Feed Science - Evaluation & Conservation

Our research and education focus on feeds to ruminants and horses with a focus on handling and conservation of feed, feed composition and nutritional properties of feeds. The division is responsible for the official feeding recommendations and tables of feed composition to ruminants in Sweden.

Feed composition and properties

We develop and improve methods for analyzing feeds to enable prediction of feeding values. Our work concerns analysis of a large number of different fractions of the feed and we also study the dynamics of feed digestion and digesta passage in the gastro intestinal tract. Studying feed and nutrient metabolism in ruminants also include microbial growth and the production of volatile fatty acids. We use modeling and simulations as valuable tools, for instance, when studying processes in the gastro intestinal tract.

Feed conservation

We develop safe systems to preserve the nutritional value of, particularly, forage crops but also grains during storage. Our work also includes issues related to the hygienic quality of milk from cows fed conserved feeds. We study technological processes during harvest and handling of the forages, feed preservatives, different wraps or silos and our studies are performed both in miniature and farm scale silos.