System and method for optimizing animal production based on a target output characteristic

A method for determining optimized values for inputs to an animal production system, comprising:

• receiving a plurality of animal information inputs, wherein at least one of the animal information inputs is designated as a variable input;
• receiving a target output characteristic;
• generating at least one performance projection based on the animal information inputs;
• and
• generating an optimized value for the at least one variable input based on the at least one performance projection, the target output characteristic and at least one optimization criteria.

An animal production optimization system, comprising:

• an optimization engine, having an objective function program therein, configured to receive a target output characteristic;
• and
• an animal production modeling system configured to
• receive animal information input, including at least one variable input,
• receive feed formulation input, and
• provide at least one modeling output to the optimization engine, the modeling output including a value for the target output characteristic,
• wherein the optimization engine utilizes the objective function program to provide an optimized solution for the at least one variable input based on the modeling output and the value for the target output characteristic.