Producing quality hay is important to most farm owners due to reducing the added costs of supplementation for winter feeding to livestock.  The eastern part of Kentucky Agriculture Agents have worked together to develop the East Kentucky Hay Contest to give incentive to producers to utilizing hay testing as a tool to producing quality hay. The contest was developed to visualize the importance of testing hay and how it is tied to rations and meeting the needs of the livestock.  Producers can request ration development to see how their hay can supply the needed nutrition to cattle at varying stages.  This year’s contest included 17 counties submitting 453 hay samples to be tested.   Of the total samples submitted, 372 were entered into the contest with over 200 requests for ration calibrations.   The top three tests are recognized for each category providing incentives for producers to participate in the contest.   The education and application of utilizing results is the gained benefit from participation.    Producers are utilizing the results to selective feed lots of hay during certain parts of the winter based on cattle nutritional needs at the time of feeding. Producers have indicated that the test results help lower the amount of added supplement needs for winter by strategically feeding hay based on quality and nutritional needs of cattle.