{"id":21065,"date":"2014-07-16T15:20:56","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T15:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wfbf.com\/?p=21065"},"modified":"2014-07-16T15:20:56","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T15:20:56","slug":"myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths Abound in Buying Horse Hay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Horses<\/a>Before diving into the myths surrounding the buying of horse hay, let\u2019s briefly review the horse\u2019s digestive system.\u00a0 Even though the horse can consume forages they do not have the same 4-compartment digestive system as doze the ruminant.\u00a0 A mature dairy cow has a rumen as big as a barrel.\u00a0 The rumen is a large fermentation fat full of micro-organisms that slowly digest fibrous feeds.\u00a0 Once the feeds are in the rumen for several hours the feed and microbes travel down the ruminant\u2019s digestive tract into the small intestine where the microbes themselves are digested and the nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine.<\/p>\n

The horse\u2019s digestive system is considerably different from that of the cow. \u00a0Forage goes directly into the true stomach of the horse rather than into the rumen like in a cow\u2019s digestive system.\u00a0 Unlike the cow, the horse does not have the large rumen with microbes breaking down forages to energy compounds and minimizing the negative effects molds have on the horse\u2019s health<\/p>\n

Forage enters the true stomach of the horse where soluble carbohydrates, proteins, fats and some minerals are enzymatically digested like the pig and the human.\u00a0 The forage continues travel to the small intestine where nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream.\u00a0\u00a0 Flowing on through the digestive system the forage fiber enters the cecum where the material is further broken down by microbes similarly to what occurs in the cow\u2019s rumen.<\/p>\n

The quality of hay required to balance the ration of the horse depends on the horse\u2019s age and the level of activity.\u00a0 Young growing horses require a higher level of nutrition than an idle mature horse.\u00a0 An idle mature horse has a protein requirement of 10%.\u00a0 Grass hay will not normally be below 10% crude protein if it is free of large coarse weeds.\u00a0\u00a0 The quality of the hay is determined by three factors, the grass to stem ratio, the percent legume (clover, alfalfa) in the hay and the cutting date.\u00a0\u00a0 As cutting date extends past May 25th<\/sup>, quality decreases rapidly.<\/p>\n

Relative feed quality (RFQ) is a lab analysis used to estimate the energy and digestibility of a forage.\u00a0 A non-pregnant idle mare requires a hay RFQ of 100-115.\u00a0 This would be a hay containing little legume, relatively weed free, mostly grass hay cut in mid to later June. \u00a0\u00a0A nursing mare requires a RFQ hay of 120-145.<\/p>\n

The fairest way to buy hay is by the ton corrected to 12-15% moisture.\u00a0 Many horse owner\u2019s bock at this method.\u00a0 Historically hay has been purchased by the bale.\u00a0 Bales vary greatly in average weight.\u00a0 Small square bales are the most costly to make and will vary the most in weight.\u00a0\u00a0 The perception is that the average small square bale will weigh 45 pounds is a common myth.\u00a0 If the buyer is paying $3.00 per bale and assumes the bale weighs 45# ($133.33\/ton) and the bale weighs closer to 38 pounds; the actual price per ton is $157.89 per ton.\u00a0 In other words, the buyer paid almost $25.00 more per ton than they thought they were paying (16% more).<\/p>\n

What is a fair price per ton of primarily grass hay with a RFQ of 100-120.\u00a0 \u00a0The difficulty with producing grass hay is the need to properly dry the hay in the spring when rain and cool weather hinder the drying process.\u00a0 Another disadvantage in growing grasses verses alfalfa is that the grasses have a root system that is 4-8 inches deep compared to alfalfa which can have a tap root 1-2 feet or deeper.\u00a0 This allows the alfalfa plant to produce much more forage in latter summer when rain is less abundant.\u00a0 Alfalfa hay will yield 4-6 tons of dry matter per acre where grass hay will average closer to 2.25 tons per per growing season.<\/p>\n

This much lower yield increases the cost to grow grass horse hay.\u00a0 At 2.25 tons per acre the cost to grow and make grass hay will be $125.00 per ton of hay from the field.\u00a0 Add transportation cost and the labor to get the hay into and out of the barn to sell at the auction and the producer is often losing a considerable amount of money. \u00a0\u00a0A fair price when buying first crop hay out of the field would be\u00a0 $140.00\/ton.<\/p>\n

Horse owners should try to find a hay supplier that fertilizes well, sells you the quality of hay you need for the age and activity of your horse and is primarily weed free and as free of dusty molds as possible.\u00a0 The buyer must understand the true cost and struggles the grower has in the production of quality horse hay and pay a fair price.<\/p>\n

Greg Booher
\nFarm Business Instructor
\nLakeshore\/Moraine Park Technical College
\ngreg.booher@gotoltc.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before diving into the myths surrounding the buying of horse hay, let\u2019s briefly review the horse\u2019s digestive system.\u00a0 Even though the horse can consume forages they do not have the same 4-compartment digestive system as doze the ruminant.\u00a0 A mature dairy cow has a rumen as big as a barrel.\u00a0 The rumen is a large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[27],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMyths Abound in Buying Horse Hay - Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Myths Abound in Buying Horse Hay - Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before diving into the myths surrounding the buying of horse hay, let\u2019s briefly review the horse\u2019s digestive system.\u00a0 Even though the horse can consume forages they do not have the same 4-compartment digestive system as doze the ruminant.\u00a0 A mature dairy cow has a rumen as big as a barrel.\u00a0 The rumen is a large […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WIFarmBureau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-16T15:20:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wfbf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Horses-with-CASE-tractor-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynn Siekmann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WIFarmBureau\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WIFarmBureau\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynn Siekmann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynn Siekmann\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d1171a9090da4b28bfb254bd5b69d3fe\"},\"headline\":\"Myths Abound in Buying Horse Hay\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-16T15:20:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-07-16T15:20:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/\"},\"wordCount\":795,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/wfbf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Horses-with-CASE-tractor-300x200.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ag Newswire\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfbf.com\/ag-newswire\/myths-abound-in-buying-horse-hay\/\",\"name\":\"Myths Abound in Buying Horse Hay - 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