Why mob structure matters
Most farms already have a system for how animals are managed day-to-day.
The goal of using AgriWebb isn’t to change that system, it’s to reflect it clearly so your records stay accurate and useful over time.
When your mobs are set up well, you can always answer three key questions:
How many animals do I have?
Where are they?
What do feed do they require?
And just as importantly:
Can I trust those answers after a busy period?
Periods like joining, preg scanning, drafting, weaning, or mustering naturally introduce change into your operation. Animals are split, combined, moved and reclassified.
A well-structured mob system allows those changes to be recorded without losing clarity.
What a good mob structure allows you to do
When your mob structure reflects how your farm actually operates, your records become more than just a log of activity.
They become a tool to:
Maintain a clear snapshot of your operation
Livestock numbers stay accurate throughout the year
Quickly understand where animals are and how they’re grouped
Simplify reporting and communication
Reports reflect how mobs are actually managed
Other people can step in and understand your setup
Make better decisions over time
Track outcomes across joining, scanning, marking and weaning
Compare performance between groups where relevant
Identify what’s working and where to adjust
This is where structure matters most:
Your mob structure determines what your data can show you.
Check your current mob structure
Before making any changes, step back and look at how animals are already managed on your farm.
Implementing AgriWebb in your business isn’t about changing how you manage your animals, it should mirror your daily management.
1. How are animals grouped day-to-day?
Do mobs generally stay separated by tag colour or birth year?
Are animals combined into larger mobs?
When moving stock, are you thinking in birth years or whole mobs?
2. What level of detail do you use to make decisions?
Do you compare performance between different groups?
Are decisions made at a whole-mob level?
Do you need visibility by birth year, or is total mob performance enough?
3. How well does your current structure hold up?
Do your livestock numbers stay consistent through the year?
After drafting or movements, is it easy to keep track of your mob breakdowns?
Do your reports reflect what you expect to see on-farm?
What you’re looking for
The mob structure that works best is the one that:
Matches how animals are grouped
Matches how decisions are made
Holds up through busy periods
Choosing a mob structure
There isn’t one “correct” structure.
Most farms tend to use one of two approaches depending on how they operate, again the structure that is best suited is one that matches your farm management.
Mixed age mobs
Animals from multiple birth years/tag groups are managed together in operational mobs.
Common when:
animals are run together day-to-day
decisions are made at a mob level
simplicity is a priority
What this enables:
fewer mobs to manage
simpler drafting and movements
easier ongoing maintenance
whole mob decision making and reporting
Tag or cohort mobs
Animals remain grouped by birth year or tag colour.
Common when:
animals are managed separately by birth year
performance is compared between groups
detailed tracking is important
What this enables:
visibility between groups
more detailed performance tracking
clearer birth year-based reporting
A practical way to decide
If animals are usually run together → a mixed structure will align more closely
If you know exactly how many animals you have of each birth year → a tag colour structure will align more closely. This must be known at all times of the year, for every activity.
The right choice is the one that reflects how your farm already operates.
Adjusting your mob structure
If your current setup doesn’t reflect how animals are managed, you can update your mobs without losing your existing data.
This is about aligning your structure, not starting again.
When to update your mobs
The easiest time to make changes is when you already have clear numbers on farm, such as:
at weaning
after preg scanning
during mustering
at shearing
during reconciliation or stocktake
These are natural “reset points” where mobs are already being handled and counted.
Updating to a mixed mob structure
If animals are typically managed together:
Go to Livestock
Select the mobs you want to combine
Update tag colour to “Mixed” where applicable
Ensure animals share the same age class (for mature stock)
Set birth year to “Do not track”
Merge the mobs
This results in a smaller number of operational mobs that reflect how animals are run day-to-day.
Updating to a tag colour structure
If animals are typically managed separately:
Select the mob
Use Split/Draft mob
Separate animals by tag colour or birth year
Assign the correct tag colour
Update the mob’s birth year
This creates distinct groups that can be tracked and compared over time.
Structuring beyond mobs: Enterprises and Management Groups
Mob structure reflects how animals are physically grouped and managed day-to-day.
Enterprises and management groups build on this by helping you organise livestock based on how they contribute to your business.
Used together, they allow you to move from:
“What animals do I have?”
to
“How is each part of my business performing?”
Enterprises: understanding different parts of your business
Enterprises group livestock based on their purpose within your operation.
Common examples include:
breeding
trading
wool
agistment
Most farms are running more than one of these at the same time, even if they aren’t formally separated.
Why enterprises matter
Enterprises allow you to separate parts of the business that behave differently.
For example:
a breeding herd is focused on fertility and survival
a trading mob is focused on weight gain and turnover
If these are grouped together, it becomes difficult to understand what is driving performance.
When separated, you can:
track performance within each enterprise
compare results over time
understand where improvements are coming from
This makes reporting more meaningful, not just more detailed.
Management groups: reflecting how animals are managed
Management groups sit within mobs and allow you to group animals based on how they are being managed at a point in time.
Examples include:
pregnant, empty
twins, singles
sale mobs
These groupings often change throughout the year as animals move through different stages.
Why management groups matter
Management groups help you organise animals that require the same decisions.
For example:
feeding different groups after scanning
managing sale mobs separately
tracking outcomes for twins vs singles
They also make it easier to:
filter and review reports
compare outcomes between groups
follow animals through key events in the production cycle
Here’s a tighter version that keeps the strength but removes repetition and excess detail:
What is age class?
Age class groups animals by their stage of life (e.g. calves, weaners, breeders).
These groupings reflect how animals are managed and make it easier to organise mobs and records.
Why age class matters
Age class determines how animals are managed and reported.
Different age classes:
have different nutritional requirements
are managed differently through the year
contribute differently to business performance
Keeping age classes accurate ensures your records can be used for reporting, feed planning, and valuation.
How age class affects your records
Age class influences:
how mobs are grouped
how livestock are reported
how feed demand is estimated
If age classes are incorrect, it can impact reporting accuracy, valuation, and grazing decisions.
How age class is maintained
As animals move through the production cycle, their age class changes (e.g. calves → weaners → yearlings).
With Auto-Ageing enabled, these updates happen automatically so livestock remain correctly classified for reporting and decision making.
Automation in AgriWebb
Once your mob structure and records reflect how your farm operates, automation helps maintain that accuracy over time.
Instead of needing to manually update livestock details, key information stays aligned as animals move through their lifecycle.
Why automation matters
Livestock systems are constantly changing.
Over time:
animals age
weights change
feed demand shifts
Without consistent updates, records can gradually fall out of sync with what’s happening on farm.
Automation helps prevent this by keeping information current in the background.
What this enables
With automation in place:
mobs continue to reflect the correct lifecycle stage
feed demand estimates stay relevant
reports remain accurate without rework
This reduces the need to revisit and correct records later.
Auto-Ageing
Auto-Ageing updates livestock as they move through lifecycle stages.
Examples include:
calves → weaners
weaners → yearlings or hoggets
heifers → cows
As animals move through different life stages, your mobs update automatically. Your livestock numbers and classifications stay accurate for reporting, valuation, and accounting.
Auto-animal units
Auto-animal units estimate feed demand based on livestock class or weight.
This supports:
understanding stocking rate
managing grazing pressure
planning feed requirements across paddocks
Accurate weight records improve the reliability of these estimates if you are using the “by weight”.
Automating animal unit records means your grazing decisions stay aligned with real feed demand, supporting better pasture utilisation and grazing pressure management.
Bringing it together
Each part of your setup plays a different role:
Your mob structure reflects how animals are grouped
Your enterprises and management groups reflect how they are managed and measured
Your automation keeps everything aligned over time
When these are working together:
livestock numbers stay accurate
reports reflect how your farm operates
and your data becomes something you can rely on to make decisions
Common “gotchas”
A few things can make mob management harder than it needs to be:
tracking tag colours when animals are routinely mixed on-farm
creating more mobs than are practically managed
adjusting records after the fact instead of reflecting real movements
removing historical data instead of updating structure
In most cases, simplifying the mob structure to match real management will resolve these.
When to review your mob structure
Mob structure doesn’t need constant adjustment.
Most farms review it at natural points in the year, such as:
joining
preg scanning
weaning
shearing
mustering
reconciliation
If your mobs continue to reflect how animals are managed through these periods, your records will remain consistent.
Final takeaway
A good mob structure doesn’t add extra work.
It removes the need to fix things later.
When your mobs reflect how your farm actually runs:
your numbers stay accurate
your records stay useful
and your data becomes something you can rely on