Animal feed quality is important in maintaining and improving livestock performance and production.

Feed is one of the largest costs associated with livestock production, and forage analysis is crucial to balancing animal health with productivity and yield. 

Understanding the quality of both pasture and supplement feeds is valuable when assessing feed management and budgeting programmes and ensuring that dietary requirements and production goals are met.  

We can carry out macro and micro mineral testing in conjunction with a feed quality analysis, using both wet chemistry and NIRS techniques, from dry matter only to full feed quality profiles.

NIRS testing service

As part of the Samplinq®  network overseen by Eurofins Agro laboratories, we can offer an advanced NIRS testing service with a wider scope of tests on more feed products, and access to comprehensive interpretation material. The NIRS profiles available provide rapid testing of fresh and ensiled forages, as well as concentrates and raw materials (e.g. grains, pellets, meals).

Our testing suites

Feed quality analysis - by NIR techniques 

Basic feed quality profile (FQAN)

• Pastures, hay, silages, fresh maize and cereals
  • Dry matter
  • Crude ash, crude protein, crude fibre, crude fat
  • Sugar
  • Starch (fresh maize and silages only)
  • ADF, NDF, ADL (acid detergent lignin)
  • Soluble crude protein
  • Digestibility and metabolisable energy

Advanced feed quality profile (AFQAN)

• Silages (maize, cereal, lucerne, pasture)
  • Dry matter
  • Crude ash, crude protein, crude fibre, crude fat
  • Sugar 
  • Starch (excludes pasture silages)
  • ADF, NDF, ADL (acid detergent lignin) 
  • Soluble crude protein 
  • Acetic acid, lactic acid
  • NH3 fraction
  • pH
  • NDF digestibility
  • Digestibility and metabolisable energy

Concentrate feed quality profile (CFQAN)

• Concentrates, grains, raw materials
  • Dry matter
  • Crude ash, crude protein, crude fibre, crude fat
  • Sugar
  • Starch
  • NDF
  • Soluble crude protein
  • Digestibility and metabolisable energy (by calculation)

We can provide further technical information, as required, based on the following indices:

• NRC
• Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS)
• Dutch feed value

Feed quality analysis - by wet chemistry

Our testing package includes:

• Dry matter (DM)
• Crude protein (CP)
• Acid detergent Fibre (ADF)
• Neutral detergent fibre (NDF)
• Organic matter (OM)
• Digestibility (DOMD)
• Metabolisable energy (ME) (by calculation)

In additional to feed quality, a full range of mineral tests are also available, including raw material minerals that are included in concentrates and rations.