The recipe must have at least one ingredient not included in the TMR or in the base ration, with its related check box unchecked in the recipe ingredient list and the amount set to zero.
Clicking on the Step Feeding tab, a form is loaded with a list of the feeds that can be used for the step feeding process. The feeds that can be used in the process are concentrates or composites and they correspond to those unchecked in the recipe screen.
Feeds that can be included in the Step Feeding feed list
All the ingredients of the recipe, not included in the base ration or PMR, are included in the step feeding feed list, with the exceptions of the feeds classified as forages or drinking water and those whose analytical value for Dry Matter is too low to contribute significantly to the milk yield. These feeds contribute to the Base DMI of the recipe but are not displayed in the feed list on the step-feeding tab.
The feeds that are included in the recipe with current amount set to 0 are considered suitable for the step feeding process. Those feeds that are not in the base ration but have an amount > 0 are included in the feed list, with their min set to their current amount, and are considered suitable for the step feeding process; their initial amounts are not included in the Base DMI of the recipe.
Among the feeds listed in the step feeding tab, actually, a maximum of two feeds can be simultaneously used (e.g. energy and protein supplement); the other(s) will be considered during the process, but their amount will remain the same at each step and will be included in the Base DMI of the recipe. To activate-deactivate the feeds in the list, a check box is provided. If two of these check boxes are already checked, the system prevents further selections; in this case, it is necessary to uncheck one of the checked feeds, before doing an alternative selection. This approach can be of help to define, for example, a third specific ingredient (including additives, glucose, etc.) supplied at fixed amount at some stages of lactation (e.g. early lactation).
Once you opened the Step Feeding tab through the recipe screen, the first step is to define the type of approach you want to follow to get the Milk Step feeding report: Production or DIM.