Stockpol: A decision support model for livestock farms

Abstract

A computer program called Stockpol is described. It is a biological model designed for decision support applications on pastoral farms. Individual farm scenarios are defined in terms of component subfiles which define stock (numbers and performance), land (area, pasture growth rates and land use), prices and constants. Physical and financial reports are available for individual scenarios, and for comparisons among scenarios. Once defined, scenarios are tested for biological feasibility by calculating if there is enough pasture cover on the farm at all times to meet animal requirements for targetperformance levels. Policies for biologically unfeasible farms can be automatically modified if necessary. Stockpol can be used to analyse long-term policy changes or short-term feed budgets, but it is not suitabIe for paddock-level feed budgeting. Keywords sheep, beef, pasture growth, pasture cover, feed budget, biological feasibility, prices, profits, computer model