{"id":7903,"date":"2025-12-23T11:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/?p=7903"},"modified":"2026-01-05T19:30:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T00:30:42","slug":"what-about-hay-samples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/2025\/12\/what-about-hay-samples\/","title":{"rendered":"What about hay samples?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I get questions about hay sampling on a regular basis.\u00a0 A forage test contains a lot of valuable information that can be used in your winter-feeding program. \u00a0Remember it is just guess unless you test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When taking a hay sample please use a hay probe.  The probe should have an internal diameter of at least 5\/8 inch.  One of the challenges of a hay probe is keeping the cutting edge sharp.  If they are dull then collecting a good sample could be difficult. A narrower diameter or dull sampler may move between flakes or layers of hay and may not provide an adequate representation of the leaf-to-stem ratio of the forage. If you need information about hay probes, please check this out.<\/a> I would suggest a good drill and take extra batteries. The last thing anybody wants is to sample hay with a dead drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get questions about just grabbing a sample from a couple of bales and if that is good enough. It is not recommend because a grab sample will NOT provide a good representative sample of the hay you are feeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much do I need for a sample?  It would be great to collect 15\u201320 cores from each lot. One reference defined a lot as forage taken from the same farm, field, and cut under uniform conditions within a 48-hour time period. To collect a core, insert the hay probe on the side of the bale, coring toward the center so you cross several windrows of forage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are sampling rectangular bales of all sizes, insert the hay probe 12 to 18 inches deep at a right angle into the center of the ends of bales. If you are sampling round bales, the probe should be inserted into the curved side of the bales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sampling square and round bales. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the probe gets full, empty the contents into a clean container (e.g., bucket or bag).  Please be careful when you empty your probe because the tips can be sharp.  I have cut myself a couple of times.  Make sure to mix the collected hay thoroughly to decrease bias and then pour in enough sample to fill a 1-quart plastic bag. Label each sample to make it easy to remember the location and lot sample. Fill out the UGA Feed and Forage Testing Application<\/a>, attach the form to the sample, and submit to your UGA County Extension Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have taken a few samples last month, which is summarized in Table 1. Table 1. shows the average and the range (min and max) of forage quality such as RFQ, % TDN, % CP and nitrates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table 1. The Average and Range for RFQ, TDN, %CP, and Nitrates of 17 Bermudagrass and Peanut Hay Samples Taken in Colquitt County, Dec 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you have questions about forage sampling, please contact your local county Extension agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I get questions about hay sampling on a regular basis.\u00a0 A forage test contains a lot of valuable information that can be used in your winter-feeding program. \u00a0Remember it is just guess unless you test. When taking a hay sample please use a hay probe.  The probe should have an internal diameter of at least […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beef-cattle","category-hay-forages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7903"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7918,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7903\/revisions\/7918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/colquittag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}