What is the Monitored Risk Level and how do I set it?
Monitored Risk Level is the AHLU level that represents the highest risk animals in your care, or the AHLU level you wish to monitor. Most sites will have many different cattle populations that they are monitoring.
We recommend setting the Monitored Risk Level to represent the highest risk animals. The Monitored Risk Level is displayed on your dashboard, drives the colours of the cards and sets the SMS alert level.
Remember, the risk level of your cattle will change depending on various factors, and it is important to understand these to ensure you are looking at the correct AHLU level to assess your risk.
For example, production cattle that are usually monitored at AHLU89 will be at a higher risk if the pens are wet. In this case you would use AHLU83 if your pens are wet.
Determining your Monitored Risk Level
To determine your Monitored Risk Level:
Calculate the HLI threshold for each of your cattle populations, using any of the following methods:
With the HLI threshold calculator - go to the Cattle Heat Risk dashboard and select the HLI button.
Using a RAP - on top of the HLI threshold, this also generates a forecast for your population’s risk throughout the year and lets you assess different heat management scenarios.
Through cattle observations - allows details to be considered which are specific to the moment in time, such as cattle coat condition.
The population with the lowest HLI threshold has the highest risk of heat stress. Therefore use this lowest HLI to choose your monitored AHLU level according to the table below:
General Risk Description | Monitored AHLU level | HLI Thresholds |
|---|---|---|
High risk | AHLU80 | 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82 |
High risk | AHLU83 | 83, 84, 85 |
Medium risk | AHLU86 | 86, 87, 88 |
Medium risk | AHLU89 | 89, 90, 91 |
Low risk | AHLU92 | 92, 93, 94 |
Low risk | AHLU95 | 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 |
Setting your Monitored Risk Level
The Monitored Risk Level is a setting for the feedlot site and is set by the site Admin. Users without Admin privileges will see the Monitored Risk Level but will NOT be able to change it.
You can change your Monitored Risk Level as follows:
Navigate to the Settings page.
Select the Global Settings tab.
Select the AHLU level you wish to monitor from the drop-down list.
Press SAVE.
Reviewing and Interpreting your Monitored Risk Level
Once you’ve set your monitored risk level, you can review the forecast for your AHLU category on the Cattle Heat Risk dashboard. The cards along the top provide a nice summary of each day's risk. If the AHLU category is above 50 units (it will be coloured red), this means that some cattle with panting scores 2-4 can be expected. If the AHLU category is above 100 units the colour is Black and cattle with a panting score of 4 are likely.
You can then also review your heat management strategies, and once they are implemented, reassess the risk of your animals. Use the HLI threshold calculator or a RAP to determine your new AHLU category (note it will be higher than the unmitigated risk category).
For example, if your cattle normally sit at an HLI threshold of 86 and you have implemented a heat load ration, installed extra water troughs, and strategically removed high manure areas, your HLI threshold for these animals is now 91. Therefore, once you have implemented your heat mitigation strategies, you can use AHLU89 to monitor your risk.
Example HLI Threshold with Mitigation Strategies