African Forage, Fodder, Feed & Food Quality Lab: Providing precise laboratory analysis while building and maintaining a digital database to support research and education that helps improve livestock nutrition and productivity.
Our laboratory, located in the capital city of South Africa, combines the positives of lab-based research with practical research. In an effort to understand the value of a forage species, several analyses are conducted, evaluating several aspects of forages. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is the advanced technical analysis of forage quality parameters in real-time, divulging into the microscopic characteristics of a single sample of grass. Complementary to this NIRS analysis, is our primed wet chemistry lab, filling in the blanks and generating results for comparative and holistic interpretation while endorsing the NIRS results to maximize accuracy. In vitro digestibility is evaluated by combing the hard-working cow with a hardworking technician simulating the cow’s internal environment in a test tube, to predict the nutritional availability of your feed to your cow.
