In the agricultural product community, very high standards of quality control are set globally for the production of feed products. Compound feed and other feed products are produced to very tight specifications based on proximate analysis values. Precise and consistent compound feed production requires accurate and timely nutritional information of the ingredients used. In addition to the standard moisture, protein and fat content, feed producers also require fiber, starch and even amino acid compositions of these ingredients.
Plant based feed ingredients such as soymeal, digestible distiller’s grains (DDGs) and corn by-products are increasingly sold based on nutrient levels. Likewise, animal meals such as feather meal, meat and bone meal, blood meal and fish meal are also graded and sold based on protein or other nutrient levels. All of these natural ingredients vary widely in composition and nutritional content. Accurate and timely analysis of these ingredients can increase production efficiency, maximize profits and reduce claims.
Addionally,
Many new food processing by-products such as beet pulp, vegetable pomace and bakery products are used as a significant component in feed mixtures. These products can have a wide range of nutritional quality, making consistent feed production difficult. Providing a consistent product and nutritional guarantees can add significant value to these ingredients.
Near infrared (NIR) is a proven technology which offers accurate at-line analysis of feed ingredients in approximately 30 seconds. This instrumentation provides both the ingredient producer and feed compounder immediate nutritional information for a wide variety of nutritional constituents simultaneously. This timely and frequent quality data are reliable inputs to least cost fomulation systems and allow for precise and consistent feed ingredient production and usage. In many cases, the cost savings resulting from optimizing operations with the available quality data will result in a payback time of several months.
Unity offers unique near infrared (NIR) solutions for feed ingredient processing with our new SpectraStar 2600 XT top window system that has a wide variety of sampling devices and accessories. Dedicated systems are available for specific industries with starter calibrations and calibrations development support included. Also available are complete calibration packages with a wide variety of feed ingredients that can be easily added to our instruments to get you analyzing quickly. Unity has been working with the industry leaders in these areas to develop the best instrumentation and application support in the industry.
Quote: unityscientific.com
