Understanding physical as well as nutritional characteristics of feeds can be very useful when evaluating the use of feeds in animal production rations. CVAS provides several tests to evaluate the physical characteristics of feeds.
Corn Silage Processing Score (CSPS)
CSPS is a tool to define the adequacy of kernel processing by forage harvesters. This test defines starch particle size and can be used to make
inference on rumen and total tract digestibility of starch in ruminants.
Example CSPS Report
Physically Effective NDF (peNDF)
peNDF is the fraction of NDF that promotes rumination and chewing. This test evaluates the amount of sample that passes through multiple screen sizes and determines the amount of NDF that is of adequate length to promote rumination and chewing. Results are reported as a percent of dry matter and percent of NDF that is physically effective.
Particle Size Evaluation (Penn State Separator)
Samples are evaluated using the Penn State Particle Size Separator. Results include the proportion of samples remaining on each of the sieves, the average particle size, standard deviation of the particle size as well as the peNDF values as a percent of dry matter and a percent of NDF.
Example Particle Size Evaluation Report
Micron Size
For grains a key indicator of starch digestibility is the how well the grain has been processed to adequate particle size. Similar to the Particle Size Evaluation, the Micron Size test provides particle size information for any grain sample. Results include the proportion of sample remaining on each of the sieves, the mean particle size, standard deviation of particle size, surface area and particle per gram.
Example Micron Size Report