With the high prices of fertilizer in the last few years it has been financially difficult for many forage Producers to apply the proper nutrients to the soil to maximize yield and improve quality of their hay, this has led to a steady decline in the quality and yield of the forages they're producing therefore affecting the health of the herd they're feeding it to.

Numerous classes were conducted to provide a more detailed explanation into soil testing to our Forage Producers.. Soil Testing can give the producers a measuring stick to see exactly how much fertilizer each field will need and help them to find the most economical way to improve the quality and yield of their forages. 55 producers tested their soil and many discovered that they had inadvertently carried off a large amount of nutrients with each hay crop they harvested therefore leading to very low levels of the main nutrients needed.

As result of soil testing and applying fertilizer based on the soil test recommendations producers saw a huge increase in yield and quality this year. One producers has reported almost a 200% increase in yield in one of our test areas. We will also be testing the forages and comparing quality throughout the summer and fall to measure gain from investment.