Livestock Systems
Have You Herd? Podcast
In the weekly broadcast of Have You Herd?, Morgan Hayes and Josh Jackson bring you up to date on what‘s happening on their farms each week. Their farming practices are directly influenced by their professional careers as biosystems engineers. Through this broadcast, they share how they apply engineering principles to their farming activities.
Morgan Hayes, Ph.D., PE, is an assistant extension professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. She specializes in livestock systems engineering, and she farms about 500 acres in Kentucky. Read her most recent publications.
Josh Jackson, Ph.D., is an assistant extension professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. He specializes in precision livestock engineering and runs a family farm that raises Angus cattle. Read his most recent publications.
Listen to the Podcast on PodBean
Roof Rainfall Calculator
This spreadsheet will help you to calculate rainwater flowing off a roof. You will need to figure out square footage of the building on each side of the roof, count how many downspouts are on each side and determine an expected 1 hour rainfall event for your location.
Download the Calculator Spreadsheet
Pricing & Building a Cattle Working/Handling Facility
This spreadsheet is meant to be used in conjunction with the article "Pricing and Building a Cattle Working/Handling Facility" by Josh Jackson, Ph.D., Assistant Extension Professor in Livestock Systems.
Download the Cattle Working Spreadsheet
Sizing Generators
Typical electric power is provided through a service panel that is large enough to handle most equipment on the farm or in the house running simultaneously. However, when trying to size a generator, it's more economical to strategically choose which equipment or loads need to be in operation simultaneously. The following two load calculators determine the total power required to run typical pieces of equipment on the farm and in the house, respectively.
Download Load Calculator Spreadsheets
How to Use the Load Calculators
- Identify all the equipment that will need to be on at the same time. For instance, if in your home, you may want to run a stove, refrigerator, lights and a hot water heater all at the same time, or you may want to switch between loads during the day.
- The first column in each spreadsheet describes a specific appliance or piece of equipment; the second column includes drop-down options of "On," "Off" and in some cases "Start" (on the farm equipment spreadsheet). Be sure all equipment is listed as "Off" to start the load analysis. Select "On" for each piece of equipment identified in step one.
- For the farm equipment spreadsheet, often a system will be designed with multiple motors of the same size. The third column will allow you to identify how many motors of a specific size are needed on your farm in an emergency situation. For example, if you have four fans each with a 1/2 horsepower motor you would edit the value in the "Number of Units" column from 1 to 4.
- The column labeled “Load” provides actual loads required to run specific equipment. The last column "Typical Load" gives an expected range. While an approximate value is given, you should enter "Load" values that match the specifications for your specific equipment if possible.
- Both spreadsheets have the ability to add a load not included in the spreadsheet for equipment specifically needed for your operation. However, no typical load or given value is included for these rows in the spreadsheet. Use values provided on the equipment nameplate.
- Starting a motor will pull more power than operating it under normal loads. When sizing a generator for farm equipment, determine which motors will turn on simultaneously. Switch any combination or large single motors you've identified to “Start” in the drop-down list to determine the maximum power required for the system. Look at each starting motor (or combination of motors) individually to determine the largest total design load.
- Highlighted at the bottom of the sheet is the calculated total load for the scenario you have chosen and the minimum generator power requirement (10% greater than the described load is recommended).
- Each spreadsheet also includes a column to calculate the portion of the total design load for each selected appliance or piece of equipment to help users prioritize loads during power outages.
