Commercial tests

Areas of Expertise: Grassland and Plant Science

Service: Specialist Facilities

AFBI provides an innovative range of commercial tests to help customers formulate optimum diets for their enterprises.

Hillsborough Feeding Information System (HFIS)

AFBI provides an innovative HFIS Near Infrared Spectrometry service for evaluating grass silage based on 816 NIR spectra of 136 silages for which animal digestibility was determined. This rapid service (4-day turnaround) has evolved over several years with the addition of predictions for high dry matter but low digestibility value (D value) silages. The performance predictions are based on models developed by AFBI Hillsborough using actual experimental data acquired at Hillsborough. The lab annually tests large numbers of silage samples from UK and ROI farmers, who receive a chemical analysis, D value (dry matter digestibility (DMD) for ROI farmers), predicted intake and predicted production (milk yield / liveweight gain) to help formulate optimum diets for their enterprises.