Herd plan
The herd plan widget on the dashboard shows the number of lactating animals on the first of the previous 3 months and coming 6 months and connects these to create a trend line.
How is the herd plan calculated?
The herd plan uses the data from report 64 for the historic values. This means that the values shown are the actual number of cows that were milked on the first of that month or had an event that month.
For the predictions, the number of calvings of future months may be different from report 64. This is because the number of expected calving heifers, calvings and dry offs are calculated based on confirmed pregnancies and inseminations (based on the insemination date we calculate the calving date). Report 64 only uses confirmed pregnancies.
If there are no inseminations entered for young stock, the average age at first calving is used to predict the calving month of heifers.
When you click on the herd plan, you can see per 1st of the month the number of (expected) calving heifers, calving cows, dry offs and the number of lactating animals.
How to use the herd plan?
These numbers are useful in mid-term planning. For example, insights are given into:
– How many cows will be in the barn: to make sure there are sufficient cubicles, feed, etc.
– How many lactating cows will be milked by my robots: does this fit with, e.g., % of free time.
– How many calvings are expected: to check if there are sufficient cubicles, feed, labor, etc.
Please note: When a cow is transferred out, they are not included in the calculations anymore. Before that point in time, we cannot accurately estimate the transfer out date and do not correct for that in predictions.