Many dairy farmers feed their cows on grass because it provides a cheap and affordable source of nutrients for ruminants, providing about 70 percent of the 42 million tons of forage dry matter consumed by ruminant. However, changes in forage nutrition during the growing season are not normally monitored, but understanding seasonal changes in forage nutrient concentrations can enhance ruminant production systems and management.

Fast and low cost

In recent years, nIR spectroscopy using wet chemical data for correction has replaced wet chemical analysis methods commonly used in the laboratory to obtain nutrient levels of herbages. The near infrared technique measures the spectrum of infrared energy reflected from samples under white light irradiation. This method of assessing a product's nutritional level reduces the time required for analysis (from about 16 hours to less than a minute) and the cost. Despite this faster, cheaper approach, and the fact that near-infrared (NIRS) equipment has become smaller and more portable, forage analysis is rarely performed by farmers. This could be improved as the technology enables frequent nutritional analyses and more timely decisions at lower cost.