Set up feed and opening stock

Why use this guide

Use this workflow before routine feeding begins. It connects six records that serve different purposes:

1. a farm stock product identifies the feed and its purchasing/stock unit;
2. the feed catalogue adds nutrition and feed-specific metadata;
3. a stock receipt records a real physical delivery when stock is tracked;
4. a ration defines a reusable per-animal daily recipe;
5. a feed plan assigns a ration to a physical pen for farm-local dates; and
6. a feeding event records what was actually offered and can consume tracked stock.

A product, ration or plan does not prove that feed was delivered. A stock receipt is not a feeding event. Keeping those records separate makes stock, nutrition, cost and plan-versus-actual reports explainable.

Before you start

Collect the following information:

• every feed product used by the farm and a consistent product code;
• its purchase unit and the base unit used for stock or feeding;
• whether the product is held in measurable stock or supplied without an on-hand ledger;
• dry-matter percentage and other nutrition values used by the farm;
• current physical stock and the supporting delivery documents for tracked items;
• ration quantities per animal per day;
• the physical pen that will receive the ration, its current animals and the plan dates; and
• supplier, location and cost information when available.

Feed catalogue, ration and plan changes require Manage feed catalogue authority. Receiving stock requires Manage inventory. Recording actual feeding requires Record feed data. Owners and Managers normally hold the management permissions; other roles depend on their assigned farm authority.

1. Add each farm feed product

1. Select the correct farm.
2. Open Manage → Add from library → Products.
3. Choose Feed when the category is available and search by exact product name or code.
4. Add only products the farm uses. Search first so the same feed is not represented by several names.
5. If the shared library has no correct entry, create a farm product from Inventory → Products → Add product.

A copied library item becomes an independent farm record. Review it before use, especially when bulk adoption assigned the generic base unit Unit.

2. Decide whether to track on-hand stock

Open the product through Inventory → Feed Stock or Inventory → Products and inspect its stock settings.

Choose Track stock when Farmlync should maintain a physical balance and deduct it as feeding is recorded. Typical examples are purchased concentrates, minerals, silage held in a measured store, or bagged feed.

Choose the non-tracked option only when an on-hand ledger would not represent the farm’s practice, such as grazed grass, freshly cut forage or contractor-supplied material that is recorded for intake/cost but not held in Farmlync stock.

The choice changes operational behavior:

Setting	Effect
Stock tracked	Receipts create batches and on-hand quantity. Feeding consumes stock. Locations, stock takes, reorder information and negative-stock checks apply.
Not stock tracked	No batch or on-hand balance is kept. Receive Stock is unavailable and feeding does not deduct inventory. The product can still be used in the feed catalogue, rations and feeding events.

Do not receive a planned ration quantity as opening stock. Only a real physical balance supported by farm evidence should enter inventory.

3. Complete feed-product and nutrition details

Open Operations → Feed → Overview, then choose Feed Catalog, or open the catalogue route from a feed-record shortcut. Check the feed entry associated with the stock product.

Verify the product identity, feed type, unit, dry-matter percentage and any other nutrition values used in ration calculations. Also check the current cost basis when Farmlync should estimate ration and feeding cost.

Dry matter affects:

• the ingredient’s DM kg/day;
• its percentage of ration dry matter;
• total ration DM and DM percentage; and
• plan previews and some feed analysis.

A missing dry-matter value is shown as incomplete; do not treat the resulting ration DM as complete. A missing or incompatible price produces an incomplete cost; it is not a zero-cost ingredient.

4. Receive opening stock for tracked feeds

For each tracked product with real stock on hand:

1. Open Inventory → Feed Stock and choose the product’s Receive action, or use Receive Feed Stock on Feed Overview.
2. Confirm the selected feed product and its base unit.
3. Enter the actual Received Date, supplier and supplier reference.
4. Enter a batch or lot when the package/delivery provides one, and an expiry when applicable.
5. Choose Total quantity or Packs / containers to match the delivery evidence. In pack mode, enter pack count, quantity per pack and purchase-unit name; Farmlync calculates the base quantity.
6. Enter the invoice-line total or cost per base unit when known.
7. Select the physical Storage location and add receipt notes or a supporting PDF/image when useful.
8. Save, then reopen the product and compare Stock on hand with the physical balance.

Use Set up medicines and health stock for a field-by-field explanation of the shared receipt controls. Clinical traceability requirements in that guide do not automatically apply to ordinary feed, although real batch, expiry and supplier evidence should still be recorded when present.

For one supplier docket containing several feeds, use Inventory → Deliveries → Receive a delivery. For ordered feed, receive against the purchase-order line so Farmlync updates its remaining quantity.

5. Build a ration

Open Operations → Feed → Rations and choose Create Ration.

Ration details

Control	What to enter
Name *	A clear recipe name, up to 200 characters. Use consistent capitalization and spacing.
Description	Optional operating notes, up to 1,000 characters.

Ingredients

Add one row per distinct feed in the recipe:

Control	What to enter or check
Feed N *	Select the farm feed product by name or code. Use each product once in a recipe.
Fresh kg/day *	As-fed kilograms for one animal per day. The form allows zero or a positive value with up to two decimal places; use a meaningful positive amount for an ingredient that belongs in the recipe.
DM %	Dry-matter percentage from the catalogue or a recipe-specific override, between 0 and 100 with up to two decimal places.
DM kg/day	Calculated from fresh weight and effective DM. When DM is known, changing this value recalculates fresh kilograms.
% of ration DM	Calculated share of total ration dry matter. It is not a stock percentage.
Cost/day	Calculated per-animal daily cost when compatible price information exists.

Use Add for another ingredient and the row’s remove action for one added in error. Keep at least one ingredient.

Before saving, check Total as-fed, total DM, overall DM % and cost per animal/day. An incomplete DM or price marker means a source value is missing. Correct the feed metadata rather than filling a convenient number merely to clear the marker.

Choose Create, reopen the ration and verify its ingredients. Deactivate a ration when it must no longer be offered for new work. Existing plans and recorded events are not rewritten by deactivation.

6. Create the physical pen and feed plan

Open Operations → Feed → Plans and choose Create Plan.

Control	What to enter or check
Pen *	Select the physical pen that receives the ration. The picker shows its current animal count. Use Create new pen if it does not yet exist.
Ration *	Select the active recipe to assign.
Ration summary	Review fresh kg, DM, cost and the quantity scaled to the pen’s current headcount. Missing nutrition or pricing remains marked incomplete.
Effective From *	First farm-local day for the plan; it defaults to today.
Effective To	Optional final farm-local day. Leave blank for an open-ended plan. It cannot precede the start.
Feeds per day	Whole number from 1 to 12, default 1. It supplies the suggested portion per feeding; two feeds suggests half the daily ration each time.
Notes	Optional instructions, up to 1,000 characters.

Choose Create and verify the pen, ration, dates and status in the list. If Farmlync reports an overlapping plan, review the existing date ranges for that pen rather than creating another schedule over the same period.

A feed plan defines expected work; it does not consume stock or create feeding events. Moving animals between pens changes the current roster, so keep pen membership accurate.

7. Record the first completed feeding

After feed is actually offered, open Operations → Feed → Feeding Events.

• Choose Individual to record one animal.
• Choose Batch to record a physical pen/group feeding.

Select either a saved ration or one direct feed item, enter the farm-local feeding date/time and the actual as-fed kilograms. For a ration event, the entered total is distributed across the saved recipe for stock impact. Review the displayed stock effect before saving.

Record a refusal only when leftovers were measured. An explicit zero means the farm measured no refusal; blank means refusal was not recorded. For a later measurement, use Record Refusal on the saved event rather than creating a second feeding event.

If Farmlync warns that tracked stock will become negative, do not acknowledge it routinely. Check the product mapping, receipt, unit, quantity and physical balance first. Any approved negative-stock exception should be reconciled promptly.

The current application can accept a future feeding timestamp and consume stock immediately. Treat feeding events as completed work and do not use them to schedule future activity.

8. Verify stock, plan and actual feeding

After saving the first event:

1. Find it in Feeding Events at the expected farm-local time and target.
2. Open Details and verify the frozen ration ingredient quantities.
3. Check Inventory → Feed Stock for the expected deduction on tracked products. Non-tracked products intentionally have no stock deduction.
4. Return to Feed Overview and check today’s plan progress, off-plan quantity, recent event and stock forecast.
5. Open Feed → Variance, select the physical pen, farm-local date range and a representative positive animal count.
6. Review plan coverage, planned and actual kilograms, refusal coverage, ingredient variance and available cost evidence.

An off-plan event is recorded work, but it does not count as completion of the planned ration. Check its pen, ration/product and occurrence date before altering the plan.

9. Interpret feed variance carefully

Feed Variance compares covered plan days only. Events outside plan coverage are excluded from the displayed Actual value. When the report says there are days without a plan, inspect Feeding Events before concluding that feed was not delivered.

Missing refusal is treated as zero for the comparison. Missing ingredient prices can make displayed cost totals partial. Historical plan calculations can also use current ration/product information where no immutable version exists. Use variance as an operational investigation tool and correct the underlying plan, event, unit, price or stock record; do not invent balancing events to force zero variance.

Completion checklist

• Each feed has one correct farm product and feed-catalog identity.
• Base units and stock-tracking choices match the physical process.
• Nutrition and cost metadata are complete enough for the intended calculations.
• Every tracked opening balance is backed by a real receipt and location.
• The ration contains the correct distinct ingredients and daily per-animal quantities.
• An active plan assigns that ration to the correct physical pen and dates.
• A feeding event exists only for work that actually occurred.
• Tracked stock changed as expected, and refusal/variance evidence is understood.

Continue with Feed, Feed overview, Rations, Feed plans, Feeding events, Feed variance and Feed stock.