Use proper technique in sampling and testing hay

Cattle belong to a group of animals with very complex digestive system called ruminants. They utilize many forages (hay) very efficiently, making it easy to overlook the importance of forage evaluation. Cattle performance is highly influenced by the quality of the diet. Obtaining forage quality results through representative sampling and testing is critical for hay marketing, animal nutrition and livestock production goals.

Whether you seek analysis on crude protein, total digestible nutrients or nitrates, incorrect sampling of baled forages will result in lab analysis that does not represent the actual quality. The National Forage Testing Association (www.foragetest ing.org) has established 10 best practices summarized below. Following these steps will help to collect a representative sample of your hay.
 

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