Proper nutrition of livestock relies on understanding the content of the feedstuffs being provided to the animals. Grains and protein supplements have a consistent and regulated composition, but hay varies dramatically based on factors such as species, time of harvest, curing conditions, and handling. To help farmers fill in the final piece of their ration puzzles, counties in the eastern region of Kentucky banded together in the late 1990's to conduct the East Kentucky Hay Contest. The event involves sampling of producer forages by agents, who send the samples for processing in a lab. The top results in each of several categories receive prizes, but all farmers win by learning exactly what they are feeding to their livestock. 

When the previous processing lab could no longer participate, an agent committee in 2020 worked to identify a new lab and create an entirely new packaging and tracking system to permit seamless management of the expected large number of samples. At the end of the process, some 624 samples had been processed, by far the program's largest number ever. These samples came from 15 counties, including 34 from Johnson County. Producers received feedback on the exact nature of their hay, permitting them to pursue ration calculations with UK specialists to pinpoint roughage, concentrate, and supplement feeding rates for optimum animal productivity for the winter of 2020-21.