BioZyme has announced an opportunity for cow/calf producers throughout the company’s dealer network to receive complimentary, custom hay testing and nutritional analysis.

Maturity and type of forage, harvest/storage, soil fertility, environment/climate, and genetic variety are several factors that can impact forage quality. The lab analysis and resulting report will provide producers with information on the levels of protein and energy their hay offers their herds, as well as which additional protein, energy, or nutrient supplements may be needed to maximize their herds’ performance.

“Since forage quality changes with maturity and storage, testing your hay is recommended to ensure that the nutrient requirements of your animals are being met,” said Lindsey Grimes, BioZyme Nutrition Field Support. “By having a general idea of the quality of your forage, you will be able to provide the lowest cost ration possible to meet your performance expectations, and adjust the amount of supplements needed to feed your animals.”

Producers can choose to take hay samples for testing with a hay probe or by hand. Regardless of the technique used, the sample should be representative of the entire lot; sub-samples should be taken from around 10% of the lot’s total bales, and from a minimum of 10 corings and/or hand grabs. Information and video tutorials on how to take a proper hay sample can be found online.

Producers must submit hay samples to a BioZyme Area Sales Manager, preferably through the dealer closest to them. A list of dealers is available online. Once the sample is received, it will be delivered for lab analysis, and results will emailed to the producer, the producer’s local BioZyme dealer, and the BioZyme nutrition team, who can provide the producer assistance in ration balancing, should they desire the service.