Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
broiler growth under various conditions
subject to dietary nutrient density. Model
parameters will be estimated similarly to
BEEP using the same experimental in-
formation and diet formulation procedure.
A calibration process is conducted to reflect
localized user conditions. A proprietary
non-linear algorithm is applied to maximize
the user specified objective function.
the outcome of a feeding trial where single
changes in diet are made. This is done by
calibrating the growth of the animals to the
growth of animals on the control diet. That
is to say that the model assumes that the
growth of the broilers is the result of the nu-
trient contents of each diet. It then evaluates
the new ingredient, such as an enzyme, a
different energy source or medication, and
computes the nutritional change attributed
to the change in diet.
The BroilerOpt™ program is much
more extensive and includes a least cost
feed formulation program because it will
find those feeding programmes where the
ingredient usage is optimized. The program
then calibrates itself to current results using
the restrictions in the least cost programme
and restrictions on feed conversion, so growth
rate or other desirable parameters of the
organization can identify the feeding pre-
scription that is the least cost feeding pro-
gramme with the ingredients that are at hand.
Because ingredient prices vary from location
to location and growth conditions vary, such
precise identification of the best feeding
programme is impossible without an accur-
ate model.
Feed2Gain products
Feed2Gain, LLC is a small company (
www.
feed2gain.com
)
with two broiler modelling
software products. One is called
Broiler-
Opt™
and is a full blown modelling pro-
gram with least cost formulation and cost
optimization ability. The second is a sim-
plified model that can evaluate the outcome
of trials, called
Estudy™
. Both models are
based on the considerable work of Hurwitz,
Talpaz and their associates (Hurwitz
et al
.,
1978, 1980; Talpaz
et al
., 1986) with sig-
nificant modifications, and adaptations
supplied by Feed2Gain, LLC (Ivey and
Harlow, 1994).
The founder of Feed2Gain, LLC is Frank
Ivey, who, while at Novus International
Inc., developed and worked with several
model concepts. The greatest benefit of
these models is the increased confidence in
making a change in the field that the models
provided. The benefits of a model can easily
be expressed, and precision in decision
making is the first. Mr Ivey (F. Ivey, Missouri,
2013, personal communication) indicated
that a revealing moment in using models
came when one of the first nutritionists
he worked with said that the FCR they had
obtained in the first week of a change was
1
½ points poorer than predicted. He then
laughed and said that he had never before
known what the FCR should be after a
change. Exactly the kind of benefit a model
can bring. Several papers have been pub-
lished on the subject (Ivey and Harlow,
1991, 1992; Harlow and Ivey, 1994).
The two products that Feed2Gain has
made use of employ the same growth pre-
diction model. However, their focus is very
different. The Estudy™ program evaluates
Econometric feeding and
management of commercial
leghorns, 'EF&M'
The EF&M is a model for layers developed
by Dr David A. Roland (Professor Emeritus
at Auburn University). This software is cur-
rently used as part of the services of Ridley
Feed Ingredients (
http://www.ridleyfeedin-
gredients.com/index.html
)
. This model is
based on many feeding trials that evaluated
the responses of layers to nutrient levels
(Roland
et al
., 1999; Ahmad and Roland, 2001,
2003a,b; Sohail
et al
., 2003). The EF&M has
four parts: (i) a least cost feed formulation
programme; (ii) a traditional feeding pro-
gramme; (iii) a record keeping module; and
(iv) a model for econometric simulation of
conditions and estimation of optimums de-
pending on the business objective. This
software is used successfully by several
layer companies in the USA.
