Getting Started & FAQ
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      FAQ

      This document is designed to accumulate all customers' questions and answers. This will help you navigate various questions you may encounter while interacting with clients.

       

      Question 1: Is there a seasonal platform option besides the annual one?

      Answer 1: No, Planet, the satellite image supplier, only offers annual contracts. You can combine Weekly Grazer satellites for the grazing season with Daily Grazer satellites for the rest of the year, but the areas must be distinct.

      Question 2: How does Pio calculate dry matter?

      Answer 2: Pio uses machine learning to estimate dry matter based on satellite imagery, local weather data, your paddock records and other spatial information.

      Question 3: Are satellite readings accurate on steep slopes?

      Answer 3: Yes, as long as the slope is suitable for grazing and doesn't cause erosion issues.

      Question 4: Is Pio helpful for long-term planning?

      Answer 4: While Pio is suitable for short-term tactical decisions, spreadsheets might be better for strategic planning 3-4 months ahead. However, you can view historical information to understand grow rates, leaf emergence, and paddock performance trends across the year. Pio shines when making short-term tactical decisions—for example, paddock selection for grazing or where to apply fertiliser.

      Question 5: Is there a Tracmap (Tabula) integration?

      Answer 5: Yes, there is a data integration between Pasture.io and Tabula. This integration reduces double data entry of fertiliser records. When a farmer places a fertilisation order into Tabula (either directly or via a contractor), this data populates the fertilisation record in Pasture.io.

      You can set up the Tabula/TracMap integration in two ways.

      The First option:

      1. The farmer needs to give the user admin@pasture.io permission with Tabula, as will any fertiliser contractor if the farmer uses a contractor.
      2. For the integration to work correctly, the farm (paddock) maps must be compatible (i.e. paddock boundaries and identification are the same).

      The second option:

      1. The client can contact Tabula directly and say they want Pasture.io to access (i.e., consent to data sharing with Pio).
      2. Tabula will need to send us the relevant ID numbers that we need.
      3. Again, for the integration to work correctly, the farm (paddock) maps must be compatible (i.e. paddock boundaries and identification are precisely the same).

      Question 6: Does Pio consider fertilisation in its growth predictions?

      Answer 6: Nitrogen (N) is mainly considered, as it affects grass colour, which is easily picked up in the satellite images. Nitrogen also significantly influences short-term pasture growth and is commonly applied to pastures.

      Question 7: Does the Cloudy Days Model update growth rates daily?

      Answer 7: Yes.

      Question 8: Can I see a report of weekly growth vs. demand?

      Answer 8: You can view the growth rate demand of a herd against the growth rate supplied from the grazing platform at the point where you are creating a new grazing record.

      Question 9: How can I see individual paddock growth rates?

      Answer 9: There are many ways to see this information. One way is to view the individual paddock information. A second way is to view the recent growth rate in the paddock list view - which can also be filtered by a date range to view the average growth rate over a period.

      Question 10: Can I add a demand line to the feed wedge?

      Answer 10: You can add a Target Cover (demand) line by entering monthly target covers in the farm settings. This means the pre- and post-grazing demand lines will update automatically every month.

      Question 11: Where can I see individual grazing days per paddock?

      Answer 11: When creating a new grazing, select the relevant paddock(s) and then see the grazing days per paddock. To adjust the number of days, you can change the amount of pasture on offer with the pasture slider to see the grazing days per paddock change.

      Question 12: Does Pio average remaining feed across the paddock after partial grazing?

      Answer 12: Yes, if you record multiple grazing by setting the start and finish grazing dates. If you record separate grazings, Pio will think you have grazed the paddock to the target post-grazing residual on the first grazing. For this reason, it is generally better to record the grazings at once to help Pio understand there are multiple grazings from the paddock.

      Question 13: Can I enter multiple grazings for the same paddock?

      Answer 13: Yes, a 12-hour grazing is typically treated as twice-a-day grazing. You can also create separate herds if groups or mobs graze different paddocks.

      Question 14: Can I export a map with readable paddock numbers?

      Answer 14: You can download the map, but the font size will be small. It can sometimes be more accessible to take a quick screenshot.

      Question 15: What is the satellite flyover frequency in Ireland using Pio?

      Answer 15: Satellites orbit Earth at a near-daily frequency. The average image capture is every 3.74 days, with a median of 2 days due to cloud cover.

      Question 16: How can I record multiple plant species in a paddock?

      Answer 16: When creating a paddock planting record, choose multiple cultivators when adding planting data. You can do this by clicking on the Add Cultivar button.

      Question 17: How accurate are the measurements for Tall Fescue and Sudex in the US?

      Answer 17: Rotational grazing practices work well for these grasses, but sorghum may be an issue if grown too tall before grazing. The key here is that the pasture is grown and grazed in a highly vegetative state that is common to typical pastures such as ryegrass, kikuyu, cocksfoot, etc.

      Question 18: What do the Excellent, Medium, and Poor feedstuff quality ratings mean?

      Answer 18: These are typically used to differentiate the quality of pastures on each paddock. You can assign different attributes to your paddocks or create your own. If you take feed tests of management zones, you can assign the feed test values to your paddocks. We don't generally recommend more than three pasture qualities to keep the system easy to maintain. The pasture quality can be used against supplements such as hay, concentrates and so on when balancing the diet of animals.

      Question 19: What is the average satellite flyover frequency for farms in Scotland using Pio?

      Answer 19: Satellites orbit Earth at a near-daily frequency. The average image capture is every 3.74 days, with a median of 2 days due to cloud cover.

      Question 20: Do satellite readings include grazed camps even if not entered?

      Answer 20: Yes. However, it is advised to turn off satellites for paddocks you're not grazing. You can do this by editing the relevant paddocks and disabling the satellites. Alternatively, you can set the paddocks Used For to a different status depending on how the paddock is treated. Another pathway is to set a satellite delay in days when creating a planting or spraying record. This means the satellites will be disabled on the paddock(s) for the set amount of days and automatically enabled.

      Question 21: Is there a correction factor for dryland vs. irrigated pastures?

      Answer 21: Pio's models consider the irrigation type of the paddock or whether it is a dryland paddock. The dryland and irrigated paddocks can skew the farm average, especially if some paddocks are not included in the models from reading to reading. Review the included paddocks to ensure they're representative of the farm average.

      Question 22: Will thistles affect cover readings?

      Answer 22: Yes, depending on the number and density of the thistles. Thistles reflect colour (or greenness) in the satellite images, which feeds into Pio's models.

      Question 23: How do I allocate pasture to groups using weight data?

      Answer 23: Use the Grazing Planner (currently being migrated from V1 to V2).

      Question 24: Can I download the feed wedge with all paddock names?

      Answer 24: No, due to limited screen space. You can export the list and create a feed wedge in a spreadsheet.

      Question 25: How far back can I see the historical data?

      Answer 25: You can see as far back as you have data in the system. Typically, this is from the time you've subscribed to the services or if you have loaded historical data into the app.

      Question 26: Can Pio calculate the Average Daily Gain with weight data?

      Answer 26: No, it's on the roadmap but not a high priority.

      Question 27: Can I export growth rate data to Excel?

      Answer 27: Yes, use the paddock list, filter by date range, and it will average the growth rate. Wherever you see a list, table, or chart, there is usually an export to Excel, CSV, PDF, Print, or Copy the information to paste the button elsewhere.

      Question 28: How does Pasture.io deal with wildlife damage to pastures?

      Answer 28: Pio assumes that the livestock (such as dairy cows, beef cattle, or sheep) grazing the grass is why the pasture depletes. If the satellite image says otherwise and there has been no grazing record, Pio's model will do its best to assume that the farmer forgot to enter the grazing record.

      Question 29: Is it possible to pull a report from when the farmer started with Pio to now showing Post Grazing Residual?

      Answer 29: Yes, it is possible. They’ll have to request it from support@pasture.io.

      Question 30: Why does the program not default to the previous fertiliser prices from the last application record?

      Answer 30: The price can be saved against the fertiliser preset, so when the preset is selected, the saved price will fill in the field.

      Question 31: Growth rates are never similar to what was predicted for the period?

      Answer 31: Predicted growth rates are based on weather forecasts and a rolling seven-day average.

      The accuracy of the forecasts is reduced due to the unreliability of weather data supplied, looking out seven days and even longer to 14 days. Pio does its best to provide the most accurate forecasts, but it is only as good as the weather and other inputs supplied.

      Question 32: How do you handle planting activities for crops in Pasture.io?

      Answer 32: When making a planting activity, the farmer can change the Used For or Bulk Edit the paddocks and then change the Used For to Crop. This way, they will still see satellite images for the crops, but there shouldn’t be pasture readings.

      Question 33: Dropping paddocks out for Silage - forecast these paddocks will be used for silage but then when looking at the list and paddock ranking can't identify the higher paddocks will be used for silage in future, can they be highlighted somehow to identify more easily?

      Answer 33: The client can make a harvest record for the future. The paddocks in the harvest record will have yellow borders (on the feed wedge and map) until the harvest date, when they will be filled with yellow.

      Question 34: Regarding split paddocks and GPS Trackers, how best to advise how to approach this, should the farmer split the paddocks into two new paddocks?

      Answer 34: If the herd grazes across two neighbouring paddocks, the 3 GPS trackers should pick this up and register both paddocks as grazed. If one tracker ends up in one paddock and two on the other side of the farm in another paddock, then the paddock with one tracker may not register a grazing record, and the farmer is advised to monitor this and manually amend the grazing. The alternative is to add additional GPS animal trackers, such as five or six GPS trackers, on the herd if issues arise due to grazing multiple paddocks at once.

      Question 35: If a farmer splits some of their herds into A, B and C groups - is it possible to set these up as a feed slot such as A, B, and C grazing, which is typical in a robot grazing farm?

      Answer 35: It is possible to enter variations of feed slots for three- or even four-way grazing practices.

      Question 36: What is the actual use of putting in the fertiliser applications? What do I get in the way of information/report from this data?

      Answer 36: The fertiliser activities add a 1% improvement to the pasture models. Pio is built on machine learning, which thrives on data, so the more you can record and provide, the better Pio gets at delivering results for you. Some of our customers don’t bother with fert activities and are happy with the pasture measurements. We recommend entering data because, in due time, reports will be developed, and this is mainly from feedback from valued customers like yourself. You can also drill down into the information and make grazing decisions based on the days since fert was last applied.

      Question 37: Does Pasture.io generate a report indicating how many kg of N was used to produce 1 kg DM or the total DM produced per paddock on the farm?

      Answer 37: No, not at this point. Please request a feature at support@pasture.io if this would benefit your farming.

      Question 38: When I’m entering the fertiliser data, it keeps asking for the price of the fertiliser every time. Can the program not automatically pull up & remember the price from the previous occasion I entered it?

      Answer 38: If you are using the Fertiliser preset and save the price/cost, the amount should pull up the next time you select the preset for another fertiliser application.

      Question 39: I'm unable to create a free farm, even if the time zone is selected?

      Answer 39: The client must select “Country” first and then the “time zone”.

      Question 40: Can we set individual paddock pre-grazing targets?

      Answer 40: Currently, the pre and post-grazing targets are set at the farm level and can be set on a per-month basis. The best way to graze above or below the pre and post-grazing targets is to ignore the maths and allocate more or less pasture to the animals for the relevant grazing.

      If the farmer measures paddock pre-grazing covers, they can enter these as readings. It is recommended to enter these numbers into Pasture.io as it helps Pio learn from the farmer's ground truthed data.

      Question 41: How do you input the Cover for the Manual Reading?

      Answer 41: 

      1. If the date doesn’t already have a reading, they can select the paddocks from the map or list, hold shift for multiple paddocks, or click the Select All button on the action bar. Once the paddocks are selected, click the New Reading button on the action bar.
      2. If the date already has a reading, as seen on the Readings page, navigate to the relevant reading, click on the edit button at the bottom of the list, add or edit the readings, and click the save button.

      Question 42: Is it assumed that milking times are all times that aren't covered by feedslots? Or is there a specific place to record/schedule milkings?

      Answer 42: Correct, although the app doesn't track milking times, it can be assumed at specific feed slots' start and end times. Any feed fed out during milking, such as concentrates in the dairy, is typically attributed to a feed slot.

      Question 43: How do you account for cases where a herd is rotated through different sections of a single paddock? Would you add a feedslot for each section, or play around with day/night feeds?

      Answer 43: You create individual grazings with the feed slots and the start and end date. For example:

      Paddock A is grazed at night time and has two grazings. You would therefore set the start and end date to cover the two days of grazings, but only select the night feed slot on both days.

      Paddock B has 3 potential feeds of pasture and it doesn't matter when this paddock is grazed. The farmer chooses to graze the paddock tonight, tomorrow day, and tomorrow night by setting the start and end dates for the period, but only selecting the relevant feed slots.

      Question 44: Is there an option to set monthly targets for individual paddocks (or paddocks tagged with something)?

      Answer 44: No, there is no option. If you wish to put in a feature request, please send a detailed request to support@pasture.io

      Question 45: If you added a fertilisation, would you typically set the ‘delay satellite imagery’ to match the ‘withholding’ period?

      Answer 45: No, typically you would not want to delay the satellite reading in a mature pasture sward when you have applied a fertilisation withholding. Furthermore, it is not possible to set a delay satellite imagery when creating a fertilisation record, and this delay can only be set when creating a paddock spraying or planting record.

      Question 46: When you select ‘delay satellite imagery’, does it exclude readings from that paddock from the whole-of-farm averages?

      Answer 46: When you select 'delay satellite reading' it stops the satellite images downloading and processing images for that paddock. It also stops the paddock producing pasture readings. So, yes, it excludes the readings from that paddock from the whole-of-farm averages.

      Question 47: How would you manage a plant like chicory, which in this example case on a farm is treated as both a crop and pasture?

      Answer 47: If the paddock is grazed as a Pasture, then the Used For should be set to Forage (Pasture). If the farmer does not want the chicory paddock measured by the satellites, they can try selecting the paddock Used For as Forage (Other). I would advise that the paddock Used For be set to Forage (Pasture) for chicory and Forage (Other) for something more experimental like lucerne, sorghum, etc.

      Question 48: The customer is a Beef farmer and moves livestock daily on average and has around 500 to 760mm of rainfall per year. They have recorded rainfall as low as 380mm/yr how would this affect the results?

      Answer 48: Given their rainfall (i.e. assumption of lower cloud cover), they might fit well into the Weekly Grazer, which is essentially the same as the Daily Grazer but without the near-daily satellite flyovers. In terms of how this would affect the results of the model, they might see significantly lower pasture covers and growth rates if there is no supplemental irrigation for the lower rainfall.

      Question 49: A farmer has over 50% of their feed has been from feed troughs due to low rainfall. Can PIO still provide value in this circumstance?

      Answer 49: The short answer is, absolutely, Pio can provide valuable insights in these circumstances!

      The longer answer is that farmers often face challenging periods due to low rainfall, snow cover, or excessively wet conditions. During such times, having precise pasture data can be pivotal. Many clients manage 100% rainfed (dryland) farms or experience lengthy periods of ungrazable conditions. Whether their livestock is housed in barns on total mixed rations (TMR), given partial mixed rations (PMR), or fed through feed troughs, Pio's information can lead to improved decision-making. It's not just about grazing efficiency but risk mitigation, financial optimisation, and sustainable farming. Even a 1% improvement or one well-informed decision can make a substantial difference in outcomes for the farmer whether they are grazing for 12 or 3 months of the year.

      Question 50: How would you use Pio to make a grazing rotation timeline decision for a case where you want to graze 10 paddocks over 25 days?

      Answer 50: To make a grazing rotation timeline decision for grazing 10 paddocks over 25 days using Pio, you'd approach it systematically.

      1. Examine Pasture Growth Rate & Livestock Demand: Start by assessing the growth rate in each paddock. Ensure it aligns with the grazing demand to provide adequate feed for the livestock. Assessing the pasture growth rate demand from the herd vs the actual growth rate of the paster can be done by viewing the pasture demand indicator when creating a new grazing record.
      2. Use Pasture Feed Wedges: These visual representations will guide you on which paddocks have the most available pasture and should be grazed first. Paddocks with less available pasture can be given additional growth time. Ideally, each of your paddocks is growing along the target cover line, which is set in the farm settings by setting an appropriate pre and post grazing cover for each month.
      3. Set Pre & Post-Grazing Targets: Define your desired pre and post-grazing covers to guide the duration of grazing in each paddock. This is the same target monthly covers that also provides a target cover line on the feed wedge.
      4. Record the Grazings: This will ensure you achieve a consistent grazing period across all paddocks, whether by subdividing or combining them as necessary and then viewing the feedback on metrics such as days since grazed or area allocation.
      5. Adjust Based on Real-Time Data: Continuously monitor the paddocks using Pio. Weather conditions, among other factors, can affect pasture growth, so it's crucial to be flexible and adjust your rotation timeline as needed. To do this, you might have a few options available, such as increasing or decreasing the grazing area, allocating more or less pasture or supplements such as concentrates, hay, silage, etc, or increasing or decreasing the herd size.

      Question 51: Can you measure silage surplus in Pasture.io?

      Answer 51: You can see when paddocks are growing surplus pasture by viewing the feed wedge. This tool helps in earmarking paddocks to lock up for silage or hay harvesting. When you record the harvest record, enter the amount that was taken off the paddocks and this will help Pio learn.

      Question 52: Apart from inconsistent grazing activities and cloud cover, is there anything else that could cause satellites to continuously indicate more grass than there actually is?

      Answer 52: Please read this article on accuracy of automatic (satellite-backed) pasture readings: https://help.pasture.io/accuracy-automatic-satellite-measurements

      Question 53: We are about to get some Gallagher virtual fencing collars. Will these integrate into the Pasture.ioplatform?

      Answer 53: We are hardware agnostic. So, yes, the farmer would need to put pressure on Gallagher or any other hardware technology to reach out to us to start an integration.

      Question 54: Does Pio receive the satellite readings instantly, or is there a bit of delay between the flyover and the readings showing up on Pio?

      Answer 54: After the satellite flyover of the farm capturing the image, the data is downloaded to earth, the image supplier gets the image, processes the image, and then it is available to us for further processing. This process can be as short as six hours, but may take 24/48 hours. Typically the process completes in about 12 hours.

      Question 55: When I open Pio on my phone do I need to log in every time.

      Answer 55: Not required, the credentials are saved in the browser. Unless you clean the history, you do not require to login again.

      Question 56: What is the 'preset' field when adding a fertilisation? Does it generate a list of past fertilisations?

      Answer 56: A fertilisation Preset is something you can save a lot of repetitive fields to. For example, if you apply a lot urea, you might save the fert record with the Preset as called Urea, and the element N selected at 46% N, and the spreading rate at 100 Kg/ha. Then the next time you create a record, you only have to select the paddocks for fertilisation and then apply the preset which will populate all the fields you have saved to the preset.

      Question 57: Could there be a reason why a farm is experiencing higher growths rates than what Pio is telling them? Something to do with spring or seasonal perhaps?

      Answer 57: It could be a number of factors. Grazings haven't been maintained, the weather data feeding the model might be poor quality, Pio's machine learning may not have seen (learnt) the scenario to provide a growth rate close to what is happening, change in season which Pio has not caught quick enough, etc. etc. all assumptions without context, hard to know and all might not be a valid reason.

      Question 58: How do users enter irrigations?

      Answer 58: That feature does not exist. The user can assign irrigation type to each paddock, and this information helps the models understand if the paddock is irrigated or not. If recording irrigations is a feature you want, then please submit a detailed feature request to support@pasture.io

      Question 59: How many satellites do we get flyovers from? What's the difference between the ones we're tracking on that globe image on the farm dashboard and the ones in e.g. '16 farm scans from 8 satellites'?

      Answer 59: There are approx. 200 satellites we work with. If a farm has had 16 scans, they must be new as that is not many scans. With your example, the 16 images have been acquired by 8 different satellites.

      Generally the satellites are in orbits so that they pass over the ground at 9:30 - 11:30 am (local solar time) every 90 minutes. But as the image is only 25km wide the 200 satellites are separated by half a minute apart so that all of the Earth's surface is captured.

      However as the orbits degrade over time, this balance changes and sometimes you miss a day then you might get three images on the same day. This also explains why on what looks like a cloud free day, you may have missed a satellite image. However, more often than not, the day might look clear, but there is a very thing layer of atmospheric mist obscuring the satellite capturing a clear image.

      Question 60: When adding a beef herd that consists of both cows and heifers, should we check 'yes' or 'no' for lactating? I'm guessing no as this is more so relevant for dairy herds

      Answer 60: I would say no. The reason behind the selecting whether lactating or not is if the farmer wants to attribute energy requirements to milk production. If the beef herd is lactating but they don't want to see all the lactating options, they can simply attribute any energy requirements to maintenance.

      Question 61: Is there any value in a new user adding historical grazings records, or will the historical pasture measurements tell the models everything they need to know?

      Answer 61: Yes, there is always some level of value in historical data. There is even greater value if the grazings are entered along with historical pasture readings. In some cases, farmers will provide us with years of grazings and pasture readings, which we can use to help Pio learn their farm. Remember, Pio's models are machine learning using neural networks, so the more information Pio knows the better it gets.

      Question 62: Can you bulk add grazings?

      Answer 62: There is no current way for the user to bulk add grazings. However, if the data is extensive and in a spreadsheet format, we can inject it into the database, but this is expensive and requires engineering resources and something we can do on a once off occasion to help the user upload all of their historical data.

      Question 63: A question about the 'virtual fence' feature that's being worked on. Will you be able to see the exact cover, growth etc. of the virtually fenced areas or will it just be the average of the whole paddock divided by the proportion of the fenced area? E.g. if the the cover of the paddock is 3000KgDM/ha and we virtually fence it in half, will we just get the cover of each half at 1500KgDM/ha or will it be exact and unique to the half that is fenced? The question has come from a customer who has very hilly topography where one end of a paddock is completely different to another

      Answer 63: At this stage, the virtual fence feature is for calculating the area (i.e. hectares or acres) on either side of the virtual fence line. You can add many virtual fences to a paddock thus subdividing the paddock into multiple areas.

      Question 64: Is there a way to obtain updated pictures of the farm from the satellites?

      Answer 64: Our system doesn't access or update traditional photographic images. Instead, we use data streams from satellite sensors to create a colourised representation of the farm. These aren't actual photos but visual interpretations of various data bands from the satellite optics.

      If you're referring to the satellite base map, this would be a feature request to enable other base maps besides Google's. Please send your feature requests to support@pasture.io

      Question 65: Is there a way to check if there was a satellite delay for certain paddocks on a specific date in the past?

      Answer 65: The record (planting or spraying) itself will hold the number of days for the delay satellite readings.

      Question 66: I've got a customer who's grazings are quite variable. Example 1 they might allocate 75% of paddock A for the day feed and 33% of paddock B for the night feed. Example 2 they might graze a single paddock each day for 3 days (one third each day). I thought that extending the days of the feed slot for example 2 would be a solution, but it won't work because there are other examples where they might graze a single paddock each day for 5 days - can't have a different feed slot for every grazing event (I don't think?)

      Answer 66: Don't overthink the grazing planner in V2, it is different from the powerful lever-pulling V1 grazing planner that still needs to migrate across to V2. The most important thing about the V2 grazing planner is registering the grazings of when a paddock was grazed and aligning that as best as possible with the one grazing entry.

      • Example 1: I don't get this. I would need to ask the question of what happens to the remaining 25% of Paddock A? And the remaining 66% of Paddock B?
      • Example 2: Is the Paddock being grazed for both the Day and Night feeds for 3 days? If so, select Day and Night feed slots and extend the start-finish dates to record the 6 grazings. If not, and the Paddock is being grazed only on the day feeds, select the day feed slots and extend the start-finish dates to cover the 3 consecutive days.

      Question 67: What is the best way to handle a planting of chicory for the purpose of grazing once grown (50-60 days later)? What is the best Used For to set? Would you still want these paddocks to be measured for cover and growth during their growth, or only once the 50-60 days is up?

      Answer 67: This is up to the user, they could set the delay satellite readings to last until whenever there is complete ground cover, and if they are not happy with the initial reading, go and adjust the pasture reading manually to help Pio understand and learn the farmer's conditions.

      Question 68: For the plant species chicory, would you keep the paddock's Used For as Forage (Pasture) and add a satellite delay? Or, If they still wanted to visually survey but not see pasture readings, would it best to set Used For to Forage (Other)?

      Answer 68: Some people are happy to keep chicory as a pasture in Pio. It does grow similarly. It might be different if it is a monoculture, but if it is grown with something like ryegrass, it performs pretty well in Pio. It is up to the user to decide and work through if they're happy with those numbers or not and that is ultimately what they choose to set the paddocks Used For to.

      Question 69: What are some possible explanations for a cover reading of 1400 on a paddock the day of a harvest and then 1981 8 days later? Can that kind of growth occur in that time period? I don't know if it was irrigated or not. Could it be that the 'Cover Harvested' number was incorrectly entered?

      Answer 69: It could also be a green regrowth after a somewhat yellow-looking post-harvest paddock telling Pio there is more growth than there actually is. It could be that the paddock pasture cover recorded is wrong, It could be that Pio is being overly optimistic. These are all assumptions without knowing any more.

      The calculation (1981-1400)/8 = 73 KgDM/ha.day growth rate.

      I always set the cutter bar on the mower to the top of my gumboot toe, which I always measured as 1500 KgDM/ha, so, (1981-1500)/8 = 60 KgDM/ha.day growth rate, which is probably not too far-fetched?

      At the end of the day, getting stuck on individual details like this is only looking for trouble (such as Pio's flaws) rather than getting on, working with Pio, and ultimately benefiting from a constant stream of data feedback to compliment what is happening on the ground.

      Question 70: How does Pio handle circumstances where a single herd is split across paddocks? I.e. a herd of 100 with 70 heads grazing in paddock A and 30 heads grazing in paddock B at the same time. Is there a way to tell Pio how many heads are in each paddock?

      Answer 70: In V1 grazing planner, yes. In V2 grazing planner, not yet.

      Question 71: In cases where milkers are fed concentrate during milking, is it okay to set up a feed slot for this without entering a related grazing? What is the best way to handle this in V2? Set up a third feed slot and attribute the % feed?

      Answer 71: It's an unusual practice to attribute concentrate to its own feed slot and would present more record upkeep. You typically attribute the concentrate during milking to the grazing feed slots. (i.e. concentrate fed during the morning milking would be balanced with the day's pasture ration).

      Question 72: A beef-only farmer moves his herds a variable number of times - it might be 3 times today and 5 times tomorrow. He currently has each herd set with a single 24-hour feed slot. If he selected multiple paddocks for that feed slot, how well does Pio average the grazing across those paddocks without being told 30% of feed was from paddock A, 30% from paddock B and 40% from paddock C? I understand that adding extra feed slots solves this problem, but I think it might be a little difficult to set a different number of feed slots everyday for each herd. What's the best thing to do in this case?

      Answer 72: In short, the app doesn't allow for an elastic grazing schedule outside the boundaries of a feed slot.

      To answer your first question about whether the programme averages feed:

      • If a grazing is made for a paddock on one feed slot and saved for that period, the paddock will graze down to the post-grazing cover level set in the monthly targets.
      • If a grazing is made for a paddock on multiple feed slots and saved for that period, the cover will incrementally decrease over time.

      Question 73: Are most of the pasture models built around ryegrass? Would there be much of a difference if paddocks were predominantly some other type of grass?

      Answer 73: If grass grows like ryegrass, then there won't be much difference. Of course you could split hairs with the difference, but Pio's models have had great success with a range of pasture species including fescue, cocksfoot, ryegrass, kikuyu, chicory, plantain, oats, millet, clover, etc.

      Question 74: What is the best way to see what was taken off a paddock by cows? Is it to look at the Total Feed Available of the paddock on the feed wedge, and subtract the grazing day's amount from the previous day's?

      Answer 74: (average cover in KgDM/ha of the paddock the day before grazing) - (average cover KgDM/ha of the paddock the day after grazing) * area = amount of dry matter consumed in that grazing. 

      Question 75: Are there some things that all farms introducing robotic milking would need to change with respect to grazing? I just spoke with one farm that has introduced robots, and he's had to make some changes to grazing (which he says have been logistically complicated). If there are certain grazing changes that all farms would need to make, I was wondering if we could put together something to guide them on how best to optimise Pio for robotic milking operations?

      Answer 75: Feed slots might change from 2 per day (i.e. Day and Night grazings) to 3 or 4 per day (i.e. A,B,C,D grazing).

      Question 76: If you're applying effluent to a paddock over a 4 day period, I assume you'd record this as a fertilisation? Would you also change the irrigation type of the paddock, even though it's only for 4 days at a time?

      Answer 76: 

      1. Yes, you would enter this as a fertilisation, and the farmer can add this either by the following ways:
        1. As once fertilisation (i.e. one date), probably choosing the last date.
        2. As four separate fertilisation records. If it were me, I would choose the first option as the application is only over 4 days.
        3. A bonus option... add a start and end date to the fertilisation record - would be a feature request as it the function doesn't currently exist...
      2. In regards to irrigation status:
        1. If the paddock is irrigated with effluent frequently, you could keep the status as irrigated.
        2. If the paddock is not irrigated with effluent frequently and is a dryland paddock, just keep as dryland and not worry about the irrigation status for now.

      Question 77: In addition to pasture grazing, a farmer feeds each cow about 2 kgDM Pasture Silage, 4 kgDM of concentrates (80/20 mix of PKE/DDG) and 1 kgDM Molasses every day. Is the ability to record these things still only with V1 grazing planner? I'm guessing it's not too important for the purpose of grazing decisions so long as the dry matter targets are set correctly, but perhaps important for tracking status of herds? I've read that the best thing to do for the silage is add a feed slot (but don't assign a grazing - not sure if dry matter target needs to be adjusted) and for the concentrates just assume it's included in the feed slots on either side of the milking. I also read that if they're using a feed pad, they could create an additional paddock for that feed pad. Not too sure what to advise the farmer for this circumstance.

      Answer 77:

      1. Feeding supplements is a V1 feature and will be on the feed sliders in V2 after the KPI work is published.
      2. You are right, if they are simply working with pasture than setting this appropriately is key (even with the supplement feature in the future).
      3. The silage feed slot you mention sounds like a hack from when we did not have the harvest feature. Before the harvest feature, we would tell farmers to graze a paddock as a harvest feed slot, or make a silage herd to graze, so then this would be different to the grazings. It is irrelevant now with the harvest record feature.
      4. Feed pads can be a feed slot, which means the farmer can feed supplements, fodder, etc out on that feed slot. For now, we don’t have the supplementary feeding in V2 so not really necessary.

      Question 78: For zero grazing, I understand that you would record this as a type of harvest for the purpose of pasture measurements?

      Answer 78: For now, you could suggest recording zero grazing as a harvest and selecting the type of harvest as Zero Grazing.

      Question 79: A farmer enters his grazings about a week in advance. Is there a way for him to see somewhere on the feed wedge the pre-grazing cover and residual for the upcoming week? I know the feed wedge is predictive and you can change the date on the grazings to-do panel, but can't find a way to see the pre-grazing cover and residual numbers on the feed wedge

      Answer 79:

      1. If a farmer records their grazings a week in advance, the paddock's pre-grazing cover will show the cover for that date in advance (i.e. the additional days' growth) on the paddock list view and feed wedge.
      2. The post-grazing residual will be grazed to the monthly target cover number. If a satellite reading comes through near the grazing event, this will update the post-grazing residual.
      3. The pasture cover numbers are on the left axis of the feed wedge. Alternatively you can see the pasture cover numbers on the list, which can be sorted in descending order based on pasture cover.

      Question 80: Any thoughts on paddocks with high weed cover resulting in high Pio pasture covers? I'm guessing the satellites have no way of differentiating and this is a farm management problem?

      Answer 80: You’re right, Pio is not trained to look out for paddocks with high weed infestations. If the weeds look very green and are dense across the paddock, this might elevate the pasture reading.

      Question 81: A farm has a dry herd grazing on paddocks outside of its Pio paddocks. For the purpose of his staff not confusing this as the herd having been sold etc, does it make sense to draw up a 'holding paddock' somewhere on the farm (obviously without satellites) and placing the herd in there for a dummy grazing of several months?

      Answer 81: Assuming these paddocks are not mapped, they can map them into Pio (Pio's support staff can help), and then they can record the grazings of the dry herd. As they are not under satellites, these paddocks will not be billed and are free to record paddock activities, including grazings, fertilisations, etc.

      Question 82: What would be the best way to identify worst and best performing paddocks over a set period of time?

      Answer 82: Assuming the performance being judged is pasture growth or the number of grazings over the period, you can do this by filtering the paddock list by a date range.

      1. Set the desired list options.
      2. Select the date range.
      3. The list will take a little bit to load and will present the data, which can be sorted by clicking on the column headings, and the list can be printed or exported as PDF/spreadsheet, etc.

      Question 83: Is there a way to bulk upload fertilisations? And do they have an effect on cover, growth rate etc.? Or is it just for record keeping?

      Answer 83: There is no way to bulk upload in the GUI. This is something we can do in the back end as a once off if someone has years worth of data they want to transfer into our system.

      The fert information does feed into Pio's pasture models. The effect is thought of as a 1 percenter and something like recording Nitrogen applications has the biggest effect as it helps the models understand "greenness" of the pasture sward and has the most significant influence on short term pasture growth.

      Question 84: If you're spraying a paddock with a compound that kills weeds but leaves pasture alone, would you still set a satellite delay? And does Pio assume that a spraying kills pasture?

      Answer 84: If the paddock is still growing pasture, then there is no need to set a satellite delay. It is only the weeds that are dying.

      Pio doesn't assume that sprayings kill pasture. An example of why not is that in the spraying record you can apply a growth hormone such as progib (gibberellic acid) which helps pasture grow - although I doubt we have the data on this for Pio to understand that effect.

      Question 85: Does Type and Equipment Used in a Harvest make any meaningful difference, or is it just for record keeping?

      Answer 85: Just for record keeping and it is a simple addition to the record so why not.

      Question 86: How is the Target Rotation calculated?

      Answer 86: https://help.pasture.io/how-to-use-the-target-rotation-tool

      Question 87: Is there a standard recommendation you give farmers who would have covers consistently in excess of 3000 over winter with up to 80 days since last grazing and low stocking rates? My understanding is it's an issue with saturation in satellite images beyond a certain cover. Is a manual reading override the best and only thing they can do?

      Answer 87: Here are some thoughts:

      1. Having covers consistently in excess of 3000 sounds like they have a lot of feed stored up, well done!
      2. 80 days since last grazing is over the 45 to 60 day limit when Pio's models are challenged, so Pio would be relying a lot on the satellite images, and as you have pointed out would have limitations (due to image saturation of the pasture sward) with the high pasture cover.
      3. Entering manual pasture readings would be one way forward. The other is to not worry about it, as they have a ton of feed on hand and the first quick grazing round in spring will tidy up things in the Pasture.io platform.

      Question 88: How can you view the amount of fertiliser that was spread on each paddock individually within a set period? The only metric I can see in List for fertilisations is 'days since'

      Answer 88: Currently, you need to export the fertiliser index page with all the records into a spreadsheet and then manipulate the data to achieve the per paddock basis.

      Question 89: Would a long days since grazing (over 60) on a given paddock have an impact on the cover readings for another paddock?

      Answer 89: If it’s say 1 or a few paddocks, then it would be marginal. If it were many paddocks, then I believe the impact would be greater but then this observation would be obvious.

      Question 90: If grazings haven't been entered and there have been cloudy days, the next satellite flyover won't simply 'correct' any off readings after the fact, will it? Even if covers are below 3500? 

      Answer 90: You are correct. The next satellite image can steer Pio's reading in the right direction if the satellite image is of the same optical quality as the previous satellite image. BUT, this is rarely the case, as Pio has access to hundreds of satellites, and atmospheric conditions are never the same. Best to maintain the grazing records for best results.

      Question 91: On the virtual fences - what is the expected use case? Am I right in saying the only information it gives is how much land is on either side of a fence?

      Answer 91: Yes that is right. It allows people to allocate the correct area to their animals.

      Question 92: What's the difference between Cover and Net Feed Available?

      Answer 92: Pasture Cover is KgDM/ha - everything above the soil on a per hectare basis, whereas Net Feed Available considers the post grazing residual.

      Question 93: How can you download a report on the past year's growth rates? Purpose is to determine which paddocks should be regrassed (renovated) for the upcoming year. I've looked at the Annual Growth Rates under Reports, but it's a chart and doesn't show per paddock

      Answer 93: Using the paddock list, set a date range filter, and view the average growth rate for each paddock.

      Question 94: When a farmer is looking at the feed wedge to decide which paddocks to graze, which setting/metric/filter should they be looking at to determine whether cows will be underfed or overfed if a particular paddock is selected?

      Answer 94: There are a number of different ways to quickly assess a surplus (overfeeding) or deficit (underfeeding) from a specific paddock. Create a new grazing for the relevant herd from the Grazing to-do list:

      1. Select the desired paddock from the Feed wedge.
      2. Allocate the amount of pasture that corresponds with the the amount of pasture the animal can consume in a day - in this example, 14 KgDM).
      3. Ensure the 14 KgDM at the herd level has an okay pasture demand vs the pasture growth rate target (set in the Monthly target settings). In this example, the 14 KgDM has a 58 KgDM/ha growth rate demand slightly above the target growth rate demand of 50 KgDM/ha. This is okay if growth rates may trend up, but heading into slower growth rates such as winter, you may want to reduce the 14 KgDM per cow to reduce the growth rate demand on the platform.
      4. Once happy with point 2 and 3 above, you can view the number of days worth of grazing. For this example farm, they could reduce the amount of pasture from 14 to 11 KgDM to increase the days grazing available to 1 whole day. Or they could increase the pasture per animal from 14 to 20 KgDM to reduce the number of grazings to 0.5 grazings (i.e. a day or night feed). Keeping in mind what the increase or reduction in pasture might do to the grazing rotation speed, area allocation, and pasture demand vs target growth rate.

      Video Explanation

      Question 95: A farmer who just wants the satellite-backed cover readings. Doesn't want to enter grazings, changes his herds up every day, doesn't care about growth rates, feed wedge, predictions or modelled figures generated with cloudy days model (which would be inaccurate anyway due to no grazing entries). His paddocks seldom exceed 3500. If all he cares about is satellite-backed cover readings (obviously only on clear days) and paddocks rarely exceed 3,500, is there any reason why this wouldn't lead to accurate readings? And can we switch off cloudy days model for an individual farm? Already explained how Pio works and how easy it is. He's not malleable. Apparently he wasn't told the importance of grazings.

      Answer 95: The preference for solely satellite-backed cover readings is noted. To address the need for minimal manual input while maintaining accuracy, we could explore integrating GPS trackers for automated grazing records. It's important to remember that satellite imagery primarily offers reliable insights within the 2000-2500 range. Extending this without additional data can compromise accuracy. Our system is designed for comprehensive data integration to enhance prediction precision. We're committed to delivering a system that aligns with individual requirements. While we advocate for the full utilisation of Pasture.io's features for optimal results, we understand the need for flexibility and are open to tailoring our approach to better fit this farmer's specific needs keeping in mind that we have a tight roadmap ahead.

      Question 96: Is 2000-2500 a reliable range due to the specific satellites Pio uses? Is there future scope for an expanded reliable range?

      Answer 96: These rules of thumb are typical for all spectral images with satellites:

      1. At approx. 2500 the pasture saturates in the image.
      2. Images give you about a 500 kilo range for accuracy and stretching this more loses accuracy.
        1. Pio chooses the 2000-2500 range as it falls roughly in the middle for our farmers and gives us the top end of what satellite images alone can deliver, which get's us closer to the 2800-3200 pre-grazing cover.
        2. Rangeland/extensive graziers are fine around the 500-1000 range and that is where models for these farms are tuned.
          1. This range introduces a lot of soil reflectance which needs to be corrected (i.e. soil colours such as red, yellow, brown, grey, etc. Then you have different reflectance with sands, silts, clays, etc).
      3. 1500 is thought of as the lower end where accuracy is still high if you were to choose a range of say 1500-2000 and let the models do the rest above or below.

      Question 97: Do we have any ability to connect with Tabula (formely Tracmap) to extract fertilisation data for a farm?

      Answer 97: Here are instructions setting up the Tabula/TracMap integration:

      There are two ways this can be done.

      First option:

      1. They will need to give permission to admin@pasture.io, as will their fert contractor if they use one.
      2. And then we hope the maps are compatible (i.e. boundaries and identification)

      Alternative option:

      1. The client can contact Tabula (TracMap) directly and say they want http://Pasture.io access (i.e., consent to data sharing with Pio).
      2. TracMap will need to send us the relevant ID numbers that we need.
      3. And then we hope the maps are compatible (i.e. boundaries and identification)

      Question 98: when someone says "post grazing topping for pasture control" - is this a reference to topping the paddock with manure (a fertilisation), or a type of spraying?

      Answer 98: I assume they mean they run a topper, mower, or mulcher across a paddock after the cows have finished grazing. This practice cleans up surplus residuals and seed heads which helps keep the pasture in a higher quality state being vegetative rather than reproductive. For this, they could record the activity as a Harvest and set the harvest Type (dropdown menu) as "Topping" and then select the appropriate equipment and set the appropriate post residual.

      Question 99: For a paddock that is predominantly chicory (and the user is happy to treat it as Forage (Pasture)), would they enter grazings for this paddock as per normal?

      Answer 99: Yes, if they want the pasture covers to be remotely accurate. Remember, maintaining grazing records is essential for Pio to deliver the best results. We can supply GPS trackers to farmers that wish to automate the entry of grazing records.

      Question 100: A farmer has two herds. One on the paddocks and the other in a feedlot. He harvests pasture and then takes it to the herd in the feedlot. I advised he should record this as a harvest in Pio (and so no need to add the feedlot herd to Pio), but he insists that because it is ‘effectively a grazing’ he would rather enter a grazing. Are there any ramifications for his preference, or do we just take a hardline and maintain that it needs to be a harvest?

      Answer 100: You can record a 'Zero Grazing' as the type of Harvest. Zero Grazing is when you cut and carry grass from a paddock to a feedlot. In the future, the idea is that you could assign the harvest amount to a herd - but this is a feature request and not on the near term roadmap given the amount of priority we are juggling.

      Question 101: A farmer plants chicory, sorghum, oat and barley - partly for grazing but mostly for harvesting. For chicory - I advised it is likely okay to be kept as forage (pasture) as it grows somewhat similarly to ryegrass, but that to keep an eye on readings and manually override if necessary. How about sorghum, oat and barley? Is he going to run into problems if these are kept as forage (pasture)? His main use of Pio is to decide which paddocks to harvest and therefore needs cover readings for all paddocks. But are readings for the sorghum, oat and barley going to be of any use given the models are based on ryegrass?

      Answer 101: Sorghum typically grows too high to hold accuracy with Pio's models. Oat and Barley is somewhat on the experimental side, but if grazed in the vegetative state could also be assigned as Forage (Pasture) and understanding the caveats of these paddocks as a species that is not typical of a pasture. Helping Pio with manual readings would help the model along over the longer term.

      Question 102: Is there anything on Pio that can predict animal weight gain? This was asked when looking at a herd’s targets per day. Is it something that would be part of the KPIs and grazing calculator?

      Answer 102: There isn't a weight gain calculator in Pio. There is a body condition score calculator for dairy breeds, but this is not the same as weight gain. In saying that, you can attribute energy toward weight gain as a nutritional requirement.

      Question 103: Is the Inventory under Feed a completely manual feature? Is there a way to automatically add amounts harvested into Inventory?

      Answer 103: Connecting the Feed Inventory with Harvests is on the development roadmap. This connection sits down the rung below the KPI's, and grazing planner feed sliders - not far down, but an unknown amount of time before we get there.

      Question 104: The grazing herd is in a paddock for either 24 hours or 48 hours. For 48 hours, can he just change the finish date to the following day? I assume this will split the paddock in two for purposes of the models, as is the case when dairy herds have e.g. two successive AM feeds in the same paddock?

      Answer 104: Yes, this is correct. If the feed slot is a 24 hour grazing, you would then make two 24 hour grazings by adjusting the start and finish date appropriately.

      Question 105: How do you use the powerful Target Rotation Tool in Pio:

      Answer 105: There is a thorough explainer article of how to use the Target Rotation Tool found at this website: https://help.pasture.io/how-to-use-the-target-rotation-tool

      Additional information:

      • Pasture.io is often shortened to Pio. Pio is what Pasture.io's models and applications are called.
      • Tabula was formally known as TracMap before they changed their name.
      • Paddocks are known as camps in South Africa.
      • Herds can be called mobs or groups of animals.
      • Some of our users work with different units of measurement, such as acres/hectares, kilograms/pounds, etc.
      • Some features are only found in the Version 1 (V1) app and not the Version 2 (V2) app, as they are still being migrated across. These features included the comprehensive ruminant nutrition builder, key performance indicator table (KPIs).