Managing Livestock Entries in FairPlus! - Ver. 160 and prior Ver. 180 and later

Managing Livestock Entries with FairPlus!

Livestock Data Entry

FairPlus! is designed to provide a great deal of flexibility in handling livestock entries at a county fair. It can handle the dividing of animals into weight classes, manage ID info, and provide Rate of Gain information.

The first step is to get the data entered into FairPlus! These instructions will be based on the assumption that fair registrations have already been entered, indicating which exhibitors will be bringing animals in which lots. But it also assumes that animal-specific data, such as weight, ear tag #, birth dates, etc. has not yet been entered. The assumption is that this animal specific data is going to be entered after the animals have arrived at the fair grounds. It is the entry of this data that will be covered first:

Click on [Goto] [Livestock Processing] [Enter Measurement Data]

This will display, on the left hand side, a list of all class/lots that have items registered in them.

Click on the class/lot you intend to work with (you can also enter the class/lot code in the text box at the top and hit the [Enter] key on your keyboard)

This will then display all the items, and the corresponding exhibitor, that are entered in that class/lot.

Before you start entering data, you can specify some "setup" info. Because FairPlus! is designed to provide as much flexibility as possible, specific titles for the kind of Measurement Data to be entered are NOT provided. However, in Minnesota, by far the most common use of this screen will be for the animals weight. Therefore, to set up FairPlus! to handle animal weights:

Click in the box titled [Measure Title 1], and type in "Weight". This will have to be repeated for every class/lot that you work with in the Measurement Data section.

Then, if desired, you can also set up an error-checking feature:

Click on the check box to [Enable Error Checking]
Enter the valid parameters for that class/lot - for example, you might enter a minimum weight of 900 and a maximum weight of 1600 for a steer class/lot

OK, now you're ready to enter data that will be used to determine weight classes.

Locate the item (animal) in question (if there are more items than will fit on the page, click on [Next Group] and [Prior Group] as necessary - (there are no scroll bars)
Enter the ear tag for the animal the Ear tag column
Enter the weight of the animal (as weighed on entry day of the fair) in the appropriate column

NOTE:

It is highly recommended that you enter the weights prior to working with the Rate of Gain, as the weight entered as Livestock Measure 1 or 2 (regardless of the title you may have assigned) can also be used as the Rate of Gain "Ending Weight".

If you use Rate of Gain at your fair, then next step is to enter Rate of Gain data as follows:

Click on [Goto] [Livestock Processing] [Rate of Gain] [Enter / Calculate]

This will bring up a screen very similar to the Measurement Data screen.

NOTE:

It is important to note that only class/lots that have items entered in them will be displayed. PLUS, the class/lots must have a "Livestock" method associated with them.

If it is necessary to change the method, click on [Goto] [Fair Data / Premiums] [Dept/Div] [Choose a Dept/Div] [Div/Class] [Choose a Div/Class] [Class/Lot] [Choose a Class/Lot], working your way down to the class/lot in question. Click on the [Method] button, and either choose a livestock method, or change the [Method Properties] of the affected Method to [Livestock].

Click on the class/lot you want to enter ROG data for (you can also enter the class/lot code in the text box at the top and hit the [Enter] key on your keyboard)

If you have already entered an ear tag number for the item (animal), it will show up here.

If you have already entered the animal's final weight into the Livestock Measure 1 or Measure 2 fields, as described above, you can then transfer that weight into the Ending Weight column for calculating Rate of Gain as follows:

Click on the radio button to [Fill Ending Weight with] [Measure 1 or 2]

If there is a common beginning and/or ending date, it can be entered as the default for all the items in the class/lot displayed. To do this,

Type the appropriate date, with slashes (/) into the [Enter Bgn and/or End Date] boxes
Hit the [Tab] key on your keyboard
Click on [Fill Now] button
Repeat as necessary for Bgn and End dates

NOTE:

If there is more items than will fit on the screen, you will have to click on [Next Group], and repeat the process of filling in the weights and dates.

You now have the livestock data entered and are ready to move into the next phase! However, first, we'll take a break for Public Service Announcement:

IMPORTANT NOTE!!

Because of the time involved in entering data, it is STRONGLY advised that users save their work at frequent intervals (every 15-30 minutes)

To do this, click on [exit]/[return] from the data entry screen, which will display a scenic picture. The hourglass may appear, which indicates that an automatic backup file is being made. Then, to save your work, click on [Update Disk].

If the "Update Disk" is not done, all data entered (since the last "Update Disk") would be lost in the event of a power disruption, machine crash, etc.

FairPlus! does an "Update Disk" every time it closes normally.

Creating Weight Classes

In many market classes, there are more animals entered into a class/lot than can be reasonably shown in the arena at one time. In response to that, the animals are divided into smaller class/lots, on the basis of weight.

Because this is a process that involves human judgment (what size to make the classes, what weight divisions to create, etc.), you will need to print out a listing of all the animals in one class (for example, all the market lambs), and their weight, and then call upon Extension Staff, Show Volunteers, etc., to decide which animals will go into which class.

To print this listing of items (animals), and their weights:

Click on [Goto] [Call Sheets / Back Tags] [Print Judge's Call Sheets]
Select the class/lot you want to work with
Click on [Add Class/Lot]
Click on the radio button for a [Livestock] sort order
If desired, you can un-check [Class/Lot Bar Code] and [Premium Table]
Click on [Process/Print]

NOTE:

For your convenience, there is a [Print Call Sheet] button on the Livestock Measurement screen. This button will print a call sheet that may meet your needs. If so, go ahead and use it. If not, then follow the procedure outline above.

There have been isolated incidences of the call sheet printed from the Livestock Measures screen not including all the items. If you print that call sheet, it is a good idea to double check the items listed.

NOTE:

Depending upon specific county procedures, it might make sense to print a call sheet prior to entering weight data. This call sheet could be used to records weights at the scales.

Give the resulting Call Sheet to the person who will be determining what the weight classes will be, and which animals will be in which weight class. When this has been determined, the class/lots will be created as follows,

Click on [Goto] [Livestock Processing] [Build New Class/lot]

This will bring up a screen that has two "halves" to it. The left half will list all the items in the class/lot that will be split out. This is called the source class/lot.

The right half will be the class/lot that items will be going in to. This side is for the the destination Class/Lot.

Near the top of the left side, in the [Enter Code] box, enter the the class/lot code for the source class/lot
Hit the [Tab] key

This will display all the items in that class/lot

On the right hand side, either enter the class/lot code for the destination class/lot and hit the [Tab] key
or
Click on the [Create Next Available Class/lot] button, enter a name for the new class/lot, hit the [Tab] key and click on [Add New Class/lot].

NOTE:

Although the [Create Next Available Class/lot] process works just fine, an option to consider is creating the destination class/lots (the weight classes) the normal way, via the [Goto] [Fair Data / Premiums] [Dept/Div] [Div/Class] [Class/Lot] process

This is recommended because it allows you to choose the class/lot code for the class/lots you are creating, and it makes it easier to name them in a consistent fashion (the existing titles are visible when creating a new class/lot).

Examples for titles of the new class/lots would be:
- Beef Steers Class 1 / 900-1000 lbs.
- Beef Steers Class 2 / 1000 - 1100 lbs.
- Beef Steers Class 3 / 1100 - 1200 lbs.
- Etc.

Note that the weight ranges may or may not be known at the time the class/lot is created. These can be added/edited later.

It is also suggested that you make a note indicating which class/lots you have created and what they are named - for later reference.

Once you have the both the Source and Destination class/lots displayed on the screen, you are ready to move items:

Select items in the source screen by clicking, shift-clicking or ctrl-clicking
Click on the button in the middle labeled with [>>] to move members to the new class/lot

NOTE:

If you accidentally move a member, you can move them back by reversing the process.

This screen can also be used to move any item from any class/lot into any other class/lot.

Printing Show Catalogs and Rate of Gain reports

Now that the data is entered, you can print various reports.

When printing show catalogs, there are many, many options available. The following will print a show catalog that many counties may be used to. It will list the various class/lots in the show, with one line of data per item (member). Click on:

[Goto] [Livestock Processing] [Show Catalogs]
Moving across the top row of boxes, click as follows:
- Class/Lot Methods >>>[All]
- Item Type >>> [County]
- Report Method >>> [Compact]
- Print Options >>> [Break on Cls/Lots]
- Choose >>> [Grade]
- Include >>> [Measure 1] and [Ear Tag]
Then select the class/lots that the catalog will be printed for by clicking, shift-clicking or ctrl-clicking
Click on the [>>Sel>>] button to move class/lots into the selection box
Click on [Process/Print]

NOTE:

The order in which the class/lots are listed on the right hand box is the order in which they will print out in the catalog.

NOTE:

There are many more options available for show catalog printing - try various options to get the desired results.

Rate of Gain reports can be printed with class/lots combined or separated. If [Combined] is chosen, all items in the selected class/lots will be listed together. If [Separated] is chosen, a report will be generated for each class/lot included. To begin, click on:

[Goto] [Livestock Processing] [Rate of Gain] [Reports]
Select a [Print Method]
Choose what level you want to [Select Class/lots] by. Generally, you will want to select at the Class/Lot level
Work your way across the screen, through each of the three boxes, drilling down to the Class/Lot(s) you want in the report
Click the button [Add Classes/Lots]
Click [Process/Print] to begin generating the report