Abstract:
Evaluating hay samples relative to their ideal forms and their feeding value for milk or meat production is an integral component of the Forage Crop Production course offered each semester at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls (UW-RF). Students gain hands-on learning and apply their forage evaluation skills by judging hay samples in one of two annual crop contest-show events. Score sheets initially available did not provide sufficient discriminatory power to effectively separate and place the large number and variety of hay samples entered in these contests. Expanded and more functional score sheets were developed over a 30-year period for legume hay, legume-grass hay, and grass hay. Objectives also included developing score sheets that were descriptive, logically organized, and easy for students to understand and use even by those lacking experience with forages. The score sheets thus function as a learning tool helping students understand the relationship between hay characteristics and forage quality. Students use visual, olfactory, and touch senses to characterize the hay samples and award points from a descriptive list with suggested point ranges for each category. Finally, the completed score sheets provide information of an educational nature to the entrants or other interested observers by explaining the sample rankings relative to an ideal forage and to other entries. This paper describes the general contest and judging procedures at UW-RF, the score sheets used, and the forage quality concepts and rationale incorporated into them.
Keywords:
judging, crop quality, score sheets
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