Animine presented “Evaluation of forages mineral composition with a new portable device” at Sustainable forage for net-zero in livestock production in London
The Animine scientific team participated in the Sustainable forage for net-zero in livestock production meeting and the team believed that, this event held in London, was the right moment to present Animine’s latest research outcomes on the calibration of the new AniGun® tool, based on the X-Ray Fluorescence technique.
One of the main limitations in precision formulation is that forages are extremely variable in mineral content and can contain antagonists that reduce the availability of some minerals (i.e Cu, S, Mo and Fe). A quick and accurate assessment of the macro (P, Ca…) and micro-mineral (Zn, Cu, Mn…) composition in the ingredients of the ration is also extremely important to avoid nutritional imbalances, economic losses, and environmental impacts. For these reasons, Animine set the goal of providing analysis of minerals in forages with a portable device, usable on the field.
For the calibration, samples of forages (grass, hay and grass silage) were collected. Forage macro and minerals mineral content was directly determined by AniGun® and in parallel samples were analyzed by wet chemistry technique (ICP-AES) in the INRAE lab.
The AniGun portable analyzer represents a promising device for quantifying the mineral content of forages. It will provide fast and accurate results, which will allow users to reformulate mineral supply, in many cases decreasing supplementation levels. This will also save costs and reduce the amount of minerals being returned to the environment.