A microcomputer system for formulating animal diets which may involve liquid raw materials

This paper describes a microcomputer system for formulating animal diets by linear programming (LP), in which liquid raw materials (typical by-products from the dairy and brewing industries) may be used. The system has been designed for use by livestock specialists, often with little or no experience of LP. Special consideration is given to the problem of handling the nonlinearity introduced by constraining the percentage dry matter content, and to the problem of resolving infeasible solutions. The system has been well received by the feed industry, and is in use at around 40 sites throughout the U.K. and overseas.