This episode featured as part of the Animal Feed and Nutrition segment in partnership with SealesWinslow.

Hill Laboratories is introducing a new protein testing capability for forage samples this year, expanding its reporting beyond crude protein to a wider group of protein fractions.

Fiona Calvert, technical support specialist in the agricultural division at Hill Laboratories, says the lab has reported crude protein for many years but is now broadening the measure.

“We’ve always just reported crude protein, but we’re going to expand it to have the wider group of protein fractions,” she says.

The additional fractions give ruminant nutritionists more to work with.

“Ruminant nutritionists have more information around the soluble protein or the non-protein nitrogen, and also the acid-detergent and soluble nitrogen.”

The acid-detergent measure indicates heat damage in silages. She says crude protein has only ever been a coarse measure, calculated from total nitrogen.

“The soluble protein is more available for the microbial community in the rumen,” she says.

Calvert says the expanded test will play out most on system three, four and five dairy farms using more supplementary feeds.

The fractions feed directly into nutrition models.

“People who are using nutritionists, using maybe something called the DietCheck model or the Cornell CNCPS model, soluble protein is an input into those.”

Standard feed results are usually ready in two to three days, though the protein fractions will take longer while the lab uses wet chemistry before building its NIR calibration.

She says more farmers are leaning into feed analysis.

“It’s really around people wanting more information and confidence in their decisions.”

This episode featured as part of the Animal Feed and Nutrition segment in partnership with SealesWinslow. Whether it’s a custom blend or dairy pellet, smart modelling tools, or advice tailored for your farm, SealesWinslow is about nutrition that delivers measurable benefits. Through science, teamwork, and practical guidance, we make sure what you do today sets your herd up for better performance tomorrow. For more information visit https://sealeswinslow.co.nz/

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