Rapid technological development and global challenges put increasingly great pressure on all stakeholders of the food chain. The legal environment is becoming stricter, with increasingly strict monitoring requirements along the whole food safety chain – from producer to consumer. Precise laboratory-based testing has become indispensable in this environment. The impact of climate change, especially rising temperatures, present substantial challenges to crop production. Mycotoxin contamination is becoming more frequent, which poses a threat not only to animal nutrition but indirectly to the performance and the safety of livestock production also. Precise knowledge of the analytical constituents of feed raw materials is particularly important in the case of modern, high performing pig genetics because this is the only way to optimise feed formulation to fit the animals’ requirements. In this challenging environment, laboratory testing provides not only information but also a tool for designing safe and efficient feeding programs.

The laboratory of Bonafarm-Bábolna Takarmány Ltd. The laboratory of Bonafarm-Bábolna Takarmány Ltd. has decades of experience: its professional history goes back to the ‘70s when it started as the quality testing laboratory for BCR. Later it continued its activities as part of Bábolna Takarmányipari Ltd, as an accredited laboratory since 1996. It operates as part of the Bonafarm Group since 2010, providing services internally and to partners outside the Group. The laboratory has three departments with state-of-the-art, automated equipment and highly skilled professionals, providing services with a strict quality management system in place in compliance with the MSZ EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018 Standard. The laboratory is GMP+ and QS certified.

1. Chromatography

This department is equipped with instruments that offer high accuracy and sensitivity such as UPLC-MS/MS, HPLC and GC systems to perform complex analytical testing.

• detection of mycotoxins (e.g. aflatoxin, DON, ZEA, T-2/HT-2, fumonisin)
• vitamin testing (water and oil soluble vitamins)
• amino acid testing
• determining fatty acid profiles
• veterinary drug residue testing

1. Microbiology

The laboratory uses classical culture methods and modern molecular (PCR) and immunological (ELISA) methods for microbiological, GMO and serological testing. We perform microbiological testing on the following matrices:

• food and feed samples
• hygiene testing (surfaces)
• animal health samples (e.g. water, faecal and environmental samples)

1. Nutritional analysis and analytical chemistry

This department performs classical analytical chemistry and uses spectrophotometry to determine nutritional composition and ingredients:

• Weende analysis (dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, crude ash, nitrogen free extract).
• Macro- and microelement testing (e.g. Ca, P, Mg, Zn, Fe, Cu, Se…), ICP-OES
• sugar, starch testing.
• NIR spectrophotometry for the quick, non-destructive determination of nutritional content (in forages).
• Calculating energy content (e.g. ME, NE, DE according to the various animal species).

The laboratory provides flexible services, tailored to the needs of its partners, provides regular monitoring, quality control, as well as research and development partnerships. Laboratory testing and consultancy is free for our partners We value our partners’ success, and our company provides unique support to enhance the efficiency of their farms. We provide free consultation to our partners to help them interpret previous laboratory results and offer further free laboratory testing. Our team of consultants provides detailed evaluation of the results and offers effective management options for the detected problems, if needed. This means recommendations to change feed formulations or management modifications to optimise every day practices or even involving external consultants in more complex cases. Our objective is to provide the best possible support to improve production efficiency and to achieve long-term profitability of the farms.

Tamás Gurmai  consultant

Bence Császár junior consultant Bonafarm-Bábolna Takarmány Ltd.