The Winecup Ranch is one of the iconic ranches in my home country. Situated near the Idaho-Utah line, it’s home to the Bedke family, and as near as I can tell, the fifth (or maybe sixth) generation of cowboys and cowgirls are now being raised there.

Larger harvests are impacting dry hay markets in many regions as 2024 comes to a close. On-farm hay inventories, new seeding estimates and production summaries for all forage crops will provide a clearer picture in early January.

I recently heard an interesting analogy: Not testing your hay can put your cows on a nutritional roller coaster. While some may enjoy the thrill of a roller coaster and the anticipation of the next flip or turn, for cattle nutrition and the rumen environment, slow and steady is the way to go.

You may be familiar with the phrase, “If you don’t test, it’s just a guess,” a phrase that applies directly to hay quality. The only way to know the exact nutrient concentration of hay is to take a representative sample and have it analyzed by a lab.

Hay quality cannot be judged based on looks or if it was fertilized or not. Often, some of the best-looking hay will test out to be some of the lowest quality.