Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist, OSU Extension
(Image Source: Davis Equine Service)
“Make hay while the sun shines.” How many times have you heard that said throughout the years? We’ve had some sunshine this spring/summer, but making first cutting “dry” hay has really been challenging for most farmers this year. Getting two or more days in a row without rain has been rare in the spring of 2025.
In response to these challenges OSU Extension is offering a forage testing program with the goal of providing timely education regarding forage quality and winter supplementation and if enough samples are submitted, creating an eBarn’s county hay quality summary. Reach out to your local Extension office to confirm that they are participating in the testing program and the availability of a forage sampling probe.
To participate you may submit dry hay or baleage samples to your local OSU Extension office by July 31, 2025 along with a Hay Sample Submission form for each sample, and include this completed program summary sheet with your payment. The first sample analysis will cost $15, with subsequent samples costing $20. Near Infrared (NIR) Analysis will be completed. In return producers will receive values for Dry Matter Content, Total Digestible Nutrients, Crude Protein, ADF, NDF, Ash, Fat, C, P, K for each sample submitted.
For more detailing the challenges of making hay during a wet May and June, see You Finally Got the Hay Made, How Good is It? by Mark Landefeld, retired Monroe County ANR Extension Educator.
are known to have strong opinions and often readily express them. From a pasture management perspective, few topics illicit stronger feelings than when the clipping topic is put on the table.
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