight is not input however, it will show you the number of livestock selected that will be on target, over target or under target.
The blue sections of the graph are clickable and will automatically select the animals in these segments.
Weight Distribution for a Target Date
Use this chart to identify "How many head will I have at weight, for a particular date?" This chart is most useful when a target date is entered, and you can view the cohort across various weight categories to see the weight spread at your target sale/join date.
Identify Top and Bottom Performers
By default you can retrieve a list of animals in the Bottom 20%, Mid 60% and Top 20% OR if you enter a target weight you will see Under, On or Over target.
To identify the top 20% as an example:
Click the number in the desired percentile (it will appear blue when selected).
You will see the animal selection in the top left change.
Click the "View (X) selected" link.
This will add an animal selection to your filter (you can remove when you want to go back to the original cohort).
Now click 'List view'. This specific set of animals will all be selected in the list for you to analyse further or apply records to.
You can click multiple percentiles at once to retrieve all the animals in one view.
Taking Action
Following the steps above will allow you to see the selected list of animals and then create records within AgriWebb against them or assign them to a specific management group for action later. Example management groups could be:
light group and heavy group
specific weight brackets (250-350 kg; 350-450kg etc)
specific sale date, contract or event (sale 25th August; Woolworths contract; bull sale)
You can also export the list of selected animals as a CSV file, to then upload into your indicators and hardware if you want to draft specific animals in the yards for example.
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