Wise County Hay Show

Forages for hay production continue to rank at the top in terms of agriculture income for crops in Wise County.  Fuel and fertilizer costs don’t seem to be coming down anytime soon.  Therefore, it is more important to put up a high quality bale of hay in order to make each trip across the field count.

                The Wise County Hay Show and hay production clinic scheduled for Thursday, September 3 at the Wise County Fair Grounds was planned with that thought in mind.  Dr. Larry Redmon, State Forage Specialist, will be the official of the Hay Show and will be the speaker for the educational presentation.  Dr. Redmon will also discuss overall results of the forage quality and forage management.  Specialists from John Deere and Ford New Holland will discuss and demonstrate operator techniques with new equipment and how that affects bale quality of the forage you are growing.  The program is set to begin with registration from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.  The registration fee is free.   Lunch will be provided by McMaster and Ag Power.  You will receive 2 CEU’s for renewal of your pesticide applicator license.

                Following lunch, we will auction the hay entries that have been provided by the hay show participants to benefit the youth participating in the Wise County Youth Fair.  

I encourage all hay producers to participate in the Wise County Hay Show. 

Wise County Hay Show Rules

1.       Official entry forms and hay samples will be received at the Wise County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (206 S. State Street in Decatur) until August 19^th.   If you need a core sampler to pull your samples, we have one available at the Extension office.

2.       Entry Fee $20 per sample (Entry Fee Includes the Lab Fee for hay analysis).

3.       Producers may enter a maximum of 2 entries per category.

4.       Categories:         1) Warm Season Perennial Grasses (Cuttings)

2) Cool Season Annual Grasses

                                3) Warm Season Annual Grasses

4) Warm or Cool Legumes

5.       Hay will be judged and ranked in each category.  Hay will be judged by chemical score as follows:

% crude protein + (100 - % ADF). EXAMPLE: 20% crude protein hay with 25% ADF = 20 + (100 – 25) = 95

6.       Hay entered in the Wise County Hay Show must have been produced in Wise County or by a producer who lives in Wise County.

7.       Hay Show results will be announced at the Hay Program and Lunch on September 3rd.

8.       September 1^st - 3^rd each exhibitor is encouraged to deliver a representative sample of each entry the exhibitor enters. By displaying the entries, it will enhance the educational process of the Hay Show and Forage Program. We are asking that each producer donate at least one bale (one small square bale or one large round bale) to the Wise County Livestock & Forage Committee to be auctioned off during the lunch.  All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Wise County Youth Fair.

Please contact the Extension office at 627-3341 by 12:00 pm by Tuesday, September 1 to pre-register so we will have an accurate meal count.