Systems and methods for adjusting animal feed

A method of analyzing feed for swine or poultry for selecting an adjusted composition thereof, comprising steps of:

• a) digesting in vitro a sample of animal feed having an animal feed composition to generate digested animal feed comprising at least one residual component that is selected from the group consisting of protein, phosphorous, fat, carbohydrates, and gross energy, wherein the digested animal feed comprises at least one of i) an unknown numerical value of concentration of at least one of the protein, phosphorous, fat, or carbohydrates, or ii) an unknown numerical value of gross energy content for the digested animal feed, wherein the sample of animal feed consists of swine feed, poultry feed, and mixtures thereof, wherein the animal feed composition comprises one or more of corn, soybean, grain(s), distiller grain(s), legumes, molasses, or a mixture of any thereof, wherein digesting comprises two phases, wherein a phase of the digesting is conducted in vitro at a pH of less than about 7 and includes use of at least one enzyme comprising pepsin, and wherein another phase of the digesting is conducted in vitro at a neutral to acidic pH and includes at least one enzyme comprising pancreatin to provide digested animal feed, and wherein digesting further comprises separating the digested animal feed into a solid component and a liquid component;
• b) scanning the solid component of the digested animal feed using a near infrared (NIR) spectrophotometer to generate spectral data;
• c) comparing the spectral data generated from scanning the solid component of the digested animal feed to a computer model of the at least one residual component to generate a predicted numerical value of concentration of at least one residual component that is protein, phosphorous, fat, or carbohydrates, or a predicted numerical value of gross energy content of the digested animal feed, wherein the spectral data is compared using a computer implemented method comprising receiving spectral data from the digested animal feed and comparing the spectral data to the computer model of the at least one residual component to obtain the predicted numerical value of the concentration of the at least one residual component or the predicted numerical value of the gross energy content of the digested animal feed, wherein the computer model is generated by obtaining spectral data in the same manner as step b) for a plurality of animal feed samples having different animal feed compositions, wherein the plurality of animal feed samples have been pre-digested in the same manner as step a) to provide a pre-digested plurality of animal feed samples having a solid portion and a liquid portion of digested animal feed, and further wherein the solid portion is separated from the liquid portion to form a separated solid portion, wherein each of the pre-digested plurality of animal feed samples also has an analytically-determined numerical value of concentration of at least one residual component that is protein, phosphorous, fat, or carbohydrates or an analytically-determined numerical value of gross energy content of the digested animal feed by a chemical analysis performed on the separated solid portion of each of the pre-digested plurality of animal feed samples, and correlating the spectral data obtained for each of the plurality of animal feed samples to the analytically-determined numerical value of the concentration or the analytically-determined numerical value of the gross energy content of the digested animal feed in each of the plurality of animal feed samples to generate the computer model;
• d) comparing the predicted numerical value of the concentration or the predicted numerical value of the gross energy content of the digested animal feed from step c) to a preselected numerical value of a target concentration or a preselected numerical value of a target gross energy content of the digested animal feed to determine 1) digestability of the at least one residual component in the animal feed composition of step a) when the at least one residual component is selected from the group consisting of protein, phosphorous, fat, and carbohydrates, or 2) gross energy content of the animal feed composition of step a) when the at least one residual component is selected to be gross energy;
• and
• e) selecting an adjusted animal feed composition which is different from the animal feed composition of a) and which provides the preselected numerical value of the target concentration of the at least one residual component or the preselected numerical value of the target gross energy content of the digested animal feed, based on the determined digestability 1) or 2) gross energy content in the comparing step d).