Oregon State University defines Forage Quality as; “The capacity of a forage to supply animal nutrient requirements. It includes the acceptability of the forage, the chemical composition, and the digestibility of the nutrients.”  Achieving good forage quality is dictated by growth rate, profit and loss, variety selection and many other factors.  Caldwell County has over 8,000 acres of forages utilized for stored feed in any given year.  The Caldwell/Lyon Cattlemen’s Association partnered with the Caldwell County Extension Office to focus on “Be a Better Forage Producer” beginning in 2021.  This was the start of a 3-year initiative that focused on helping producers do a better job of producing forages. In 2021 we focused on forage testing and established the quality of hay the average producer stored under current management conditions.

A total of 18 producers participated in the testing initiative.  16 producers felt comfortable with their current forage production practices at the start of the project. 14 producers were not satisfied with quality results after testing.   Each producer requested recommendations to make changes to practices next season.