The world of dairy farming is rapidly evolving and the sector is in search of methods to support efficient and high-quality milk production. Numerous factors can influence the milk produced by dairy cows, among which nutrition plays a key role. Without access to an adequate diet, animals can experience health and welfare problems, and milk quality and/or quantity can also be affected, with significant knock-on effects on farm profitability.

Italian company Nutristar develops feedstuffs and supplements for livestock with a particular focus on dairy cows, providing solutions for forage production on farm and animal nutrition for the European marketplace. In particular, with systematic application of various analytical instruments, its experts carry out practical and dynamic tests both on farm and in the lab to formulate the best diet possible.

For a Bruker-Nutristar feature article titled "How precision feeding influences milk production," New Food Magazine spoke with Dr. Rita Fornaciari, Nutristar's Laboratory Manager, and Simone Blotta, its Laboratory Technician, to find out why more dairy farmers should be focusing on their cows' nutrition. Read the full article to get answers to dairy science questions such as "What is the ideal diet for a dairy cow?" and "What is the role of XRF elemental analysis, both on the farm and in the lab?"

For additional information:

• Download the Bruker-Nutristar article
• Visit our Analysis of Animal Feed & Ingredients applications page
• View our recent Bruker-Cargill webinar: From Raw Materials to Final Products: Applications of FT-NIR and XRF in Feed Production

This lab report demonstrates the analytical performance of the Q4 POLO for the elemental analysis of iron and steel and their alloys, including cast iron. The new Q4 POLO is a compact spark Optical Emission Spectrometer (OES) with superior analytical performance for a multitude of applications across the metals industry. Being an indispensable material- and innovation-driver for numerous sectors, high-quality steel requires complete elemental analysis through various process steps to ensure product quality.

Lung cancer and other health problems are known to be related to occupational exposure to breathable crystalline silica (SiO₂). As a result, silica dust, or free silica, is the second most frequent cause of cancer in the workplace after asbestos. To monitor and assess the occupational exposure to silica dust, air filter samples are analyzed using X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD) following the analytical method described in NIOSH 7500.

As demonstrated in this report in PETRO Online, the S6 JAGUAR WDXRF spectrometer easily fulfils the requirements of norm ASTM D2622, and brings several advantages to your lab, especially when compared to AAS and ICP-OES, including lower cost of operation and minimal calibration effort. The S6 JAGUAR enables fast, accurate, precise analysis of S, and all other elements, in fuels and oils, contaminants, and wear metals in fuels, lubricating and engine oils. When installed at refineries and oil-production plants, it can easily test the quality of incoming materials and optimize the use of additives.

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