Are you a Maine hay producer? Do you produce high quality dry hay? If so, you have the chance to take home one of three cash prizes – $500, $250 or $100. While hay contests are common in other parts of the U.S., this is the first opportunity for Maine producers.
“I was surprised that, even though hay being so important in the New England region, there is no similar contest here. This could be a need that is not fulfilled yet in Maine. So I decided to start the Maine Hay Contest to reward and recognize hay producers in this state,” Dr. Jaime Garzon said.
Garzon is an assistant Extension professor and forage educator at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The contest is open to any producer whose operation is located in Maine, and producers may submit only one hay sample. The samples and entry forms must be postmarked by Sept. 30.
Entry forms are available at extension.umaine.edu/livestock/hay/contest. The completed forms can be submitted online and emailed to jaime.garzon@maine.edu or mailed to 5735 Hitchner Hall, Room 136, Orono, ME 04469. The contest will cover the costs of sampling, shipping and hay sample analysis for the first 15 participants.
For this contest, hay is defined as grasses, legumes and forbs cut and dried to be used as livestock feed. Samples with less than 70% grass or moisture greater than 20% will be disqualified. Hay samples must be taken from fields with a minimum maturity or regrowth of at least 25 days.
The samples will be collected by Garzon using a hay probe recommended by the National Forage Testing Association. Garzon sees this as a great opportunity for information exchange about forage production and a chance for producers to ask questions. After registration, Garzon will contact participants to schedule dates and times to meet.
Prior to meeting, the producer should identify which bales will be tested. Each submission will consist of samples from three different bales (round or square) with two samples from each bale.
Each entry will be analyzed using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIR). The entries will be ranked based on relative forage quality (RFQ), which tests for protein, energy and fiber digestibility. If necessary, ties will be broken based on total digestible nutrients (TDN), fibers and crude protein values.
Winners will be notified by Oct. 15. In order to take home one of the three cash prizes, a representative from the farm must be present to receive the award at the Maine Forage Conference. The conference will take place in Waterville, Maine, in early November.
In the future, Garzon hopes to build upon the contest. “I still have much to learn about the region … That’s why I wanted to start this event in a small size to see how I am managing it and to know how much acceptance it could have among the producers in Maine,” Garzon said. “Perhaps, with more experience and participation from more sponsors and contestants, I could add different categories of preserved forages as done in the Southeastern Hay Contest or even include other states in New England. Maybe in the future, it could be the New England Hay Contest or even the Northeast Hay Contest. Time will tell.”
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
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