Knowing the nutritional content of your hay is key to the profitability of any livestock operation.   Without this information, producers will not know if they are providing the correct nutrients to meet the animal’s needs or if they are overfeeding the animals, hurting their profitability.

The Bracken County Extension Service has always encouraged producers to test their hay and offered to option of two labs to meet their testing needs.  In 2019, Bracken County received an invitation to join the East KY Hay Contest and we did have 2 producers participate.  In 2020, nine producers from Bracken County took advantage of the free program and 38 samples were collected.  

Even though the program is listed as a contest, the main focus of the program is education and service.   Producers learn how to improve forage quality by seeing what samples test higher based on harvest date and variety.   Producers also receive a balanced ration based on livestock type and status and the forage test results for each sample.  Cash hay producers can use the test results to promote the quality of their product and increase the value and demand for their hay.  

Bracken producers had the highest average out of the 15 counties in the program.  This is the result of dedicated farmers, following recommendations to produce high quality forage for their livestock and for the hay market.