Brian Triplett: Ag Biz

It soon will be time for Smith County forage producers to gather entries for the Smith County Hay Show. August is the month for entries to be submitted. The show is held in conjunction with East Texas State Fair in September.

The hay show, which is turning 24 this year, serves youth and adults and is an activity worthy of involvement — either through the entry of hay as a producer or donation of money at the fair’s Howdy Neighbor Barbecue and Hay Auction as a supporter.

While weather conditions have seemed to cooperate for the most part during the first half of the hay growing season, high fertilizer prices and subsequent reduction in fertilizer usage by producers is likely to impact the quality of hay, cut this summer for feeding this winter. With quality in question, especially for cuttings that received little to no fertilizer, testing hay will be more important than ever. Hay represents the largest winter feeding cost to a producer. Knowing the quality of your hay can help in making more educated and financially sound decisions on what, if any, supplements you will need to purchase to feed livestock along with the hay this winter.

The $3 entry fee per hay sample is less than the $10 per sample it costs to send hay in for testing on your own. For the $3, you will receive a ribbon for your hay (blue, red, or white), recognition at the hay auction if it is in the top 25 bales, and nutritional information (crude protein and digestibility) for your hay samples.

Hay produced in Smith County, or a producer who lives in Smith County, is eligible for entry. An entry consists of one square bale of hay from a cutting, or one feed sack full of hay (if the hay from a cutting is rolled into round bales).

Producers that submit more than one sample are encouraged to write on the entry tag (other than in the space marked entry number) a code such as cutting number, field name, or something else that will help them be able to correlate their samples back to the results that will be mailed to them following the show and sale. It is recommended that producers submit samples from each field for each cutting.

Hay should be stored by cutting so that if cuttings vary greatly in nutritional content, they can be matched with the appropriate supplemental feed. You can feed lower quality hay earlier in the winter and save better quality hay for later when weather conditions are less favorable.

Finally, we can’t have a show without support of farmers and ranchers. Last year 133 hay samples were submitted and the auction raised more than $22,750 to support scholarships, youth activities, and conservation efforts.

The hay show committee is planning a wrap-up dinner in October. Submitting hay will get you an invitation to this event.

Entry dates for this year’s show are Aug. 21-22.

Hay can be submitted at the following locations:

Arp: 3M Feed & Supply; Bullard: Circle C Farm & Ranch; Lindale: Fleming Farm Supply; Noonday: Noonday Feed Store; Troup: Steele’s Feed & Seed; Tyler: Al H. Horaney’s, Estes Inc., Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rose Country Equipment, Smith County Extension office, Stampede Feed & Ag Supply and Tyler Equipment; and Whitehouse: Whitehouse Farm & Ranch.

To receive rules, call Smith County Extension office at 903- 590-2980 or visit smith-tx.tamu.edu and click on the link in the ‘Events’ section.

Brian Triplett
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