Horse Hay Sales
Saturdays by appointment only thanks
"Better hay takes your dollars further in tough times"
We have become one of the Upper Southland's largest farm for hay/forage supplies and unmatched in customer service with one of the only refund/replace guarentees offered for hay. We are one of Tennessee's largest family hay farms, farming the same land for seven successive generations.
All our hay is sold by the ton, weighed at time of sale on one of three TN state certified trade scales and not by the bale unit unless specified.Fire Ant Compliant Facility. Insured.Delivery available at additional freight charge. Credit cards welcome.
Mon-Fri 8am - 4:00 pm eastern
Saturdays Appt Only
No Sunday Business
423.346.7909 barn office
Traditional (and sometimes comical) ideas on what makes up good hay!
The hay must be green!
There should be no dust or mold.
There must be fine stems and lots of leaves.
There can be no weeds.
It must not have blister beetles.
The hay cannot have been rained upon.
There has to be at least 50% alfalfa in it.
There must be no alfalfa in it.
Hay must be $2/bale and no delivery fee.
The science of what really makes up good hay!
Plant maturity is visually determined by the amount of seed heads of grasses or the flowers of legumes present at the time of harvest. Forages in the vegetative stage will not have visible seed heads or flowers. As plants progress through seed head and flower bud emergence, pollination, and seed formation, the concentration of structural carbohydrates and lignin increases and crude protein decreases. The structural carbohydrates, cellulose, and hemi cellulose are partially digested by the bacteria in the horse’s lower gut, but lignin, another component of plant fiber, is not digested at all. As lignin increases one percent, the digestibility of the forage dry matter decreases three to four percent. Forage digestibility is indirectly measured by determining the level of acid detergent fiber (ADF) in the hay. As the plant matures, ADF (cellulose and lignin) increases, and digestibility decreases. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) a measure of cell wall content, increases as the plant matures and is an indirect measure of how readily a forage is consumed.
Immature hay is more easily digested by the horse (lower ADF percent) and more readily consumed (lower NDF percent), thus it is worth more to the horse owner. The maturity of the plant is not related to a particular cutting, but rather to the stage of maturity of the plant when cut.
ADF is composed of cellulose, lignin, and other poorly digested components. The lower the ADF value, the more digestible the nutrients in the hay. Levels above 45% are of little nutritional value and samples with less than 31% ADF are excellent. The higher the NDF%, the less the horses will consume. NDF levels below 40 are excellent and those above 65 will likely not be eaten by most horses. A high relative feeding value(RFV) reflects higher quality, greater intake, higher digestibility, and fewer concentrates needed to supplement the diet. When buying horse hay, RFV should be a prime consideration.
Source: Selecting Quality Hay for Horses, Mark Russell and Keith Johnson Purdue University.
Translation:
RFV is used to compare quality of forage to its nutritional worth, based on the maturity of the plant when harvested. Notice how much less the horse/cow can eat per day, as a percent of their body weight, as the forage matures. This is because, as the non-digestible fiber (ADF & NDF) increases, the palatability is lower and the rate of passage through the intestinal tract slows due to its poor fermenting quality.
What all this means for our customers.
All hay will now be graded based on the RFV system. This will be very helpful to you the consumer as this will give you several objective numbers to base your hay selection on. Notice also from the chart below the DMI is based on the RFV. Example: A 1000 lb. horse eating a #4 hay can only consume 15 lbs. of that hay per day. A #4 grass hay will have about .77 Mcal. DE/lb. A 1000lb. Lactating mare in the first 3 months after foaling would need about 25MCal per day.
That would mean that she would have to consume 32 lb of #4 hay a day; but, this is impossible due to the high NDF. Thus you have 3 options, 1. Feed her grain to supplement the hay. 2. Feed her better hay. Or 3. Let her lose weight! Conversely, a #1 hay would have upwards of 1.10 Mcal and you would only need to feed 23lbs. Per day. This is very doable as the mare could consume 26lb of this type of hay.This is the science behind why "better hay takes your dollars further in these terrible economic times."
Meadow Grass hay still growing in early May.
Quality Standards for Legume, Grass, or Grass-Legume Hay.
Source: Hay Market Task Force, American Forage and Grassland Council.
Quality Standard |
Crude Protein |
Acid Detergent Fiber |
Neutral Detergent Fiber |
Digestible Dry Matter |
Dry Matter Intake as % of Body Weight |
Relative Feed Value |
Prime |
>19% |
<31% |
<40% |
>65% |
>3.0% |
>151 |
1 |
17-19 |
31-35 |
40-46 |
62-65 |
2.9-2.6 |
151-125 |
2 |
14-16 |
36-40 |
47-53 |
58-61 |
2.5-2.1 |
124-103 |
3 |
11-13 |
41-42 |
54-60 |
56-57 |
2.0-1.7 |
102-87 |
4 |
8-10 |
43-45 |
61-65 |
53-55 |
1.6-1.3 |
86-75 |
5 |
<8 |
>45 |
>65 |
<53 |
<1.2 |
<75 |
It is our strongest suggestion that all hay fed to horses be #4 grade or higher!
Dec 10 2011 update-We are unable to update the hay stocks in the
24 hour windows we are given between arrival and departure.
Please call 423.346.7909 for inventory.Lve msg after 4pm eastern
no refunds on any #5 hay
please note,we have "sugar" numbers when available,as part of standard testing,
if you require more than what we offer, you are welcome to pull samples and test them at your cost
36 bales +/- per ton depends on hay type
| Hay Type | Cost Per Bale | Relative Feed Value | weight | click to enlarge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4x5 bale mixed Grass | call | call | ||
Alfafa and Orchardgrass home farm in May.
