2019 East KY Hay Contest

Hay and pasture production is a leading component of agriculture production in Elliott County. According to the 2017 United States Department of Agriculture Statistics Service data indicated 20,500 tons of hay are harvested on approximately 7,900 acres of farm land in the county. Therefore, the Elliott County Agriculture Council and the CEA for ANR felt that forage testing was essential for the farmers in Elliott County and signed up to participate in the East Kentucky Hay Contest for the third consecutive year.  

Hay samples were collected by Elliott County ANR agent, Keith Center, with assistance from members of the Elliott County Ag Council, Jimmy K. Rice, John Whitely, Glen Willie Skaggs, and Rhondall Sturgill, as well as members of the Elliott County High School FFA Chapter, Taylor Whitley, Aaron Adams, Garrett Barker, Isiah Rice, Billy Tyler Branham and Evan Fannin from September 3 thru October 7, 2019. 

Producers had the opportunity to submit samples in the following categories: Hay Class (Alfalfa, Alfalfa/Grass, Mixed, Grass and Summer Annual) Silage Class (Alfalfa, Alfalfa/Grass, Mixed, Grass, Small Grain and Summer Annual). Participation increased in Elliott County from 15 producers submitting 27 hay samples in the Hay Class (grass or mixed hay) in 2017 and 38 producers submitting 73 hay samples in 2018, in the Hay Class (grass or mixed hay) and silage class (grass or mixed silage) to 51 producers submitting 161 hay samples in 2019, in the Hay Class (grass or mixed hay) and silage class (grass, mixed, small grain and summer annual). Grass hay/silage is defined as grass that contains less than 10% legumes whereas mixed hay/silage is defined as grass that contains between 10% - 80% clover, small grains contains: winter wheat, winter rye and oat and summer annuals contains: sorghum sundagrass, millet, teff, annual lespedeza and soybean. 

Samples were delivered by ANR agent (Keith Center) to the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability (RCARS) in Jackson, Kentucky on October 11, 2019 to be analyzed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Forage Specialist. 

Five hundred and ninety-two samples were submitted from 15 counties in the 2019 East KY Hay Contest, making it the largest amount of samples collected in the contest history! Elliott County also had the most samples ever collected in the contest history with 161 samples. Elliott County placed 2^nd overall in forage quality! Elliott County had the top three samples submitted in the Grass Hay Division, Donnie Rose, 1^st place, Carl Fannin, 2^nd place and Jamie Prewitt 3^rd place. Elliott County also had the top two samples submitted in the Mixed Grass Hay Division with Carl Fannin placing 1^st and Mary Rose Skaggs placing 2^nd. On November 16, 2019 the East Kentucky Hay Contest Results were revealed to all participants at the Morgan County Cooperative Extension Office and participants that placed in the top three in each division were presented awards. 

During the 2018-2019 academic calendar year Elliott County High School FFA members Natalee Harris and Landon Lewis wanted to take the results from the Eastern Kentucky Hay Contest a little bit further and reached out to ANR agent Keith Center for assistance in a science fair project at Elliott County High School. The students were interested in participating at the Regional Contest at Ashland Community and Technical College (ACTC) and wanted to do a poster presentation in the Animal, Plant and Environmental Science Division. Keith assisted the students in collaborating data collected during the 2018 Eastern Kentucky Hay Contest for Elliott County forage samples in the Grass Hay and Mixed Grass Hay Categories to see if Grass Hay or Mixed Grass Hay was a better overall forage quality for livestock in Elliott County. Students were taught how to collaborate data, build graphs and charts in Excel, write an Abstract, Materials and Methods, Discussion and Results section as well as a hypothesis. Natalee and Landon placed 1^st in the Elliott County High School Science Fair Contest and placed 3^rd overall at the Regional FIVCO science fair project at Ashland Community and Technical College. Keith is looking forward to assisting FFA students who helped pull hay samples in 2019 to conduct another Research Project over the data collected during the 2019 Eastern Kentucky Hay Contest!