Example three: Wet season trading cows and calves
Copy the example scenario (Wet season trading cows and calves) from the examples list and open the scenario, this will illustrate how the program may be used in the following example.
Note: The yellow cells are for inputs and can be adjusted, while the rest are calculated outputs.
The Cowtrade program allows for the input of Standard weight of one Adult Equivalent and Extra Adult Equivalents for cow weaning a calf, the default values being 455kg and 0.35 respectively, see figure 1. One Adult Equivalent is a non-lactating animal of average 455kg liveweight carried for a year. It is generally unnecessary to change these values unless the user is using a different Adult Equivalent convention for comparing grazing pressure and they wish to tailor it to their requirements. If the analysis period is less than the duration of pregnancy plus five months, a proportional value for the adult equivalent rating of the calf is calculated.
Example three describes cows with calves at foot purchased to trade over the wet season. They are purchased on the 12/2/2020 with approximately 2mth old calves at foot (average birth date of 15/12/2019). The grazier aims to sell the breeder in July and the weaner in June of 2020.
Figure 2, below, displays the data entry for this scenario including dates, weights, purchase value, estimated future sale value, interest rate, weaning rate (in this case 98% as they have calves at foot), death rates and husbandry costs. There are calculators located underneath the results summaries in the program that can help you work out some of these values, how to use these is outlined in the Cowtrade calculators page.
The results of the analysis, as displayed in Figure 3, can be found to the right of the yellow input cells and summarised in a column below the inputs section on the web page. The results can be saved by clicking the Save button at the bottom of the summary column and renamed by typing in the yellow box beside description of the group.
The results calculated include adult equivalent ratings for breeder and progeny over the time held, and gross margin (per unit, per adult equivalent, and as a percent of livestock and expenses capital). The results of the example indicate the purchase of cows with calves at foot has a positive gross margin (gross margin for the unit after interest is $324.83) and may be profitable depending on what the alternative uses of the feed resource may be. The results of the analysis are much more useful and meaningful once compared to alternative uses of the feed resource, modelled in Bullocks or a different scenario in Cowtrade. When doing this you would pick the most profitable scenario that is feasible to do with the feed available.
Follow these links for more examples of using Cowtrade: