As producers strive to reduce feed costs by investigating avenues to increase grazing days, many still have to use harvested forages in their year-round feeding program. Sampling and testing forages for quality can make designing a feeding program easy and economical. Nutrient concentration can vary considerably in feeds, especially forages. Protein in alfalfa hay can range from 10 to 25 percent of the dry matter and grass hay will contain between four and 18 percent protein. Beef cattle are most productive when fed or consuming a diet balanced according to their nutrient needs. When designing diets using harvested feeds, many rations are balanced using average values for each feedstuff and these “book values” often result in over or under feeding certain nutrients. More economical and better balanced rations can be formulated using nutrient concentrations determined from hay analysis.
From a forage standpoint, as plants mature, fiber concentration increases. Fiber is less digestible than other plant parts and fiber digestibility declines as plants mature. Both these factors cause the concentration of energy in plants to decline as maturity advances. In addition, as plants mature, the increase in fiber and bulkiness reduces the amount of the forage an animal can consume. For an example, cows don’t quit eating straw because they don’t like it, they quit because they can’t stuff anymore into their rumen because of straw’s low digestibility due to the high fiber content. Protein concentration also declines as plants mature. The three factors that impact forage quality are 1. Maturity at harvest; 2. Maturity at harvest; 3. Maturity at harvest.
Forage analysis can be a useful tool to remove some of the mystery concerning the hay that producers will feed this winter. The high cost of protein and energy supplements are further fuel to this advice. Testing the grass hays this year for protein and energy content will help the producer design winter supplementation programs most appropriate for the forage supply that is available.
There are several good methods of sampling hay for forage analysis. Most nutritionists would prefer to use a mechanical coring probe made specifically for this purpose. The coring probe is usually a stainless steel tube with a serrated, cutting edge. It is 1 inch in diameter and is designed to fit on a half-inch drill or brace. Cordless drills make these tools quite mobile so that the hay bales to be tested do not have to be hauled to be near an electrical outlet. The hay samples are place in paper or plastic bags for transfer to a forage testing laboratory. Cores are taken from several bales at random to obtain a representative sample to be analyzed.
Samples can be brought to the Pottawatomie County OSU Extension Center and then sent to Stillwater. Feel free to contact the office for prices and the test that will best fit your situation. There are other commercial laboratories available that also do an excellent job of forage analysis.
If you have questions concerning this topic or related topics, please contact the OSU Extension Center at 273-7683, stop by the office, or visit our Web site: http://countyext.okstate.edu/pottawatomie/.
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As producers strive to reduce feed costs by investigating avenues to increase grazing days, many still have to use harvested forages in their year-round feeding program. Sampling and testing forages for quality can make designing a feeding program easy and economical. Nutrient concentration can vary considerably in feeds, especially forages. Protein in alfalfa hay can range from 10 to 25 percent of the dry matter and grass hay will contain between four and 18 percent protein. Beef cattle are most productive when fed or consuming a diet balanced according to their nutrient needs. When designing diets using harvested feeds, many rations are balanced using average values for each feedstuff and these “book values” often result in over or under feeding certain nutrients. More economical and better balanced rations can be formulated using nutrient concentrations determined from hay analysis.
From a forage standpoint, as plants mature, fiber concentration increases. Fiber is less digestible than other plant parts and fiber digestibility declines as plants mature. Both these factors cause the concentration of energy in plants to decline as maturity advances. In addition, as plants mature, the increase in fiber and bulkiness reduces the amount of the forage an animal can consume. For an example, cows don’t quit eating straw because they don’t like it, they quit because they can’t stuff anymore into their rumen because of straw’s low digestibility due to the high fiber content. Protein concentration also declines as plants mature. The three factors that impact forage quality are 1. Maturity at harvest; 2. Maturity at harvest; 3. Maturity at harvest.
Forage analysis can be a useful tool to remove some of the mystery concerning the hay that producers will feed this winter. The high cost of protein and energy supplements are further fuel to this advice. Testing the grass hays this year for protein and energy content will help the producer design winter supplementation programs most appropriate for the forage supply that is available.
There are several good methods of sampling hay for forage analysis. Most nutritionists would prefer to use a mechanical coring probe made specifically for this purpose. The coring probe is usually a stainless steel tube with a serrated, cutting edge. It is 1 inch in diameter and is designed to fit on a half-inch drill or brace. Cordless drills make these tools quite mobile so that the hay bales to be tested do not have to be hauled to be near an electrical outlet. The hay samples are place in paper or plastic bags for transfer to a forage testing laboratory. Cores are taken from several bales at random to obtain a representative sample to be analyzed.
Samples can be brought to the Pottawatomie County OSU Extension Center and then sent to Stillwater. Feel free to contact the office for prices and the test that will best fit your situation. There are other commercial laboratories available that also do an excellent job of forage analysis.
If you have questions concerning this topic or related topics, please contact the OSU Extension Center at 273-7683, stop by the office, or visit our Web site: http://countyext.okstate.edu/pottawatomie/.
