Alfalfa Grown In Lawrence County Tops Hay Show
Terry Halleran University of Missouri Extension regional agronomist,
headquartered in Hickory County gives a subjective score to one of the
entries at the Ozark Empire Fair Hay Show.
Photo credit: MU Extension
MT. VERNON, MO.
Two Lawrence County farmers dominated the 2015 Ozark Empire Fair Hay Show according to Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension.
Glenn and Toni Obermann of Monett led the way with the Grand Champion entry coming from the legume class. The Obermann's are no strangers to purple ribbon awards having been named the champion at four of the last six Ozark Empire Fair shows.
“The Obermann’s alfalfa is from a WL line and was cut on May 6. The relative feed value (RFV) was 215” said Cole. This number comes from a formula that includes acid and neutral detergent fiber values form the laboratory test. The total digestible nutrient (TDN) level was 70.4 percent with a protein reading of 23.5 percent.
Terry Halleran, a University of Missouri Extension agronomist in Hickory County served as the judge. His responsibility was to subjectively score each entry for color, purity, smell and condition. His numbers accounted for 40 percent of the final index.
Halleran noted that this had been an unusually difficult year for harvesting high-quality hay due to the rainy, damp weather. “A very narrow window for good hay making was in very late April and the first few days of May. The champion hay hit that window,” said Cole.
The reserve champion hay stood second to the champion in the legume class. The exhibitor was first-timer Jared Kleiboeker, Wentworth, also a Lawrence County resident. His entry, a Producers Hybrid alfalfa variety, was a first year cutting made on June 27. The RFV was 190, TDN was 66.4 percent and crude protein was 22.3 percent.
“Obermann and Kleiboeker also stood one-two in the grass-legume class with their orchardgrass and alfalfa entries,” said Cole.
The hay show celebrated its 30th year and only had 28 entries. There was some outstanding hay based on lab results given by Custom Lab at Golden City. However, overall both objective and subjective scores tended to be lower than in recent years.
Extension specialists use the Ozark Empire Fair and Missouri State Fair hay shows to educate farmers about how to effectively evaluate hay. The show provides exhibitors an excellent chance to market their quality hay, especially alfalfa.
For details on the show, go online to http://extension.missouri.edu/lawrence. ∆