Hay and Forage Field Day

Today Steve and I ventured to Glade Spring, VA to the Southwest Virginia Agriculture Research and Extension Center for the Hay and Forage Field Day. During this event, participants learned about making high quality hay and baleage. There were demonstrations of proper hay equipment adjustment, setup and harvest. Additional topics of discussion included curing management, matching your feeding program to hay quality, and managing summer annuals. There were also equipment dealers on present with equipment for viewing. 

The featured speaker of the day was Dr. Dan Undersander from the University of Wisconsin. He shared his expertise on forage production and utilization. 

This was a good example of a successful Extension event. There were approximately 80 people in attendance, and the topics were all relevant and targeted specific to producer needs. The event, being held at the Southwest VA AREC, also was able to showcase some of the research being done on summer annuals. Phil Blevins, the ANR agent in Washington County, gave a presentation on the success of various varieties of sudangrass. 

Lunch was excellent as well. Everyone got to enjoy delicious steak sandwiches. I have learned that charging a fee and providing food often will work out in your favor as the event or program planner. People love to eat! 

Some of the take-aways I had from the event were not only knowledge about improving hay production, but I learned more about organizing a similar event. Back home in Carroll County, a field day similar to this one would be very useful! Step one in planning an event is needs assessment. Once you know what the needs are, you can then develop obtainable objectives.  

Hay rake demonstration 

Sudangrass trials