Transformation of the BeefSpecs fat calculator: Addressing eating quality and production efficiency with on-farm decision making

Abstract

The BeefSpecs fat calculator is a decision support tool conceived to assist beef producers with their decision making to achieve better compliance with domestic and international market specifications. BeefSpecs combines data obtained from beef cattle growth-path studies and the extensive body of knowledge contained in animal growth and body composition models with easy to record on-farm measurements to make real-time predictions of body composition. To facilitate producer acceptance and uptake, BeefSpecs makes explicit use of practical end-user knowledge, captured by the simple user interface, by translating it for incorporation into the underpinning research models and returning the outputs in producer language that is easily locatable on the interface. The current version of BeefSpecs (version 1) has three functional forms:
• The primary interface acts as an educational tool to demonstrate the relationship(s) between management decisions and the performance of animal groups,
• The second interface is designed to facilitate animal management on-farm by assisting drafting decisions for creating sub-groups based on predicted performance, and
• The final interface optimises feeding and marketing decisions to increase profitability in both feedlots and pasture finishing systems.