It was another great year for the annual forage testing program and hay contest. We received more than 453 samples from 17 eastern Kentucky Counties.  

    Samples were down slightly this year, which was to be expected. Several Counties had vacant ANR positions and other Counties were still dealing with the July 2022 flood. Several hay fields were impacted by the flood and have not been brought back into production.

     The forage testing program and contest has been very successful in educating producers on the importance and economic impact of forage improvement.

     This program was initiated twenty-six years ago and over this period more than 6550 hay samples have been submitted for testing.

     The contest, which creates some friendly competition between four east Kentucky beef cattle associations, has been a good instrument to get producers to test their hay.

    Data received from these tests assist producers in making management decisions on improving their hay quality and supplement needs for livestock. Also, the data is being used to balance feed rations that improve animal performance.

      In Perry County, never has this program been of more importance. With a large percentage of the hay fields being flooded in the July 2022 flood and not back into production, has led to a shortage of hay. Even fields that were in production, yields were way down. This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of requests to have forage tested. Producers are trying to maximize what hay they have available and make decisions on supplementation of their livestock.

     Most years Perry County has had an average of 25 hay tests. This year, that number rose to 35 tests. This number continues to rise well after the free hay testing program has ended. Farmers are wanting to know the quality of their hay and if it has dirt or other contaminants in it from the flood. This has led to a greater understanding of what hay test numbers mean, especially ash values. Ash values are a good indication if hay has contaminants in it, such as dirt.

     When this program first started, less than five people requested to have their hay tested in Perry County. Now we are seeing 25 to 30 producers requesting to have their hay tested. This represents around 60% of all forage producers. Clientele realize the economic value of using this data to balance feed rations. On average, feed rations are balanced representing more than 300 animals annually.

      In Perry County, soil tests for hay and pasture fields have doubled since the July 2022 flood. Perry county ran a total of 100 soil test this year. Over half of these were for hay and pastureland. Perry has seen well over 1500 acres of hay and pasture fields reseeded or renovated and most used a higher quality forage to improve hay quality and followed soil test recommendations.

     Educational programs and equipment demonstrations at this contest have educated producers on harvesting their forage crop at the correct times and how to store their hay crop to prevent loss in quality. That was evident from this years’ program where forage test results were much improved.