The adoption of the mixer wagon and total mixed ration aimed to decrease dysmetabolic diseases and improve feed efficiency in dairy cows. Differences between theoretical and eaten diets are imputable to errors in diet preparation or cow feed sorting. We proposed a method to measure the chemical composition and particle size distribution of the ration and determined its peNDF content through a portable Near Infra-Red spectrophotometer that allowed the calculation of two indexes: the homogeneity and the sorting indexes. In a cohort of 19 Italian Holstein breeding farms, we studied the correlation of these indexes with the mixer wagon settings. Determination coefficients in the validation (Rv2) for dry matter, crude protein, aNDF, and starch were 0.91, 0.54, 0.86, and 0.67, respectively. The ration fractions (%, w/w of wet weight) retained by the 3.8 and 1.8 mm sieves, and the bottom showed Rv2 of 0.46, 0.49, and 0.53, respectively. The homogeneity index regressed negatively with the mixer wagon load fullness (R2 = 0.374). The homogeneity-binary classification showed an odds ratio of 1.72 for dry matter and 0.39 for aNDF (p < 0.05). The sorting-binary classification showed an odds ratio of 2.54 for aNDF (p < 0.05). The studied farms showed low peNDF values (median = 17.9%).
Keywords: feed mixer wagon; near-infrared; ration homogeneity; sorting activity; total mixed ration.