AGR-62 C O O P E R A T I V E E X T E N S I O N S E R V I C E U N I V E R S I T Y O F K E N T U C K Y • C O L L E G E O F A G R I C U L T U R E Quality Hay Production Garry Lacefield, Jimmy C. Henning, Mike Collins and Larry Swetnam

ay is one of the most versatile of Table 1. Recommended Stages to Harvest Various Forage Crops. Hstored forages in that (1) it can Plant Species Time of Harvest be kept for long periods of time with Alfalfa Late bud to first flower for first cutting, first flower to 1/10 bloom for second and later cuttings. little loss of nutrients if protected Bluegrass, Orchardgrass, Boot1 to early head stage for first cut, aftermath cuts from weather; (2) a large number of Tall Fescue, or Timothy at 4- to 6-week intervals. crops can be successfully used for Red Clover or Crimson Clover First flower to 1/10 bloom. hay production; (3) it can be pro- Oats, Barley, or Wheat Boot to early head stage. duced and fed in small or large Rye and Triticale Boot stage or before. amounts; (4) it can be harvested, Soybeans Mid- to full-bloom and before bottom leaves begin to stored and fed by hand or the pro- fall. duction and feeding can be com- Annual Lespedeza Early bloom and before bottom leaves begin to fall. pletely mechanized; and (5) hay can Ladino Clover or White Clover Cut at correct stage for companion plant. supply most nutrients needed by Sudangrass, Sorghum Hybrids, 40-inch height or early boot stage, whichever comes many classes of livestock. Hay is, Pearl Millet, and Johnsongrass first. Bermudagrass Cut when height is 15 to 18 inches. therefore, the most commonly used Caucasian Bluestem Boot to early head stage. stored feed on most farms. Big Bluestem, Indiangrass, Early head stage. Since hay is such a widely used and Switchgrass feed, it is important to understand 1 Boot is stage of growth of a grass just prior to seedhead emergence. This stage can be the factors that affect quality of hay identified by the presence of an enlarged or swollen area near the top of the main stem. and how to recognize quality of hay.

Importance of Hay Quality Table 2. Effect of Stage of Harvest of Fescue Hay on Quality and Animal Gain.* The ultimate test of hay quality is Dry animal performance. Quality can be Matter lb. of Hay lb. of Hay considered satisfactory when animals Stage of Intake Percent Percent Fed per per Acre lb. of Gain Harvest lb./day Digestibility Protein lb. Gain 1st Cutting per Day consuming the hay give the desired Late boot to performance. Three of the factors head, cut May 3 13.0 68 13.8 10.1 1334 1.39 which influence animal performance Early bloom are: (1) consumption—hay must be stage, May 14 11.7 66 10.2 13.5 1838 .97 palatable if it is to be consumed in Early milk adequate quantities; (2) digestibility stage—seed forming, May 25 8.6 56 7.6 22.5 2823 .42 and nutrient content—once the hay *Holstein heifers were used, average weight: 500 pounds. is eaten, it must be digested to be SOURCE: Personal Communication, Monty Montgomery, University of Tennessee. converted to animal products; and (3) toxic factors—high-quality hay must be free of components which grasses advance from the vegetative and soil moisture are favorable for are harmful to animals consuming it. to reproductive (seed) stage, they be- plant growth and generally increases come higher in fiber and lignin con- total yield per acre. The effects of Factors Affecting Hay tent and lower in protein content, di- stage of harvest on fescue hay qual- Quality gestibility, and acceptability to live- ity and animal performance are Stage of maturity when har- stock. The optimum stages of matu- shown in Table 2. Similar effects vested—Of all the factors affecting rity to harvest for high quality and have been noted with alfalfa (Table hay quality, stage of maturity when long stand life of many hay crops are 3). In both cases, early cut hay re- harvested is the most important and listed in Table 1. Making the first hay sulted in high-quality feed and supe- the one in which greatest progress cut early permits aftermath growth to rior animal performance. can be made. As legumes and begin at a time when temperature

A G R I C U L T U R E • H O M E E C O N1 O M I C S • 4-H • D E V E L O P M E N T Table 3. The Effect of Alfalfa Hay Quality on Perfor- Hay preservatives—Hay may be mance of Beef Steers.* safely baled at greater than 20 per- Good Fair Poor cent moisture (small bales) and 18 Crude Protein 18.7 15.9 13.7 percent moisture (large packages) Crude Fiber 29.4 35.4 46.7 only when effective preservatives are Animal Performance Hay Consumed, lb/day 17.1 16.5 13.8 properly applied at baling. Effective Gain, lb/day 1.85 1.49 -0.06 hay preservatives will prevent exces- * 550 lb. beef steers sive heating and mold growth when SOURCE: A.S. Mohammed et al., 1967. Tennessee applied uniformly and at the correct Farm and Home Science Progress Report 61. Pages rate on moist hay. 10-13. University of Tennessee Agricultural Experi- ment Station, Knoxville. The most proven form of hay pre- servative currently marketed in Ken- tucky is the propionic acid types. Table 4. The Effect of Handling Conditions on Alfalfa Hay Losses. Early propionic acid products were ------Losses ------either propionic acid or a mixture of Raked and Raked and propionic acid and acetic acids. Baled Raked Baled Baled Though effective, these products Correctly Too Dry Too Dry Too Dry Total were not well accepted nor widely lb/A lb/A lb/A lb/A Percent Dry Hay 2900 700 100 1000 34 adopted for many reasons, including Crude Protein 660 210 60 290 44 their tendency to remove paint from T.D.N. 1710 480 90 690 40 balers, their offensive and penetrat- SOURCE: Alfalfa Hay Quality. D. Ball, T. Johnson, G. Lacefield, and H. White. ing odor, and the irritation of ex- Special Publication. Certified Alfalfa Seed Council. Davis, CA. posed skin which came in contact with the material. Today the primary form of propi- Table 5. The Effect of Hay Preservative Type on Post-storage Moisture Concentrations, onic acid hay preservatives on the Storage Losses, and Visual Characteristics of Alfalfa Hay. market are ‘buffered’ products that Dry Matter are less volatile, less harmful to Initial Final Peak Intake paint, and less offensive to nasal pas- Moisture Moisture Temperature (% of Dust** Treatment (%) (%) (degrees F) body weight*) Rating sages and exposed skin. The buff- Wet Control 21.6 13.0 b*** 88 2.11 a 4.72 a ered materials are effective in reduc- Buffered Propionic Acid 21.0 14.8 a 80 2.20 b 3.32 b ing hay heating and molding in stor- Inoculant 22.0 12.1 c 90 2.11 a 4.79 a age when applied uniformly and at Dry Control 12.2 12.4 c 75 2.32 c 1.96 c the proper rates for the moisture of *Dry matter intake = 110/neutral detergent fiber the hay (Table 5). In a UK study, al- **Dust ratings are on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being dust-free and 10 being extremely falfa hay treated with a buffered pro- dusty pionic acid heated less and was less ***Values within a column followed by different letters are statistically different. dusty than both untreated wet hay and hay treated with a hay inoculant. In contrast, the inoculant product did Curing and handling conditions— crease the drying time of large- not decrease heating or dustiness After mowing, poor weather and stemmed plants by approximately compared to the moist control. handling conditions can lower hay one day and can result in leaf and Hay handled in a rough manner quality. Rain can cause leaf loss and nutrient savings. Chemical condition- before it gets to the animal can lose can leach nutrients from plants dur- ers which contain potassium carbon- an excessive amount of leaves. For ing curing. Sunlight can lower hay ate and/or sodium carbonate (when the average bale (14 inches x 18 quality through bleaching and lower- properly sprayed on alfalfa at cut- inches x 30 inches), about 29 percent ing Vitamin A content. Raking and/or ting) may be expected to reduce dry- of its total volume is contained in a tedding dry, brittle hay can cause ex- ing time as much as one day when 1-inch depth all around the bale. For cessive leaf loss. drying conditions are favorable. Un- large round bales, the outer 4 inches Hay plants with an 80 percent der poor drying conditions, they may contains roughly 25 percent to 30 moisture content must lose approxi- give no advantage. Raking and/or percent of its total volume. This mately 6,000 pounds of water to pro- tedding while hay is moist (about 40 means a large portion of the bale is duce a ton of hay at 20 percent mois- percent moisture) and baling before exposed, and care in handling and ture. Crushing stems (conditioning) at hay is too dry (below 15 percent storage should be practiced to mini- time of mowing will cause stems to moisture) will help reduce leaf losses mize loss. dry at more nearly the same rate as (Table 4). leaves. Conditioning will usually de- 2 Soil fertility—Adequate amounts of Variety—Plant certified seed of Evaluating Hay Quality lime, nitrogen, phosphate, potash, adapted varieties tested and proved Forage testing—The most practical and minor elements are needed to under local conditions. For example, way to determine the nutrient con- produce high yields of hay per acre stands seeded with common medium tent of hay is through forage nutritive and to maintain stands of desirable red clover are visibly shorter and analysis. Forage nutritional results plants for a long period of time. A thinner than those from certified, im- can be used to assess quality and to soil test should be used as a guide in proved varieties even in the seeding determine amount and type of determining the amount of fertilizer year. Over three years, improved va- supplementation needed for the de- and lime needed for economical hay rieties of red clover averaged 2.89 sired level of animal production if production. tons more dry matter yield per acre hay is stored so a representative High yields of hay remove large than common medium red clover. sample can be taken and the analysis amounts of nutrients (Table 6). Since The maximum difference in total is done by a reputable laboratory. properly inoculated legume plants yield over three growing seasons be- The use of an instrument to obtain a are capable of fixing atmospheric ni- tween the best improved and worst core sample of hay has been one of trogen, mixtures containing more common clover seed lot was 4.93 the most reliable methods of getting than 25 percent legumes usually do tons of dry matter per acre. The larg- a representative sample for nutri- not give economical responses to ni- est differences came in the third tional analysis. Matching hay to dif- trogen fertilization. With pure grass growing season when stands from ferent classes of livestock based on stands, nitrogen must be added for common clover seed lots were essen- nutriental content of the forage and high levels of production. tially non-productive. the requirements of the animal can Weeds generally lower hay quality Plant species—Legumes are nor- lead to a more efficient forage-live- by adding material lower in palat- mally higher in quality than grasses, stock program. ability and digestibility. Some may be but within each group there can be a harmful or toxic. Therefore, clean Visual estimate (judging your own wide range of quality. When both seed (which is free of weed seed) is hay)—Although not as reliable as grasses and legumes are harvested at especially important when planting forage testing, a visual estimate can the proper stage of plant growth, le- perennial hay crops. be helpful in determining forage gumes are usually higher in total di- quality. Guidelines for sensory evalu- gestibility, rate of digestion, protein, Seeding rates and dates—Seed ation are given in Table 7. Hay that and many minerals and vitamins. A high-quality, certified seed at rec- is early cut, green, leafy, soft, free of mixture consisting of an adapted ommended rates and dates (see foreign material, and has a pleasant grass and legume is usually of high AGR-18 for specific dates and rates odor will be of high quality. How- quality when properly managed. In for most Kentucky forage crops). Fall ever, color and visual appearance are addition, grasses can improve the seedings should be made early not always good indicators of hay drying rates of mixed stands com- enough for establishment before cold nutritive quality. pared to pure legume stands. Peren- weather stops or slows growth. Late nials, such as alfalfa, orchardgrass, winter and early spring seedings Making and Storing in Big timothy, fescue, bermudagrass, etc., should be made early enough to pro- Packages are usually more economical for hay vide a vigorous stand to survive sum- The availability of hay stackers crops than annuals, although annu- mer drought and weed competition. and large round balers has brought als, such as sorghum-sudangrass hy- about changes in methods of packag- brids, pearl millets, small grain, les- ing hay. The principles of packaging pedeza, and ryegrass, can be used are essentially the same for all meth- effectively. ods, i.e., compressing the loose hay into a package which can be handled and stored conveniently. Table 6. Nutrients Removed by Hay Crops. Storage method has a large impact ------Approximate lbs per Acre Removed ------on DM and quality loss of round Crop Yield/Acre N P2O5 K2O (Tons) bales. Unprotected, outside storage Alfalfa 5 255 68 245 of twine-tied round bales can result Red Clover— in losses exceeding one-third of the Orchardgrass 4 136 47 204 original crop. Plastic mesh wrap Tall Fescue, (netwrap) and solid, self-adhesive Orchardgrass, plastic wrap are recent developments Timothy 3 87 29 144 in round bale storage that can pro- SOURCE: K.L. Wells and W.O. Thom, 1994. Estimated nutrient and uptake by Kentucky’s Crops. Soil Science News and Views Vol. 15, No. 4. vide some protection against weath- ering losses during outside storage. A

3 Table 7. Score Card for Hay Quality Evaluation. Figure 1. Weathering and DM losses during Possible Score Your Score storage of tall fescue round bales bound I. Stage of Harvest 1. Before blossom or heading 26-30 ______using twine, plastic mesh netting or solid 2. Early blossom or early heading 21-25 ______plastic wrap. 3. Mid- to late-bloom or head 16-20 ______4. Seed stage (stemmy) 11-15 ______II. Leafiness 1. Very leafy 26-30 ______2. Leafy 21-25 ______3. Slightly stemmy 16-20 ______4. Stemmy 0-6 ______III. Color 1. Natural green color of crop 13-15 ______2.Light green 10-12 ______3. Yellow to slightly brownish 7-9 ______4. Brown or black 0-6 ______IV. Odor 1. Clean - “crop odor” 13-15 ______2.Dusty 10-12 ______3. Moldy - mousey or musty 7-9 ______4. Burnt 0-6 ______V. Softness 1. Very soft and pliable 9-10 ______2. Soft 7-8 ______3. Slightly harsh 5-6 ______4. Harsh, brittle 0-4 ______Sub-total ______10. High-quality hay should be stored VI. Penalties 1. Trash, weeds, dirt, etc. Subtract 0-35 ______inside or should be protected from the weather and raised off Scoring: 90 and above—Excellent; 80-89—Good hay; 65-79—Fair hay; Below 65—Poor hay TOTAL ______the ground on old tires, poles, or crushed rock. Hay Feeding Systems For more information concerning University of Kentucky trial showed Points to consider when making hay feeding systems, see “Hay Feed- that very little weathering occurred and storing hay in big packages: ing Systems” (AGR-61). on solid-plastic-wrapped round bales 1. Harvest at proper stage of plant but that an average depth of 4.4 maturity. Other Information inches was weathered on twine-tied 2. Legumes alone usually have More detailed information on bales stored outside for about one higher rates of spoilage from out- many of the recommendations dis- year (Figure 1). Weathered hay, dis- side storage than grasses. This cussed in this publication is available colored by the effects of moisture, loss can be excessive. from the UK College of Agriculture soil contact, and microbial activity, 3. Make a tight uniform package at Cooperative Extension Service. suffers greatly in feeding value due 18 percent to 20 percent moisture The following list may be helpful: to large increases in fiber levels and content or below. AGR-16 Taking Soil Test Samples post-storage digestibility values as 4. Store on a well-drained site. AGR-18 Grain and Forage Crop low as 30 percent. 5. Break direct contact between Guide for Kentucky Assuming all of the weathered hay damp soil and hay using rock, AGR-19 Liming Acid Soils on round bales is lost due to poor tires, poles, or pallets. AGR-33 Growing Red Clover in palatability as whole bales are fed, 6. Top stacks properly to shed wa- Kentucky losses of dry matter range from only ter. AGR-64 Establishing Forage Crops about 6 percent for bales stored in- 7. Store hay of similar quality to- AGR-76 Alfalfa, the Queen of For- side to as much as 34 percent for gether. age Crops twine-tied bales stored on the 8. Leave at least two feet between AGR-107 Alfalfa Quality Means Prof- ground. Solid plastic wrapped bales stacks; round bales can be stored its may lose no more than inside-stored end to end in rows with about AGR-137 Alfalfa Hay Quality Makes bales. Netwrap also saves large two feet between rows. the Difference amounts of DM compared with 9. Multiple storage lots will mini- ID-46 Hay Preservatives twine-tied bales but does not match mize risk of fire loss and exces- ID-101 Interpreting Forage Quality inside storage or solid plastic in mini- sive mud. Results mizing losses.

Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, C. Oran Little, Director of Cooperative Extension Service, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture,4 Lexington, and Kentucky State University, Frankfort. Issued 3-77; Revised/Printed 2-96, 4000 copies; 16000 copies to date.