WIFFR – Your partner for research and development of high-quality forage and animal feed
WIFFR (World Institute for Forage and Feed Research) was founded to support dairy and beef farmers in their work to produce excellent forage & feed for their animals. Our mission is to find good practical methods and additives by being at the farmer and discuss different methods to form ideas and to perform research to verify the new ideas. We perform trials on all types of silage and feed mixes for fermentation, nutritional and hygienic parameters.
Trials begin in the field
In order to compare different ensiling agents, we have developed methods to apply ensiling agents and pack silage. We work with farmers to test different crops, harvesters and silo systems.
Fermentation in glass silos
After being packed in the field, the crop is fermented at a stable temperature. Aeration is done once a week to stress the silage. After three months, the silos are opened and placed on a feeding table to measure resistance to heating. The silage is also analyzed to evaluate the different ensiling agents.
Advanced laboratory analyzes for silage and feed products
Our lab is well equipped with many pre-treatment methods like drying, sieving, milling, pressing (for press liquid), centrifuging, vacuum filtration etc. Our range of analyses is tailormade for the silage and feed products, for example, analyses with NIR, spectrophotometer, ion selective electrodes and titration.
Expert analyzes for ensiling, nitrogen balance and microbial quality
To determine a crops ensilageability, we measure buffer capacity and fermentation coefficient. We are specialized in nitrogen analyses, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, ammonium and total nitrogen. We have developed several methods to measure silage losses in all parts of the forage process and aerobic stability trials for both silage and TMRs. In addition, our bact-lab is able to quantify different types of yeast growth, moulds and enterobacteria.
