Animal Methods for Assessing Forage Quality

Introduction

Fundamentally, forage quality is the ability of forage to support animal maintenance and production functions. Although forage contains all nutrients, its primary contribution to animal maintenance is through the provision of nitrogenous components and energy. Therefore, in describing forage quality, researchers have focused primarily on these components. The most accurate representation of the ability to support the energy requirements of ruminant forages is the net energy (NE) value. However, direct characterization of net energy values and nitrogen utilization is expensive, time-consuming, and technically challenging. Both laboratory and animal methods have now been developed for predicting nutritional value or gaining insight into the potential of forage to support maintenance and/or production functions.

Solutions

Since the quality of forage directly affects the success or failure of production, there are many ways to test forage. Are animals gaining weight, producing more milk, reproducing successfully, and living longer? These can also indirectly reflect the quality of the forage. As a leading global provider of forage testing services, Lifeasible is committed to assessing forage quality from an animal perspective by viewing forage quality as the ability of forage to meet animal needs.

Our team of experts develops various methods for evaluating forage quality using animals. Evaluate the quality of your forage through direct measurements of livestock performance as described below. This method is much easier to accomplish than formal energy balance measurements.

• Live Weight Gain
• Body Condition Score Change
• Milk Production
• Diet Selection
• Forage Intake
• Rate and Extent of Digestion

Animal Methods for Evaluating Forage Quality

Balance Trials

•  Energy Balance Trials. Based on our scientists' understanding of the laws of thermodynamics as they apply to biological systems and ruminant digestive physiology and metabolism, we offer energy balance tests to determine the net energy value of all forages, including pasture.
•  Nitrogen balance tests. The efficiency of forage nitrogen utilization is an important consideration in optimizing ruminant productivity. We directly measure N captured in forage to determine forage quality.

Metabolic Indicators

•  We provide assays for nutrients in body fluids or livestock tissues to determine forage quality, with special attention to the concentration of urea N in body fluids.

Some of the procedures in the animal methods for forage quality assessment provide the information needed to achieve very specific goals, some of which help to accurately predict nutritional value. In contrast, others are considered only relative indicators of nutritional value. Our basic goal is to help you determine the ability of forages to support maintenance and production functions in ruminants. For more information or to discuss in detail, please contact us.