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Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Keywords

Beef cattle, Cattle feeding, Computer software, Western Australia

Disciplines

E-Commerce | Meat Science | Strategic Management Policy

First Page Number

18

Last Page Number

21

ISSN

0021-8618

Abstract

BEEFIN is a computer model that formulates profit maximising diets for finishing beef cattle to a specified carcass weight and fat thickness. It predicts cattle growth rate, feed conversion ratio, final liveweight, number of days on feed and the amount of available feedstuffs required to finish cattle to specification, The diets fulfil the animal's energy, protien, mineral and roughage requirements.

BEEFIN also calculates a profit and loss budget for the enterprise, performs a sensitivity analysis on changes in the price for both cattle and feed and determines the changes in feed prices needed before the composition of the diet is altered.

Producers considering feeding cattle out of season can use BEEFIN to evaluate their alternative choices for feeding cattle. This free service is available through any Department of Agriculture office in the south-west.

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