NEX QC+—Nutrients in Grass Silage

Scope

The analysis of important mineral elements in grass is demonstrated.

Background

Silage is made by fermenting various grasses or other crops and is the main base for most animal feeds, especially cattle. The nutrient content of silage is carefully blended and monitored to ensure optimal animal health and product quality. Grass-fed cattle require the optimum balance of the major minerals calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus and the trace minerals copper, manganese, and zinc. Proper mineral balance ensures optimum milk quality and production. To meet the industry's need of monitoring the mineral content, Rigaku offers the NEX QC+ EDXRF analyzer for fast and simple measurement of grass and other silages such as haylage, wheat silage, and corn silage.

Model: NEX QC+

Calibration

A set of twelve assayed grass samples were submitted by an industry user for demonstration. Empirical regressions calibrations were built to provide optimum accuracy.

Note: 1 ppm = 1 mg/kg

Precision

Representative calibration standards were measured ten consecutive times each in a static position to demonstrate effective recovery and analytical precision.

Analysis of unknown samples

Unknown samples with ICP values were submitted by the user for measurement against the calibrations built. Results are shown here.

Conclusion

The NEX QC+ offers analysts a simple yet powerful and versatile system for quantifying elemental composition using the empirical approach. The results of this study indicate that given stable samples, proper sample handling, and proper calibration technique, the Rigaku NEX QC+ EDXRF can achieve excellent results for measuring the key mineral elements in grass and other silages.