Grazing Wedge, an online tool for managing pature-based dairy farms

Grazing wedge user guide

Search the public farm reports

The farms included in this table have made data available to the public. Summary tables offer a full-season report displaying grazing dates with growth rate and yield harvested as well as other pertinent management practices (supplement fed, milk production, etc). The Harvested yield table shows yearly yield to date while the Grazing wedge provides graphic representation of the data for grazing management. To view data for a particular farm, click view under Summary table, Harvested yield or Grazing wedge.

Summary table

  1. Click view in the table under Summary table for the farm you are viewing.
  2. The year automatically populates to the current year. To see content from a different year, choose the desired year in the Select year drop-down menu.
  3. To see summary table data from a different farm, click the Select a different farm link, which will take you back to the public farm reports table.
  4. If the full table is not shown, move the scroll bar beneath it to the left or right to view more.

Harvested yield

  1. Click view in the table under Harvested yield for the farm you are viewing.
  2. The year automatically populates to the current year. To see harvested yield data from a different year, choose the desired year in the Select year drop-down menu.
  3. To see content from a different farm, click the Select a different farm link, which will take you back to the public farm reports table.

Grazing wedge

  1. 1. Click view in the table under Grazing wedge for the farm you are viewing.
  2. 2. The date automatically populates to the most recent date entered. To see grazing wedge content from a different date, choose the desired date in the Select date drop-down menu.
  3. 3. To see content from a different farm, click the Select a different farm link, which will take you back to the public farm reports table.

Create an account

To input data and view reports for your own farm(s), you need to create a user account.

  1. Select the Create an account link on the Home page under the login textboxes.
  2. Input your information into the form. All fields are required.
  3. Click Create.
  4. If you receive an error message highlighted in red, please correct the error and resubmit.
    1. If you receive an error message stating the email address is already associated with a grazing wedge account, click Reset password to have a reset password email sent to you.
  5. After creating an account, you will be taken to the My account page, where you can edit your user information or add farms to your account.

Adding farms

  1. You can access the Add farm page via two areas on the grazing wedge:
    1. Under My account, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Add new farm.
    2. On the Farm reports page, scroll to the bottom of the table, and click Add new farm.
  2. Enter the name for the farm. (Example: Jones Dairy Farm)
  3. Choose whether the data entered for the farm will be private or available to the public by selecting the radio button next to the desired option. If you choose public, other visitors can view your farm data. However, personal/profile data is not viewable by others and always secure.
  4. The Notes and Default values section is not required, but the information could be helpful when viewing and analyzing data later. These values and summary data are used to prepopulate the data entry screen when you enter paddock data. If these values are different for a day you are entering paddock data, modify the values on the Enter paddock data screen.
  5. Click Create.

Adding paddocks for a farm

  1. You can access the Add paddocks page via two areas on the grazing wedge:
    1. After creating a farm, you will automatically be taken to the Add paddocks to farm page.
    2. Under My account, scroll to the bottom of the page to the My farms table. Choose the farm you’d like to add paddocks to, and click the Farm name. Scroll down past the farm information to the Farm paddocks table. Click Add paddocks.
  2. Choose the number of paddocks you want to add from the drop-down menu.
  3. Click Continue.
  4. Enter the paddock name, size plant type and rotation status for each paddock.
  5. Click Add paddocks.

You will only have to do these steps once for each farm unless paddocks need to be edited, added or deleted.

Editing paddocks for a farm

  1. Under My account, scroll to the bottom of the page to the My farms table. Choose the farm you’d like to edit paddocks for, and click the Farm name. Scroll down past the farm information to the Farm paddocks table. Click the paddock name for the paddock you want to edit.
    1. You may change the name, size, plant type or rotation status of the paddock.
    2. Click Update. (Note: This change will only affect the data going forward from the date of the change; it will not affect data that has already been entered.)

View farm reports

To view your farm data, click Farm reports on the left navigation menu. Summary tables offer a full-season report displaying grazing dates with growth rate and yield harvested as well as other pertinent management practices (supplement fed, milk production, etc). The Harvested yield table shows yearly yield to date while the Grazing wedge provides graphic representation of the data for grazing management.

Summary table

  1. Click view in the table under Summary table for the farm you are viewing.
  2. The year automatically populates to the current year. To see summary table data from a different year, choose the desired year in the Select year drop-down menu.
  3. To see summary table data from a different farm, click the Select a different farm link, which will take you back to the farm reports table.
  4. To view the complete table, move the scroll bar beneath the table left or right.

Harvested yield

  1. Click view in the table under Harvested yield for the farm you are viewing.
  2. The year automatically populates to the current year. To see harvested yield content from a different year, choose the desired year in the Select year drop-down menu.
  3. To see harvested yield data from a different farm, click the Select a different farm link, which will take you back to the farm reports table.

Grazing wedge

  1. Click view in the table under Grazing wedge for the farm you are viewing.
  2. The date automatically populates to the most recent date entered. To see grazing wedge data from a different date, choose the desired date in the Select date drop-down menu.
  3. To see grazing wedge data from a different farm, click the Select a different farm link, which will take you back to the farm reports table.

Entering paddock data

  1. Click Enter paddock data on the left navigation menu.
  2. Choose a farm from the Select farm drop-down menu. If you only have one farm, your farm should already be selected by default.
  3. Enter a date for Measurement date. The date will default to today’s date, but you can enter data from previous dates as well. You cannot enter data for a future date.
  4. Click Continue.
  5. The descriptive data is the default data you entered when creating the farm. If the information has not changed, click the Keep default descriptive data and continue to Step 3 button. If any of the information has changed for this measurement date, change it in the appropriate box. Once you have made the changes, click Continue at the bottom of the page.
  6. Enter the data within the data table. Enter the amount of dry matter yield in the Dry matter yield textbox for each paddock.
  7. Although the size (acres/hectares), plant type and rotation status will most likely not change, you can make a change to this content on the table, if necessary.
    1. To change size, type the new size in acres/hectares in the textbox for the appropriate paddock.
    2. To change the plant type, select the radio button to the left of the correct plant type for the appropriate paddock.
    3. To change the rotation status, select the radio button to the left of the correct status for the paddock. An inactive paddock with gray-out on the screen, and it will not be used for data recording.
  8. Click Continue. You will be taken to the grazing wedge page that shows the grazing wedge for the data you just entered. If you notice an error in the data, you may edit it.

Editing your paddock data

  1. You can edit paddock data via two areas on the grazing wedge:
    1. After entering data for a particular date, you will automatically be taken to the grazing wedge page. At the bottom of the grazing wedge page, there is a Data table.
      1. To edit the data, click Edit next to the paddock you want to change.
      2. Make the changes necessary, and click Update.
      3. If no changes are needed, click Cancel.
    2. Under My account, scroll to the bottom of the page to the My farms table. Choose the farm you’d like to edit paddocks for, and click the Farm name. Scroll down past the Farm paddocks table to the Farm data table.
      1. To edit the data, click the Measurement date.
      2. Make any changes to the descriptive data necessary, or scroll down to the Data table if you just need to edit measurements.
      3. Click Edit next to the paddock you want to change.
      4. Make the changes necessary, and click Update.
      5. If no changes are needed, click Cancel.