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Proper Feed Sampling
Recently, I had a horse owner question the quality of their hay because some bales appeared greener than others and some appeared to be less ‘stemmy’ than others. They submitted three samples from three different bales to run hay analysis for horses. The samples were identified as brown, green and fine. It was interesting to...
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As spring continues to progress into summer, many livestock growers will move herds onto lush green pastures, and toss out a mineral supplement. But what happens if that supplement doesn’t provide balanced mineral nutrition to those animals?The first major concern is magnesium deficiency referred to as ‘Grass Tetany’. However, that isn’t the only mineral of...
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Often, Ward Laboratories, Inc receives sorghum samples and producers want us to test prussic acid and nitrates.  My recommendation would be to send two separate samples when testing for grazing purposes because prussic acid and nitrates accumulate in different parts of the plant. Prussic acid accumulates in the leaves of the grass in contrast to...
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Proper hay sampling procedures are a must.  Today I was brought a sample from a single bale of mixed hay. I was asked to sort the alfalfa from the grass hay and use those as individual, separate samples.  I was not the only one whose first reaction was, are they planning on sorting it out...
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When it comes to hay testing, producers commonly grumble about the variation in Relative Feed Value (RFV) and protein content, based on their observations and what the lab reported. Producers often have these concerns, because the RFV determines the price of a forage and how much customers are willing to pay.  An underestimated RFV can...
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A couple of weeks ago I attended Swine Day for the second year in a row.  This event is a great way to remain informed on the latest in swine nutrition research. I would recommend attending for anyone involved in the swine industry.  It is also very interesting to see what the researchers are doing...
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