2024 Austin County Hay Show & Fall Forage Seminar

Bellville and all of Austin County - - -

The Beef and Forage Committee of Austin County will be hosting the Annual Austin County Hay Show and Fall Forage Seminar on Friday, October 4th, at the Austin County Fairgrounds. Registration for the program will be at 8:30 am with the program starting at 9:00 am. This year’s program will cover the following: Harvesting Excellence: A Guide to Hay Quality & Analysis, How to Judge your Hay Samples & Read your Results, and the 3 W's of Soil Testing. Three (3) Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) will be provided to those with a pesticide applicators license.
 
Beef cattle and hay producers were asked to turn in samples of their hay for analysis at this year’s Austin County Hay Show. The analysis will give producers very useful information about the quality of the hay they are feeding to their livestock, and the test will help them determine what additional level of supplement their cattle may need during the winter.  The test will show the crude protein level, total digestibility, and acid detergent fiber (ratio of leaf to stem).  All samples in the Hay Show are from Austin or surrounding counties.
 
Producers submitted samples for analysis in the following categories: 1) Improved (Hybrid) Bermudagrass (Except T-85) (e.g., Coastal, Jiggs, Alicia), 2) Other Bermudagrasses (e.g., Common Bermudagrass, Tifton 85), 3) Warm Season Annual Grasses (e.g., Rice Straw, Hay Grazer, Sudan Crosses, Sorghum Alum), 4) Other Warm Season Perennial Grasses (e.g., Eastern Gamagrass, Bluestem, Johnsongrass, Kleingrass, Bahiagrass), 5) Cool Season Grasses (e.g., Wheat, Oats, Cereal Rye, Ryegrass), 6) Legumes (e.g., Clover, Peanut, Cowpea), 7) Legume/Grass Mixtures (e.g., Rye/Clover, Oats/Vetch), and NEW this year 8) All other Mixed Grasses (e.g., Bermudagrass/Bahia, Bermudagrass/Johnsongrass).
 
The Fall Forage Seminar following the Hay Show will cost $30 per person. After the program there will be an awards presentation and lunch.  Please visit https://austin.agrilife.org/event-registrations/ or call our office to RSVP for the program by October 1^st.
 
For more information on submitting a forage sample for analysis, or on supplementation of beef cattle, contact the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service of Austin County at (979) 865-2072 and speak with the Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent, Stacie Villarreal.