A sample study has been conducted to determine the accuracy of nutrient and energy values in commercially available feeds that are included in NorFor’s Feed Stuff Table (FST), as a means of further improving the accuracy of NorFor’s feed model.
The purpose of the study was to detect any possible discrepancies between guideline values and delivered quality, including how low-cost feed can exhibit surprisingly high energy values.
46 compound feeds from 20 feed manufacturers (out of more than 2000 feeds in the FST) were randomly selected for testing, which was done by collecting samples on farms in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland in 2015.
Only a few deviations
The results show a generally good correlation between declared values and measured content, with only a small number of observations outside EU-regulated specifications, mostly of minor importance. As an example, only one feed supplier out of 20 stated too high energy values.
Other results from the study include new guidelines for feed companies on how to update compound feeds to the NorFor FST, as well as the need to develop a precise lab method to determine NEL20 content, which in this study had to be estimated, when the composition of ingredients is unknown (NEL 20 = the net energy value to lactation for every 20 kilograms of dry feed).