How do I join the NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium?

1. Consortium members must have NIRS instruments with gratings that scan from 1100 to at least 2200 nm.  Spectral output of each instrument is matched (standardized) to a Consortium Master Instrument. The standardization of all instruments is needed for labs to use equations provided by the Consortium. The Consortium is supporting the monitoring of instrument performance through diagnostics, spectra evaluation, and standardization.

2. Laboratories must have software capable of handling complex equations and (where applicable) expandable equations.

3. Each lab is expected to do routine diagnostics daily and send a diagnostic report to the Instrument Specialist weekly.

4. Labs are expected to provide samples of products as requested. This will ensure the spectra of samples being analyzed by all member laboratories is represented within the Consortium calibration libraries.

5. Labs conducting commercial testing of forage and feed products are expected to have membership for certification of their labs (NIRS and chemical when applicable) through the National Forage Testing Association (NFTA), and upon request supply laboratory ID’s and results (confidentially) to the Consortium Instrument Specialist.

6. The initiation fee (which includes a lab visit by our NIR specialist if needed) is $1,000.  The annual membership fee is $2,500. Click here for more information on the Consortium’s price structure

7. Bylaws of the NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium

Meeting these requirements, the Consortium will provide members with an option to use or lease calibration equations maintained or under development by the NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium.

To join or for more information, contact Patty Laskowski, business manager

                                                            Phone: 608-489-3960

                                                            Email: pmlaskowski@wisc.edu