Les Vough

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What To Look For In Evaluating Hay

• Les Vough
• Hay Marketing Consultant
• Maryland Department of Agriculture
• and
• Forage Crops Extension Specialist Emeritus
• University of Maryland

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Forage Quality

• Generally means same thing as feeding value.
• Depends on the availability of the nutrients
  consumed and the quantity of forages voluntarily
  consumed.

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Estimating Forage Quality Visually

• Visual estimates of forage
• quality are based on factors known to influence
  feeding value and animal performance.

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Factors Known To Influence Hay Quality And Animal
Performance

• Stage of Maturity
• Leafiness
• Color
• Odor and Condition
• Foreign Material

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Factors Known To Influence Hay Quality And Animal
Performance

• Stage of Maturity

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Stage of Maturity

• Where greatest progress can be made on many
  farms.
• Most important single factor affecting forage
  quality.

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Factors Known To Influence Hay Quality And Animal
Performance

• 1. Stage of Maturity
• 2. Leafiness

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Leaves

• Most valuable part of hay
• Contain 90 of protein

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Leafiness

• Can vary from 65-70 for very leafy alfalfa hay
  to only 10-15 for very stemmy hay.

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Factors Known To Influence Hay Quality And Animal
Performance

• 1. Stage of Maturity
• 2. Leafiness
• 3. Color

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Color

• Can be deceiving.
• Humans emphasize it animals colorblind.
• If hay is off-color, what type of damage and how
  extensive?

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Color Indication of

• Bright green Rapid proper curing
• Golden/yellow Sun-bleaching or
  over-mature grass
• Brown/black Rain damage
• Brown/black Heat damage
• w/ musty odor

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Factors Known To Influence Hay Quality And Animal
Performance

• 1. Stage of Maturity
• 2. Leafiness
• 3. Color
• 4. Odor and Condition

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Factors Known To Influence Hay Quality And Animal
Performance

• 1. Stage of Maturity
• 2. Leafiness
• 3. Color
• 4. Odor and Condition
• 5. Foreign Material

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Foreign Material

• Non-injurious
  
  
• (weeds, straw, cornstalks,
  sticks, etc.)
• Injurious
• (poisonous plants, wire, glass,
  etc.)

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Score Sheet for Visually Evaluating Hay

• Factor Possible Score
• Stage of Maturity 30
• Leafiness 20
• Color 20
• Odor and Condition 20
• Foreign Material 10
• Total 100

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Forage Quality

• Plays a key role in the productivity
• and profitability of nearly every
• livestock enterprise and thus forage
• testing is an essential management
• practice.

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• Combining visual inspection
• and chemical analysis greatly improve the
  accuracy of the predicted nutritive value of
  hay.

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Comparison of Chemical Analysis and Visual
Inspection

• Factor Chemical Visual
• Maturity Good Fair
• Leafiness Fair Good
• Color Poor Good
• Odor Condition Poor Good
• Foreign Material Poor Good

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Forage Testing

• Separate samples should be taken
• for each cutting and each field as
• quality will depend upon harvesting
• dates, weather conditions, fertilization
• practices and insect damage.

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http//www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publications/PDFs/FS64
4.pdf
http//www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publications/

Publication.cfm?ID110
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The End ---- Questions?