Application of fuzzy optimization to diet problems in Argentinean farms

The problem of designing diets for cattle in an Argentinean farm is addressed in this paper. Usually the livestock is not confined, so it is impossible to assess the amount of food each animal will eat. Therefore it makes no sense to design diets verifying the nutritional requirements exactly. It is more valuable to allow for constraint violations, i.e., fuzzy constraints which in turn may lead to cheaper diets. Under this scenario the problem is modelled as a fuzzy linear programming (FLP) one and then solved by using a decision support systems (DSS) named SACRA (a Spanish acronym for support system for the construction of cattle diets) that the authors have specifically developed for this problem. SACRA is based on PROBO, an already experimented DSS also developed by the authors, and it is highly user-friendly, interactive and does not require any knowledge about FLP. The tests carried out with SACRA have shown a high level of satisfaction from the side of the decision makers.