Jackson Macon Swain Cattleman’s Association held their holiday dinner Saturday, November 19 at the Macon County Cooperative Extension office. During the dinner, Joe Deal, Extension Agent, Agriculture presented his presentation on Hay Quality and announced this Year’s 2022 Macon County Hay Contest Winners.
The Macon County Hay contest recognizes producers who raised the highest quality hay for 2022. Hay samples were taken and sent to the NCDA&CS lab in Raleigh for chemical analysis. The results of the contest are calculated using the Relative Forage Quality Index (RFQ). The relative forage quality measurement utilizes two factors, Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN), which is a measure of digestible energy and a calculated dry matter intake (DMI). Combined they these two factors provide a robust measure of forage quality.
33 samples from 21 farms in Macon County were judged this year. Average RFQ score for Macon County was 137. All samples from Macon County rated as either Good or Premium in hay quality. For the southeastern United States, only about 30% of hay samples test Good or Premium.
Congratulations to the 2022 Macon County Hay Contest Winners: 1st Place went to Larry Sheffield with an RFQ of 166, 2nd Place went to Seagle Livestock with a RFQ of 160 and 3rd Place went to Roger Seay with a RFQ of 158. Again Congratulations and good job on producing high quality hay.
