This Bachelor´s thesis deals with sampling of the forage and how to utilize the grass analyses on dairy farms. The study assesses the use of the web based Artturi service, its usage and benefits to the users of the grass analysis. A customer satisfaction survey of Artturi service was part of the study. The forage survey was conducted in early summer 2009 before the harvest of the first silage and its results were published in the web.

The summary includes clear findings about what the users of Artturi service would like to have more and in what part they are satisfied. Especially there was a need of faster results of the grass analyzing. The inquiry defines what analysis the users have used until now and what will be taken in the future. The result was that silage was the most common sampling material, but in the future the users are planning to take more raw materials analysing, too.

The main goal for the Artturi process is to encourage dairy farmers to take frequent samples of the grass to improve the quality of silage, the most important food of the dairy cattle. In early summer the decrease of the D-value is fast and correct timing of harvesting defined by analysing improves the quality of the feed. To help the sampling of grass there are instructions with pictures for both raw materials and harvested grass sampling. There is also a case study of how the analyses are done and the actual silage analysis from a farm is included in the study.