ANIMAL FEED

SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY

EISEVIER Animal Feed Science Technology 70 (1998) 169- 173

Book Reviews

Animal Feed Formulation: Economics and

Computer Applications

Animal Feed Formulation: Economics and Computer Applications. By G.M. Pesti

and B.R. Miller. AVI Books, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1993, 166 pp., soft
cover, US$49.95, ISBN O-442-01335-3.

Topics in Animal Feed Formulation: Economics and Computer Applications are

related to the goal of providing the best possible solutions to the formulation of
least-cost and efficient feed mixtures. The authors are well suited to provide insights into
this area. Gene Pesti is a professor in the Department of Poultry Science, University of
Georgia. He received the 1991 Media Award of Excellence from the National Associa-
tion of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture for computer programs he designed and
which were modified for inclusion in this book. In 1989 he received the American Feed
Industry Association Nutrition Research Award. Bill Miller is also a professor at the
University of Georgia, in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He has been the
recipient of a USDA Distinguished Service Award.
Animal Feed Formulation: Economics and Computer Applications contains 10
chapters and three appendixes. The first chapter, on economic analysis, discusses a
variety of topics including assumptions of least-cost programs, basic linear program-
ming, including usage of the enclosed software, shadow prices, specifying ratios
between nutrients, dealing with infeasible solutions, parametric cost and nutrient rang-
ing, multiblending to determine in which feed a scarce ingredient should be used, amino
acid equivalent formulation, and risk in formulation. The next nine chapters each deal
with formulation for a different species or animal type (sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle,
swine, turkeys, broilers, layers, catfish and horses), with specific computer examples for
each. The appendices deal with general features of the linear programming software
included with the book.
The book contains a UFFDA (user-friendly feed formulation, done again) linear
program. This is a windows-type program for an IBM-compatible PC with 640 K of
memory which can solve problems with up to at least 100 ingredients and 50 nutrients.
Both colour and a black and white programs are included. The authors suggest that the
program will be useful where the use of specialized commercial software is not
warranted. Unique aspects of the program include the ability to specify ratios between
nutrients, such as between amino acids and proteins or concentrates and roughages, and

0377.8401/98/$19.00 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

170 Book reviews

the printing of custom feed-mixing sheets. The program calculates shadow prices of
ingredients and nutrients. Windows which can be accessed from the main menu include:
edit a feed, ingredient limits, nutrient limits, objective function, ingredient composition
matrix, nutrient ratios, formulate and print. There is also an ‘include’ window, which is
used to transfer data from one problem to another, and a ‘calculator’ window. The user
can move from one window to another by using function keys, using the FlO key to
access the main menu, or by pointing and clicking with a mouse or other pointing
device. The default output is an IBM compatible graphics printer; for other printers it is
recommended that the output be printed to disk as an ASCII file and then printed using a
word-processing program.
Animal Feed Formulation: Economics and Computer Applications is a well-written
book with numerous tables and several figures included for clarity. The authors have a
good writing style and their step-by-step approach is clear and easy to follow. They have
incorporated a great deal of nutritional information in the examples, which greatly adds
to the value of the book. Considerable attention has been paid to maximum profit
formulations, with the authors demonstrating, among other things, that least-cost diet is
not necessarily the most profitable for broilers, how the most profitable level of milk
production can be determined for dairy cows, and how to optimize profit and dietary net
energy in beef cattle diets. The computer program is reasonably easy to use with the
editing capabilities of a spreadsheet program. There are, however, a few peculiarities of
the program which will take some getting used to. For example, you need to go to help
or the book to understand that you must hold down the control key and press insert to
make space for a new ingredient or nutrient when entering feed composition and
requirement data. Using this procedure the first ingredient or constraint which is entered
apparently always remains last on the list in the computer, which at times was
disconcerting. Also, it took me time to become accustomed to the need to press the enter
key each time data was entered rather than simply moving to the next location for data
entry by using the arrow key. The lack of drivers for different printers will be annoying
to many users.
I highly recommend Animal Feed Formulation: Economics and Computer Applica-
tions with the computer software. It will be particularly useful for advanced livestock
and poultry producers who recognize that feed costs are the largest costs in production.
The material would be great for animal science students, although I will not be able to
use the text in my nutrition classes because of its specialized nature. Although
professional nutritionists will probably have access to better computer programs, most
will find something new and worthwhile in the discussion of linear programming
applications.

GARY W. MATHISON
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P5
Canada

PII SO377-8401(97>00024-2