In its 17th edition, the Southeastern Hay Contest (SEHC) saw a record number of entries coming from nine out of the thirteen states in the SE region. And those 387 entries provided some of the highest relative forage quality indexes (RFQ) ever.
In the contest, producers can enter the SEHC in 7 categories of hay and baleage: warm season perennial grass hay (bermudagrass, bahiagrass), alfalfa hay, perennial peanut hay, perennial cool season grass (tall fescue, orchardgrass, etc.) hay, mixed and annual grass hay, grass baleage, and legume baleage. The samples are ranked based on RFQ, and the top 3 entries in each category receive a cash prize. The overall winner also receives a choice of the use of a new Massey Ferguson DM Series disc mower or RK Series rotary rake for the 2022 hay production season plus $1000 in cash.
And the 2021 top prize went to Bill Conrad from Malone, FL, with a crimson clover hay that almost broke the scale at an RFQ of 297. The award ceremony took place Tuesday at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Ga.
This year, samples were received from Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
The overall contest this year included a hay workshop at the American Forage and Grassland Council annual conference in Savannah, GA and the first SE Hay Short Course in Lake City, Florida.
To see a list of this year’s winners, go to the SEHC website.