The Eastern Kentucky Hay Contest has been around for many years. This contest allows the counties in Eastern Kentucky to offer an outlet for free hay sampling. Many of our farmers/producers normally would not take hay samples and may not even care what nutritional value their hay. But because they now have the option of free hay testing, they are learning more about the benefits that come with testing their hay. Some of these benefits could be marketing it to potential buyers, determining nutritional value for feed rations in livestock, having a general understanding of the hay you are producing, and much more. 

Robertson County has had producers participate in the Eastern Kentucky Hay Contest for the past three years. Each year the number of participants has grown and the number of samples taken has grown. In fact, in 2020, the highest scored sample in the contest came from a Robertson County producer. It has allowed me to get out and talk to the producers in our county and really get them thinking about the types of forages they are growing each year. There are several producers who know that when September/October comes around, it is time for hay testing. It has even increased the number of hay samples we send off during the months when the "free samples" are not offered. 

Because this program has such a huge impact on our counties, we decided to incorporate a forage testing portion to our Farm School For Women program this fall. We are excited to teach the women of the Buffalo Trace Area the proper way to take a hay sample and possibly have them participate in the contest next year!