# Forage Analysis Companies and Prices



## sjohnson9206 (Aug 26, 2009)

I'm looking to get some hay analyzed for horses. What tests do you normally run? What are the best companies (accuracy and turn around time) and what are the prices like?

I have 2 sets of samples that I need to send in.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

I'm looking to get some hay analyzed for horses. What tests do you normally run? What are the best companies (accuracy and turn around time) and what are the prices like? 
A lot depends on you and the horses.

If the horses are for high energy athletes you will be wanting almost what is needed for a dairy. For my customers, a few are interested in protein content, and even fewer are interested in TDN. None are interested in relative feed value, or net energy let alone fiber content.

Check the National Forage Testing Association NFTA for information on Labs. Look under Certified Labs for some interesting information.

Until this year I used a lab fairly close that turned out dairy type data, but little mineral data. I now use Midwest Labs in Omaha. They provide less feed value information but much more mineral analysis information. I use this mineral information to keep an eye on my fertility program.


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## bb123149 (May 27, 2009)

Just wondering Hay Wilson- What do you do if the minerals come back below what you want? If you have soil tested and followed their reconmendations but the minerals are still not in the leaf what do you do? Resample the soil?


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

You would not resample the soil in most cases.

The plants are the ultimate judge of your fertility program, if they aren't getting what they need then something needs to be done. We pull the top 6 in. on our alfalfa stands to check on K, B, and some other minerals occasionally.

Hay Wilson right on with his recs on matching the quality of hay to the energy demands of the horse.

I have a pretty good extension publication on this. I'll try to find an online verison or scan some the pages and post them before the weekend.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Just wondering Hay Wilson- 
What do you do if the minerals come back below what you want? 
If you have soil tested and followed their recommendations but the minerals are still not in the leaf what do you do? Resample the soil? 

To start with my soil is a calcareous, 8 pH & excessive calcuim, as well as being heavy on the clay with a measured CEC in he 40 to 50 meq/100g range. The result is the normally questionable accuracy of a soil test is notoriously unreliable. When forced to I soil prior to planting alfalfa, but my preferred method is to pull tissue the last year of a stand, to plan the next plantings fertilizer program.

With my soil I can apply about half the P & K removed by the 20 tons of Alfalfa hay removed over 5 years. I am not bothered by magnesium simply because I use K-Mag (0-0-22K-11 Mg-22S) for half the applied potassium the other half using Murate of potash (0-0-60) I deep band 10-34-0 for the phosphate. 
Many times in the months prior to planting I will put out copper sulfate, molybdenum and zinc sulfate. 
For the micro nutrients I look at the levels of the elements. For the macro nutrients I look at the ratios reported by the lab. I then cross check these ratios looking for one or more elements that might be low or too high.

This year I changed Labs for the hay test and they report all the elements I am interested in, except for Boron and Molybdenum. I plan to average the hay test mineral analysis rather than looking at a tissue analysis result. The last year of a stand I plan to pay to have them also look at B & Mo.

My usual system is to plow out one field of alfalfa every year and to plant back into alfalfa a new stand. I usually summer fallow a field prior to fall planting back into alfalfa. The result is roughly the same amount of fertilizer each year but 20% of the application cost, compared to top dressing annually. .I top dress potash on my bermudagrass hay ground. I chisel in anhydrous ammonia every December of January and put down the same shanks 100 lbs to 200 lbs of 10-34-0.

I am located in the Texas Blacklands, about half ay between DFW & San Antonio. and maybe 10 miles east of I-35.

With my soil if the hay test Ca levels are too high it is probably because I need potash.

There are disadvantages to using hay testing to determine fertility. First is we are looking at whole tops not the top 6 inches as with a tissue sample. There is a potential to shatter too many leaves and change lower the reported levels. There is the possibility of introducing dust and dirt into the hay and contaminating the sample. 
Hay testing for mineral analysis may be a poor man's tissue sampling but it is far from cheap. A tissue analysis usually runs just under $20 and I will spend $120/yr/field for hay analysis. I must emphasize that is primarily for Hay Analysis to establish a cash value for my hay.

To me hay is a multi year program and I try to plan at least one year ahead if not more. 
If I determine that I am deficient in an essential element then I will take a guess and apply what I believe is enough to get me to the next plow out.

Tissue analysis will usually tell us what the one essential element is that is limiting yield. Cure that and the next essential element that is deficient will make it's self known.

In my case about 25 years ago tissue analysis told me that my alfalfa was deficient in copper. 
Got a handle on that and then Molybdenum was the limiting element. 
Got a handle on that and discovered I was really hurting for potassium. All this time my soil was testing above 300 ppm K! The Labs in their infinite wisdom were insisting my potassium levels were excessively high. They were all wrong! Every one of them! Turns out my soil needs to test more than 450 ppm K and 600 ppm K is reasonable. It is reasonable if I want my alfalfa to test higher than 1.10 % K. With our summer drought to keep a stand I need to have the alfalfa hay to be in the 2.20% to 2.50% K range. Optimal yield will test above 2.50% K. That is difficult to achieve, but 600 lbs/A of 0-0-60 plus 1,500 lbs/A of K-Mag will do that but usually cash flow dictates differently.

I this is not as clear as mud.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Our clay has a high shrink swell ratio and cracks considerably. The clay when dry has spaces between the clay platelets and when dampened the clay swells up and traps the elements between silica plates.

When we submit a soil sample the lab will force dry the sample and then grind or crush the sample to produce a power that is easy to mix and sample. This process releases the entrapped potassium and calcium with a resulting excessive level reported. When in fact in its natural and moist state these elements are not available to the crop.

Most of this I learned from a DR Ken Cassman, formally in California and now at Nebraska at Lincoln. All over the internet I might add.

Have a Grand & Glorious Season.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

YOu should send to a lab and have them test specifically for horses vs. dairy and beef. The Net Energy of gain values are somewhat different for horses then cattle and are hard to adapt to each other values. Usually for horses the important values are TDN and CP. Additionally, there are some people who have HYPP positive horses that require a low K hay and that is a specific test. Also, there are other test for horses sensitive to carbohydrates so there is another equine hay test for sugars and pectine and other carbohydrates. I send to Litchfield Analytical, Litchfield, MI. They have a whole slew of test. But almost none of my horse customers require hay tested and in almost all cases it is a complete waste of money as very few of my customers are feeding anything but a maintenance diet, you don't need testing for that.


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## Production Acres (Jul 29, 2008)

We use Dairy One out of NY state. The basic test is $16 and it costs about $2 for postage. Turnaround time is less than 5 days from shipping the test to recieving the results. Very good company to do buisness with! We test 1-2 loads per week and are very satisfied.


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

Here's the link for that publication.

http://www.alfalfa.org/pdf/Alfalfa for Horses (low res).pdf


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