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Upper Midwestern Hay Is Low In Forage Digestibility

By Jeff Holmquist

Midwestern producers will want to have their hay crops’ fiber digestibility tested; area forage-analysis labs report that it’s below normal, says Dan Undersander, University of Wisconsin Extension forage specialist.

“If they just balance their rations based on fiber, which is a fairly common thing to do, then the cows aren’t going to produce as much milk as they’re expecting. And the beef cattle aren’t going to gain as much weight as they’re expecting,” he says.

This year’s cool, wet weather reduced leaf development and increased incidences of leaf diseases – both of which contribute to the low fiber-digestibility results from “an average of thousands of samples tested” by area labs, says Undersander.

“Normally we’d run about 40-45% leaves in alfalfa,” he says. “If you get down to 35-40% leaves, it’s going to cause a lower fiber digestibility.”

To roughly check their hay crops’ fiber digestibility levels, producers can compare relative feed value (FRV) with relative forage quality (RFQ).

“If digestibility is average, the two numbers should be the same,” Undersander explains. “This year, relative forage quality is running below relative feed value. The only reason for that is if fiber digestibility is less.”

That’s when a digestibility test is needed, he says.

“Farmers this year should make a special effort to have fiber digestibility run in addition to just having the fiber run,” he says.

If digestibility is low, producers should ask nutritionists to reconfigure the rations.

There is an abundance of lower-quality hay and less high-quality hay in the Upper Midwest this year, estimates Randy Kath, auctioneer with the Steffes Group auction, Litchfield, MN.

And prices for low-quality hay are tracking lower, adds Leo Amend, market manager with Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association in Lomira, WI.

“The poorer-quality hay is quite a bit cheaper than it has been the last couple years,” says Amend.

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