Forage quality assessment using NIRS

The methodology is used to assess forage composition and thus its quality. NIR spectroscopy is a secondary analysis technique that exploits the interaction between the chemical-physical properties of matter and electromagnetic radiation in the near infrared (800-2500 nm). Being a secondary analysis, it involves a preliminary phase in which libraries with the prediction equations by means of statistical association between spectra and analytical data obtained with traditional chemistry methods are produced. The following parameters are determined using this methodology: dry matter; Moisture; raw and soluble protein; non soluble protein fractions (NDIP ADIP, NDIP); ash, fiber fractions (aNDFom, ADF, ADL); undigested NDF (uNDF); and, fat, starch, sugars. These parameters allows the calculation of net milking energy which represents the amount of energy in a feed which is available for milk production and body maintenance and thus, provides an indication of the nutritional value of the forage.