NEW-LOOK SCHEME IS MORE USER-FRIENDLY
NEW-LOOK SCHEME IS MORE USER-FRIENDLY
The UKASTA Forage Additive Approval Scheme should be easier to understand
and use this year. James Garner reports
AFTER a year-long consultation, UKASTAs Forage Additive Approval Scheme has a new-look register and approval process.
Peter Hooper, FAAS committee chairman, hopes the moves will freshen the schemes image and make it more comprehensible to producers.
A key change is the removal of the A, B, C categories in the register. These have now been replaced by two categories – animal and silo.
All nutritional categories will be grouped under the animal heading. This is for products which gained approval in specific trials:
• Gains – where products give enhanced daily liveweight gain;
• Milk – where trials looked for enhanced milk production;
• Intake – where trials were run to see whether silage treated with the additive had a greater intake than that which was not treated;
• Digestibility – whether the product improves digestibility;
• Efficiency – whether it improves the efficiency of animal production.
The other category, silo, involves all approval processes relating to ensiling and crop storage, says Dr Hooper. This covers:
• Fermentation – whether the product improves fermentation;
• Stability – whether it improves aerobic stability;
• Effluent – whether it reduces effluent production;
• Losses – whether it reduces losses.
The running order of columns in the register has also changed, says UKASTAs Derek Ward. "We have rearranged the sequence of columns so it is easier for producers to see at a glance which aspects are most interesting to them.
"We believe producers find animal and silo approvals more interesting than active ingredients, and cost is more important to them than application rate so the register lay-out has been re-ordered so that it is more convenient."
One old category – data submitted – has been done away with, says Mr Ward. "Everyone submits data now, so there seems little point in repeating the word yes in this column."
REVISIONS TO CATEGORIES
• A,B,C categories simplified into two main groups – animal and silo.
• Animal includes all five categories previously in A and B.
• Silo includes all four categories previously in C.
• Category names now used instead of A, B, C.
• G and M in silo category refers to approvals for grass or maize silage.