Please be reminded that entries are being accepted through 5p.m. August 16, for the annual Hunt County Hay Show. The drought has seriously affected the quantity and quality of hay produced this year, but Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Hunt County encourages anyone who has produced hay in 2011 to enter. There has never been a better time to take advantage of a free analysis of your hay, to find out the quality of what you have produced.
Having an analysis of your hay sample can allow you to feed livestock much more efficiently, supplementing only what your livestock need during the winter feeding season.
Entries are due by 5 p.m., Tuesday, August 16, for the show. We hope you will get your samples delivered to either the NET Farmers Coop Store or Fertilizer Plant in Greenville, or Huffmans Farm Supply in Commerce. Entering the show is simple. Take any entries to the drop location, complete an entry form, and you are done. A feed sack full of hay constitutes an entry. You may put 2-3 blocks from a square bale or a sample from the center of a large round bale to fill the feed sack. Please do not use plastic bags, as they cause the sample to mold before the show, and could cause disqualification. Small plastic bags do not hold enough hay and will also be disqualified.
Classes include legumes and legume (clover) grass mixes; forage sorghum, sudans, hybrid sudan, and johnson grass; bermudas; small grains, and winter annuals; and other, which includes prairie, grass mixes, etc.
Hay will be judged on protein score, and acid detergent fiber (ADF). Entries will not be accepted that have injurious foreign material, hardware, or are moldy, caked, dusty, or badly weathered.
If you would like any further information, entry forms or rules, please contact the Hunt County Extension Office at (903)455-9885, or email slallen@ag.tamu.edu and we will be glad to discuss details of the hay show with you.
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