The settings are an important part of managing your livestock with HerdOne. They make managing and reporting on your livestock easier and more precise. They also allow you to use some of the livestock specific settings and enable or disable Widget Settings on your dashboard.
Once logged in to your account, you will see the dashboard screen. On the left is a list of pages that can be accessed to manage livestock. At the bottom is the 'Settings' menu item. Once clicked, two sub-menu items will appear. The 'Default Settings' page allows you to set default related to your livestock livestock as well as widget preferences on the dashboard. The 'Contact & Items' page allows you to manage contacts, item expenses, and bills of sale.
Default Settings
In the default settings page you are able to manage many of the default livestock settings such as your preferred livestock type, breed, herd, and form of ID. It also allows you to set value preferences for 'Ideal Sale Age', 'Gestation Period', and 'Age Considered Adult' for specific livestock types. This can be especially helpful if you manage multiple livestock types. There are built in defaults if these are not set. For example, the Gestation Period if not set by you, defaults to 283 days (https://beef.unl.edu/pregnantcows) which is the average gestation time for most cattle.
Preferred Values
Setting the 'Default Values' allows you to configure the default values which will be auto selected when you go to the 'Add Livestock' page. This saves time and effort, especially during the initial push to get your herd entered in to the application. The example below shows the settings and how they are implemented when you navigate to the 'Add Livestock' page. Notice the Type, Herd, and Breed are auto selected based on those default preferences.
Livestock Specific Settings
Another setting that can be edited are the livestock specific settings. You can change the Ideal Sale Age, Gestation Period, and Age Considered Adult. These settings are used throughout HerdOne in algorithms which help convey information back to you in a meaningful and personal way. For example, the 'Animals at Selling Age' widget on the dashboard utilizes the Ideal Sale Age value to calculate the number of livestock to include. Some settings are not automatically set for certain livestock but can be changed. These settings will need to be set after adding a new livestock type.
Widgets
Enabling and disabling the widgets that can be seen from the dashboard also occurs here. By default the Livestock Summary, Finance, Age, and Birth widgets are enabled. Ultimately, you have the ability to show any combination of widgets you like. Additional details on the information conveyed in these widgets can be found in the details portion of each widget on the Dashboard.
Contacts & Items
The Contacts and Items page allows you to edit any contacts that you have utilizes throughout the application. This includes vendors and customers that have been input through the Sales, Purchases, and Expense entry processes. If a contact is no longer needed, it can also be inactivated here. Once inactivated, it will no longer show up as an option in the Customer/Vendor specific dropdowns throughout the application. This exact process is used in the Expense Items and Bills of Sale sections as well.
Happy Farming
"I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world."
I have recited this pledge for the last nine years of my life. Joining the Outdoor Adventures 4-H club at 9 years old was one of the most cultivating decisions of my childhood. 4-H has taught me so many things about myself and about the community around me. I have had countless doors opened for me through 4-H. Being able to participate in county-wide events as well as travel as a club around the U.S. have been some of my best memories as a kid. Being in 4-H for so long and participating in so many events has allowed me to gain friendships that will last a lifetime.
My Head
Through my years in 4-H I have learned a countless number of new skills. Participating in events like the Benton County Fair has taught me the responsibility of raising and maintaining a show hog. Each year my Dad and I would travel a couple hours away from home to go pick out the perfect hog. I would tell my Dad what I thought the "perfect hog" should look like and then we would pick one out together. I would then spend the next three to four months feeding, washing, and walking my hog. I learned how to properly feed accurate portions, so my hog would be the right weight come show time. I would practice walking my hog so when it came to show time it would stride out just right for the judge to see all its best features.
For the last three years I have acted as President for the Outdoor Adventures 4-H club. During this time, I conducted meetings and different club events. As president I would have to speak to the club as a whole and be able to answer any questions thrown my way. This improved my public speaking skills as well as my personal communication skills.
My Heart
Through the years, I have gained a large number of new friendships through 4-H. I have had the opportunity to attend events like 4-H Summer Camp where I met other 4-H members from across the county. We participated in team activities that allowed us to learn about our peers. Being able to communicate with my peers properly has helped me outside of 4-H in all kinds of ways. I have been able to use these skills in jobs, school, and team sports.
I have also had the opportunity to become very close to the adults that make everything in 4-H possible. These bonds have helped me tremendously this last year while applying for college and scholarships. The adult leaders of 4-H have offered to be references and even write me recommendation letters.
My Hands
One of the biggest parts of 4-H is helping the community. Each month our club does some form of community service, whether it be cleaning up the park, donating water to the football team, or working a 5K race. Being able to give back to the people around me has been one of my favorite parts of 4-H. Over the years our club has done the most community service in the entire county. One of my all-time favorite community service events was dressing up as the Easter Bunny and taking pictures with all the kids at the city Easter Event.