Web Version of Nutbal PRO Tested

A web-based version of the Nutritional Balance Analyzer (Nutbal PRO) -- a stand alone decision support system application developed jointly by the Grazing Lands Technology Institute and Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab (GANLAB) at Texas A&M University -- is currently being tested. Analysis and guidance on nutritional management of livestock from Nutbal PRO assists producers in making timely grazing management decisions and can be utilized during the conservation planning process. The new web version allows producers or technical service providers to establish a password protected account. When account holders send in a fecal sample for analysis by GANLAB, data on dietary protein and digestibility is combined with sample location and date weather information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. From this data, Nutbal, does an analysis of the animal’s performance and generates a least cost feeding solution which is e-mailed to the Nutbal PRO account holder.

The guidance on nutritional management of livestock provided by Nutbal PRO will help ranchers make critical management decisions, utilize their animals as a monitor for assessing how well their grazing and animal management program is working, and alert them of potential problems before negative conditions impact livestock and range conditions.
Your contact is Arnold Norman, NRCS ecosystem decision support specialist, at 817-509-3214, or anorman@ftw.nrcs.usda.gov.