We will perform a specific standardization, which will include hay and haylage. For products other than these, a standardization based on a 30 cell characterization set composed of multiple products will be used. For the future, it is possible to develop specific standardizations for each product based on single product standardization sets. This could happen after an evaluation of standardization based on the forage characterization set has been done. After standardization instruments must be monitored to detect changes in instrument performance and to ensure members will generate accurate NIR predictions consistently.
Monitoring is carried out in two steps.
First diagnostics are run weekly and it is verified that the instrument meets manufacturer specifications. Second and most importantly, check cell tests are run daily. Check cell results are not only important because they allow us to detect instrument drifting, but also because by using the same check cell in all the network labs, we have a reliable evaluation of the predicting performances of each instrument within the network. Check cells for the Consortium, made with the same forage sample and sealed, ensure a fair comparison between instruments in the network. It is necessary to replace all NIRS check cells because we know many ISI check cells, particularly the old ones, leak.