The Dairy One Forage Lab
The Dairy One Forage Lab excels in providing you with high-quality analyses and customer service. Every day, samples arrive at the lab from around the globe. Individual producers, agriservice personnel, consultants, veterinarians, universities, and zoos are among the many types of people and organizations satisfying their analytical needs at Dairy One. As an international leader, our goal is to provide you with analytical services designed to meet the expanding demands of modern agriculture. New technology and traditional methods are combined to deliver fast, accurate results.
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Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy
Near Infrared Reflectance spectroscopy (NIR) is a sophisticated technique for rapidly analyzing common forages and grains and is recognized by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) as an official method of analysis. Multiple components are determined simultaneously making results available typically within 24 hours of receipt by the lab. Dairy One offers the most comprehensive NIR analysis available making it our most popular service and the choice of feed industry professionals.
Because NIR is calibration dependent, NIR service packages are limited to certain feed types. Traditionally, calibrations were developed for common feed types by analyzing several hundred to several thousand samples. The chemical information contained in these samples is correlated to spectral properties and a calibration is born. For example, a corn silage calibration is based on samples grown and harvested under varying climatic and geographic conditions. Calibrations built upon many years of information provide the power of being able to accurately analyze samples grown under a wide variety of conditions.
Dairy One has over 35 years of experience in NIR analysis. The analysis of hundreds of thousands of samples has enabled us to assemble a large sample database for calibration development. In the past, global calibrations were built upon several hundred to several thousand analyses of individual samples to generate a single calibration that would be applied to all feeds of a particular type. Today, using LOCAL technology, a calibration is built for each sample as it is analyzed by the instrument. In the world of calibrations, the more that your calibration (or background) samples match the sample being analyzed, the more accurate the results.
Traditional Chemistry
Traditional wet chemistry procedures can be applied to any sample type. Time proven methods are used to determine nutrient composition. Traditional wet chemistry methods must be used for samples where no NIR calibrations exist. Typically wet chemistry results are available within two business days. However, Wet chemistry samples requiring time intensive or specialty analyses (e.g. lignin, TFA, fiber digestibility, gross energy, etc.) require at least 3 – 10 business days. Some subcontracted analyses (e.g. mycotoxins, selenium, iodine, and mold & yeast) may take up to 7-10 business days.
Supplemental Services and Custom Packages
Many supplemental services are available to be added-on to regular services for an additional fee. If you are interested in just receiving one or more of the supplemental services, these are treated as a custom package. The price of your custom package begins with a $9.00 base fee. Then, simply add the costs of the individual services that you selected to determine your final package price. Contact Customer Support at 607-375-9962 with questions about custom packaging.
Quality Assurance
Quality analyses are insured by participation in internal and external quality assurance programs. Internally, daily check samples and standards are run through all analytical areas. Externally, we voluntarily participate in eight sample check programs. Through these programs, our results are compared to other labs across the country to insure uniform, high quality results.
Prior to your analysis report being released, all samples pass through an “edit system”. Results that fall outside of the range typically expected for a given sample type are flagged for review. Upon review, the sample may be retested to verify the original results. A message will appear on the final report indicating any components that have been retested. Retests will add an additional 1 to 7 days to turn around time.
Certification Stamps for Dairy One Forage Laboratory
Customer Support
P: 607-375-9962 • F: 607-257-1350
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