Georgia Farm Bureau accepting Hay Contest entries until Oct. 31
Source: GA Farm Bureau
by Jennifer Whittaker
Georgia Farm Bureau members who grow any variety of dry Bermudagrass hay have until Oct. 31 to enter the organization’s 33rd Annual Quality Bermudagrass Hay Contest. The contest winner will receive the free use of a Vermeer mower-conditioner for one year. The winner will have the option to buy the equipment at a reduced price at the end of that year. This is the 26th year that Vermeer has sponsored GFB’s hay contest.
Hay entered in the 2024 GFB Quality Bermudagrass Hay Contest will be tested at the UGA Feed & Environmental Water Lab using the Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) Test, which provides an analysis of the nutritional value of hay.
Additional prizes will be awarded to the top five producers. Winners will be determined by the RFQ analysis and announced in December at the GFB Convention.
Image Credit: GA Farm Bureau
Entry forms and complete contest rules may be picked up at your county Farm Bureau office or downloaded at www.gfb.ag/HayContest . You may also contact the GFB Public Policy Department at 1-800-342-1192 if you have any questions about the contest.
Important rules to note include: Only hay grown in Georgia by a GFB member is eligible; hay samples must be taken from fields with a minimum maturity or regrowth of at least 25 days to ensure fair competition; hay must have been dried in the field and should not be artificially dried by fans or forced air in a barn; forage samples must be collected with a hay probe - contact your county Extension office for help if needed. Any samples with moisture above 18% or nitrates above 4500ppm will be disqualified.
There is a $25 fee for each entry to cover the cost of the lab test. Producers may enter more than one sample. Checks should be made payable to Georgia Farm Bureau.
Contest participants will receive a detailed copy of their hay analysis and may choose to have a free listing in the 2024/25 online GFB Hay Directory available at https://www.gfb.org/join/hay . Producers must be a GFB member to enter the contest or list hay for sale in the hay directory. The cost to list hay in the directory alone is $10 and may be submitted at any time.
If you aren’t a Farm Bureau member, you may join at the county Farm Bureau office of your choice or at https://www.gfb.org/join/join-today .
Previous first place winners are not eligible to win any prize category for a period of five years from the year they won the contest. A previous first place winner may enter his/her hay sample for the purpose of having it officially graded. Any producer submitting more than one sample can only place in the Top 5 with one sample – their highest scored sample – but will receive analysis for all submitted samples.
GFB’s annual hay contest encourages quality hay production, which leads to higher quality livestock and more return to Georgia hay producers. Producers who have their hay tested every year can see improvements they make in managing their hay fields by looking at multi-year analysis. RFQ is the best method to compare forages. RFQ provides a number that gives producers a measure of the digestible nutrient content in their hay.
Fully mature alfalfa is given a base point of 100. Since the base price for hay sales and auctions in many parts of the world is the value of poor-quality alfalfa, RFQ provides a mechanism for indexing quality to value.
RFQ for Bermudagrass in Georgia typically ranges from 75 to 120 or higher. If a hay producer sells their hay based on its RFQ, a higher price can be demanded for the higher quality. Livestock producers are more likely to pay these premiums as this hay will yield higher weight gains and require fewer supplements. With quality in mind, it is a good management practice to test your hay after baling. RFQ and other analytical data can help you manage potential problems with moisture, nitrates or poor digestibility, especially in years with adverse weather.
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