Our team has been receiving many questions about how the forecast works for the Lite and Standard subscriptions. We discuss the differences between them here.

Let’s start with the most important question regarding this topic.

Do I need a Weather Station to use Kite Feedlot?

No, you do not need to have a weather station at your site to use Kite.

However, having a weather station is a good idea and can help you understand your heat load during an event.

Is the forecast better when you have a weather station sending data to Kite Feedlot?

Yes! When you integrate a weather station into Kite, your AHLU will be calculated taking into consideration not only your site-specific weather forecast but also the weather station observations. Therefore a more accurate AHLU is generated for your site as the AHLU is updated with the weather station observations whenever they are uploaded (usually every hour).

The weather station does not change the forecast for the variable that make up the AHLU (i.e. BGT, wind speed and humidity) but just the AHLU calculation.

How do I get a forecast if I don’t have a Weather Station on my feedlot?

A forecast tells you about the future and a weather station only tells you about the past. Therefore a forecast is generated for your site using a Numerical Weather Prediction System (or a “model”, in this case we use ECMWF). The model covers the entire globe and a new prediction every 90 m. This is how we can provide a forecast for your exact location even when you don’t have a weather station at your site.

The forecast uses all available weather station and radar/satellite data, as well as the local terrain and land use around your site to make a best estimate of what the weather is doing at your site now and what is predicted for the next seven days.

So, when you don’t have a weather station integrated in Kite, your AHLU is calculated using the forecast only.

I have purchased a Lite or Standard Subscription and want to add my weather station data now. What can I do about it?

You may upgrade your subscription at any time. Just head to the subscriptions page and Kite will calculate the difference pro-rata. See help page here.