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Cooperative Extension Service |
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Agricultural
Experiment Station |
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Aquaculture
Dale Bumpers College
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Forage and Pasture
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| How does the program work? Minimum requirements for the Arkansas SPP-300 program are Windows 3.1/95 with a 486-66 MHz CPU. It was developed with Visual Baler® software so it is a self-running program. To load the program, select the CD drive icon from the My computer group. Double-click the ASSP300CD folder. Double-click the Setup.exe icon. Follow the instructions. Click Ok when it asks for Disk 2. When the program has loaded double-click the ASSP300 icon to start. Arkansas SPP-300 calculates forage production and animal requirements for 100 day periods during spring, summer, fall, and 65 days during winter. Seasonal dry matter yield is calculated for each forage and for the farm. Daily dry matter intake of the cattle herd is calculated based on class of animal, stage of production, and average daily gain. Seasonal forage requirement is based on grazing system efficiency. Data are entered for each pasture based on forage type and estimated annual yield. The program calculates dry matter production in spring, summer, fall, and winter for each pasture based on estimated percentage seasonal production of each forage or forage mixture. Data are entered for cattle based on spring or fall calving season, level of milk production, stocker calf grazing season, and average daily gain expected. Gains are based on NRC values for intake. Quality of the forage is assumed adequate for the expected gain. A basic level of knowledge of forage quality and animal nutrition is necessary to determine realistic cattle gains. |
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Example Scenario
The following scenario is depicted in this presentation. Screens for data entry, data summary, and results are shown. A beef producer has 100 acres of available pasture. His forage program includes: 25 acres of orchardgrass / clover mix He has 40 spring-calving cows with an average weight of 1100 lbs. each. Milk production is average. Two bulls of 1800 lbs. each are in the herd. Continuous grazing management is currently used. Hay feeding begins in early November most years and continues until early April. His question is "what changes are needed to reduce the length of the hay feeding period?". |
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Start by entering data for each pasture and for each
livestock herd. The program can be navigated by windows or by tabs. |
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Forage type or mixture can be selected from a list found in the drop boxes shown. Scrolling down the list shows the available forages. Enter acreage and estimated annual yield for each forage. |
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Enter data for spring calving cows, bulls, and replacement animals. Fall calving herds can be entered on a separate screen for that herd. |
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Enter data for stocker calves under the option that fits the grazing period. |
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Data entered can be viewed and updated if necessary. Summaries of pasture production are shown as well as daily forage requirements for the herd. |
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Forage inventories show the percentage distribution of seasonal yield for each pasture. Forage input data in blue can be changed on this screen. |
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Seasonal tonnage is shown for each pasture as well as total yield for the farm. |
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Summaries of the livestock herd can be viewed and updated here. Data in blue can be changed on this screen. Forage dry matter intake levels as a % of body weight are shown. Defaults for intake can be changed in another section of the program. |
Download ASPP-300 Forage Planning Software Tutorial
This
slide presentation is in PowerPoint. If you do not have PowerPoint you can
download
the free PowerPoint Viewer 97 (2000 Release) for PowerPoint 2000 Users to view
these slides.
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© 2006 |
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University of Arkansas • Division of Agriculture |
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