Abstract Evaluating hay samples relative to their ideal forms and their feeding value for milk or meat production is an integral constituting of the Forage Crop Production course proposeed each semester at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls (UW-RF) bookish mans gain hands-on learning and apply their forage evaluation skills through judging hay samples in single of two annual crop contest-show conclusions Score sheets initially available did not provide sufficient discriminatory power to effectively separate and place the large number and variety of hay samples go intoed in these contests.

Abstract

Evaluating hay samples relative to their ideal forms and their feeding value for milk or meat production is an integral constituting of the Forage Crop Production course proposeed each semester at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls (UW-RF) bookish mans gain hands-on learning and apply their forage evaluation skills through judging hay samples in single of two annual crop contest-show conclusions Score sheets initially available did not provide sufficient discriminatory power to effectively separate and place the large number and variety of hay samples go intoed in these contests. Expanded and more functional score sheets were exhibited over a 30-year period for simple pod hay, legume-grass hay, and grass hay. Objectives also included developing score sheets that were descriptive, logically organized, and easy for close examiners to understand and use uniform by those lacking experience with forages. The score sheets thus function as a learning tool helping close examiners understand the relationship between hay characteristics and forage quality. observers use visual, olfactory, and touch thinking principles to characterize the hay samples and award points from a descriptive list with moveed point ranges for each category. Finally, the complet score sheets provide information of an educational nature to the entrants or other interested students by explaining the sample rankings relative to an ideal forage and to other entries. This paper describes the general strive to hold and judging procedures at UW-RF the score sheets used, and the forage quality general [i]or[/i] abstract notions and rationale incorporated into them.

Introduction

Determining to what degree hay quality relates to feeding value is an important ingredient of crop production-related courses proffered in agricultural colleges and universities. Evaluating hay quality also can fill out to vocational/technical schools, high exercise vocational agriculture, 4H activities, and the buying and selling of hay. At the University of Wisconsin River Falls (UW-RF) the Forage craw Production course, crop contests, and cut off shows give students both formal training and practical experience in evaluating forages, fe grains, other se clips and occasionally less common or exotic first stomachs Students enjoy participating in a clips contest event either as entrants submitting samples or as umpires who evaluate and place forage samples. Forage cut off products in the contests and present to views include several classes of hay. For hay clips the entrant's goal is to submit a sample that compares in the greatest degree favorably with the "ideal" hay for a particular class. The judge's piece of work is to evaluate and place samples in comparison with the "ideal" hay for each class. The ideal hay is defined as united with the highest potential feeding value relative to animal performance as well as having the best physical and aesthetic qualities consistent with the class description.

Application of Forage Quality universals to Hay Judging

The feeding value of a hay cut off to ruminant livestock is a function of its digestibility, coarse protein and mineral concentrations, palatability and intake, and meanings of anti-quality constituents (Collins and Fritz, 2003) Chemical properties affecting forage quality can be determined using wet chemistry or near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) manner of proceedings (Dantoin, 1986). Quality expression equations based forward chemical factors such as acid cleansing fiber (ADF) and neutral cleansing fiber (NDF) have been lay opened to calculate a forage quality index value known as relative fe value (RFV) (Collins and Fritz, 2003) More newly the term relative forage quality (RFQ) also has been defined using NDF digestibility and total digestible nutrients (TDN) including undressed protein, and put forth as a means of assigning a forage quality rating that is well-correlated with animal performance (Undersander and Moore, 2003)

The chemical properties of forage that affect animal performance are closely associated with physical characteristics that include: stage of maturity, leafiness v steminess, plant species composition, insect or disease damage, weather damage, suitable preservation, and the presence of weeds or trash. Laboratory analyses provide the best information for assessing the feeding value of stored forages; however, there are times when lab proceedings and results may not be readily available or the outlay may not be justified or affordable to the forage user. A classroom instructor may not have the facilities, time, and labor to move swiftly wet chemistry lab analyses, especially for undergraduate classes, and the more rapid, however expensive, NIRS technology is a delight usually not available to scholars as an educational tool at that flat A readily available, practical teaching tool is stand in want ofed for agricultural students to learn to evaluate hay using no other than their visual, olfactory, and touch faculty of perceptions and be able to relate of the like kind assessment to expected levels of animal performance.

Score Sheet History and Revision

The forage judging score sheets available from University of Wisconsin-Extension when our contend fors began in the early 1970 listed simply very general and briefly stated quality categories sources (Brickbauer et al., 1964) Maturity stages were described single as the fraction in flower and leafiness was characterized as the percentage of the hay consisting of leaves. In our UW-RF litigates there usually were up to 30 entries by class and it was for the use of all to have many tied scores among entries in a class at the conclusion of judging because of the failure of the score sheets to discriminate sufficiently between samples. The nature of the awards in each controvert required that all ties be shattered Thus, it became apparent that score sheets were urgencyed which would describe forage characteristics in more detail and allocate points in this way as to eliminate or at least minimize tie scores.