New Stock Model

[her123]

Add the GrazPlan Stock component.

[her123]

The Stock component is now functioning. It eats supplement, and transfers urine to SoilNitrogen and faeces to SurfaceOrganicMatter.

[hol353]

Neville

This now needs to go to the Reference Panel. They will want to see some documentation and validation that demonstrate that it works. What tests have you got?

[sno036]

Kia ora @APSIMInitiative/reference-panel - thanks for agreeing at the last RP meeting that, under the circumstances, one review for Stock was acceptable. Ages ago, the Stock team constructed a reply to Matt. Some of the changes have already been done but we were waiting for the second review before doing the more major parts.

Following the example of Neil with soybean, please see attached a reply that is essentially a plan for what we would do. You will see that there are some requests from Matt that we cannot comply with but we have explained why. Can we have @APSIMInitiative/reference-panel agreement that if we do as described then it will be acceptable for merging and release?

Reply - StockModel_MattHarrison.docx

[sno036]

@sarahcleary

[sarahcleary]

Thanks @sno036 and @m8harrison
@APSIMInitiative/reference-panel - please review the document provided by the Stock Model Development team.
Can you please let me know if have any queries, concerns and if so, happy for it to proceed to release?

[jbrider]

@sno036 Your 3rd last response seems to be a copy paste of the comment before - was that deliberate? It seemed to be a separate question.

[sno036]

Oops - thanks eagle-eyes @jbrider! Updated document attached and the new text just below.

"Reply: We know that the structure of these parameter strings is not user friendly but they are forced on us because the need for the code to stay aligned with Grazplan. We have [TBD] added comment into a memo on the documentation and provided more information also with a sensibility/sensitivity analysis. Users are also directed to the Grazplan website and the Cattle/Sheep explorer spreadsheets in the documentation [TBD]."

Reply.-.StockModel_MattHarrison.docx

[sno036]

@APSIMInitiative/reference-panel - any further comments?

[jbrider]

@sno036 I agree with Matt's suggestion for more examples - which I know you're also keen on usually, so I'm hoping that you can add one for managing different types of stock at least as per Matt's suggestion. Is Stock able to manage a breeder herd over a number of years or is it only designed for adding and removing from an external source? If it is, then I would see that as a very useful example and could be setup to show how younger stock can be managed differently to older stock (also one of Matt's suggestions).

In the first example - Forage Crop Grazing - there is a node below the Stock node named Small Merino - but in the GrazeForageCrop script it refers to 'Friesian' as the stock Genotype. Is that why the animal is losing body weight while grazing on pasture? Obvious effort has been made for neutral terms in the script properties tab ie: use of 'animals' - but the Manager script settings pages refer to 'Initial location of the cows' - picky I know. I did have to lookup 'parturition'.

In the 2nd script the memo suggests what the next script should do, but doesn't say anything about the current script. How does it know what type of stock is being grazed - cows must be a default? The PGR and SupplementStore graphs are blank? The BiomassPlot1 chart is showing Paddock 2 out of all 5?

3rd script - Supp intake chart has 3 series which are named Series 1, Series 2 and series 3 - are they supposed to be wheat and crushed as defined in the ManageSupplement script? 1 of them does not appear at all. The Animal Liveweight has a non visible series as well.

[Keith-Pembleton]

Agree on the more examples. More examples will be useful for users working out how to use stock in their particular use cases. Longer term it might be worthwhile looking at the "new" dairy cow model that was implement in dairyMod c.a. 2014-15. Might help guide how to improve the representation of a dairy animal and some of their more "extreme" metabolism.

[sno036]

@APSIMInitiative/reference-panel - last day for comments. The plan has been live for over ten days and that was deemed an acceptable time for comment by the RP. The planning for the final sprint will take place tomorrow (Wednesday).

[peter-devoil]

My 2c: it doesnt have an example of tropical grazing, or cut & carry systems. I'm sure other people will find it useful though.

[peter-devoil]

Oops. I didnt mean to close it!

[sarahcleary]

@sno036 - how did the sprint go?

[sarahcleary]

@sno036 et al - any update? (just following up from APSIMInitiative/ReferencePanel#79)

[sno036]

To get Stock into release .docx

@APSIMInitiative/reference-panel, @sarahcleary

Once PullRequest #6133 (#6113) has been merged we will have completed the agreed list of actions with the exception of the request for a cut and carry example. We note that the latter can be added at a future date and for anyone particularly interested there is probably enough information already in the examples to construct one.

The examples could be more numerous etc. but they are a pretty damn good start. Many thanks to the efforts of @her123, @hol353 , @MarkLieffering!

[sarahcleary]

Thanks @sno036 and team.
@hol353 - I assume you will merge in the next few days. Please close this issue when done.

[m8harrison]

Thanks @sno036<https://github.com/sno036> @her123<https://github.com/her123>, @hol353<https://github.com/hol353> , @MarkLieffering<https://github.com/MarkLieffering> for your efforts (and imagination) in creating relevant examples – these will be very helpful.

[hol353]

@sarahcleary : Can I put this into release or does the @APSIMInitiative/reference-panel need another round of review?

[sno036]

@hol353 - it was pre-approved by the RP and @m8harrison (see above) approves so can (at last!) go into release. Thanks, Val

[hol353]

The Stock model is now in the release. Well done everyone!