Lot Edit Window

This window is where you enter information about a lot. See Core Concepts for more information about lots.

General 1 Tab

Lot Information

• Name. Enter the name of the lot. This name is used in lists throughout Fusion when you choose the lot or view the lot. It must be unique within a location. We recommend not trying to put too much information into a lot name. For example, some people try to encode the sex, owner, cattle type, etc. into the lot name. We recommend using the other fields provided for this and keep the lot name simple. However, you can enter anything you like.
• Location. Choose the location the lot belongs to. Lots can only belong to one location and this should not be changed once set.
• Lot Is Fully Closed. In Fusion, every lot has a "status" which is either open or closed. This status cannot be changed manually; Fusion will automatically close a lot when the last animal is sold. All the internal business logic is based on this automatically set status. And anywhere we refer to a lot being closed or open, we are referring to that internally set status. With that as background, the Lot Is Fully Closed field is something you can set manually. Normally a lot closed automatically and then it is a few weeks before all the billing and reporting for the lot is taken care of. A lot that is closed, but not marked as fully closed is an indication to you that there are still things to take care of. When everything is complete, then check this field off and the lot will be considered not just "closed", but "fully closed".

Date and Slaughter Information

The in and out dates shown here are for informational purposes only. They cannot be directly changed.

• First Date In. The earliest date this lot had cattle in the feedlot. This is normally based on the first in cohort, but if pre-Fusion information is entered it may be based on the date given there. Fusion changes this date as needed. It will be blank if no cattle have entered the lot yet.
• Last Date Out. This is the last date that cattle were in the lot. It can be considered the date the lot was closed. If pre-Fusion information is used and a Last Date Out was specified there, this field will use that date.
• Avg Date In. As cattle come into the lot with different in cohorts, this date will change. It is the average date the cattle came in, weighted by count. In other words, if only a few cattle came in at the beginning of the week and a lot of cattle came in at the end of the week, the average date would be closer to the end of the week. Note that this field is calculated only with in cohorts, so pre-Fusion information is not taken into account. In fact, if no cattle come into a lot after transitioning to Fusion, this field will be blank for that lot.
• Avg Date Out. As cattle leave the lot with different out cohorts, this date will change. It is the average date the cattle came leave, weighted by count. The field will be blank until the first out cohort is created for the lot. It will also be blank if a lot was closed out pre-Fusion.

Based on the target weight and date you enter here, Fusion will calculate an estimated slaughter date each night. In general it should be come more accurate as the lot get closer to slaughter. The calculation can work differently depending on what information you enter in the Target Weight and Target Date fields as explained next.

This is how the calculation works:

• If you leave both the Target Weight and Target Date fields blank, this estimated slaughter date will be blank.
• If you enter a Target Date but leave the Target Weight field blank, the estimated slaughter date will be the same as the target date. This allows you to override any logic in Fusion if you have your own way of setting a target date.
• If you enter a Target Weight, but not a Target Date, Fusion will estimate how quickly the cattle are growing based on past growth and set this field to that estimate. (Fusion needs at least 21 days worth of data before it will calculate a slaughter date and always uses just the last 21 days of data for the prediction.)
• If you enter both a Target Weight and Target Date, Fusion will estimate the slaughter date based on growth, but not allow the date to go beyond the target date you have set. In other words, you can have Fusion determine the date, but it can be capped so you sell the cattle by a certain date regardless of weight.

The rest of the fields:

• Target Weight. The weight you want/expect the cattle to be slaughtered at.
• Target Date. The date you want/expect the cattle to be slaughtered at.
• Calculated Date. The estimated slaughter date which Fusion recalculated each night based on the above methods.

Animal Type

These fields are used to describe the animal type of the animals in the lot. See Core Concepts for more information about each attribute. If you set these up for the lot, animals within the lot can use these values for their individual animals during the first chuteside job they are part of as long as the job is set up correctly (see Job Definition Edit Window).

• Cattle Type. Enter the cattle type for this lot. This field is required.
• Default Sex. Enter the sex of this lot. Use Mixed if the lot contains both male and female animals. This field is required.
• Default Breed. Use this field to enter the breed of the lot. It can be left blank.
• Default Color. Use this field to enter the color of the lot. It can be left blank.
• Base Dressing Percent. This is the base dressing percent that slaughtered animals will be adjusted to when calculating carcass adjusted values for the lot.

Growth Information

When Fusion calculates weight gain for existing animals each night, it can use a different model for each lot. The possibilities are:

• 1996 NRC weight gain formulas.
• A constant weight gain is used.
• A feed conversion factor field will be used to increase weight based on the feed conversion—for example, a factor of 7.0 means that an animal that eats 21 lbs of dry matter in a day will gain 3 lbs.

The fields in this area are used to describe the growth formula you want Fusion to use each night.

• Growth Potential Score. Enter the body type for this lot. Possible values are Small Frame Animal, Medium Frame Animal, and Large Frame Animal. This is initially used in helping determine a good default Mature Weight setting which is used in the NRC calculations for determining growth. Once the mature weight is set, this field is only for informational purposes.
• 1996 NRC Equations. Choose this field if you want Fusion to use NRC equations to calculate growth.

• Mature Weight. The mature weight is used in the NRC equations. The better this estimate is of the weight you are hoping to slaughter the animals at, the more accurate the gain will be each day—especially toward the end of the feeding period. You can enter a specific mature weight, but the following are the defaults Fusion uses based on the Growth Potential Score and Default Sex fields until you override it:

  • Small male = 500 kg/1100 lb
  • Small female = 430 kg/950 lb
  • Small mixed = 465 kg/1025 lb
  • Medium male = 610 kg/1350 lb
  • Medium female = 540 kg/1200 lb
  • Medium mixed = 575 kg/1275 lb
  • Large male = 725 kg/1600 lb
  • Large female = 655 kg/1450 lbs
  • Large mixed = 690 kg/1525 lb
• Specified Gain Per Day. Choose this field if you want to explicitly set how much weight the lot should gain each day.
• Gain. Enter the constant number of pounds or kilograms that are added to the weight of this lot each night.
• Specified Feed Conversion Per Day. Choose this field if you want Fusion to calculate growth each day based on a specified feed conversion.
• Feed Conversion. Enter the conversion rate used to determine the weight gain for the lot based on the dry matter intake from the previous day. For example, a factor of 7.0 means that an animal that eats 21 lbs of dry matter in a day will gain 3 lbs.

General 2 Tab

Tracking Information

• Cattle Buyer. You can assign a buyer to the lot. If this is set up before animals are inducted with a chuteside job, the job can be set up so the animal's source defaults to this buyer.
• Originating Herd. You can enter the place where the animals were born if you like.
• Category 1-5. If you want to record information about a lot that doesn't fit into any existing fields, Fusion provides five custom fields to be used any way you like. You can customize the labels of these fields in the Preferences window. If you feel you are storing information that other people might also want to store, please let us know so we can consider adding a dedicated field it in a future version of Fusion.

Lot Notes

Enter any notes you would like that are related to this lot.

Ownership Tab

A lot can have multiple ownerships, each with multiple owners, during its life. Fusion will figure out how to bill for the lot based on the current ownership and each owner's percentage. This tab is where you set up each ownership.

A lot must always have at least one ownership assigned, and each ownership must have at least one owner. Then a lot is first created, Fusion set up an ownership with your feedlot entity having 100% ownership. You can then change it from there.

To add a new ownership, click the + button below the Ownership list and then make the necessary changes to it. You can also use the Duplicate button to duplicate an existing ownership and then tweak it a bit which is faster if a new ownership isn't much different than a previous one. To remove an ownership, select it and click the - button.

With an ownership selected, you can change information about it:

• Date. Enter the date the ownership started. This should be on or after the lot's first in date. Any billing from this date on (or until the next ownership date) will be assigned this group of owners.
• Note. You can enter a note about this ownership if you like.

The list of owners is in the bottom half of the window and you can change it once an ownership is selected. Click the + button to add a new owner. To remove an owner, select the owner and click the - button. To make changes to an owner, select it and change the fields to the right:

• Owner. Enter the name of the owner. This is a contact field, so the contact must already be set up.
• Percent. Enter the percentage of the lot this owner owns.
• Interest Rate. If the owner is financing their percentage of the lot, this is the interest rate for the financing. Fusion uses this to calculate some lot closeout values that are based on interest.
• Total Equity. This is the amount of equity the owner has in the lot and is used to calculate some of the lot closeout information.

If you select an owner and click the Make 100% button, Fusion will change the owner's percentage such that the total of all owners will equal 100%.

Pre-Fusion Tab

When you first start using Fusion, you will probably already have cattle in the feedlot. Fusion provides a way to capture enough data about a lot that existed before transition day to create a closeout for it. We recommend creating a closeout in your old system on the day you transition and then use that information to fill out the fields here. You can also use these fields to store information for older lots that never existed in Fusion if you want basic historical information for comparison purposes. Once you have used Fusion for a time, you should not need to use these fields anymore.

To work properly, the information in these fields should reflect what was true as of midnight the day before transition day.

• This lot was started before the transition to Fusion. Turn this option on if there were cattle in this feedlot before transition day.
• This lot was also closed before the transition to Fusion. Turn this option on if the cattle were all gone from this lot before transition day. That means this would be a historical lot, entered here for comparison purposes only. There would not be any in or out cohorts (or anything else, for that matter) associated with it.
• First In Date. Enter the date the first cattle arrived in this lot. This would be, of course, before the transition date.
• Last Out Date. If the lot was closed before you transitioned to using Fusion, enter the date when the last animal left here. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
• Total In Count. Enter the total amount of cattle that entered the lot prior to transition day. If you had cattle enter after transition day, do not enter them here since Fusion already knows about them from in cohorts you have created.
• Total In Pay Weight. Enter the total in weight of the animals that entered the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Purchase Amount. Enter the total purchase value of the animals that entered the feedlot prior to transition day.
• Total Dry Matter Consumed. Enter the total amount of feed, on a dry matter basis, that was consumed by the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Head Days. Enter the total amount of head days associated with the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Death Count. If any animals died before transition day, enter them here.
• Total Death Weight. If any animals died before transition day, enter the total weight at death for them here.
• Total Out Count. If any animals left the feedlot before transition day (not including deads), enter them here.
• Total Out Pay Weight. If any animals left the feedlot before transition day (not including deads), enter the total weight for them when the left.
• Total Sales Amount. If you have sold any animals prior to transition day, enter the total dollar amount here.
• Total Feed Bill. Enter the total feed related costs of the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Medical Bill. Enter the total medical related costs of the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Input Bill. Enter the total input related costs of the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Yardage Bill. Enter the total yardage related costs of the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Other Bill. Enter the total of any other costs of the lot prior to transition day.
• Total Tax. Enter the total tax associated with bills for the lot prior to transition day.

When Fusion calculates a closeout, it will take these values into account where applicable.

Lot Protocol Tab

You can assign actions that you want to be reminded of to a lot. These actions are called the lot's protocol. Actions can be set up to build on one another. For example, a reimplant action might be scheduled to take place 30 days after some other action. You can then print a weekly report that figures out what actions need to be taken care of during the week at a location based on all the lot protocols. This report is available from the Lot Protocol List window as well as from Fusion Office → Yard Reports → Lot Protocol Action List. Fusion recalculates trigger dates nightly.

To add a new action to the list, click the + button. To remove an action, select it and click the - button (you can select multiple actions to delete at the same time). To change an action, select it in the list and then use the fields below the list to make your changes. Since the timing of when an action when trigger can depend on the action before it, you can drag and drop actions within the list to reorder them.

Sometimes you may want to temporarily ignore an action (not have it print on a report), but you don't want to actually remove the action completely. In that case you can turn on the Ignore option directly in the list for that action.

Action Description

• Action. Enter a label that describes that action. Examples might include Reimplant or Check Withdrawals.

When To Trigger

You choice here determines when the action will be included on the lot protocol action reports.

• Specific Date. Choose this option and enter a date directly if you know the exact date this action should be taken care of.
• Specific Weight. Choose this option and enter the weight you would like this action performed. Fusion estimates weight gain each night and will trigger this action when the animals have reached this weight.
• Days After In Date. Choose this option if you want the the action to be performed a certain number of days since the lot was opened. The in date used is the lot's average in date.
• Days Before Slaughter. Choose this option if you want the action to be performed a certain number of days before their estimated slaughter date. As mentioned earlier, Fusion updates the estimated slaughter date each night based on the rules you set up in the General 1 tab. When Fusion is deciding whether this action is ready to be triggered, it will use the most recent estimated slaughter date for the lot.
• Days Since Last Action. If you choose this option, you are telling Fusion you want to perform this action a certain number of days after the previous action in the list. If the previous action has been marked as completed, Fusion will use the completion date. Otherwise, it will use the trigger date.

This Action Affects

Normally an action is meant to affect an entire lot. For example, if the action was based on weight, Fusion would trigger it when the entire lot's average weight was at the trigger weight. However, you can ask Fusion to work with groups within a lot to a certain extent.

• Entire Lot. This action will be based on the entire lot.
• Only Where The Animals…. The action will be based on a group within the lot based on the following options:
• ID. Choose an ID and enter a value for it. This works best for IDs that store, for example, a color tag. For example, you might only be interested in all the animals whose color tag is Red.
• Home Pen Is. Choose a home pen for the animals. If your lot is separated into multiple pens, each pen can be treated somewhat differently here.

If you specify a group of animals, the lot protocol action report will show this information as well so it it known that the action doesn't apply to the whole lot.

Updating Trigger Dates

Trigger dates are recalculated each night. You can also click the Update Trigger Dates button for force a recalculation while you are working with a lot's actions.

Action Templates

You will probably use similar actions for many of your lots. If you do, we recommend creating one or more basic templates. You can then add one or more templates to new lots in order to build up a complete protocol very quickly.

When you click the Templates… button, you have the following options:

• Manage Templates…. This options opens a window where you can rename or remove templates. See Lot Protocol Template Management Window for more information.
• Create Template From Selected Actions…. If you select one or more actions and choose this option, Fusion will create a new template with the selected options. You will be asked to give the template a name.
• Insert …. Here you will have the option of inserting any of the templates already created. They will be inserted after the currently selected action or at the end of the list if no actions are selected. The newly added actions will be selected after they are inserted.

Completing An Action

There are two ways of letting Fusion know an action has been completed. When you are setting a chuteside job up, one of the options is to let Fusion know you are completing a protocol action with the job. When the job is complete, Fusion will automatically mark the action as complete as well. The other way is to use the Lot Protocol Action List window to manually set a completion date for an action. See Lot Protocol List Window for more information.

Cattle In Tab

This tab is where you see an overview of loads of cattle that have entered the lot. At the bottom you will see a list of in cohorts associated with the lot as well as totals below that. At the top there is a way of overriding the in values when necessary. In old version of Fusion it was not possible to edit certain key values in an in cohort, so we provided a way of overriding the main values so that closeouts would be correctly calculated. Since you can now edit most key information in an in cohort, we strongly recommend editing in cohorts to fix mistakes rather than override these values. This will allow other areas of Fusion, such as inventory, which rely solely on cohorts for calculations, to work correctly.

Cattle In Values

• Automatically calculate based on In Cohorts data. We strongly recommend this setting. Fusion will figure out the total in count, weight, and price based on entered in cohorts and, when applicable, pre-Fusion information.
• Override with manually entered values. Use this option if you must override the in values. If you use this option, the data from the in cohorts is no longer taken into affect and other areas of Fusion, such as inventory, may not work as expected. With this option turned on you need to directly enter the head count, weight, and price of all animals in this lot in the fields below. For the weight and price, you can enter the total or average and Fusion will compute the other.

In Cohorts

This is an embedded list of in cohorts associated with the lot. It works very similar to the main In Cohorts List window. See List Windows for help working with lists like this.

You may not always have the full paperwork when an in cohort is first entered. New in cohorts will have their Weights are accurate and Dollars are accurate fields turned off to start with. If either of those fields is turned off, Fusion will list the in cohort in this list in red so you know you may still need to enter the exact weight and/or pricing information.

You can edit an in cohort from this list by Double-Clicking it. You can add a new in cohort for this lot by clicking the Add An In Cohort button. This does the same thing as Fusion Core → Cohorts → New In Cohort, but it automatically fills in the Lot field.

Below the list are the totals for the in cohorts. This area will show the totals based on the in cohorts in the list regardless of whether the in values have been overridden.

Cattle Out Tab

This tab works very similar to the Cattle In tab, but is for cattle that are leaving the lot including deaths.

Cattle Out Values

• Automatically calculate based on Out Cohorts data. We strongly recommend this setting. Fusion will figure out the total out count, weight, and price based on entered out cohorts and, when applicable, pre-Fusion information.
• Override with manually entered values. Use this option if you must override the out values for both deaths and the rest of the cattle. If you use this option, the data from the out cohorts is no longer taken into affect and other areas of Fusion, such as inventory, may not work as expected. With this option turned on you need to directly enter the head count, weight, and price of all animals that have left this lot in the fields below. For the weight and price, you can enter the total or average and Fusion will compute the other.

Out Cohorts

This is an embedded list of out cohorts associated with the lot. It works very similar to the main Out Cohorts List window. See List Windows for help working with lists like this.

You may not always have the full paperwork when an out cohort is first entered. New out cohorts will have their Weights are accurate and Dollars are accurate fields turned off to start with. If either of those fields is turned off, Fusion will list the out cohort in this list in red so you know you may still need to enter the exact weight and/or pricing information.

You can edit an out cohort from this list by Double-Clicking it. You can add a new out cohort by clicking the Add Out Cohort button. This does the same thing as Fusion Core → Cohorts → New Out Cohort.

Below the list are the totals for the out cohorts. This area will show the totals based on the out cohorts in the list regardless of whether the in values have been overridden. They show totals for all kinds of out cohorts—including deaths.

Billing Tab

This tab is where you can change some billing related information that is specific to this lot.

• Override Weight Class Value For This Lot With. A few places in Fusion show you the current market value for a weight class which is set up as an attribute for each weight class. If you prefer to control the market value for a lot directly, turn this option on and enter a value.

Yardage History

One of the main billing categories is yardage which is calculated as the current yardage charge multiplied by head days. This is where you can change the yardage charge and associated tax rate for a lot which can fluctuate over the life of a lot.

To change an existing yardage charge or tax rate, select it in the list and make changes in the fields below the list. If you change the yardage for a date in the past, any reports you re-run from that time period will use the new yardage charge when re-calculating yardage. If the yardage charge changes during the life of the lot, click the + button to add a new yardage charge with a new start date. You can also remove a yardage charge by selecting it in the list and clicking the - button.

Note that the tax rate will not be applied on any date which is before the switch date as defined in the Billing section of the Preferences Window window.

• Date. Enter the date this yardage charge is effective as of. The first date in the list must be the lot's first in date and you can't have two yardage charges on the same date.
• Yardage. The per head day dollar value you want to charge for yardage.
• Tax Rate. The tax rate to apply to the yardage. Ex. 5.00%.

Other Items

An other item is a charge (which can be positive or negative) that doesn't fit into any of the other main billing categories (feed, drugs, inputs, yardage). This is also a good place to show discounts and other adjustments that need to be made. To add a new item, click the +. To change an item, select it in the list and make changes in the fields below. To remove an item, select it in the list and click the - button.

• Date. Enter the date this item should be charged. This date must be within the date range of when the lot was open. If you specify a date after the last date out, for example, it will not be included in the lot's billing.
• Description. Here you can enter a description of the item. This is how it will be shown on invoices.
• Non-Tax Amount. Enter the dollar amount you want to charge. Use a negative number for a discount. This is the amount excluding any taxes.
• Tax Amount. If you want to specify the taxes that should be associated with this item, enter the tax amount here. Note that the tax amount will not be applied on any date which is before the switch date as defined in the Billing section of the Preferences Window window.

Projections Tab

Here you can enter your own projections for the lot. The Projections Calculator can be accessed from here so you can enter projections based either on historical data in Fusion or by using the other options the calculator provides. It is also possible to manually enter projection values if you want.

When you click the Open Projections Calculator button, the Projections Calculator window will open in a mode that lets it knows about the lot itself. You can then use the Projections Calculator window to come up with projections for the lot. See Projections Calculator for more information on using that window. When you are done, if you save the projections they will be returned to the Lot Edit window.

Normally it is just the Projection Values area that you are interested in, but we also show the inputs used to come up with the projections in the Input Values area.

After you have your projections, if you want the lot's estimated slaughter date to be the same as the date from your projection, click the Update Lot's Slaughter Date button. The Target Date field in the General 1 tab will be updated. (Remember that Fusion will recalculate the lot's estimated slaughter date during the night if a target weight is involved.)

If you don't want to use the Projections Calculator window, you can enter projection values manually. To do this, you must first unlock the values by clicking the button. This requires the correct permissions. At this point you can override any of the values—inputs or projections.

If you only want to override the input values, you can use the Recalculate Projection Values button to update the projections values based on the input values.

Saving Changes

Click the Save button to save any changes you have made. Other parts of Fusion will become aware of the changes within about 10 seconds. If you would rather not keep changes you have made, click the Cancel button.

Getting Here

You can open this window by going to Fusion Core → Lots → New Lot or by creating or editing a lot from the Lot Center window.

Related Topics

• Lot Center Window
• Projections Calculator
• Lot Protocol Template Management Window