NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium
"Dedicated to increasing the accuracy and knowledge of NIRS testing"
The Board of Directors meeting held on
January 20, 2000 addressed the following items: (1) Membership Status, (2) Instrument
Specialist Status, (3) Instrument Monitoring Program, and (4) Annual Meeting.
To date the NIRS Consortium consists of
19 participating members, plus collaborators at the University of Wisconsin, US
Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC), and the University of Minnesota. All
those present felt that consistency and timeliness are integral parts of the
Consortium’s success. Along these lines, Neal Martin summarized that a business
manager, instrument specialist &
researcher, and new dollars are all components that have been added or will be
added shortly to the group. This means that activity is occurring and that
momentum can be expected to increase. Dan Undersander and Mike Siedell both
expressed how important membership participation is in achieving Consortium
goals.
The discussion continued with an
agreement that equation update and expansion is an important step to take to
move the Consortium forward and reunify members. It was decided that a call for
sample spectra from members would be appropriate at this time, in preparation
for the new Instrument Specialist’s arrival. See details below in section “Call
For Sample Spectra”.
February
8, 2000
Dan Undersander and Neal Martin provided
an update on the Instrument Specialist position. Dan explained that good
discussions have been taking place between the University of Wisconsin, the
Consortium, and the University of Padova, Italy in reaching final agreements
for Paolo Berzaghi to fill the position of Instrument Specialist/Researcher as
a Visiting Scientist. At this point, Paolo plans to arrive in Madison on March
1, 2000 to begin work with the Consortium. See details about Paolo’s background
below.
The Instrument Monitoring Program status
was discussed, in the context of making arrangements for Paolo to initiate and
manage this program. With this in mind, a final draft has been completed of a
Member Inventory Survey (an attachment to this newsletter). This survey will
provide information on what versions of software, equations, and instrument
models we as a consortium have.
Lastly, Dan, Neal, and Don Sapienza are
drafting the annual meeting program. It was agreed that early April is the best
time for most members to be able to attend. The meeting will be held at the
USDA Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison, Wisconsin. A Forage Testing
Conference will be held in conjunction with the Consortium Annual Meeting to
discuss NIR science. Topics such as current and new NIRS methodology,
laboratory proficiency, and accuracy of NIRS analysis of forages and feeds will
be discussed. An outline of the program
and dates will be compiled and distributed shortly.
The next Board Meeting will be held by
conference call on February 28, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. central time. Board Members and Consortium Members can
participate in this open board meeting by dialing 608-265-1000 and entering code number 0864
at the prompt. Consortium Members
are encouraged to participate, and feedback and input are welcome. Voting, however, is limited to board
members. Members may suggest items for
the board meeting agenda as well, and may contact Patty Laskowski to do so.
Consortium Perspective
The Consortium has gone through dramatic changes
in the past year in movement of the home base and in personnel. What this will
ultimately achieve is a specialization of activities, separating technical and
research from information management and membership coordination. Further, with
collaborative efforts over the next two years from the University of Wisconsin,
the USDRFC, and the University of Padova, scientific knowledge can be expanded
with innovative application of NIRS made available to Consortium members. With
this arrangement, members are still the center of the Consortium, whose
participation on a regular basis is integral in the continued improvement of
NIRS technology.
Expectations for immediate Consortium
activity include a several-month long implementation of a web-based Consortium
Instrument Monitoring Program. Standard Consortium equations are to be expanded
and a Hay RUP equation is ready to be added to our package of available
calibrations.
Addition
of Dr. Paolo Berzaghi as Instrument Specialist and Researcher
Dr. Paolo Berzaghi has been appointed
Instrument Specialist and Researcher to cooperate with the University of
Wisconsin, the USDFRC, and the NIRS Consortium in order to develop NIRS
applications. With the Consortium, Paolo will work with member instrument standardization
and monitoring, and maintain and develop calibrations. Paolo will be a great
asset to the Consortium because he will be able to utilize his previous
expertise in NIRS in application to the Consortium.
Paolo was born in Savona Italy and graduated
from the University of Padova in 1988 with a degree in Animal Science. After
two separate scholarships to Virginia Tech, Paolo received his Masters degree
in Dairy Science and then returned to the University of Padova in 1993 to
complete his doctorate. He has continued at Padova as a researcher (with an
interim three month Fulbright Scholarship in 1997 to Penn State) to study
grazing systems, forage availability, particle size dynamics, as well as
contribute much work on NIRS calibrations and standardizations. He has been
involved in numerous publications related to forages, ruminants, and NIRS
technology.
Upon his arrival on or about March 1,
2000, Paolo will serve as a Visiting Scientist for two years. His duties will
be cooperative with the Consortium and the USDFRC. Paolo’s first priority is to finalize and implement a Consortium
Instrument Monitoring Program that will include (1) member instrument
standardization, (2) instrument diagnostics evaluation and reporting, and (3)
check sample evaluation and reporting. At this time an outline of the program
is flexible and Paolo will finalize its development.
Along with this monitoring program
implementation, Paolo will become acquainted with the Consortium, making
himself available to get to know the members and answer questions. With the
annual meeting in early April, Paolo will be able to meet the membership in
person and participate in the scientific dialogue. After this, Paolo will
continue maintenance of equation expansion and begin work on developing an
equation for the 24-hour digestion of unground corn silage. The remaining time
with the Consortium, to complete two years, Paolo will spend maintaining the
monitoring program, working on improving the Consortium’s equation and service offerings,
training an ongoing instrument specialist, and participating in scientific
dialogue.
SPECIAL
REQUESTS AND DOCUMENTS
Call For Sample Spectra
In order to monitor and expand our
existing Consortium equations, all members please submit any spectra of samples
that you may have collected, either that you had planned to send to Mark or
that you have collected for other purposes. Attached to this newsletter you
will find detailed instructions for submitting sets of spectra. We need participation from all members
in order to produce equations representative of the entire Consortium. The plan
is to compile and store these spectra in preparation for Paolo to analyze and
expand the equations. Spectra files from each member should be sent by Email to
Patty for collection. Please identify sets of spectra you have that will be
appropriate and submit to Patty within two weeks. Paolo will then assess the
spectra and determine which samples are of interest. After this, Paolo will determine which ground samples will be
needed further, so please save any physical samples associated with the spectra
you send. Email information for submission of spectra to Patty is below and on
the attached instructions as well.
Member Instrument Survey
Attached to this newsletter you will find
a Member Instrument Survey. This survey will inventory the instruments,
equipment, software, capabilities, and equation versions that all members have.
With this, Paolo will be able to coordinate and recommend if and where updates
need to occur so that all Consortium members are compatible and have the same
base. Please print out and complete the survey, then return to Patty by mail or
fax within 2 weeks. Mail and fax information is below as well as on the survey
itself.
Announcements
Any Consortium Member or Collaborator who
wishes to make announcements or submit member news items is encouraged to do
so. Please contact Patty Laskowski at
the information below.
Patty Laskowski
NIRS Consortium Business Manager
8396 Yellowstone Drive
Marshfield, WI 54449
Ph: 715-387-2523 ext. 3010
Fax: 715-387-1723