Two new features added to ASKBILL’s farm forecasting
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Ag Tech News
- Dec 19, 2018
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Sheep producers using the powerful forecasting tool ASKBILL now have two new features at their disposal to guide their flock management decisions: a 90-day rainfall outlook and a 40-day soil moisture profile outlook.
After months of development and testing, the two features were made live to ASKBILL users last week to assist them in making stocking rate and pasture management decisions.
Developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation (Sheep CRC), www.askbill.com.au provides timely and accurate predictions for sheep wellbeing and productivity using climate, stock and pasture information. It complements grazing knowledge with detailed data about livestock and pastures to predict opportunities and threats to individual businesses from weather, pests or disease.
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Sheep CRC Leader for the Enhanced Sheep Wellbeing and Productivity Program, Professor Lewis Kahn, said the new rainfall feature provided sheep producers with a cumulative rainfall record, specific to their farm, including comparisons of the current year to the previous 30 years, as well as the outlook for the next 90 days compared to the historical records.
“The new feature also allows producers to highlight a direct comparison between their current and forecast situation and any one particular year from the past 30 years,” Prof. Kahn said.
“From this information you can quickly see the implications for feed availability for the season ahead, and producers can use the outlook together with their own personal experiences of similar years in the past, and the feed budget ‘what-if’ features of ASKBILL, to plan their management strategy.”
The second feature now available on ASKBILL is an estimate of soil moisture for the last 40 days and the coming 40 days.
The soil moisture data is provided at 10cm intervals down to 1m in depth, with the colour coding scaling the soil moisture estimate against field capacity and the wilting point for the selected soil type.
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“This information is valuable when considering how pastures will respond to future rainfall and assist producers in planning their stocking rates and paddock rotations,” Prof. Kahn said.
“When used in conjunction with ASKBILL’s rainfall and pasture biomass forecasting tools, producers can make informed decisions about whether their flock will reach production targets, such as prime lamb turn-off dates or body condition score for pregnant ewes.”
More information is available at www.askbill.com.au or contact the ASKBILL free-call helpline 1800 825 990.
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