Forage Analysis Assurance: Supporting the Livestock Supply Chain
In this episode of The AIC Podcast, Sarah-Jane Godfrey, AIC Technical Manager, talks all things Forage Analysis Assurance (FAA) Group as she tells us about the importance of accurate, consistent and reliable forage analysis, and the role the Group plays in supporting livestock nutrition across the UK and Ireland.
We cover:
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What the FAA Group is, why it was established, and how it works to improve the accuracy, consistency and reliability of forage analysis.
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How the FAA Group's proficiency testing scheme helps maintain high laboratory standards through independent benchmarking and continuous improvement.
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Why accurate forage analysis is essential for informed ration formulation, livestock performance, feed efficiency and farm profitability.
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How laboratories, nutritionists and farmers benefit from greater confidence in forage analysis results and the transparent publication of laboratory performance grades.
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The role of forage testing in helping livestock producers make better use of home-grown forages, improve resource efficiency and support more sustainable farming systems.
As Sarah-Jane explains, "You can't manage what you don't measure," highlighting why reliable forage analysis remains a fundamental tool for livestock businesses.
This episode is ideal for livestock producers, nutritionists, feed advisers, forage specialists and anyone involved in ruminant nutrition who wants to better understand the science, quality assurance and practical value of forage analysis.
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Transcript
Wendy Welcome to the AIC podcast, where we share practical guidance and insight for Members and help the industry understand how the agri food supply chain works. I'm Wendy Ford, I'm the AIC Communications Manager. And today I'm joined by Sarah Jane Godfrey, AIC Technical Manager, who is here to tell us about the Forage Analysis Assurance Group, also known as the FAA Group. We'll be exploring the work of the group, its history, how it helps ensure farmers and feed advisers can rely on accurate and consistent forage analysis results and the support AIC provides as the group's secretariat. Welcome to the podcast, Sarah Jane.
Sarah-Jane Thank you Wendy. It's great to be here.
Wendy So let's start with the basics. For those who may not be familiar with the organisation, what exactly is the FAA group?
Sarah-Jane So the FAA group is a collaboration, a group of forage analysis laboratories located across the UK and Ireland.
Sarah-Jane It was founded in the year two thousand with a clear goal to improve accuracy, consistency and importantly, reliability of forage analysis. Today member laboratories are collectively analysing more than seventy thousand grass samples maize silage samples and whole crop silage samples each year. Huge number of samples. And these results are used by farmers, nutritionists and feeding advisors to formulate ruminant diets that are economic, efficient and increasingly importantly,
Sarah-Jane help ensure farmers can meet their sustainability targets. And what this means for farmers is that formulating diets more accurately means less waste of valuable nutrients for that farm.
Sarah-Jane So in essence, the group exists to ensure that forage analysis testing results are trustworthy and importantly consistent, regardless of which member laboratory is performing the testing.
Wendy That's great. Those are impressive numbers, and it definitely underlines how widely forage analysis is used across the sector. So the group has now been operating for more than twenty five years. Sarah Jane, can you take us back to the beginning? Why was there a need to establish the FAA group in the first place?
Sarah-Jane The founding members recognised, that forage analysis is the basic foundation of good feeding decisions. They also understood that silage is naturally variable and that analytical methods and laboratory equipment can also introduce variation and affect results that were farmers were getting, and if laboratory results differ significantly from one lab to another, it becomes really difficult for farmers and feed advisers to make confident feeding decisions. So the FAA group was therefore created to help reduce that variability between laboratories and continually improve testing performance across the industry. So since its inception, the group has focused on standardisation quality assurance and continual testing improvement, and this helps ensure that every time analytical results of silage remain accurate and reliable to those using them.
Wendy You've touched on the importance of accuracy and consistency. But if we take a step back for a moment, why is forage analysis itself such a critical part of livestock production?
Sarah-Jane When it comes to ruminants, it's the largest component of their diet. To formulate diets correctly, farmers and nutritionists need an accurate understanding of the nutritional quality of that silage that's going into that ruminants diet. So more reliable analysis enables more precise ration formation, which can therefore help improve livestock performance, support profitability of the unit and also importantly, reduce food waste, nutrient waste.
Sarah-Jane We don't want to waste money and we don't want to waste nutrients.
Sarah-Jane And this means that it helps contribute to a more environmentally sustainable farming by improving feed efficiency and reducing these unnecessary nutrient losses. and when it comes to testing, it's so important You can't manage what you don't measure. And an accurate forage analysis really does provide that essential measurement needed.
Wendy We've talked about the outcomes, but how does the FAA group actually deliver that consistency and confidence in practice?
Sarah-Jane That's a great question. One of the FAA group's most important activities is its proficiency testing scheme, often referred to as a PT scheme. what happens is that over the year, participating laboratories receive standardised forage samples of grass, whole crop or maize silages throughout the year, they analyse those samples using the same methods they used for customer work, That is principally by a method called NIRS, which stands for near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy. And they submit their results for comparison. And they're graded by a technical committee. And what happens is the submitted results are compared against reference laboratory data, which is by wet chemistry analysis. And the data and their results are evaluated statistically to assess their performance against the wet chemistry and against each other. the results are published and the participating laboratories are informed of their results. And this means that they can identify any areas where testing improvements can be needed. and this really means that they can continually monitor and improve their analytical performance.
Wendy So once those proficiency tests have been completed, how do you assess success? What does good laboratory performance look like and how transparent is that process?
Sarah-Jane So as I said, the results are graded and
Sarah-Jane each month the FAA group publishes performance grades of each member on their website and allows everyone to see and assess how closely laboratory results have aligned with the reference data. and publishing these grades provides transparency and really does demonstrate the commitment of the member laboratories to maintain their high testing standards. and what's great to see is that over the years, testing consistency has really improved over time, with many laboratories now achieving consistently excellent or good performance grades across the range of forages that they're testing.
Wendy Technology has changed significantly over the past quarter of a century. How has the FAA group evolved alongside those developments? How has it adapted?
Sarah-Jane One of the major developments over the last years and since the forming of the FAA group is the widespread use of the NIRs machines, the near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy method. It's much faster than wet chemistry methods that have been previously used. so that's been their focus over the last few years to develop the NIRS calibrations and support members to use their machines, their NIRS machines more accurately. and what's been really key, to development of this NIRS technology is the work of the technical committees and the development of the NIRS calibrations and the use of all the data that the members produce to keep validating their methods and their machines and develop their own equation sets for NIRS. And that's really been driving these excellent results that we've been seeing over the last few years. and, you know, this collaborative approach really does help drive this continuous, analytical performance increase that we've seen.
Wendy I really like that collaboration angle, and it's clear that laboratory performance is important, but even the best laboratory can only work with the sample that it receives. Does the FAA group also help farmers make sure they're taking representative samples in the first place?
Sarah-Jane Yes, indeed. It's, clearly been demonstrated by some of the results that we've seen, that the laboratory cannot compensate, however good they are, for a poorly taken sample from the farm. And that's why as a group, they are also providing guidance on best practice for forage sampling, whether it be from a clamp or a bale of silage. it's essential that when you're sending samples in for testing it, actually the sample actually reflects what's going to be fed to the livestock. So there is a video hosted on the FAA group website, which is FAA group dot co dot UK, where you can find a video to watch about correct sampling techniques. So in this way by providing a good sample it also helps your results. accuracy. because it's really important practical aspects of also that you need to take into account when you're evaluating forage.
Wendy Bringing all of that together. What would you say are the biggest benefits that the FAA group delivers to farmers feed advisors and the wider supply chain?
Sarah-Jane The biggest benefit the FAA Group delivers is confidence when farmers receive forage analysis results from an FAA group member laboratory, they can really trust that those results have been produced within a robust quality assurance framework. and it means that feeding decisions can be confidently made. you can be clear on achieving your livestock performance targets, which is obviously important for your financial return, and reducing inefficiencies throughout the feed and food chain by using nutrients better.
Wendy So the FAA group doesn't operate in isolation and has a long standing relationship with AIC. Sarah Jane, can you explain how that partnership supports the group's work and helps deliver value to the wider industry?
Sarah-Jane Yeah, that's a great question. So AIC supports the FAA group through the provision of a secretariat service. and we're proud to support the FAA group as clearly forage analysis is such an important component of formulating correct livestock diets, optimising performance and efficient feeding. particularly when we have to consider and support, the need for the industry to feed stock as efficiently as possible, for both financial and also importantly, environmental reasons. Many of the FAA group member companies also have employees who are registered feed advisors who sit on a publicly available register where livestock producers can search for companies with registered feed advisors in their area. so if you need advice on feeding your beef cattle, you can look up a feed advisor and contact them.
Wendy That's great. And as the FAA group looks ahead to the next chapter, what do you see as the key priorities and opportunities for the years ahead?
Sarah-Jane The core mission remains unchanged. It's about improving accuracy, consistency and confidence in forage analysis. and as farming continues to evolve, there will be an increasing demand for data that supports both productivity and sustainability. The FAA group's ongoing work in proficiency testing, NIRS calibration, development, quality assurance and knowledge sharing will remain central to those challenges, and the group, as they're collaboratively working, will continue to help each other improve performance while providing farmers and feed advisors with, you know, the reliable information they need to make these informed feeding decisions.
Wendy Thank you so much for joining us today, Sarah Jane, and for sharing the story of the FAA group. It's clear that for more than twenty five years, the group has played a vital role in helping farmers feed advisors and laboratories, have confidence in forage analysis and make better informed feeding decisions. Thank you to everyone listening, and if you'd like to learn more about the FAA Group, its member laboratories and forage sampling guidance, visit the FAA group's website. Until next time. Thanks for listening and if you haven't already, please make sure you follow and subscribe. Thank you.
Members can find further updates, guidance and resources on the AIC website and through our member communications. Thank you for listening, and we'll be back with another episode soon. If you found this useful, please share it with a colleague and check the show notes for links and definitions. And again, thank you for joining us.
Views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect any organisation they represent. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Listener discretion is advised. Thank you.
Author
Wendy Ford
Wendy Ford is Communications Manager at AIC, creating and overseeing the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media.
