Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 February 2018
Pell and Schofield (1993) described a gas production technique where cumulative pressure is related to gas production and hence organic matter (OM) fermentation. This technique has been used to describe rates of carbohydrate degradation for use in the Cornell net carbohydrate and protein system (CNCPS, Barry et al., 1994). Increasingly the CNCPS model is being utilized in the United Kingdom (UK) to ration dairy cows and, as a result, a UK foodstuff database has been developed containing the chemical description of the protein and carbohydrate pools. It was necessary to establish whether the gas production technique could be reproduced in a UK laboratory in order to provide rates of fermentation of the carbohydrate pools. Gas production techniques commonly used in the UK do not allow the vessel gas pressure to accumulate so a comparison of methodology was required.