Latest News
12.19.24 - Customer Alert: NCWI Location Closed and WI Convenience Routes Canceled
Due to the winter storm warning and treacherous road conditions, our Colby, Wis. lab closed at noon today, Thursday, 12/19. We have also canceled running our Wisconsin Convenience Routes for sample pickup this evening. Thank you for your understanding as we work to keep our team safe. Stay tuned here and on our social channels for regular updates and be safe out there, everyone!
12.02.24 - New Fatty Acid NIR Analyses for Commodities
Dialing-in rations to improve dietary fatty acid supply and profile is now easier than ever thanks to accurate fatty acid profile and total fatty acid content NIR models, developed for forages and corn grain in the past ten years. However, commodities account for a substantial amount of fat in the typical dairy ration and book values still remain the norm for these more expensive purchased feeds. Until now.
Starting this week, Rock River Laboratory is complimenting our forage and corn grain fatty acid profile options with new fatty acid NIR analyses for commodities.
We can measure total fatty acids and fatty acid profiles on your commodity feed samples - helping improve diet formulation, painting a better picture of the fats present in these feeds, and refining your teams’ understanding of fatty acids relative to milk fat. Simply select the Comprehensive Commodities package for your next commodity sample and gain fatty acid nutrition insights.
Learn more about fatty acid nutrition in Hay and Forage Grower here, or download the article here.
11.19.24 - Holiday hours, closings, and cancellations
As the holidays quickly approach, please be aware of our upcoming closings, pickup route cancellations, and delays in analysis due to these interruptions. We highly recommend getting samples submitted early to avoid the associated delays. Please call if you have specific questions about our schedule of analysis.
Closed for Christmas season: Dec. 24th and 25th
Closed for New Years: Jan. 1, 2025
Convenience Routes will NOT be running on dates when the laboratory is closed.
Thank you for your understanding as our team takes time to enjoy this special season with their family and friends! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and look forward to serving you in 2025!
11.12.24 - Enhanced Nutrition Report Features: KPS Indicators
As the industry continues to use Kernel Processing Score (KPS) at harvest and feedout to benchmark corn silage grain feeding value, we’ve added a Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) KPS Indicator on our nutrition analysis reports to better inform ration decisions.
‘Likely above 70’ denotes a high probability for KPS at or above 70; alternatively ‘Likely below 70’ depicts the opposite. The 70% threshold has been a long-standing goal, and our current interpretive guidelines for standard KPS test results can be found and downloaded here. For samples likely below 70, producers should consider assessing KPS with traditional methods
This new indicator is available within our Comprehensive Nutrition Analysis (CNA) by NIR for corn silage. Read the Frequently Asked Questions here and try it out today!
10.22.24 - New Total Tract Fat Digestibility Tool
Fat supplements in dairy diets are expensive and there is likely a range in supplement digestibility. Thanks to collaborative research with the UW-Madison College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, we have a new tool to assess total tract fat digestibility (TTFD) in lactating dairy diets. TTFD cattle can be predicted with fecal fat, much like fecal starch has been used to project total tract starch digestibility. Read the details, guidelines, and benchmarks, here.
10.09.24 - Enhanced Nutrition Report Features: Forage Nitrate Nitrogen
Today we are launching a new, novel Forage Nitrate Nitrogen indicator on Rock River Laboratory nutrition analysis reports. These new categorical predictions stand to assist our customers by supplying additional information to guide decision-making. Learn more about this new report feature in our downloadable FAQs document, and choose any of our Comprehensive Nutrition Analysis (CNA) by NIR packages to start seeing this reported - for applicable feed types!
10.08.24 - New Indiana Convenience Route
A new Convenience Route has been set up in Indiana. Get your samples to Rock River Laboratory - Ohio in a timely manner using our new drop boxes spread out across key locations in the state, with pickups on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Check out the exact drop off spots, and pickup timing, on our website map here, or in the FeedScan app after collecting your samples!
10.02.24 - New Data Distillation: The Dirty Truth About Straw
A new Data Distillation is now available! Learn more about what's hiding in the straw you might be incorporating into the ration, with references from our robust database, from team member Cliff Ocker. Read it here.
09.26.24 - Agronomy Customer Reminders for Fall Soil Season
As the fall soil season begins, we're sharing a few reminders to ensure that your samples make it safely to the laboratory for analysis:
- If dropping samples at a dropbox, please don't wedge samples into dropboxes - place them next to the box in a container or box and our drivers will collect them at pickup
- If placing loose samples into our dropboxes, please don't insert more than 20 soil samples.
- Please keep box weights within the 35 to 40 pounds at most so our drivers can safely pick them up
- If you'd like to be on our regular soil pickup routes, please call Geoff at 920-342-0374
We wish everyone a safe and successful fall season!