Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/04—Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem"
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K29/00—Other apparatus for animal husbandry
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K29/00—Other apparatus for animal husbandry
  • A01K29/005—Monitoring or measuring activity, e.g. detecting heat or mating
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q99/00—Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for generating optimized living entity growth alternatives, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for generating an inter-variable relationship between growth factors of a creature in order to optimize output production.
• the economic optimization and viability of an enterprise depends on the ability to accurately analyze the relationship between the cost of materials, services, and labor that are input into the enterprise and the return that is achieved on the product that is output by the enterprize.
• the inputs include the creature itself, food, shelter, and services.
• the output is the marketed creature.
• One of the most critical relationships in optimizing the economic gain of such a farming enterprise is the relationship between the controllable and uncontrollable factors that affect the rate at which a creature grows and the final size of the creature at marketing age. Thus, it is important to have a model that describes the relationship between each of these factors and the rate of growth of a population of creatures.
• Variables affecting the growth of creatures can be divided into genetic and non-genetic categories. Genetic variables are fixed and are reflected by the growth potential of the individual type of creature of interest. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the growth rate of a creature is never higher and only lower than the maximum potential. During its life, a creature seeks to achieve its genetic potential, but fails due to the impediment of non- genetic variables.
• Non-genetic variables that are partially controllable by the commercial operator can be divided urther into living factors and food factors.
• Living factors encompass environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, creature density, ventilation, disease conditions, air quality, etc.
• Food factors encompass the types and amounts of material that are ingested by a creature.
• food factors can be controlled in a commercial environment through nutrition. The food factor reflects a major portion of the cost during the growth period.
• the efficiency of nutrient utilization i.e., the proportion of digestible nutrient that can be biologically utilized by an animal or poultry
• the efficiency value of a dietary amino acid often ranges broadly.
• the efficiency value of dietary amino acids for body tissue protein deposition of poultry ranged from 75 to 85%.
• the Reading Model is the only one to describe the nutrient requirement for a population. See. C. Fisher et al., "A Model for the Description and Prediction of the Response of Laying Hens to Amino Acid Intake," 14 British Poultry Science 469-484 (1973). It was originally used in the description of egg production for laying hens. The essential feature of this approach is to look at nutrient response of each bird independently and then to derive the population response as an integration of each individual bird response. The "optimum" flock requirement of each nutrient can be calculated through this approach by knowing the unit cost of this individual nutrient and value of unit output product.
• each calculated nutrient is required to use this model. This can be a severe obstacle due to the fact that nutrient cost is mostly associated with each ingredient (i.e. , each ingredient contains many nutrients) .
• the final nutrient cost depends on the final ingredient composition of the diet due to nutrient competition among the available ingredients to meet minimum nutrient constraints during an optimization process.
• the calculation of optimum nutrient requirement of a population is based on the economic break point of nutrient cost and value of product in the Reading Model. This may not be true due to the commercial and financial integration of multiple "divisions" within a modern enterprise. Optimum nutrient level can be higher or lower than the one at the economic break point due to higher or lower overhead costs such as costs of processing, labor, production, etc.
• the method and apparatus should also preferably be capable of being used in combination with an apparatus and method for generating animal and/or poultry growth alternatives.
• the present invention directly addresses and overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.
• the present invention generally relates to a computer and method of operating a computer that calculates the earliest time that a bird can reach its maximum rate of growth. Using this information, the computer can determine an appropriate size for a flock of birds, the type and amount of feed that should be fed to the flock, and the age at which a flock should be sold to a food processor, in order to maximize the profits realized by the farmer who raises the flock.
• the present invention is an apparatus for optimizing the ratio between expenditures and rate of growth for living creatures.
• the apparatus also includes memory means for storing data corresponding to information about feed, information about the characteristics of the creatures, and information generated by the processing means. The memory means is operationally coupled to the processing means.
• the present invention is also in the form of a method for operating the apparatus.
• the method includes the additional step of storing data corresponding to information about feed, information about the characteristics of the creatures, and information generated by the processing means.
• the present invention further provides a method and apparatus which illustrates that the growth response of nutrients is capable of being described in a population by changing the utilization efficiency of nutrients.
• This approach overcomes the limitations discussed above and can be used in an automated-machine optimization process or a multi-purpose computer.
• the invention is also applicable to other environments. Therefore, while the computer example will be discussed herein, the present invention is not so limited, and various aspects may be applied to other methods and applications.
• the nutrition modeling of land and marine animals, and poultry, is a critical component of the respective enterprise optimization.
• the optimization accuracy depends on the description of utilization efficiency of nutrients in a population of animals.
• the present invention provides for a method and apparatus to determine utilization efficiency of nutrients for meat production in a population.
• the present invention uses a model which describes utilization efficiency on at least three component parts of nutrient utilization— more specifically, maintenance, linear gain, and non ⁇ linear gain.
• the efficiencies for maintenance and linear gain are not different among individuals in a population, but it has been found that nutrient efficiency for non-linear gain is a product of population variation and efficiency of linear gain.
• a computer processor acts on program logic to receive input from a user or a stored file on the population and nutrients, uses a plurality of stored simultaneous equations, and solves them simultaneously using an optimizer program. The results are then stored and/or displayed. Additionally, the results are also used when generating poultry growth alternatives, which is described herein.
• a method of determining utilization effectiveness of nutrients in a population comprising the steps of: a) determining the standard deviation for the average period gain of the population and the average period potential gain of the population; and b) comparing the actual gain of the population with the average period potential gain to determine the number of standard deviations of non-linear gain, wherein the nutrients to support the linear and/or non- linear gain may be determined.
• Figure 1 is a graph showing the characteristic of a Gompertz curve.
• Figure 2 is a chart showing the values of and . relationship between the rate factor, k, and the inflection point, t*, for a variety of strains of birds.
• Figure 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the rate factor, k, and the inflection point, t*, using the data that is included in the chart of Figure 2.
• Figure 4 is a functional block diagram of a multipurpose computer useful for practicing the method of the present invention.
• Figures 5-19 are menus, screen displays, and a sample report of a preferred embodiment computer program which implements the present invention.
• FIG. 20 is a functional block diagram of program logic used to implement the principles of the invention.
• Figure 21 is an information flow diagram for the program logic of Figure 20.
• Figures 22a-22ai is a flow chart showing the detailed operation of the program logic shown in Figures 20 and 21.
• Figure 23 is a bell curve illustrating population distribution.
• Figures 24 and 25 are standard deviation tables.
• Figure 26 is the source code that controls the computer system shown in Figure 4.
• the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for correlating the equations that describe the multitude of Gompertz curves for various variables that describe the growth of living creatures.
• the results of the correlation allow a farmer to simultaneously optimize the ratio between expenditures and growth and thus optimize profit margins.
• One skilled in the art will realize that the present invention may be used for any type of creature whose growth can be described by a Gompertz curve. However, for the sake of description, the present invention is described in the context of poultry.
• a Gompertz curve represents mass as a function of time, and is commonly used to represent the growth of poultry.
• Equation (10) e ⁇ (kt*) (10) where t* is defined as the inflection point, which represents the age at which the maximum daily weight gain is achieved. The inflection point and the constant k govern the form of growth curve. If equation (10) is substituted into equation (7) , then
• Equation (11) shows that current body weight depends on mature weight A and u.
• Mature weight A is a genetically inherited value. Given fixed genetic conditions, therefore, the growth trajectory depends on u, i.e., the growth rate factor k and inflection point t*. The growth trajectory represents body weight over age.
• equations that are utilized in the program of the present invention is:
• equation (12) When mature weight A and age t is known, only one variable t* is left to predict body weight W in equation (12).
• This equation covers a multitude of growth curve possibilities and can be used for different types of poultry including turkey, broiler, duck, quail, etc.
• constant t* is the only variable that needs to be optimized.
• Equation (12) reveals that the rate at which a bird grows depends on only one variable—t*.
• t* is the age at which a bird has its maximum rate of gain. The earlier the age, the quicker the bird will grow to the weight at which it may be marketed.
• the commercial applications of equation (12) will be a very important tool in selecting the most efficiently growing type of bird.
• One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may also have applications related to the production of other types of creatures as well as vegetation.
• Equation (12) can be utilized in optimizing poultry production because it correlates multiple growth curves, which include a genetic potential growth curve of the type shown in Figure 1.
• a curve of this type is required in order to implement a computer optimization process.
• the genetic potential growth curve of Figure 1 defines the minimum age at which a bird's maximum growth rate is reached.
• a computer Given the curve of Figure 3, a computer can calculate optimum weight gain and average body weight for each feeding period of a flock of birds. The weight gain and average body weight is then used to determine the optimal living and food environments.
• the inflection point t* can be used to predict the growth of each component part of a bird's body.
• turkeys The following is an example for turkeys:
• Wing (% of Eviscerated carcass) 26.399-2.3552 Sex + 0.10141 Age - 0.0018162 Age 2 + 0.0000064398 Age 3 -
• Optimizing the ratio between expenditures and growth of a population is also impacted by the population's effectiveness of utilizing nutrients. The reason is that a discrepancy between individual and population response to nutrients on growth results when the overall nutrient requirement of a small proportion of individuals in the population are met. In this setting, even with increased levels of nutrition, more and more individuals in the population will not respond via higher growth. Therefore, the per unit nutrient input results in a smaller overall production gain — which reflects the icroeconomic concept of diminishing return.
• six standard deviations e.g., -3 to +3
• the average non-linear gain of population only increased three standard deviations (e.g., -3 to 0). This is because at standard deviation +3, only 50% (0.5001, Fig. 3) of gains in the
• the result of the number of standard deviations of nonlinear gain and the standard deviation of gain is the total average non-linear gain of the population.
• the average linear gain is the difference of total average gain and average non-linear gain.
• the current invention demonstrates that nutrient utilization efficiency is not a constant number due to the population variation. Instead, the nutrient requirement for gain can be separated into linear gain and non-linear gain. The changed efficiency is only associated with non-linear gain which can be calculated with efficiency of linear gain and the efficiency ratio of non-linear gain.
• This idea can be applied in a robust non-linear optimization process with a known standard deviation and potential of weight gain.
• the standard deviation is utilized for deciding proportion of non-linear gain among the total gain and its nutrient efficiency.
• the present invention is preferably utilized with a personal computer (hereinafter PC) that is based on Intel's 80486 microprocessor 20 with a 66 MHz clock or Intel's PENTIUMTM microprocessor.
• the computer also preferably has a math co-processor 22 for completing mathematical computations.
• the computer also includes a keyboard 24, screen 26, printer 28, random access memory 30, and a storage device 32.
• the storage device 32 may include magnetic means (i.e., floppy disk drive, hard drive, or tape drive), optical disk means, firm ware, or any other appropriate storage means.
• the storage device 32 is used to store the execution program and data generated by the execution program.
• the computer may also include means such as a modem 34 and communications software for loading input data or the execution program from a remote location.
• means such as a modem 34 and communications software for loading input data or the execution program from a remote location.
• modem 34 and communications software for loading input data or the execution program from a remote location.
• other types of computers might be used such as a main frame, portable computer, note-book computer, or mini-computer.
• the user loads the execution program from the program memory storage location into the random access memory 30.
• the program might be stored on magnetic media, (i.e., floppy disk drive, hard drive, or tape), read only memory (i.e., optical disk), firm ware, or any other appropriate storage medium 32.
• the program might also be transmitted from a remote location such as from a file server, a main frame, or other PC that has a communication link with the user's terminal. Referring to Figure 5, a menu is displayed on the computer screen after the program is loaded.
• the menu has the following options: Setup 36, Products 38, Time Value 40, Management Spec's 42, Grow Out Spec's 44, Fixed/Variable Costs 46, Raw Materials 48, Choose Data Sets 50, Solve/Optimize 52, Management Report 54, Review/Predictions/Diets 56, Model Creation 58, Change Database 60, Use DOS Commands 62, and Exit to DOS (Quit)
• the first menu option is Setup 36.
• a user with basic industry knowledge can define a new flock of birds or edit information concerning an existing flock.
• the Flock Data computer screen 68 is displayed when the Setup menu item is chosen. From this screen, the user has four options. The user can highlight an existing flock and press enter at which time the Flock Data Maintenance screen 70, Figure 7, will appear on the display. At this time the user can edit the displayed information, which includes the name of the farm 72 where the flock is kept, the name of the particular flock 74, the entity from which the flock was purchased 76, a reference code 78 that identifies the flock, the strain of bird 80 that comprises the flock, and whether the user wishes to have automatic age calculation 82. Automatic age calculation calculates the age based on the batch date. The user can also choose to delete the listing of a particular flock, or enter escape in order to return to the main menu.
• the second item on the main menu is Products 38.
• the Electronic Data table (EDT) entitled “TABLE: PRODUCT.T” 84 is displayed. See Figure 8.
• the information entered into this EDT includes the price per pound for a whole bird, a gutted carcass, and each of the individual body parts.
• the information entered also includes the amount of poultry product that the user wants to have available for market. More specifically, the user enters the range of acceptable tonnage that he/she plans to sell. If the user plans to market the poultry in parts, an acceptable range of tonnage for each type of part is entered.
• the price is entered into column 86, the minimum acceptable tonnage is entered into column 88, and the maximum acceptable tonnage is entered into column 90.
• the third item on the main menu is Time Value 40.
• a screen entitled “TABLE: TIME.T” 92 is displayed on the computer screen. See Figure 9.
• the data that is entered into the EDT displayed in this screen includes, the age that the poultry will be sold 94, the amount of time that a barn will be empty between flocks 96, the length of the brooding period if the particular strain of birds has a brooding period 98, and the square foot the user wants to provide for each bird within the barn 100.
• the unit of measurement for all time periods is days.
• the desired values are entered into the first column 102 of the table if the user knows the precise time period or allowable square foot per bird. Otherwise the user can enter an acceptable range of time or square footage in the second and third columns 104 and 106. If the user enters a range, the program will calculate the optimum value in order to maximize the user's return on investment.
• the fourth item on the main menu is Management Spec's 42.
• the EDT entitled "INFORMTN.T” 108 is displayed on the screen. See Figure 10.
• Information in this EDT is broken down into a plurality of time intervals during the life of the poultry. Each interval is called a series 110 and corresponds to a production period.
• the user can enter the age of the flock at the end of each interval.
• the column entitled "TEMP (F) " 114 the user can enter the ambient temperature of the flocks environment.
• the column entitled "HUMIDITY, %” 116 the user can enter the humidity of the flock's environment.
• data concerning other environmental factors may also be included in the INFORMTN.T table 108.
• the fifth item on the main menu is Grow Out Spec 's 44. Upon choosing this item, an EDT entitled "RECOMEND.T” 110 is displayed. See Figure 11. Information in this table is broken down into a plurality of time intervals 112 during the life of the poultry. Each interval is called a series and corresponds to a production period.
• the sixth item on the main menu is Fixed/Variable Cost 46.
• the EDT entitled “COST.T” 126 is displayed. See Figure 12.
• Data listed in this table includes "FIX, $/YR” 128, which is fixed costs per year; "PRCSS, $/YR” 130, which is the cost of processing per year; "CHICK, $/BD” 132, which is the cost of purchasing each chick; "MARKT, $/YR” 134, which is the cost of marketing per year; "PRPNE, $/YR” 136, which is the cost of building heat per year; "BROOD, $/FL” 138, which is the cost of brooding each flock of birds if the flock is of the type that requires brooding; and "GRWER, $/LB” 140, which is the cost of live weight per pound for contract grower.
• the seventh item on the main menu is Raw Materials 48. Upon selection of this item, a sub-menu entitled “Raw Materials” 142 is displayed. See Figure 13. The first item on the sub-menu is Select and Price
• the table includes columns entitled AVAIL. 147, GROUP 148, SHORT NAME 150, MIN 152, MAX 154, CTRL 156,
• the AVAIL. 140 column lists whether that particular ingredient is available to be included in the feed. As shown in Figure 15, the possible listings in this column include Avail 162, which means that the ingredient is available to the user; Maybe 164, which means that the ingredient has a high price and the computer will try to use an alternative ingredient; No 166, which means that the ingredient is not available to the user; and Cost 168, which means ingredient will not be used in formulation but the computer will give a price at which the ingredient could be used.
• the GROUP column 148 lists the classification of ingredients.
• the SHORT NAME 150 column lists the common name of the ingredient.
• the MIN column 152 lists the minimum amount of that ingredient that the user wants to include in the feed.
• the units of measurement for this data is percentage.
• the MAX column 154 lists the maximum amount of the ingredient that the user wants to include in the feed.
• the CTRL column 156 marks those settings that cannot be changed by user in this screen.
• the COST/CWT column 157 lists the cost of each ingredient per 100 pounds.
• the NU column 158 lists the choice of predicting nutrient level.
• the HA column 160 lists hand add value.
• an ingredients database lists the types and amounts of the nutrients that are included in each ingredient. The amount of each ingredient listed in the database corresponds to the amount of ingredient that is found in a typical crop that has a standard weight per bushel. One skilled in the art will further realize that the amount of each nutrient can vary with the weight of the crop per bushel.
• the program of the present invention has the capability of recalculating the amount of nutrients in each ingredient if the weight per bushel is entered into the computer.
• the eighth item on the main menu is Choose Data Sets 50. When this item is chosen, the "TO BE FORMULATED" 170 screen is displayed. See Figure 16. This menu option allows a user to select the particular flock that is to be optimized.
• the ninth item on the main menu is Solve/Optimize 52. When this item is chosen the computer of the present invention will calculate the optimum rate of growth. The computer will make these calculations for each designated time interval during the life of the flock. The computer will simultaneously calculate the optimal diet, living environment, and age at which the flock should be sold. The diet consists of the amount of ingredients that should be included in the feed.
• the living environment includes the number of birds that are included in each flock and the density of the birds
• the age of the bird is number of days between the birth of the birds and the date at which the bird should be sold to a processing plant.
• the computer also calculates data concerning the volume of poultry that each flock will generate and financial data concerning the amount of revenue, costs, and return on investment.
• financial data may be calculated by the computer.
• the tenth item of the main menu is Management Report 54. Upon selection of this menu item, a list of the possible reports 172 is displayed on the screen. See Figure 17. There are seven reports that the user can choose. The first report is entitled OPTIMUM RESULTS 174 and lists the optimal performance and environmental constraint to which the user must conform in order to realize the maximum possible Return On Investment. Figure 18.
• One skilled in the art will realize that such data includes the optimal flock size, the optimal age at which the flock should be sold, the optimal bird density in units of bird per square foot, the weight of the bird at sale, etc.
• the second report is entitled OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE 176 and includes data that relates to the length of each feeding period, the amount of feed given to the flock, the amount of feed that is consumed by the flock, etc.
• Figure 18a The third report is entitled OPTIMUM YIELD 178 and includes data that relates to the total weight of the flock that is available for sale, the costs of raising the flock, and the price received for the flock.
• Figure 18b The fourth report is entitled OPTIMUM FD/FACTORS 180 and includes information that relates to the amount and cost of the feed that a flock will consume.
• Figure 18c is entitled OPTIMUM FD/FACTORS 176 and includes information that relates to the amount and cost of the feed that a flock will consume.
• the fifth report is entitled OPTIMUM NUT/ALLNCE 182 and includes information that relates to the optimal nutrient amounts that need to be consumed and that can be metered to a flock.
• Figure 18d. The sixth report is entitle RESOURCES RAW/MATRLS 184 and includes information related to the amount of ingredients that are consumed and inventoried for use by a flock.
• Figure 18e. The seventh report is entitled OPTIMUM INDIV-BIRD 186 and includes information related to the characteristics of the birds in each flock, its yield characteristics, the environmental conditions in which the flock will live, the average size of each bird within the flock, and the average amount of feed consumed by each bird within the flock.
• Figure 18f Samples of the reports that are generated are shown in Figure 18 and labeled 174', 176', 178', 180', 182', 184' , and 186' .
• the eleventh item on the main menu is Review/Predictions/Diets 56.
• the computer of the present invention will display the predicted value of data concerning the weight of the flock, the amount of feed consumed, the weight of the various part of a bird, and other miscellaneous data concerning the environment of the flock. See Figure 19. This information may also be updated to reflect actual data during the life of a flock.
• the SOLVE/OPTIMIZE 52 menu item may be re-selected in order to update the optimal diet, living environment, and age at which the flock should be sold.
• the computer of the present invention is programed using the Clarion database software.
• Clarion is published by Clarion Software Corporation, which is located in Pompano Beach, Florida.
• database software packages such as Paradox, DB2, Access, etc.
• the computer may also be programed using the C++, Fortran, and Pascal programming languages.
• the microprocessor sequentially executes each individual instruction.
• the operation of the microprocessor implementing the program will be defined in terms of major functional steps.
• the program that controls the computer of the present invention begins at block 200.
• the user may input information into the databases at Block 202.
• the information inputted may enter either the Journal database 204, Ingredient database 206, or Model database 208.
• the Journal database, block 204 stores information that relates to the characteristics of the flock such as sex, weight, number, strain, etc. This database also stores the information that is generated by the model and the optimizer. Such information relates to the optimal diet, environmental conditions, flock size, predicted mortality rate, predicted yield, financial figures, etc.
• the Ingredient database, block 206 stores information that relates to the potential ingredients that may be included within the feed and the nutritional values of the various ingredients.
• the Ingredient database also includes equations that the user can execute to recalculate the value of the amino acid nutrients. These equations are based on the weight per bushel of the ingredients.
• the Model database includes information that relates to the actual code of the execution files.
• the model database also includes information that relates to the variables that are used within the execution files.
• the blocks 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, and 220 represent the various execution programs that are required to control the computer of the present invention.
• any one of these block may contain a plurality of execution files in order to fulfill its function.
• the execution files and the databases are preferably written utilizing the Clarion database software.
• the user may execute the model that forms the equations that are described in the section above titled A. Theory.
• the source code for the model is shown in Figure 26 and explained in greater detail below.
• This section also forms equations that calculate the predicted mortality rate and other effects of living conditions, predicted yield for various economic body parts, and nutrient calculations. More specifically, the model will create a plurality of simultaneous equations that it will pass through the interface, block 222, to the Optimizer, block 224.
• the interface, Block 222 reconfigures the information generated by the Model, Block 212, into a form that is acceptable by the Optimizer.
• the interface is preferably written in C++.
• the source code for the interface is attached as Figure 22.
• the Optimizer, Block 224 will solve the simultaneous equations in order to create the optimal values for each of the variable that describe the predicted mortality rate and other effects of living conditions, predicted yield for various economic body parts, and nutrient calculations. This information is then passed to the Journal database. Block 204, where it is stored.
• the preferred optimizer is GINO or Mines, which is published by The Scientific Press of San Francisco, California.
• the user may execute the files that generate and print reports. These reports are described in detail above.
• the user may edit the tables that store information that about the various ingredients that may be included in feed. More specifically, the user may delete or add ingredients, and edit the nutritional values associated with each ingredient. Additionally, the user may execute amino acid equation that recalculates the values of the amino acid nutrients based on the weight per bushel of each ingredient.
• the information manipulated by block 214, is stored in the Ingredient database, block 206.
• the user may create variables that are used in the various execution files.
• the user may create and edit the various tables that are used to organize and store information within the databases.
• the user may create and edit the execution files and databases at block 220.
• Figure 21 describes the information flow of the program execution.
• the information flow is shown generally at 300.
• Block 301 illustrates the various inputs into the logical program flow in order to calculate and solve the various equations.
• Block 302 includes information on nutrient composition and digestibility which may be stored in the form of a look ⁇ up table or some other known database structure. This data is provided to block 307 where data and/or equations on the nutrient efficiency is stored. Additional information is provided to block 307 from the growth model block 303 and the nutrient to support growth block 306.
• Each of the various blocks 302, 307, 306, 305, and 304 provide data and equations to optimizer block 308 which solves the equations in an optimized manner.
• optimizer block 308 The outputs of optimizer block 308 are provided to output block 309 which provides the results to the journal data base 204 (best seen in Fig. 20). This information is illustrated as including: optimum marketing age block 310, optimum raw material tonnage & mixes block 311, optimum growth & yield of creatures block 312, optimum nutrient level/period feeding block 313, and optimum creature space density & number 314.
• the program begins at block 300.
• SPACE_FACTOR 1000
• SPACE_FACTOR 1000
• the sequence value is then set to the current period, block 306. If the sum of the percentage of males and females does not total 100% (plus or minus 1%) indicate a failure in the program at block 308.
• the next step is to give the optimizer an impossible condition at block 310 and indicate that this is the last of the series of passes, thus the user does not see the incorrect values.
• block 374 Also compute the effective temperature at block 374. However, if the age of the current diet formulation is less than 21 days, block 376, retrieve the value of the effective temperature from the reference temperature table for the current conditions, block 378. Next compute the adjustment period for temperature effects on body weight at block 380-384. At block 386, add that correction factor to the total correction factor for body weight affected by temperature (BW_TEMP_TOTAL) , and setup the period over which the correction factor is applied (BW_TEMP_PERIOD) .
• BW_TEMP_TOTAL the total correction factor for body weight affected by temperature
• BW_TEMP_PERIOD setup the period over which the correction factor is applied
• BW_TEMP_PERIOD body weight temperature correction
• block 410 set the mortality as a function of body weight (BWMORT) and mortality due to density (DNMORT) to zero, block 412. Otherwise they are calculated in either block 414 or 416. More specifically, if this is the end of the series use the equations for BWMORT and DNMORT in block 414, which are based on the market age (MKTAGE) . Otherwise the use the equations in block 416, which are based on the ending age (AGEE) for the current period.
• BWMORT body weight
• DNMORT mortality due to density
• block 428 add equations for creature density as provided in tables, blocks 430 and 432. If the user has supplied a creature density, use it (block 430) otherwise set the constraints as found in a table (block 432). At step 434, set constraints in the model for the maximum and minimum weight at market time from a table. If the objective is the weight of the carcass without giblets (W.O.G.), add equations for eviscerated carcass yield at block 436. If the objective is cut up parts, set constraints on breast yield at block 438.
• W.O.G. weight of the carcass without giblets
• the next step is to add equations for fat gain (FATG), feed intake (FI) and nutrient Metabolizable Energy (N002) to the model, block 492. Then add constraints for the effect of metabolizable energy on body weight taking into account nutritional density and feed form at this point (MEBW and MEBWT) , block 494.
• FATG fat gain
• FI feed intake
• N002 nutrient Metabolizable Energy
• block 496 compute the feed cost to the present (FD_COST_TO_NOW) , block 498. For each sequence from the beginning of the period, look up the effect of metabolizable energy on gains in the sequences, the feed costs in the database, and sum them together. The user is reoptimizing if the feed start period is not the first period.
• price information is the retrieved from the database market weight of creature, and prices for various parts are set. Also look up the fixed costs and the sub-objective to be optimized. If the objective is cut up parts, look up the price of wasted product at block 594. If the objective selected by the user is to maximize the live bird weight, add the equations of block 596 to the model in order to constrain the sub- objectives and the maximum return on investment. If the objective selected by the user is to maximize the eviscerated carcass weight, add the equations of block 598 to the model in order to constrain the sub- objectives and the maximum return on investment.

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