Forage Testing & Marketing Program

Two thousand and three marks the 141th year for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for testing forages. We continue to strive to offer a quality service to producers at the very least cost possible. After all these years we continue to charge only $10.00 per lot or cutting and have expanded our services to try to meet the needs of our forage and livestock producers. In January 2002, we introduced the testing of haylages and have expanded this to cover most of the haylage crops harvested in Kentucky. In cooperation with The University of Kentucky Extension Service, the department continues to offer a least cost ration-balancing program for beef cattle. The department once again offers the use of the Mobile testing vans to help promote and educate producers about the forage-testing program. The vans can be scheduled by extension personnel for events such as county fairs, field days, livestock meetings, etc. The Internet has become a reliable tool for most of us. In August 1999, the department developed an Internet web-site (www.kvagr.com) that became an agriculture information center and a user-friendly marketing center that includes forages. This site allows the producers to have their forages listed whether in traditional square bales, large rectangle bales, rolls, or haylages. Farmers can have a digital picture, nutrient analysis information, as well as the physical description placed on the Internet when the forage is tested